Balto is a 1995 animated adventure film, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio, distributed by Universal Pictures, and was released to theaters on December 22, 1995, for the United States. Balto is based on a true story about the dog of the same name who helped save children from the diphtheria epidemic in the 1925 serum run to Nome.
Plot[]
In New York City, an elderly woman and her granddaughter are walking through Central Park, looking for a memorial statue. As they seat themselves for a rest, the grandmother recounts a story about Nome, Alaska.
In 1925, Balto, a wolfdog, lives on the outskirts of Nome with his adoptive father, a Russian snow goose named Boris, and two polar bears, Muk and Luk. Being, Balto is ridiculed by dogs and humans alike. His only friends in town are a little girl named Rosy, and her red husky, Jenna whom Balto has a crush on, and is challenged by the town's favorite sled dog, Steele, a fierce and arrogant Alaskan Malamute.
That night, all the children, including Rosy, fall ill with diphtheria. Severe winter weather conditions prevent medicine from being brought by air or sea from Anchorage, and the closest rail line ends in Nenana after authorization to transport the antitoxin by rail is given by the Governor of Alaska in Juneau. A dog race is held to determine the best-fit dogs for a sled dog team to get the medicine. Balto enters and wins, but Steele exposes his wolf-dog heritage, resulting in him being disqualified. The team departs that night with Steele in the lead and picks up the medicine successfully, but on the way back, conditions deteriorate and the disoriented team ends up stranded at the base of a steep slope with the musher knocked unconscious.
When the word reaches Nome, Balto sets out in search of them with Boris, Muk and Luk. On the way, they are attacked by a huge grizzly bear, but Jenna, who followed their tracks, intervenes. The bear pursues Balto out onto a frozen lake, where it falls through the ice and drowns, while Muk and Luk save Balto from a similar fate. However, Jenna is injured and cannot continue on. Balto instructs Boris and the polar bears to take her back home while he continues on alone. Balto eventually finds the team, but Steele refuses his help and attacks him until he loses his balance and falls off a cliff. Balto takes charge of the team, but an unrelenting Steele throws them off the trail and they lose their way again. While attempting to save the medicine from falling down a cliff, Balto himself falls.
Back in Nome, Jenna is explaining Balto's mission to the other dogs when Steele returns, claiming the entire team, including Balto, is dead. However, Jenna sees through his deception and assures Balto will return with the medicine. Using a trick Balto showed her earlier, she places broken colored glass bottles on the outskirts of town and shines a lantern on them to simulate the lights of an aurora, hoping it will help guide Balto home. When Balto regains consciousness, he is ready to give up hope, but when a large, white wolf appears and he notices the medicine crate still intact nearby, he realizes that his part-wolf heritage is a strength, not a weakness, and drags the medicine back up the cliff to the waiting team. Using his advanced senses, Balto is able to filter out the false markers Steele created.
After encountering further challenges, and losing only one vial, Balto and the sled team finally make it back to Nome. A pity-playing Steele is exposed as a liar and abandoned by the other dogs, ruining his reputation. Reunited with Jenna and his friends, Balto earns respect from both the dogs and the humans. He visits a cured Rosy, who thanks him for saving her. Back in the present day, the elderly woman and her granddaughter finally find the memorial commemorating Balto, and she explains that the Iditarod trail covers the same path that Balto and his team took from Nenana to Nome. The woman, who is actually Rosy, repeats the same line, "Thank you, Balto. I would have been lost without you," before walking off to join her granddaughter and her Siberian Husky, Blaze. The Balto statue stands proudly in the sunlight.
Cast & Characters[]
Main cast[]
Main article: List of characters in Balto
- Balto, voiced by Kevin Bacon, is the main protagonist, a young adult male wolf dog hybrid
- Boris, voiced by Bob Hoskins, is a Russian snow goose who considers himself Balto's caretaker.
- Jenna, voiced by Bridget Fonda, is a young and beautiful, Scarlet And White Colored female siberian husky. She is Balto's love interest.
- Rosy, voiced by Juliette Brewer, is Jenna's owner. She is a kind, excitable girl, and when she falls ill, Balto does everything he can to save her and the other children. Her adult self tells the tale to her granddaughter and is portrayed by Miriam Margoyles in the live-action segments.
- Steele, voiced by Jim Cummings, is the main antagonist. He is a fierce and arrogant purebred alaskan malamute.
- Muk & Luk, both voiced by Phil Collins, are a pair of polar bears.
- Nikki, voiced by Jack Angel, Kaltag, voiced by Danny Mann and Star, voiced by Robbie Rist, are a trio of dogs in Steele's team.
- Dixie, voiced by Sandra Dickinson or In Japanese Dub Is Ai Kakuma, is a female Japanese Violet Colored pomeranian and one of Jenna's friends.
- Sylvie, voiced by Sandra Dickinson Or In Japanese Dub is Aya Hisakawa, is a female afghan hound and one of Jenna's friends.
Additional Characters include:
- Rosy's Granddaughter, played by Lola Bates-Campbell appears in the live-action section of the film with her dog Blaze.
- Mom Rosy's Mother, voiced by Sandra Dickinson.
- Dad Rosy's Father, voiced by William Roberts.
- Doctor, voiced by Donald Sinden.
- Butcher, voiced by Bill Bailey.
- Telegraph Operator, voiced by Garrick Hagon.
Additional voices[]
- Cree Summer
- Joe Alaskey
- Brian Cummings
- John Cygan
- Rene Auberjonois
- Chuck McCann
- Jeff Bennett
- Bob Bergen
- Scott Menville
- Jim Ward
- Laraine Newman
- Sherry Lynn
- Carlos Alazraqui
- Rob Paulsen
- Kevin Michael Richardson
- Phil LaMarr
- Phil Proctor
- Debi DerryBerry
- Jess Harnell
- Terry Klassen
- Jan Rabson
- Kath Soucie
- Mary Kay Bergman
- Bill Farmer
- Gregg Berger
- Mona Marshall
- April Winchell
- Tress MacNeille
- Jeff Bergman
- Steve Blum
- Dee Bradley Baker
- Tara Strong
- Greg Cipes
Historical differences[]
- In reality Nome's supply of Diphtheria antitoxin did not run out but had expired. A replacement supply had been ordered but the port was closed by ice before it arrived.
- The real Balto was not an outcast street dog, he belonged famous musher and breeder Leonhard Seppala,
- Jenna, Boris, Kaltag, Star, Nikki, Steele and Muk & Luk are fictional.
- There were 20 teams sent to get the medicine not one. The teams were set up in a relay to minimize time.
- The real Balto led the team that made the final journey to Nome.
- Togo led the team that journeyed over the longest and most dangerous stretch. He and the others were overshadowed by Balto in popular media.
- Many more people, including adults, were infected.
- Planes were never sent to get the medicine nor deliver as they were mainly used for war.
- The real Balto was a purebred Siberian Husky. He is partially an Alaskan tundra wolf in this animated film.
- In real life, Balto was neutered at six months of age. He was never able to mate with a female husky or have pups, so Balto II never would've existed in real life.
Deleted, storyboards or altered scenes[]
- Barrel Sequence - When Balto was gonna return Rosy's glove, Steele would roll a barrel at him and Balto ends getting caught. Balto was on top of the barrel, but he jumps out landing near Rosy's dad's store which he tries to shoe him away till Rosy and Jenna come to his defense then her dad brings and the shop while Jenna smiles at Balto and heads inside the shop with Rosy. Three frames of the scene have been animated but two are in the Balto the hero book while one is the background of the selection screen of the film.
- In the original, when Balto and Jenna are in the boiler room Steele never comes in the sequence.
- Many people were confused why the Owl exists in the Balto film but it was figured out the Owl was meant to appear in a dream sequence.
- In the storyboards, there were many Balto & Jenna sequences that never made it into the final released.
- In the storyboards, When Steele was bullying Balto in an alley, Jenna would've come across it and observed Steele and his friends bullying Balto and Boris.
- In the storyboards, sometime during the film, Balto and Jenna follow Doc with something.
- Near the end, two dogs are seen fighting over Jenna's bandanna, but Ebay claims the two dogs are Balto and Steele fighting.
- Near the end, when Balto returned with the medicine, Steele tries to threaten him, but a lot of Steele's former companions come to Balto's defense but when Steele tries to leave, Star takes the collar off of Steele and gives to Balto. But after the dogs want Balto to have it, Balto tells them that they should let Steele keep it.
- Most famously, near the end, Steele tries to pounce on Balto, but he dodges it, but then all the dogs corner Steele while growling at him. Steele tries to keep his collar, but a leaver pulls his collar off and Steele fell to his death/was buried alive.
- There's still various storyboards aren't completely answered.
Trivia[]
- The film was overshadowed by Disney/Pixar's Toy Story.
- This was Amblimation's last film.
- Kevin Bacon’s first animated role.
- Bridget Fonda's first animated role.
- Kevin Bacon, Bridget Fonda, Bob Hoskins and Phil Collins’s first time in animation.
- It was one of the honorable mentions in WatchMojo's "Top 10 Underrated Movies".
- When Nostalgia Critic reviewed the film, it ended up gaining a lot of popularity.
- In certain covers, it features different characters such as Balto, Jenna, Rosy, Boris, Muk & Luk, Steele, Star, Nikki, Kaltag and the mushers.