LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- `` Bolt '' is Disney 's first animated feature since Pixar guru John Lasseter took over the company 's animation division , so it 's no surprise the voice cast is loaded with top talent . John Travolta makes his voice actor debut in the title role , `` Hannah Montana '' star Miley Cyrus plays Bolt 's owner and friend , and then there 's 13-year Disney veteran Mark Walton . Mark Walton poses with his furry alter ego , Rhino , at the `` Bolt '' premiere . Who ? Walton provides the voice of Rhino , an irrepressibly gonzo hamster who 's Bolt 's biggest fan . But he 's an animator , not an actor . A story visual development guy , not the star of the show . Portly and balding , Walton is hardly a glamorous Hollywood figure , and yet he 's doing press with stars Travolta and Cyrus , walking the red carpet with them and drawing the film 's biggest laughs . Walton 's journey from schlub to star surprised him as much as anybody , he told CNN . Watch how Walton brought Rhino to life » . Before the big-name voice actors go into the recording studio , he explained , animators do a kind of rough draft of the film , with temporary voice tracks provided by volunteers within the animation division . `` Some people who had known me here ... [ and ] knew my personality and my voice decided that I might be a funny match for this crazy , enthusiastic hamster , '' he said , seemingly at ease with a half-dozen camera techs and studio publicists surrounding him at the movie 's press junket . `` But , of course , the assumption was always that some professional , big-name actor would be brought in to do the real voice . '' Not this time . One by one , name actors were brought in and matched to their characters : Travolta for the earnest , lovable dog star ; teen icon and devoted pet owner Cyrus as a dog-loving young actress ; wisecracking Susie Essman from `` Curb Your Enthusiasm '' as a streetwise cat ; and Malcolm McDowell as TV show villain Dr. Calico . But as the film continued to progress from the drawing boards to finished product , Walton stayed in the picture . `` We got to the point where it 's like , we ca n't find an actor to come even close to how good this is , '' recalled Lasseter . `` So of course we 're going to give it to him , because ... it 's not important how big of a name an actor is , it 's about how great the character that 's being created , how it jumps off the screen and becomes memorable . That 's what it 's about . '' And Walton 's take on Rhino , the creation of his pal and character designer Joe Moshier , was certainly memorable . `` He 's seen how I go to the buffets , '' Walton joked about Moshier . `` And he knows how hamsters can stuff a lot of food into their cheeks . ... And I think that knowing how I like food kind of informed the round , kind of chubby , inflated shape of the character , as well as the uneven , kind of crazy , slightly psychotic and googly eyes . I say , you like something about Rhino , I 'll take credit for it . '' He 's getting lots of credit . `` When I heard Rhino , I was like , this guy 's hilarious . Who is it ? '' said Essman . `` I wanted to know who the actor was , if it was somebody I knew . And they told me it was n't . I thought that was so cool , that he 's just , he 's one of the story artists . '' Audiences think it 's cool too , judging from the reaction at a preview screening filled with kids and adults . Walton 's Rhino steals every scene he 's in . Walton , who has worked on Disney animated features since 1999 's `` Tarzan '' and provided minor voices for `` Home on the Range '' and `` Chicken Little , '' said he 'd gladly have stepped aside if a big-name actor had come in and done a better job . `` That 's the best thing for the movie , '' he said . `` But there was something very satisfying about knowing that yes , one of us , the little people behind the scenes , who do n't always get a lot of attention or notoriety or visibility , could do the part , and that people recognized that . ''
Walton was Walton animator who did temporary voice track for Bolt the wacky hamster named John Travolta was kept . John Travolta soaking up attention with stars John Travolta , Miley Cyrus .