"...danger at every turn." "I eat danger for breakfast!" "You hungry?" " Starving!"

I saw Bolt this afternoon with my nephew.

I liked it--and liked it a lot--but he loved it, leaning forward in his chair to watch (as opposed to Wall-E, wherein he was a brat) and the first thing he said when it was over was

"Can we see this again?"

I would say it's not the work of art, (nor quite as sophisticated) as say, the best Pixar films have been. But it is full of a great deal of simple pleasures, like fun and excitement; especially if you are (or are with) a child.

It has a lesson, too, but doesn't beat it to death, and some pretty well-developed characters for an animated children's movie.

Also it genuinely has...noIcan'tbelieveI'msayingthiseither...heart.

Some of that heart comes from a featured song by Jenny Lewis called "Barking at the Moon." I loved this song much more than I've liked most of the new songs I've heard in animated films in the past 10 years or so.

I never warmed to Randy Newman's Toy Story songs. "Beyond the Sea" at the end of Nemo hit me pretty good, but of course, that's not a new song.

(Speaking of Nemo, there's an inside-joke reference to that movie in this one.)

Anyway, I don't know how long this will last, but with luck you should be able to hear the Lewis song below.

Barking at the Moon - Jenny Lewis

I'm hoping it'll get a Academy nom for best song.

John Travolta and especially Miley Cyrus (it must be said) do good work as Bolt the dog and his person, Penny. But both are bettered by Susie Essman as the cat Mittens, a really honest performance, and Mark Walton, a Disney story artist (!) as the manic hamster Rhino.

And the hamster rules. Driving away, my nephew was "clawing" at the back passenger-side window, making believe he was the hamster in his ball.

Speaking of rules, it occurs to me that Bolt is also an exception that tests one of my rules, which is this: Animated movies that bill their celebrity voice cast, as this one bills Travolta and Cyrus, are usually a sign of a movie pretty bad. It means a movie that can't be sold upon it's own entertainment, humor or charm.

Not here, tho. Not by a long shot.

Here's a TV spot.

(after clicking "Play Now," click on "Widescreen" to get rid of those annoying little boxes in the corner)