As Webster says:
A strong pin, of iron or other material, used to fasten or hold something in place, often having a head at one end and screw thread cut upon the other end.

In climbing, bolts have had a contentious history. A bolt on a climb makes the climb very safe. As you climb, you get to the bolt and clip your carabiner straight into it. There is no messing around with gear and you can place a bolt on an otherwise blank face of rock. However, to place the bolt, one usually has to drill a hole in the rock and then glue the bolt into the rock.

'For bolts' is the safety argument. 'Against bolts' is the idea that you should take only photos, leave only footprints. Bolting a climb changes the character of the rock. Before the introduction of bolts, if someone wanted to do a dangerous climb, they just did it. If they didn't have the balls to do the climb, then the climb would have to wait for someone who did.

The issue of bolting has become a holy war in climbing. If you bolt without consensus, you are likely to find that some groups will have come along and removed or chopped off the bolts.

Personally, I am of the ethic "the only good bolt is a chopped bolt" and "when in doubt run it out."

It is also a 'lovely' device to humanely kill livestock (cattle, horses, and such). The device is a gun of sorts that shoots a retractable rod into the brain of the animal. Its intent is to kill instantly.

A book, titled "Bolt," by Dick Francis, features the device.

Disney Animated Features
<< Meet the Robinsons | The Princess and the Frog >>

Release Date: 21 November 2007

Fans of Chris Sanders, the creative force behind the "quirky" film Lilo & Stitch, were intrigued and excited when word came of his next project for Disney, to be titled American Dog. They were equally devastated and disappointed when Sanders was removed from the project by new Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter and the film was "homogenized" (by their reckoning) and retitled Bolt.

Supposedly, Sanders' concept was just too quirky, and he refused to make the changes Lasseter felt were necessary to finish a quality film. Yet it was precisely that unique Sanders touch which his fans sought, so their disappointment was understandable. Sanders has since left Disney and moved on to Dreamworks; whether this move is ultimately best for both Sanders and Disney remains to be seen.

Despite the controversy, the very basic core of Sanders' story remains, and the historical details of the film's production should in no way diminish the quality of the result on the screen. Bolt is a good, satisfying film not out of place at all in the Disney canon.

Bolt is the canine star of an action-adventure television series. He portrays a dog with superpowers, intent on protecting his human charge, a girl named Penny, from all manner of evil intent, mostly perpetrated by the malevolent Green-Eyed Man.

There's just one problem—Bolt, the actor, thinks it's all real.

The entire production has been carefully—and, no doubt, expensively—staged to hide any evidence of fiction from the dog's perceptions. The director insists on the authenticity created by inducing real emotions in Bolt, rather than filming the results of training. These methods may work on the screen, but it causes problems when a cliffhanger ending to the day's filming leaves Bolt anxious to save Penny, and he escapes.

Improbably, Bolt finds himself 3,000 miles from Hollywood, still believing Penny is in danger, and with no clue that he's nothing more than an actor. He sets off across the country with a selfish alley cat and a worshipful hamster to find Penny and defeat the Green-Eyed Man once and for all.

The plot is admittedly predictable—no adult moviegoer is going to doubt that Bolt will eventually realize that he never had superpowers, while ending up ultimately happier for the knowledge that his beloved Penny is no longer in constant danger. For kids, though, who perhaps have not seen this type of plot numerous times before, the movie addresses these elements well.

As in several recent Disney films, the lead voice actors are celebrities, but their voices are relatively unobtrusive and the characterizations are not designed around the celebrities. This is a change from the way things worked in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, when, say, the part of Baloo in The Jungle Book was written specifically with Phil Harris in mind, or Robin Williams completely changed the way Aladdin's Genie was animated.

John Travolta voices Bolt, and teen sensation Miley Cyrus voices Penny. There's not much more to say about that, except that both actors do fine jobs with their material. The two also duet to sing the soundtrack's lead song, "I Thought I Lost You," co-written by Cyrus.

The film, like Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons, was released in Disney Digital 3D in select theaters, but, as in the earlier films, the 3D effect is largely unnecessary. The film was also released with a 3D short, featuring Mater from Disney-Pixar's Cars in "Tokyo Mater", one of "Mater's Tall Tales".

With humor, action, adventure, and heart, Bolt is a very good film, despite its tumultuous history. Its simplistic story and predictable plot, though, means it's not likely to ever be counted among the company's finest.

Information for the Disney Animated Features series of nodes comes from the IMDb (www.imdb.com), Frank's Disney Page (http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/), and the dark recesses of my own memory.

Bolt (?), n. [AS. bolt; akin to Icel. bolti, Dan. bolt, D. bout, OHG. bolz, G. bolz, bolzen; of uncertain origin.]

1.

A shaft or missile intended to be shot from a crossbow or catapult, esp. a short, stout, blunt-headed arrow; a quarrel; an arrow, or that which resembles an arrow; a dart.

Look that the crossbowmen lack not bolts. Sir W. Scott.

A fool's bolt is soon shot. Shak.

2.

Lightning; a thunderbolt.

3.

A strong pin, of iron or other material, used to fasten or hold something in place, often having a head at one end and screw thread cut upon the other end.

4.

A sliding catch, or fastening, as for a door or gate; the portion of a lock which is shot or withdrawn by the action of the key.

5.

An iron to fasten the legs of a prisoner; a shackle; a fetter.

[Obs.]

Away with him to prison! lay bolts enough upon him. Shak.

6.

A compact package or roll of cloth, as of canvas or silk, often containing about forty yards.

7.

A bundle, as of oziers.

Bolt auger, an auger of large size; an auger to make holes for the bolts used by shipwrights. -- Bolt and nut, a metallic pin with a head formed upon one end, and a movable piece (the nut) screwed upon a thread cut upon the other end. See B, C, and D, in illust. above.

See Tap bolt, Screw bolt, and Stud bolt.

 

© Webster 1913.


Bolt, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bolted; p. pr. & vb. n. Bolting.]

1.

To shoot; to discharge or drive forth.

2.

To utter precipitately; to blurt or throw out.

I hate when Vice can bolt her arguments. Milton.

3.

To swallow without chewing; as, to bolt food.

4. U. S. Politics

To refuse to support, as a nomination made by a party to which one has belonged or by a caucus in which one has taken part.

5. Sporting

To cause to start or spring forth; to dislodge, as conies, rabbits, etc.

6.

To fasten or secure with, or as with, a bolt or bolts, as a door, a timber, fetters; to shackle; to restrain.

Let tenfold iron bolt my door. Langhorn.

Which shackles accidents and bolts up change. Shak.

 

© Webster 1913.


Bolt (?), v. i.

1.

To start forth like a bolt or arrow; to spring abruptly; to come or go suddenly; to dart; as, to bolt out of the room.

This Puck seems but a dreaming dolt, . . . And oft out of a bush doth bolt. Drayton.

2.

To strike or fall suddenly like a bolt.

His cloudless thunder bolted on their heads. Milton.

3.

To spring suddenly aside, or out of the regular path; as, the horse bolted.

4. U.S. Politics

To refuse to support a nomination made by a party or a caucus with which one has been connected; to break away from a party.

 

© Webster 1913.


Bolt, adv.

In the manner of a bolt; suddenly; straight; unbendingly.

[He] came bolt up against the heavy dragoon. Thackeray.

Bolt upright. (a) Perfectly upright; perpendicular; straight up; unbendingly erect. Addison. (b) On the back at full length. [Obs.]

Chaucer.

 

© Webster 1913.


Bolt, n. [From Bolt, v. i.]

1.

A sudden spring or start; a sudden spring aside; as, the horse made a bolt.

2.

A sudden flight, as to escape creditors.

This gentleman was so hopelessly involved that he contemplated a bolt to America -- or anywhere. Compton Reade.

3. U. S. Politics

A refusal to support a nomination made by the party with which one has been connected; a breaking away from one's party.

 

© Webster 1913.


Bolt, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bolted; p. pr. & vb. n. Bolting.] [OE. bolten, boulten, OF. buleter, F. bluter, fr. Ll. buletare, buratare, cf. F. bure coarse woolen stuff; fr. L. burrus red. See Borrel, and cf. Bultel.]

1.

To sift or separate the coarser from the finer particles of, as bran from flour, by means of a bolter; to separate, assort, refine, or purify by other means.

He now had bolted all the flour. Spenser.

Ill schooled in bolted language. Shak.

2.

To separate, as if by sifting or bolting; -- with out.

Time and nature will bolt out the truth of things. L'Estrange.

3. Law

To discuss or argue privately, and for practice, as cases at law.

Jacob.

To bolt to the bran, to examine thoroughly, so as to separate or discover everything important.

Chaucer.

This bolts the matter fairly to the bran. Harte.

The report of the committee was examined and sifted and bolted to the bran. Burke.

 

© Webster 1913.


Bolt, n.

A sieve, esp. a long fine sieve used in milling for bolting flour and meal; a bolter.

B. Jonson.

 

© Webster 1913.

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