Bolt (2008)

We all know and love the standard Disney formula: independent hero(ine) strays far from home and family, struggles to journey back with assistance from scrappy sidekicks, and along the way learns a little something about their true self. Bolt sticks to the tried-and-true, borrowing more than a few plot points from Toy Story, but ultimately delivers an enjoyable and technically astonishing experience.

As an added bonus, there are a few ophthalmology related features to address.

First, an animal control worker gets maced in the second half of the movie, resulting in toxic conjunctivitis. Nothing new here- these scenes seem to be a dime a dozen! Interesting mace tidbit from Wikipedia:

Due to the current brand-name use of the term "Mace" to refer to pepper sprays and the fact that mace is illegal in most Western countries, it is very difficult to find information on traditional mace. "Mace" and "Pepper Spray" are frequently used interchangeably.

Also, we saw the version of Bolt in 3-D, which I highly recommend. As you may have read in the reviews, Disney Digital 3-D is a huge technological leap from the old red-and-blue 3-D glasses. The animators really skillfully avoided 3-D cliches here, and used the added technology to complement the story-telling. How does it work? We got circular polarized 3-D glasses, and the movie frame rate is jacked up to 144 frames per second. The digital projector has a polarizing screen that matches the right and left filters in the glasses. The alternating left-right projected perspectives are then perceived by the viewer as a three dimensional image!

Finally, the villain in the movie, Dr. Calico (voiced by Malcolm McDowell of A Clockwork Orange) exhibits two ophthalmic features of note. He is occasionally referred to as "The Green-Eyed Man" by Bolt.

This blurry screen capture of Dr. Calico demonstrates iris heterochromia (different colored irides), and also corectopia (displacement of the pupil from its normal central position).

Iris heterochromia may occur as a congentital condition (usually inherited as an autosomal dominant trait), or it may be acquired as a result of retained intraocular foreign body, topical medications, iris neoplasm, ICE syndrome, Fuchs' heterochromic iridocyclitis, Horner's syndrome, chronic iritis, juvenile xanthogranuloma, leukemia, or lymphoma.

The differential diagnosis for corectopia includes trauma, prior anterior segment surgery, ICE syndrome, iris coloboma, iris tumor, prior inflammatory change, iris stromal hypoplasia, posterior embryotoxon, Peter's anomaly, and ectopia lentis et pupillae.

Wonderful ophthalmology teaching points, Bolt! This movie gets a B + from me, and if you are considering watching it, I highly recommend seeking out one of the 3-D theaters to enhance the experience.