BOLT (U) Family/Action/Comedy. Featuring the voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell. Directors: Byron Howard, Chris Williams.

MAN’S best friend learns to stand on his own four paws in this computer-animated comedy, which pokes fun at our obsession with celebrity.

For more than 60 years, Walt Disney has been synonymous with exquisite, hand drawn animation. Yet in recent years, the Disney brand has been supplanted by the rise of Pixar and its eye-popping animation, as demonstrated in Toy Story, Finding Nemo and WALL-E.

Now the two brands join forces in Bolt. Breathlessly orchestrated action sequences and the requisite lashings of Disney sentiment guarantee top pedigree entertainment, underscored with a message about the responsibilities that come with owning a four-legged friend.

Since he was a pup, Bolt (voiced by Travolta) has been the star of a hugely popular TV series of the same name, in which he plays a genetically-engineered canine with superpowers who saves plucky owner Penny (Cyrus) from the clutches of the dastardly Dr Calico (McDowell).

The pooch is blissfully unaware that Penny is actually an actress.

When fate throws Bolt out of his cocoon into the big, bad world, he joins forces with a sarcastic alley cat called Mittens (Essman) and a deranged hamster in a ball called Rhino (Walton) to be reunited with distraught Penny.

Bolt is a delightful romp for young and old alike, balancing thrills and spills with broad comedy, most resting in the excitable paws of Rhino, who might just be Bolt's number one fan. The 103-minute running time passes in a swish of a cat’s tail, building to a scorching finale.