Look, genius, you're part of a TV show. You know what that is, television? It's entertainment for people. It's fake!Nothing you think is real is real!
„
~ Mittens to Bolt
“
No. No, Bolt! That's what they do, OK? They act like they love you! They act like they'll be there forever! And then one day they pack up all their stuff and move away and take their love with them and leave their declawed cat behind to FEND FOR HERSELF! [Sighs] They leave her... wondering... what she did wrong.
„
~ Mittens expressing her distrust of humans to Bolt, while revealing her tragic past.
“
Mittens: Hey, wags! Bolt: Mittens? What are you doing here? Mittens: Long story short, I was tied to a delusional dog and dragged across the country. But that is not important now. The real question is, what are you doing here? And why aren't you in there? Bolt: You were right about her, Mittens. She... Well, it wasn't real. Mittens: No, Bolt. It is real. I was in there just now. I saw her face after you left. She's brokenhearted. She doesn't want just any dog. She loves you. She's your person, Bolt, and you are her dog.
„
~ Mittens, realizing she was wrong about Penny, tries to convince Bolt that he belongs with her.
Mittens is the deuteragonist of Disney's 2008 film Bolt.
Mittens is a sassy and short-tempered street cat who Bolt at first believed was an agent of Dr. Calico, but later they became friends. She is pessimistic and has a dry sense of humor. She is a thief and a survivor. She wasn't interested in friendship at first, but she is eventually moved by Bolt's loyalty. Judging by her color patterns, she appears to be a Tuxedo cat. She speaks in a New Yorker accent.
She is voiced by Susie Essman in English, and by Makiko Esumi in Japanese.
Bolt: You just can't stop lying, can you, cat? It's in the genes. This is gross. Mittens: I know. It's disgusting. I disgust myself.
„
~ Mittens
Mittens is a very intelligent and street-smart cat and a true friend. Granted by Bolt and herself, lying is in her genes, to her disgust. She has shown to be patient and tolerant, even when dragged around on a leash. However, she suffered great trauma when her owners threw her out, bringing out a lot of the darker side in her. She suffered from traumatophobia, a fear of battle and physical injury. She also became sassy, sarcastic, short-tempered, and pessimistic.
History[]
Mittens has a very sad background as she was originally a house cat who was owned by a seemingly loving family. However, her owners moved away and left her to brave the harsh streets of New York City alone and declawed, which would have decreased her chances of survival due to her lack of claws. Being abandoned got her to adopt a strong distrust and hatred of humans and a "look out for #1" attitude. She managed to survive in New York by gaining control of several pigeons who fear her by forming a mafia-like organization and forcing the pigeons to bring food for her in exchange for protection, however if a pigeon fails to bring enough food to her (Take Louie for example, a pigeon who only brought Mittens half of a crumb) she threatens to use her claws on them and eat them even though she is declawed and therefore has no claws (however the pigeons are unaware of that fact), therefore she is bluffing. She got her just desserts when three pigeons who also worked for her named Joey, Vinnie, and Bobby tricked a disillusioned dog named Bolt into believing she'd aided in kidnapping Bolt's owner, Penny, in order to put an end to all the misery they've been brought up to by Mittens. She plays along with Bolt's mistaken beliefs and eventually teaches him how to beg for food with something called "the dogface".
Later on, they meet a TV-obsessed hamster named Rhino in a trailer park who joins them, and Rhino makes a comment about a "magic box", that enables Mittens to figure out Bolt is part of a TV show, but before she can properly explain, she and Bolt are captured by animal control, but Bolt escapes. Mittens ends up at the pound and loses hope, but is granted a miracle in Bolt coming to her rescue, admitting that he has no super powers. They escape the pound together and continue on their journey while Mittens shows Bolt how to act like a real dog.
When they reach Las Vegas, Mittens finds it a goldmine of food and comfort, and tries to convince Bolt to stick around and that none of what he knew back at the studio is real, including that Penny, being an actress, doesn't love him. Bolt refuses to believe that, causing Mittens to rant and reveal her sad past to Bolt. Bolt insists in believing Penny loves him and sadly bids Mittens farewell, and continues on to Hollywood.
Mittens, feeling depressed, explains to Rhino that Bolt left to "face the green-eyed man alone". Rhino convinces Mittens they can't let Bolt go off alone and they follow him to Hollywood. Mittens witnesses the rehearsal between Penny and a Bolt lookalike but so does Bolt, who leaves, thinking the tender moment he saw between them was real. But Mittens sees that the tender moment between Penny and the Bolt lookalike was just acting and that Penny really does miss Bolt and rushes to tell him. Bolt senses Penny is in danger and they rush to the studio, which has caught on fire. Bolt manages to save Penny and himself. As Bolt and Penny are taken to an ambulance, Mittens and Rhino stow aboard and are eventually adopted by Penny and they all move to a rural home, and Mittens finally gets the family she deserved. She also learned that not all humans are bad after all.
Quotes[]
“
Mittens: Yeah, I'm really scared now. [Bolt pins Mittens to a trash can.] Bolt: You should be! Mittens: [Screams] Okay! Yeah! Bolt: Where is she?! Mittens: Uh... who? Bolt: You know why I'm here. Where is she?! Mittens: Okay, okay. Look, buddy, I don't know what you're getting at, but... Vinnie: Come on, Mittens. Just tell the guy where she is. Tell the dog, make him happy. Bobby: Yeah, yeah, c'mon, Mittens, tell him! Mittens: [Laughs] Joey, Vinnie, Bobby, my boys. Would you tell the crazy canine that he's got the wrong cat?
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~ Mittens meets Bolt for the first time, not the most pleasantly.
“
WHOA! HEY, YOU'RE CRAZY, MAN!
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~ Mittens as Bolt holds her above the traffic to force her to talk.
“
But if you put me down, I'll show you where she is.
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~ Mittens convincing Bolt that she will lead him to Penny.
“
Mittens: You know, I hope you appreciate the risk I'm taking here. Every bone in my evil cat body is telling me not to betray the trust of the Green-Eyed Man. Okay. This is a top, top-secret map of the entire Earth. Now we're over here, by the green lady with the big torch, and my boss has Penny locked up... Uh... Right... Right over... Here, here! By the waffle with the sunglasses. Now all you need to do is get from here to there. Well, I told you where to find her so if you'll just untie me, I'll be on my way. Bolt: I'll release you, cat, when we find Penny. Mittens: Excuse me? That wasn't the deal. We had a deal! Bolt: Your deal just expired.
„
~ Mittens reluctantly helping Bolt, only to have to help him even more.
“
Mittens: Listen, Cujo, I got some pretty wicked claws under these mitts, do not, I beg of you, do not make me bring out these bad boys! It gets ugly! What are you doing? Bolt: Stay back! If I stare at the lock really hard, it'll burst into flames and melt. Mittens: Now I'm concerned on a number of levels.
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~ Mittens to worry about Bolt's strange behavior.
“
Slow down! You're scraping the fur off my...
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~ Mittens before being knocked out against a mailbox.
“
Tuck and what?!
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~ Mittens before Bolt takes her with him in his jump out of the truck.
“
Mittens: It's called blood, hero. Bolt: Do I need it? Mittens: Yes, so if you want to keep it inside your body where it belongs, you should stop jumping off trucks doing 80 ON THE INTERSTATE!!
„
~ Mittens criticizes Bolt's recklessness.
“
Mittens: That's it. I've had it with you. Untie me, pooch, or I'm gonna... I'm gonna... I'm gonna seriously wound you! I'm gonna seriously wound you with this Styrofoam! Bolt: Are you mad? You don't know the power of Styrofoam! Mittens: Oh, you bet I'm mad, baby! And I'm about to unleash it! The power of the Styrofoam!
„
~ Exasperated, Mittens tries to force Bolt to let her go by using his Styrofoam phobia.
“
No, no. No more problems. I'll take you to Penny.
„
~ The failure of Mittens' first escape attempt.
“
Figures I'm tied to the one dog on Earth that doesn't know how to beg. Huh. If you want the f... ah, the antidote, you're gonna have to do exactly what I say.
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~ Mittens annoyed that Bolt doesn't know beg.
“
Hey, can we talk for a second? I don't know what's going on here, but I'm just a little bit concerned about the number of lunatics on this trip. My limit is one.
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~ Mittens refuses to have Rhino join the trip.
“
You're crazy! Stay away from me!
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~ Mittens refuses Bolt's help.
“
The real world hurts, doesn't it?! But you wouldn't know about that, would you?!
„
~ Mittens to Bolt after falling off the train.
“
You can't, Bolt! You got nothing! No super strength, no super bark... and no heat vision! Listen to me, okay? We're being taken to a place where humans go animal shopping, all right? And this is what humans do. They always pick the cute ones. The ones that look like you, Bolt, but the rest of us never come back out.
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~ Mittens to Bolt in the impound truck.
“
Bolt: Mittens? Mittens: Bolt? Wh... Wha... What are you doing here Bolt: I’m busting you out. Mittens: You... You came all the way back here... For me? Bolt: Yeah. Mittens: But how’d you...? I mean... You don’t have any superpowers! Bolt: I know. Mittens: Really? Bolt: Yeah. Mittens: Wow. Crazy day for ya, huh? Bolt: It’s been a lot, yes, it has. Are you ready for this? Mittens: No. Bolt: Me neither.
„
~ Mittens is freed from her cage.
“
Ah, don't worry about it. Being a regular dog is, like, the greatest gig in the world. Okay? Look. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, okay? A little-known cat secret. You know why we hate dogs? 'Cause we wanna be dogs. We have dog complexes.
„
~ Mittens explains why cats hate dogs
“
Mittens: And on cold nights, this and a ball of yarn... It doesn't get better than that. Bolt: You, uh... You seem to know a lot about these places. Mittens: Yeah, I did my time in one of these, but I'm more of an alley cat at heart, you know? Sprung out first chance I got. Never looked back.
„
~ Mittens briefly talks about her time as a pet.
“
Okay, okay. No peeking. All right, now, open them. Bask in the glow, baby.
„
~ Mittens showing Bolt what she believed to be their permanent residence.
“
Look at me, Bolt. I'm real. Now, how about this? Is that real? Does this look real to you? Or that? Is that real? Or that? How about that, Bolt? She's an actress. She's just pretending.
„
~ Mittens objects to Bolt continuing to go find Penny because she doesn't believe their bond is real.
“
Mittens: Get out of here, Bolt! I never should've taken pity on you. Bolt: Mittens... Mittens: Just get out of here, Bolt! Bolt: [Starts to walk away] You take care, Mittens.
„
~ Mittens and Bolt go their separate ways.
“
NOT on My Watch Rhodent!
„
~ Mittens saves Rhino.
“
Rhino: That is totally unrealistic. Bolt: Absolutely ridonculous. Mittens: You could say that again. [Gets scratched by Penny's mom] Oh, yeah. Right there, right there. Over. Yeah, that's the spot.
„
~ Mittens enjoying her new life.
Gallery[]
"Yeah, well, the deal just expired. Now get lost."
"Now I'm concerned on a number of levels."
Mittens pinned against a trash can.
"But if you put me down, I'll show you where she is."
"Uh... "We,"?"
Mittens realizes Bolt is a TV dog.
Mittens refuses to come down from the tree.
"You got nothing! No super strength, no super bark... and no heat vision!"
"No, thanks. It's really a dog thing."
Mittens encourages Bolt to play with another dog.
Mittens happy about her new life.
Trivia[]
Mittens shares a resemblance to the character Kitty Softpaws. Both are female cats, living alone, do not have claws and are obviously of the same breed.
Although she claims cats hate dogs because they dream of being dogs, Mittens seems to actually enjoy the cat life.
In the trailer for the film, Mittens unsuccessfully tries to loosen the leash Bolt has attached to her waist, a scene that was omitted into the film.