Granted, no one is better than Disney at wringing it’s young in-house stars for all they’re worth. In the case of Bolt, they’re getting the most mileage out of Miley Cyrus. But this particular animated feature is so pleasant and creative that young teenager Penny could have been voiced by just about anyone and been a hit. The fact that it includes a kicky duet called “I Thought I Lost You” by Miley and fellow-voicer John Travolta is a wonderful added bonus.

The film begins with a warm puppy adoption scene—what could be more endearing than that? The puppy grows up to be superdog Bolt (Travolta), who, along with his companion Penny, can solve any crime, foil any villain and rescue any damn soul in distress…at least on camera. Bolt lives on a studio, and believes he’s the real deal, until he finds himself separated from Penny on a real world adventure in the company of a snide feline (Susie Essman) and a hysterical fan hampster who travels in a clear plastic ball (Mark Walton). Walton, who has a voice you’ve heard in Home on the Range and Chicken Little, is one of the best things about the movie. Essman, best known for playing the wife of Larry David’s manager on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is one of the film’s few low points. She’s just not distinctive or interesting enough to make an impression alongside Travolta and Walton—a little like Bonnie Hunt in Cars, if anyone can even remember that performance. You will, however, remember the 3-D effects in Bolt, available in some theaters, and they’re worth making the added effort to see. Little dog lost and found movies never grow tiresome, especially in a year where we’ve been subjected to a number of films (Red, Hound Dog, for example), that actually kill the dog in the beginning of the film. But Bolt cleverly mixes in hints of Entourage and The Truman Show, along with a good measure of Lassie, to charm a new generation with an update of a  classic dog tail…er, I mean tale. Rated PG.

—Lisa Johnson Mandell