Box office On its opening weekend, the film opened in third place, earning $26.2 million behind
Twilight and
Quantum of Solace. On its
second weekend, it rose to second place, earning nearly $26.6 million behind
Four Christmases. Overall,
Bolt grossed $114.1 million in the United States and Canada and $195.9 million in international territories, totaling $310 million worldwide. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Kenneth Turan of the
Los Angeles Times wrote that
Bolt was "a sweet Disney family film, but Lasseter's oversight has made it smarter than it otherwise would have been. It's not in Pixar's league, but it's laced with idiosyncratic characters with pleasantly wacky attitudes. That may sound like the obvious thing to do but that doesn't mean anyone else has done it." Michael Rechtshaffen of
The Hollywood Reporter felt the film was a "notable step up for Walt Disney Animation Studios", although he felt the script needed "more of a comedic punch, with fuller character quirks and complexities to go along with the enhanced visual dimension." Nevertheless, Rechtshaffen complimented the vocal performances from Travolta, Cyrus, and Malcolm McDowell.
Todd McCarthy, reviewing for
Variety, noted the film was an "OK Disney animated entry enhanced by nifty 3-D projection" as it "bears some telltale signs of Pixar's trademark smarts, but still looks like a mutt compared to the younger company's customary purebreds."
A. O. Scott of
The New York Times complimented the film as "a real movie[,] not a great one, perhaps, but a more organic and thought-out piece of work than the usual animated hodgepodge that lures antsy children and their dutiful parents into the multiplexes. It has its sentimental strains, but it doesn't push them too hard, or resort to the crude, pandering humor of, say, the
Shrek franchise." Perry Seibert of
TV Guide gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote the film "amuses both those who make up the film's target audience and the parents along for the ride. This winning mix of exciting action, heart-tugging sentiment, and gentle character comedy makes
Bolt yet another solid addition to Disney's history of family-friendly fare." Tasha Robinson of
The A.V. Club gave the film a B+, stating that "
Bolt is the studio's first film since
Lilo & Stitch that feels like it's trying to recapture the old Disney instead of aggressively shedding it in favor of something slick and new. And yet it comes with a healthy cutting-edge Pixar flavor as well."
Michael Phillips of the
Chicago Tribune awarded the film stars out of four, writing he personally "felt abandoned just watching it. It's a seriously withholding action comedy, stingy on the wit, charm, jokes, narrative satisfactions and animals with personalities sharp enough for the big screen, either in 2-D or 3-D. I saw it in 3-D, which helped, especially with an early, massively destructive chase through the streets and freeways of Los Angeles. Plus, the herky-jerky movements in the head and neck region of three credulous pigeons -- those were funny."
Joe Morgenstern of
The Wall Street Journal wrote: "I did not find
Bolt lovable. Likable, yes, and occasionally endearing -- yet the best parts involve a hamster in a plastic ball. The movie dog's confusions are entertaining, though they're familiar to anyone who has seen
Buzz Lightyear in Pixar's peerless
Toy Story films. But the spunk of the hamster, a corpulent rodent named Rhino, is stirring, and there's a timeless purity to the spectacle of him scurrying around in his private little sphere."
Accolades Bolt was nominated for the following awards: ==Video games==