Believe it or not -- and, honestly, who would have believed it seven or eight months ago? -- it turns out that the best animated film created under the Disney imprimatur this year is not the one masterminded by the pixel-pushers in the Pixar annex. "Bolt," the second title (after last year's "Meet the Robinsons") to come out of the reorganized Walt Disney Animation Studios, is a better movie than Pixar's "WALL*E."

The title of both movies is also the name of the main character, and lonesome litterbot WALL*E is more memorable and charming than the somewhat generic Bolt, an American White Shepherd fiercely devoted to his "person." On the other hand, Bolt the dog is a fine and worthy addition to Disney's impressive canon of canines, and "Bolt" the movie is a sweet-hearted romp, winsome, wily and well supplied with chortles, giggles and even a couple of belly laughs.

Bolt is a pup with pluck, the companion and protector of teenage Penny, and the life they share is like something out of the mind of J.J. Abrams, creator of "Alias" and "Lost." It's exactly like that, actually: Penny and Bolt are the stars of an action/adventure TV show. Each week they tangle with the minions of Dr. Calico, the nefarious Green-Eyed Man, and each week they get one tantalizing step closer to rescuing Penny's father, a kidnapped scientist.

The twist, and it's a lulu, is that only one of them knows the truth. Penny's life is a swirl of production and promotion that comes with an obsequious agent, a tyrannical network rep, a self-absorbed director and one gently befuddled showbiz parent.

Bolt, on the other hand, is confined to Penny's trailer whenever the cameras aren't rolling and thinks he's actually a scientifically engineered superdog. He has no idea that it's the magic of special effects that lets him lift stretch limousines with his mouth, or knock sinister black helicopters out of the sky.

Then one day Bolt inadvertently escapes and is transported clear across the country before anyone realizes he's gone. Our poochy protagonist's foremost concern is for Penny, but after more and more time passes in which his powers don't seem to function, well, how does a legend-in-his-own-mind confront the Elvis-like self-knowledge that he ain't nothin' but a hound dog?

The action-packed beginning of "Bolt" may be a little too intense for very young viewers, but moms, dads and older children will be delighted. And the transcontinental quest to get back to Hollywood that pairs up Bolt with a savvy street feline named Mittens will appeal to viewers of all ages.

Parents will especially enjoy the behind-the-scenes showbiz humor that carries through the movie, much of it as savvy as anything you'd see on adults-only "industry" comedies like "Entourage." (You have a very different breed of pigeon in Los Angeles, for example, than what you'd see in New York.)

The crisp visuals are both clever and imaginative. There are lots of engaging throwaway details, and the character animation seamlessly blends human expressions and body language with the recognizable twitches, posture and movements of various animals.

John Travolta and Miley Cyrus do fine, solid work as the voices of, respectively, Bolt and Penny. Susie Essman is even better as cranky Mittens, however, and the movie's real find is Mark Walton as a TV-addled hamster named Rhino who worships Bolt and gets around in a clear plastic ball. The depth of Rhino's belief in Bolt is both comical and touching, which is more or less in line with the movie as a whole. It brings the funny and it has a lot of heart.

"Every minute spent in your company becomes the new greatest minute of my life," Rhino proudly proclaims to Bolt. I'm not quite that enthusiastic about "Bolt" myself -- it's a solid second-fiddle to the magical "Kung Fu Panda" in the Best Animated Movie of 2008 standings -- but I can dig what Rhino is saying.

A

Bolt

Director: Bryon Howard and Chris Williams

Cast: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton

Running time: 1 hr., 36 min.

Rating: PG for some mild action and peril

Location: Opens Friday at theaters everywhere