Bolt (PG) **½

Not much depth unless you see the 3-D version.

By Rene Rodriguez, The Miami Herald

There are two sorts of modern-day Disney cartoons: The ones made by Pixar and everything else. Bolt, the studio's newest release, has traces of Pixar-ish humor and characterizations: The cast of talking animals includes a hamster named Rhino (voiced by Mark Walton) personable enough to have landed a job in Ratatouille's kitchen.

But Bolt also has that formulaic, cookie-cutter feel typical of many Disney toons. The premise is inspired, but the follow-through is merely adequate. The story centers on the titular pooch (voiced by John Travolta), who plays a super-powered dog on a popular TV show where he's constantly rescuing his owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) from evildoers.

It's only after Bolt is separated from his master and accidentally shipped off to New York that he starts to suspect he really can't do everything he does on TV. Directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard give their hero a pair of sidekicks to accompany him on his adventure-filled trek home: The aforementioned hamster, who happens to be trapped inside a plastic ball, and the seen-it-all feline Mittens (Susie Essman).

Bolt is the first Disney cartoon to have been designed specifically with 3-D projection in mind, and although the movie is also being released in regular ''flat'' versions, the 3-D gimmickry makes the film a lot more than tolerable. Many of the visual gags and bits of action are choreographed to take advantage of the technology, which adds considerably to the fun, since the verbal sparring between Bolt and Mittens is light on wit and the story, much like Beverly Hills Chihuahua, lacks much originality. Wall-E, it's not, but its target kiddie audience will have no problem whatsoever adopting Bolt.

Voices: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell, James Lipton.

Directors: Chris Williams, Byron Howard.

Screenwriters: Dan Fogelman, Chris Williams.

Producer: Clark Spencer.

A Walt Disney Pictures release. Running time: 96 minutes. Brief moments of cute animals in peril. Playing at area theaters.

In this image released by Disney Enterprises, animated characters, from left, Bolt, Mittens and Rhino are shown in a scene from the film, "Bolt."