History Fridge / Bolt

*** Considering how badly the show JumpedTheShark after everyone was replaced, it's safe to assume that it got canceled shortly thereafter. So [[ForWantOfANail this simple ratings boost]] was a fool's errand.

** The studio seems willing to do anything to get good ratings, like the ridiculously unsafe set design; [[spoiler:torches that use real fire (instead of the fake fire they use at some restaurants) surrounding a pad below a little girl who's literally tied up? Even if they didn't expect the dog to end up knocking over the torches, they couldn't be certain the torches WOULDN'T get knocked over, making it still indefensibly unsafe. Either the set designers DidntThinkThisThrough, or they thought having slightly more convincing fire was worth risking the life of a little girl over.]]

* Bolt doesn't have super powers, but pretends that he does because he believes he does. Mittens doesn't have claws, but pretends that she does because she knows she doesn't, but that's all she's got. Think about it. So similar, and yet different...

* When Penny tells Bolt to "zoom-zoom" as they're fleeing the fire, Penny coughs uncontrollably while Bolt seems unaffected. Smoke rises, and Penny's much taller than Bolt, so is inhaling much more of it.

** To top it all off [[spoiler:the movie ends [[EsotericHappyEnding without resolving any of this]]. Bolt is still airing and it's never suggested that our antagonists are [[IncrediblyLamePun fired]] or learn anything. This is bad news for the new dog/girl hire.]]That's likely why Penny and her mother quit the show instead of just getting their agent fired. JerkWithAHeartOfJerk as he is, it's not the agent's fault that the fire started, nor is it his idea to make Bolt think everything in the show was real. It wouldn't have made a difference if he was fired, and that is assuming the executive would even care to even listen to them.

* The replacement dog that accidentally causes the fire and is never seen again. Did the poor thing ''die in the fire?'' Sure we see another Bolt in the epilogue during the Aliens episode, but given that they were so willing to replace the first Bolt, how certain can we be that that isn't just Bolt #3.

* [[spoiler: The replacement dog that accidentally causes the fire and is never seen again. Did the poor thing ''die in the fire?'']]
** [[spoiler: The replacement Bolt is fine, as he is seen later in the "aliens" episode.]]

** The in-universe studio's EnforcedMethodActing is deceptive, manipulative, and evidently places a huge burden of emotional distress on Bolt, even before he [[FromBadToWorse escapes while still thinking he has super powers]]. Given that this is all done merely to make his performance seem more convincing, it borders on animal abuse.

* [[spoiler: The replacement dog that accidentally causes the fire and is never seen again. Did the poor thing ''die in the fire'']]?

* [[spoiler: The show going in a new direction, with a plot about Penny and Bolt being abducted by aliens, makes sense. Mindy threatened to fire the crew if they couldn't get the ratings up. The studio causing a fire that could've killed people, sent the lead actress to the hospital, and Penny's mom quitting on the spot is the kind of clusterfuck that would enrage someone like Mindy and drive her to fire the idiots responsible. Plus, it is implied Mindy does genuinely care about Penny as a person]].

* This movie has lots of it, but the in-universe studio takes the cake. Its EnforcedMethodActing is deceptive, manipulative, and evidently places a huge burden of emotional distress on Bolt, even before he [[FromBadToWorse escapes while still thinking he has super powers]]. Given that this is all done merely to make his performance seem more convincing, it borders on animal abuse. And then there's the ridiculously unsafe set design; [[spoiler:torches that use real fire (instead of the fake fire they use at some restaurants) surrounding a pad below a little girl who's literally tied up? Even if they didn't expect the dog to end up knocking over the torches, they couldn't be certain the torches WOULDN'T get knocked over, making it still indefensibly unsafe. Either the set designers DidntThinkThisThrough, or they thought having slightly more convincing fire was worth risking the life of a little girl over.]]
** To top it all off [[spoiler:the movie ends [[EsotericHappyEnding without resolving any of this]]. Bolt is still airing and it's never suggested that our antagonists are [[IncrediblyLamePun fired]] or learn anything. This is bad news for the new dog/girl hire.]]

** That's likely why Penny and her mother quit the show instead of just getting their agent fired. JerkWithAHeartOfJerk as he is, it's not the agent's fault that the fire started, nor is it his idea to make Bolt think everything in the show was real. It wouldn't have made a difference if he was fired, and that is assuming the executive would even care to even listen to them.
** Really, Bolt was a danger to himself and others when he thought the show was real. He could easily have been killed many times when he tried to jump over things, stood in front of cars expecting not to get hurt and jumped out of trucks. He also thought all cats were evil and thought nothing of holding Mittens above a road full of cars to get information.

* A deleted scene showed an alternate way of Bolt realizing he had no powers, which was portrayed more darkly. Bolt manages to get some food given to him by a butcher shop owner. As he leaves to enjoy his meal, two big stray dogs confront him to take the food. Bolt confidently faces off with the two dogs, warning that they picked a fight with the wrong dog. Unfortunately, the expected consequences bites back in the worst way as Bolt gets mercilessly beaten to within an inch of his life before the stray dogs leave with his food. A horrified Mittens finds Bolt barely alive some time later.

* A deleted scene showed an alternate way of Bolt realizing he had no powers, which was portrayed more darkly. Bolt manages to get some food given to him by a butcher shop owner. As he leaves to enjoy his meal, two big stray dogs confront him to take the food. Bolt confidently faces off with the two dogs, warning that they picked a fight with the wrong dog. Unfortunately, the expected conseuences bites back in the worst way as Bolt gets mercilessly beaten to within an inch of his life before the stray dogs leave with his food. A horrified Mittens finds Bolt barely alive some time later.

* A deleted scene showed an alternate way of Bolt realizing he had no powers, which was portrayed more darkly. Bolt manages to get some food given to him by a butcher shop owner. As he leaves to enjoy his meal, two big stray dogs confront him to take the food. Bolt confidently faces off with the two dogs, warning that they picked a fight with the wrong dog. Unfortunately, RealityEnsues in the worst way as Bolt gets mercilessly beaten to within an inch of his life before the stray dogs leave with his food. A horrified Mittens finds Bolt barely alive some time later.

** Essentially: In real life, a single slip-up could easily have resulted in Bolt being ''euthanized,'' not out of cruelty or lack of compassion but because he would have been driven to the point of being an ''active threat to everyone around him except Penny.'' All because the studio exec thought it made his shlocky action show more realistic.

** And this is the dog a studio executive ''took pride'' in pushing to his emotional limits every week.

** Really, Bolt was a danger to himself and others when he thought the show was real. He could easily have been killed many times when he tried to jump over things, stood in front of cars expecting not to get hurt and jumped out of trucks. He also thought all cats were evil and thought nothing of holding Mittens above a road full of cars to get information.

* While at first the opening scene seems typical or even trite--of ''course'' Bolt, the one dog that's visibly different, is also the only one behaving differently from the other puppies and also somehow the only one that notices and is interested in greeting a young Penny, he's the protagonist. It actually makes sense, though--the other puppies appear to be both younger and of a softer, calmer, more companionate breed, and they're focused on the shelter worker because he has their breakfast. Bolt, on the other hand, has the classic build of a white-morph German Shepherd mix--an intelligent, energetic, high-drive breed that needs a lot more than just kibble to motivate them. He's not ignoring the shelter worker because he's Special And Unique; he's ignoring the shelter worker because he's ''bored,'' and much more interested in the interesting novel stimulus of a new person than in his breakfast.

** Really, Bolt was a danger to himself and others when he thought the show was real. He could easily have been killed many times when he tried to jump over things, stood in front of cars expecting not to get hurt and jumped out of trucks. He also thought all cats were evil and thought nothing of holding Mittens above a road full of cars to get information.
* Mittens was able to rescue Rhino when he [[spoiler: attempted a HeroicSacrifice during the burning studio scene by unscrewing the exit cover and taking him out before he was crushed by the debris he was trying to hold up with the hamster ball. Had the cover exit been positioned from the inside of the burning building or beneath Rhino's feet, Rhino would have performed a genuine HeroicSacrifice while his friends was unable to rescue him from being crushed to death.]]

*** Arguably, they very well could have ''replaced the entire production staff'', which would explain the show taking such a drastic turn of direction.