History WesternAnimation / Bolt

* TravelMontage: The stretch of Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino's journey from Elmwood County, Ohio to Las Vegas patches together vignettes featuring the three pets underscored by the song "Barking at the Moon." Many of these show Mittens teaching Bolt how to act like a normal dog rather than a superhero.

** Bolt understandably is very much a FishOutOfWater, given that he has never known any reality other than that on his ShowWithinAShow. He believes the real world conforms to the "reality" presented on his TV program, complete with Dr. Calico being behind all the world's evil and all cats being that villain's minions. The dog also behaves as if his super powers are real, causing much grief to himself and his friends, until he learns otherwise.

* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Inverted with the eager but naive Bolt, and the down-and-out, sharp-witted Mittens. They're essentially a platonic inversion of the typical 1930s ScrewballComedy couple.

-->'''Mittens:''' Rhino... the hamster?
-->'''Rhino:''' Well, my ancestry isn't all hamster. I'm one-sixteenth wolf with, you know, a little wolverine in there somewhere...

-->'''Mittens:''' We had a deal!
-->'''Bolt:''' Your deal just expired.
-->'''Louie:''' She said that to me not ten minutes ago. The irony!

-->'''Bolt:''' If I stare at the lock really hard, it'll burst into flames and melt.
-->'''Mittens:''' ''[with a look of shock]'' Now I'm concerned on a number of levels.

* CanineConfusion: Bolt is an unusually small white shepherd. White shepherds are an off-shoot of German shepherd and are a large breed. At his adult size he's the same size as a house cat, under half the size he should be. He's puppy-sized, not adult-sized. Another white Shepherd is shown and it's the same size, so it isn't just Bolt being unusually small.

* AdultFear: The scene where Penny's mother is frantically searching for her daughter in the confusion and chaos outside the burning building is obviously the woman's worst nightmare. She frantically runs from person to person asking "Have you seen my daughter? Has anyone seen my baby?"

* PuppyDogEyes: Mittens teaches Bolt to put on a soulful expression to beg for food. It doesn't work as well when ''she'' tries it out herself. Rhino also does these at a few points, though out of his personal excitement rather than for any practical purpoaw.
* ThisIsReality: The premise of the movie. Bolt's early attempts to use his superpowers in the real-world ''never'' end well. It takes him a while to start learning that he doesn't actually have any.

* PuppyDogEyes: Mittens teaches Bolt to put on a soulful expression to beg for food. It doesn't work as well when ''she'' tries it out herself. Rhino also does these at a few points, though out of his personal excitement rather than for any practical purpose.
* SeasonalRot: InUniverse

* SeasonalPlot: InUniverse, Mindy complains about the show's plot becoming a bit too repetitive and the ratings slipping as a result. This leads to the director trying to make a more interesting cliffhanger, which inadvertently results in Bolt running away. [[spoiler: It is hinted the revamped show will go in this direction anyways: Rhino finds the plot of Penny and Bolt being abducted by aliens a bit too ridiculous]].

** The show was already beginning to decline in ratings, as the formula of "Bolt saves Penny" was getting old according to Mindy. The director's attempt at livening up the storyline is what led to Bolt fleeing the studio.

* EarAche: Mittens bites onto Bolt’s ear and drags him protestingly over to a billboard, attempting to convince him that Penny’s love for the dog isn’t real and he should remain with Mittens in Las Vegas. Bolt’s reaction makes clear that he finds this painful.

->[[Music/JennyLewis ♫ ''There is no home like the one you've got\\
'Cause that home belongs to you!'' ♫]]

->''There is no home like the one you've got\\
'Cause that home belongs to you!''
----

* ArtisticLicenseFilmProduction: In real life, the scenes of a television show are rarely filmed in the order they're scripted (The "cliffhanger" of Penny's capture certainly wouldn't have been saved for last). Not to mention, putting so much effort into EnforcedMethodActing for a dog would be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. This is a somewhat {{deconstructed|Trope}}, as Mindy from the Network is annoyed at how the production seems to have misplaced priorities and threatens to start firing people. [[invoked]]

* ArtisticLicenseBiology:
** Mittens' [[spoiler:being a declawed cat]] is treated a bit differently than it is in real life. In actuality, [[spoiler:the procedure involves amputating parts of the cat's paws]]. In ''Bolt'', [[spoiler:it's more like just her claws were removed]]; her paws otherwise seem fully intact, enough so that she can point to the Waffle World map with one of her digits.
** The fact that Bolt and Penny survived the studio fire is nothing short of miraculous. Even if they had managed to avoid being burned, they almost certainly would have died from smoke inhalation in the enclosed space -- something which most commonly kills fire victims and furthermore claims its victims quickly.

* TheSociopath: Penny's agent shows an utter LackOfEmpathy towards Penny's concerns for her dog, caring more about the girl's career than her well-being. When Penny nearly dies from smoke inhalation, he callously insists to her traumatized mother that they use the near-tragedy for publicity advantage (which is, understandably, the final straw for her).

* ThatPoorCat: Invoked when someone throws a frying pan at Mittens at the trailer park.

* TranslationConvention: Whenever it switches to a human's perspective, all they hear is realistic animal noises.

* PowerTrio: Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino (more or less). If you squint a bit, they can fit the ThreeAmigos, TwoGuysAndAGirl, or ComicTrio trope.

* ThatPoorCat: Involked when someone throws a frying pan at Mittens at the trailer park.

* StockSuperpowers: In-show, Bolt has EyeBeams, a [[MakeMeWannaShout Super Bark]], SuperStrength, and SuperSpeed. Basically, he's a FlyingBrick, without the actual flying part.

* RealityEnsues: The premise of the movie. Bolt's early attempts to use his superpowers in the real-world ''never'' end well. It takes him a while to start learning that he doesn't actually have any.

* HateSink: Seeing as this film has no real antagonist, Penny's agent, who is the only character that the film really shows in a negative fashion, qualifies as this. The director and Mindy qualify as well[[note]]The director due to his odd... "vision", and Mindy due to her telling Penny not to keep searching for her dog while she works with a replacement for the show.[[/note]], however the former isn't seen very much at all after that (and his "vision" is implied to be crushed due to Bolt's disappearance. Notice how Bolt's replacement is treated more like a regular dog) and the latter shows up later to [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure to regretfully inform Penny that she needs to move on, because peoples' jobs are at stake]].

** Rhino does the same thing earlier in the movie, saying how he dreams of doing something really [[RunningGag awesome]] (and Bolt was the one who inspired this dream) in order to motivate the dog to rescue Mittens. Although he let it slip that he's referring to himself.

* GasCylinderRocket: A gas tank in the animal shelter's back room loses its nozzle, shoots out into the parking lot, and knocks a neon sign over, destroying a car.

* HamsterWheelPower: At the very end we find the roll of the ClosingCredits is hamster-powered.

** Occurs shortly after Bolt returns to the studio. He runs to Penny, thinking she's welcoming his back, only to see his replacement dash up and get hugged by her instead. The shocked look on Bolt's face is heartbreaking, and he sadly trudges away.

* LackOfEmpathy: Penny's agent is plenty annoying as it is -- but his complete inability to relate to Penny on a basic level of human decency, especially when she's visibly worried for Bolt's well being, is particularly noteworthy. [[FreezeFrameBonus Look closely]] at his face when Penny asks to take Bolt home. He rolls his eyes before turning around and pretending to be her best friend in a painfully transparent attempt at softening the inevitable "[[FlatNo no]]". [[spoiler: Not to mention his enthusiastic suggestion that Bolt and Penny's near death experience in the studio fire be used for publicity and suggesting this to Penny's already distressed mother. Yeah, he had that punch coming.]]