Silverlake Animal Rescue, that place that Bolt was adopted from is named after the Silverlake district in Los Angeles, California. Walt Disney opened his first studio in 1925 at 2719 Hyperion Avenue Silverlake. This site is considered the birthplace of Mickey Mouse, and the studio’s first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Mr. Carrot (Bolt’s toy carrot) is inspired by the character Carrot from Funday PawPet Show, an internet puppet show.
While Bolt holds Mittens above the highway, a bus numbered 2525 is visible. This bus is inspired from the 1994 action film Speed.
Bolt’s name tag features the address 2100 Riverside Drive, Hollywood, CA. This is the actual location of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Another connection is that the security gate and water tower Sovereign Studios resemble the actual Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.
In order to animate Rhino, the team adopted a real hamster named Doink to study the movements. Furthermore, Rhino’s design was inspired by executive producer’s John Lasseter’s chinchilla that he brought in during production of the film.
The hotels depicted in Las Vegas actually exist in reality. Pictured above is the Bellagio Hotel.
The synopsis of the TV series in Bolt was inspired by the 80’s DiC animated series Inspector Gadget. The show’s villain, Dr. Claw, has cats, and Gadget's niece is also named Penny (coincidence?), who has a super intelligent dog called Brain.