Bolt and Thunder

Bolt and Thunder is a musical story. It is an alternative story of Bolt and how he met Thunder.

If this was a real movie, it would've been released in the U.S. on January 14, 1996. It would've run 104 minutes and been distributed by Amblin Entertainment and Disney.

It also would've grossed 293 million worldwide and have a budget of 25 million.

## Information (if made into film)

* Directed by: Joe Bevilacqua
* Co-Director: Robert Vince
* Produced by: Steven Spielberg, Don Bluth, Joe Bevilacqua and David Hoberman
* Executive Producers: Robert Vince and John Lasseter
* Screenplay by: Jeff Bushell
* Story by: Anna McRoberts
* Starring: Jason Marsden, Neve Campbell, Billy Joel, Dave Foley, Susie Essman and Haley Bennett
* Music by: Elton John
* Edited by: Anna McRoberts and Robert Vince
* Distributed by: Amblin Entertainment
* Production company: Walt Disney Studios
* Release Date: January 14, 1996 (Theaters), December 21, 1996 (VHS), June 21, 2006 (DVD), March 29, 2011 (Blu-Ray)

## Plot

In 1990s New York City, puppies are waiting in a cardboard box to be adopted. They are for free. Eight of them are Chocolate Lab puppies, and one of them is a White Shepherd puppy. The Chocolate Labs are adopted quickly, and only one of the Labs, including the Shepherd puppy. The Lab is finally adopted by a little boy. That night, the rain falls and the box is swept in a sewer, almost with the Shepherd puppy. He runs and is almost beaten up by stray dogs. He sleeps on a truck tire until the morning. During this, 'Once Upon A Time In New York City' plays.

Meanwhile, the puppy sees a few humans to find out if they see him. He befriends a stray Jack Russell named Dodger (who is singing 'Dodger's Song' to himself), and they help each other get hot dogs from a hot dog stand. Dodger leaves him at a garage with kittens. The puppy sings 'Soon You'll Come Home'.

One year later, the puppy is now a dog. Dodger and a few other dogs come to visit him, and he visits the dogs' homes too. One day, a four-year-old girl named Penny adopts him and names him Bolt. Liz and Bruce adopt Dodger. The next day, Penny and her parents go to a hospital for the arrival of a new baby. Bolt feels like Penny doesn't need him anymore and he is comforted by Dodger. Then, a German Shepherd named Thunder explains that they are going to have a baby. Dodger chases her off.

That night, Bolt has a 'Parade Of The Shoes' nightmare in which a baby bootie splits in two, then four, and it continues to multiply. The dream shoes then fade into real shoes, with their wearer explaining that the baby has arrived. Bolt finds out that the baby is wonderful company and he vows that when the baby grows up. Bolt and Penny play together.

The next night, Bolt re-encounters Thunder. Thunder explains that she and a cat, Mittens, were abandoned as adolescents, and this is the reason why she hates humans. She asks if he wants to meet her friends, to which Bolt replies 'yes'.

The next hour, Bolt encounters a dog named Shock. Shock says that he is Thunder's girlfriend and that she will sing in the middle of the night. Bolt says that he will go and see her sing. He has a cat servant named Socks, whom Mittens falls in love with.

A few hours later, Dodger, Sadie and Bolt go to a Dance Club, and they listen to Thunder singing. She sings 'Choo Le Na' with Shock and Bolt singing a few lines.

The next day, while the humans are gone to the Central Park Zoo, Bolt and Thunder go and meet Thunder's friends: Tundra, her sister Icee, Skye, Princess, Elsa, Avalanche and Ocean. They also have puppies. An aqquaitance named Everest joins them. The puppies fight over a pizza slice, but Bolt teaches them how to share. He and the puppies sing 'What's Mine Is Yours'.

While visiting the Central Park Zoo at sunset, Bolt invites Thunder to have spaghetti together. They eat a long spaghetti strand at opposite ends until meeting in the middle and kissing. 'Bella Notte' plays.

The next day, Bolt wakes up at home, and he asks why. Dodger said that 'flirting with that girl, huh? I don't need no flirting!' He tricks Bolt into getting hot dogs for him. Bolt then says that flirting with Thunder isn't so bad, but Dodger doesn't care. For proof, he sings 'Why Should I Worry'.

Meanwhile, Thunder is captured by Animal Control and at the pound. A mutt named Peggy laughs at Thunder's idea to marry a dog with a home. Shock kidnaps her and takes her to Ms. Wallabanger's home because he heard the idea to marry Thunder.

Ms. Wallabanger keeps Thunder locked in a doghouse in her terrace, and keeps her dog Jolt there for 'company'. Jolt explains to Thunder how she cherishes her days as an adolescent and a puppy until Bolt comes to rescue Thunder. He leashes Jolt and Mittens.

Thunder manages to escape, go to Bolt's home and realize there is a rat in the baby's room. Bolt fights with it, while Jolt warns Thunder that Bolt 'is a tramp'. Jolt sings 'He's a tramp'.

Bolt kills the rat, and Mrs. Wallabanger sends Bolt to the pound. White he is in the truck, Jolt, Mittens and a hamster, Rhino, get him and take him to a train station where he can escape. During the escape, Jolt's collar snaps off, Rhino excersize ball collapses and Bolt's tatoo fades away. They still end up in the Pound.

That night, Thunder tries to find Bolt. They reunite in the Pound. During this Thunder and later she and Bolt sing 'Love Will Find A Way'.

Bolt and Thunder escape captivity and make sure that Dodger and Jolt are okay. Penny decides to adopt Thunder, Jolt, Socks and Mittens.

The next year at Christmastime, Thunder gives birth to seven puppies. Six of them acting manly/womanly, and the other one (Cirrus) acting crazy. Liz and Bruce join in, as do Dodger and Sadie. They take a selfie.

The pound dogs have escaped. At the end of the day, Dodger joins the pound dogs and they sing 'Why Should I Worry (Reprise)'.

The End.

## Cast

* Jason Marsden as Bolt, a White Shepherd and the main protagonist.
	+ Rob Lowe provides Bolt's singing voice.
	+ Ryan O'Donohue provides Bolt's puppy voice.
	+ Ross Malinger provides puppy Bolt's singing voice.
	+ Skeet Ulrich provided the voice of Bolt in two scenes.

* Neve Campbell as Thunder, a German Shepherd, Bolt's love interest and the deuteragonist.
	+ Liz Callaway provides Thunder's singing voice.
	+ Michelle Horn voices Thunder as a puppy.
	+ Aileen Quinn provided the voice of Thunder in two scenes.

* Billy Joel as Dodger, a Jack Russell Terrier, Bolt's best friend and guardian, and the tritagonist.
	+ Jason Bateman provided the voice of Dodger in two scenes.

* Dave Foley as Shock, a half-wolf hybrid and the former main antagonist.
	+ Jim Cummings provides Shock's singing voice.
	+ Paul Giamatti voiced Shock in two scenes.
* Susie Essman as Mittens, a Tuxedo cat and Thunder's friend.
	+ Kath Soucie voiced Mittens in two scenes.

* Moira Kelly as Sadie, a female Jack Russell Terrier.

* Gabrielle Union as Jolt, a White Shepherd. She is 2 inches smaller than Bolt.
* Haley Bennett as Penny. This was Bennett's only child role.
* Niketa Calame as Liz, Dodger and Sadie's owner.
* Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Bruce, Liz's younger brother.
* The Pointer Sisters as Tundra, Icee, Skye, Princess, Delta, Avalanche, Ocean and Everest.
* Madge Sinclair as Mrs. Wallabanger. Sinclair died a month before the release.
* Kurt Russell as Socks, a white cat and Mittens' love interest.
* Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson as Penny's parents
* Melba Moore and Dom DeLuise as Liz and Bruce's parents.
* Melba Moore as Peg, an impounded stray dog, who is a Pomeranian.

### Additional Voices

* Tom Hanks, Dom DeLuise, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Burt Reynolds - The Pound Dogs
* Ryan O'Donohue, Ross Malinger, Niketa Calame, Haley Bennett and Michelle Horn - The Girl Dogs' puppies
* Jonathan Taylor Thomas - Black puppy
* Michelle Horn, Haley Bennett, Ryan O'Donohue, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Ross Malinger - Chocolate Lab puppies (uncredited)
* Ross Malinger - Cirrus (uncredited)

## Production

### Development

(Please note that none of  this is real)

Director Joe Bevilacqua first announced the idea in January 1989. However, the project did not start production until June 1993. In 1991 drafts, Thunder looked just like Bolt but with a bright blue collar and a lightning mark on her hip. Her design changed when production started.

Originally two Siamese cats named Nip and Tuck were going to be minor antagonists, but they were deleted. Actually Bolt was originally a German Shepherd named Charlie and Thunder was originally an Irish Setter named Sasha. It changed in May 1990 to make sure Don Bluth did not sue Bevilacqua. Dodger and Peg were reused characters. They were reused with permission.

Production began on June 20, 1993.

### Animation

Animation was done from June 1993-February 1995, a total of 20 months. Though a lot of scenes were cel drawn, others were computer animated. Only *Balto*had heavy use of computer animation before, as *An American Tail*and *The Land Before Time*only used it for a few scenes. Pixar Animation Studios animator Glenn McQueen was the lead of computer animating.

### Voice Acting

From September to December 1994, there was casting for *Bolt and Thunder.*The head of casting was Lorna Johnson.

In January-June 1995, voice actors recorded their lines.

#### Main

From September to December 1994, there was casting for *Bolt and Thunder.*Jason Marsden was only 19 when he was casted as Bolt, and Neve Campbell was only 21 when she was casted as Thunder. Both were later casted in *The Lion King II: Simba's Pride*as adult Kovu and Kiara respectively. Billy Joel voiced the reused Dodger. Moira Kelly was chosen because Lorna Johnson loved her performance in *The Lion King*as adult Nala. Gabrielle Union was casted for Jolt because Johnson liked her roles.

#### Humans

Haley Bennett was only 6 when she was casted as Penny, her only film role for 11 years until *Music and Lyrics.*

Mrs. Wallbanger was voiced by Madge Sinclair, who died a month before the release of the film. Her only other character she voiced was Sarabi from *The Lion King.*Suzanne Pleshette voiced Mrs. Wallabanger in the sequel.

#### Child Actors

Michelle Horn and Ryan O'Donohue went to Disney Studios and were chosen for the voices of young Thunder and Bolt, respectively. Oddly enough, they were later chosen as the voices of young Kiara and Kovu of *The Lion King II*, respectively. Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Niketa Calame were chosen as Bruce and Liz respectively because Bevilacqua loved their performances in *The Lion King*as young Simba and Nala. Ross Malinger was chosen because he was a popular child actor back then.

#### Alternates

Skeet Ulrich was casted for Alternate Bolt because he had 'the best young adult voice for a dog' according to Vince. Everyone at Amblin loved Aileen Quinn's performance in *Annie,*so she was casted as Alternate Thunder. Jason Bateman was chosen for Alternate Dodger 'out of the blue' according to Bevilacqua. Bateman became more famous when he voiced Nick Wilde in *Zootopia.*Paul Giamatti was chosen because of his role in *Past Midnight,*and Johnson loved his role. Johnson claimed Kath Soucie was the 'bird of a thousand voices' and she was cast as Alternate Mittens.

### Release

The release was originally on December 22, 1995, but on January 8, 1995, it was pushed back to January 14, 1996, for some reasons:

* *Balto* was getting released on the same day. The change caused some people to believe that *Bolt and Thunder*was renamed *Balto.*
* The audio editing had to be done in a month, but so did the second teaser trailer.
* Computer animating had some weeks to finish, but a few people were afraid they would not be finished by the time the first trailer came out.

On January 14, 1996, Bolt and Thunder was released, and by it's first week in theaters, the movie already made 15 million in the United States. By it's last week, it had gotten 293 million worldwide.

### Rating

(Please note that none of this is real)

The rating was supposed to come on October 1, 1995, but due to the removing, it was pushed back to October 3, 1995.

Originally the movie was going to be rated PG by the MPAA (for brief bloody violence) due to the Bolt vs Rat scene (in development, Bolt was originally going to bloodshed and kill the rat onscreen). Then, director Joe Bevilacqua decided to cut any blood that appears. So the movie is rated G even though there is still the following: Numerous people smoking, Peg shouting 'CURSE YOU!' and Bolt getting his scar.

## Reception

(Please note that none of this is real)

Reviews would've been positive. It was given a 'Certified Fresh' 86% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 50 reviews, saying 'Recycled songs, parodied scenes, reused characters, we don't care. Bolt and Thunder is a satisfying love story'. Rotten Tomatoes' public score gives the movie a '75%'

On Metacritic, the movie has a score of 80 out of 100, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'.

Common Sense Media gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5, saying 'You know, the dogs from *Lady and the Tramp*would have known a lot from this movie'.

Siskel and Ebert gave it a 'thumbs up' saying 'dog actresses, crushes and spaghetti romance. We love all three'.

### Box Office

On opening night, *Bolt and Thunder*grossed 2 million at the box office. On the first week, it had grossed 15 million. By it's last week worldwide, it had grossed a total of 293 worldwide, resulting in one of the few animated films to past the 250 million mark in the 1990s.

### Oscars

(If this ran for the 1997 Oscars, these are the results)

* Won: Best Actress - Neve Campbell for Thunder
* Won: Best Animated Character - Jolt
* Won: Best Editing
* Nominated: Best Animated Feature Film
* Nominated: Best Original Song - 'Choo Le Na'
* Nominated: Best Female Character - Thunder

## Worldwide

### Releases

All releases are shown alphabetical.

Most of these are coming soon.

* China: June 25, 1996
* Colombia:
* Crimea: June 25, 1996
* Denmark: May 15, 1996
* England: March 4, 1996
* France: February 18, 1996
* Georgia:
* Germany: April 20, 1996
* Greece: June 27, 1996
* Hong Kong: June 25, 1996
* Hungary:
* Iceland: May 28, 1996
* Israel: June 17, 1996
* Norway: March 20, 1996
* Sweden: February 24, 1996
* United Kingdom: March 1, 1996
* United States: January 14, 1996
* Wales: March 4, 1996

### Titles

All titles are alphabetical.

* Abaza: Language Unavailable, but translates to *Bolt's Girl*
* Albanian: *Bolt dhe Thunder*(Bolt and Thunder)
* Arabic: *Bualat W Sadiqatuh*(Bolt and His Girlfriend)
* Arabic (Lebanese): *Bualat W Sadiqatuh*(Bolt and His Girlfriend)
* Arabic (Qatari): *Bualat W Sadiqatuh*(Bolt and His Girlfriend)
* Armenian: TBA
* Azerbaijani: TBA
* Bulgarian: *Bolt i Thunder*(Bolt and Thunder)
* Cantonese: TBA
* Catalan: *Bolt ug Thunder*(Bolt and Thunder)
* Crimean Tatar: Language Unavailable, but translates to *Bolt's Girl*
* Croatian: TBA
* Czech: *Rub*(Tails)
* Danish: *Hus Hund og Omstrejfende Hund*(House Dog and Stray Dog)
* Dutch: TBA
* English (American): *Bolt and Thunder*
* English (Australian): *Bolt & Thunder*
* English (British): *Bolt & Thunder*
* English (Canadian): *Bolt & Thunder*
* Estonian: TBA
* Finnish: TBA
* Flemish: TBA
* French (Belgian):
* French (Canadian): TBA
* French (European): TBA
* Georgian: TBA
* German: TBA
* Greek: TBA
* Hebrew: Language Unavailable
* Hindi: TBA
* Hungarian: TBA
* Icelandic: TBA
* Indonesian: TBA
* Italian: TBA
* Japanese: TBA
* Karachay: Language Unavailable
* Kabardian: Language Unavailable
* Korean: TBA
* Latvian: TBA
* Lithuanian: TBA
* Malay: TBA
* Mandarin: TBA
* Marathi: TBA
* Mongolian: TBA
* Nogai: Language Unavailable
* Norwegian: TBA
* Persian: Language Unavailable
* Polish: TBA
* Portuguese (Brazilian): TBA
* Portuguese (European): TBA
* Romanian: TBA
* Russian: TBA
* Serbian: TBA
* Slovak: *Rub*(Tails)
* Slovene: TBA
* Spanish (Castilian): TBA
* Spanish (European): TBA
* Spanish (Latin): TBA
* Swedish: TBA
* Taiwanese: Language Unavailable
* Tajik: TBA
* Tamil: TBA
* Thai: TBA
* Turkish: TBA
* Ukranian: TBA
* Uzbek: TBA
* Vietnamese: TBA
* Welsh: TBA

## Other

(Please note that none of this is real)

TV spots were released on December 25, 1995, January 14, 1996 and January 18, 1996.

Bolt and Thunder ran in 3,442 theaters from January 14 to April 14, 1996. Four years later in 2000, a direct-to-video sequel, titled Bolt and Thunder II: Cirrus' Adventure came out. The sequel focuses on Bolt and Thunder's son, Cirrus.

A theatrical midquel, BOLT! came out in June 22, 2002.

A spinoff series, S.U.P.E.R. Organization, aired from January 2006 to June 2007, with a total of three seasons. It was rated TV-Y7 for fantasy violence. The show suffered from poor reviews and was cancelled after two seasons.

### Reissue

To promote Bolt and Thunder II: Cirrus' Adventure, it was re-released in theaters on January 7, 2000.

### Trailers

The first teaser trailer
The second teaser trailer came out on June 23, 1995, which was shown before Pochahontas. It aired on Disney Channel on July 4, 1995 for a special Independence Day event.

The first trailer came out on August 3, 1995, the second came out on October 10, the third coming out on November 22 (which was shown before Toy Story) and the final coming out on December 14, 1995.

### Home Video

The VHS came out on December 21, 1996 for Christmas sales. Exactly 1.5 million copies were sold from December 21-25.

The DVD came out on June 21, 2006 for it's 10th anniversary. It was reissued on January 12, 2016 for it's 20th anniversary.

The second DVD came out on February 2, 2007, with a commentary featuring Bolt and Thunder's children.

A 2-Disc Plantinum Edition came out on July 19, 2008. The first disc had the film, while the second had bonus features.

The Blu-Ray came out on March 29, 2011, commemorating it's 15th anniversary. It was reissued on January 12, 2016 for it's 20th anniversary.

The Diamond Edition came out on August 4, 2012.

### Broadway Musical

A musical adaption came out in June 1, 2005. It was translated into Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Japanese, Estonian and Icelandic.

### Merchandising

(Please note that none of this is real)

The first merchandising was at Walt Disney World and several Disney Stores when the film first came out. Then it reissued July-November 1999, January-April 2002, and finally February-June 2007. When the Animal Kingdom opened, merchandising stood there until January 24, 2000. Merchandising can now be found on Amazon.com and eBay.

Merchandise include: Toys, plushies, bedsheets, shirts, books, a Junior Novelization, storybooks, coloring books, postcards, cake figures, wallets and backpacks.

## Trivia

* Most songs were recycled and were given permission to be used.
* This inspired the 2008 Disney CGI film *Bolt.* Thunder, Jolt and many others were cut.
* It is based off a non-published book (called 'A Night For Two Dogs') Robert Vince had written in November 1988, after watching Oliver & Company in a theater. When he heard Joe Bevilacqua wanted to create a film about it, he decided to be the co-director.
* The Spaghetti Kiss is parodied when Bolt and Thunder are eating spaghetti together.
* This would've been Amblin Entertainment's last cel painted movie until the company stopped using cels forever.
* Apparently, during the train scene, the sign says '*CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF THE US EXPRESS: OCTOBER 1'.*Since it is confirmed that Bolt and Thunder takes place in 1995, the *US Express*opened on October 1, 1920.
* During the train scene, there are *New York Times*headlines that are plot details in *The Bark-Park.*They include:
	+ A crossed out headline in the background that looks like 'RABBIT IN DOG-SLED RACE'. This references the climax of the film, in which Destiny is in a dog sled race to retrieve the syrup to Canada.
		- Jolt is actually reading the headline before Bolt grabs onto the sign.
	+ An underlined one which reads '125 STRAY PETS FOUND AND GIVEN HOMES' This references the ending of *The Bark-Park.*
		- *​*It is seen while Bolt, Jolt, Mittens and Rhino are dangling from the sign for a brief time on a train track.
	+ An italic text one is saying '*CHIHUAHUA KILLED, APPARENTLY BY FOSTER-FATHER'.*This references how Pixel was killed by her foster-father Tito.
		- It is dangling from the first bridge you'd see after Bolt falls onto the train, held by duct tape.
	+ A bold text one, the final one, which is just a split-second before Bolt, Jolt, Mittens and Rhino fall off the train, which says '**DOG WHO CAN'T BARK'**. It references Destiny's attempts to bark, only to be releasing squeaks.
		- It falls from somewhere and lands onto a cardboard box on the train.