Balto (1995)

Awesome Movie

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Balto is a movie about a half-wolf/half-dog who is an outcast in his society - spending most of his time with Boris (a goose) and Muk and Luk (two outcast polar bears). When his hometown Nome is struck with a diphtheria outbreak and runs out of medicine, Balto has a chance to prove himself by trying out for the dog sled team which will have to deliver the medicine from a bigger city.What makes this movie so great?1. Compelling and inspirational story (based on actual events) 2. Respectable, honorable protagonist 3. Truly despicable villain 4. A great cast of supporting characters (including Balto's love interest) 5. Excellent pacing - the 75 minutes fly by, no wasted scenes or dialogue 6. Great cast of voice actors - including Kevin Bacon, Phil Collins, 7. PHENOMENAL soundtrack! I think this is easily James Horner's best (RIP) 8. Beautiful animation 9. Perfect use of humor - not so much that it undermines the power of the story 10. Appropriate/entertaining for all ages - including adultsAny movie I can think of 10 things to say good about gets 10 stars in my book. I am biased, because this was one of my favorite movies growing up, but I stand by everything I've said in this review. How James Horner didn't win an Academy Award (best original score) for Heritage of the Wolf is beyond me...."A dog cannot make this journey alone.......but maybe....a wolf can."

People have always seemed to have a soft spot for heroic fictional dogs. Whether it's on television like 'Lassie' (1954-1973), 'Rin Tin Tin' (1954-1959), & or heart-warming family films like 'Old Yellow' (1957) & 'Benji' (1974) series. These creatures has captures our love and affection as few other things. So it's only natural, to want to hear about real-life dogs who save people for real, like Balto (1919-1933), whom help out on a supple run, to prevent a deadly epidemic from ravaging Nome, Alaska in 1925. However, I can't say, this animation film from Amblin Entertainment & Universal Pictures is historic accurate. There were a few parts in this film directed by Simon Wells that was a little far-fetched like the idea that one set of dog-sled mushers made the seven hundred miles from Nenana to Nome to stop an epidemic, in a few days, when it normally takes 25 days. In truth, 1925 Serum Run, also known as "Great Race of Mercy", carry out the task in five and half days, without much breaks, because they had 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs, at relay points throughout the path. If anything, it was more a relay race than a marathon. Also, Balto in real life, wasn't the dog that went through the longest and most hazardous part of the run. That honor goes to Togo, who led his team on a 91-mile journey that included crossing the perilous ice of Norton Sound. The real Balto, only got the credit, because they were the ones that arrived in Nome. This claim to fame, became a source of controversy by many historians, as many consider Togo to be the true hero & should had been immortalized with a statue in Central Park. Also, I hate the fact that the movie makes it look like the human mushers were mostly unconscious, incapacitated or inadequate, the whole time, as if it was the dogs that was leading the way. In truth, people like Gunnar Kaasen, Leonhard Seppala, Bill Shannon, Edgar Kalland, Jack Nicolai, Myles Gonangnan, Henry Ivanoff, and others, deserve credit as well. They made life threatens, decisions in the way, they travel, often changing paths. Some of them, lost dogs, and nearly lose their hands to frostbite, because of the dangerous journey. Another thing, I have to criticize about the film is it's out of place & over the top, predictable villain in Steele (Voiced by Jim Cummings) who Balto (Voiced by Kevin Bacon) have to fight with. I felt the movie didn't one. After all, man vs nature is already a very good conflict. His presence was really, jarring. I don't get, how he was able to get ahead of the race team and ruin the markings of the tree, after being lost, with them, only a few minutes, earlier. It just doesn't add up. Why, don't they just use, their nose in the first place!? Not all changes that the screenwriters, Cliff Ruby, Elana Lesser, David Steven Cohen & Roger S. H. Schulman were bad. I kinda like the idea of the film portray Balto as a gray outcast street wolf-dog, rather than a pure bred Siberian husky. It adds to the idea of being isolated, because people fear him as a dangerous wild animal. I love that he is looking for a chance to fit in and proving to his peers that he is capable for compassion. I also didn't mind, all the obstacles that he had to go through on his journey; even if some of them, don't make sense, like the bear sequence. Aren't they, supposed to be hibernation? Anyways, all the action scenes were all intense and help make the film, a little more compelling than what it original could had been. I also didn't mind, the illogical, weird editing of live action modern-day narrative with the animation flashbacks sequences; as it adds to the tone, of a parent reading their children, a kid friendly's fairy tale version of real-events. Even the dialogue scenes with the dogs talking, while the humans not understanding the animals, wasn't much of a problem for me; as the dogs don't really say much. Plus, I saw this, play out, in many traditional dog related Disney animation films before, such as 1955's 'Lady & the Tramp' & 1961's '101 Dalmatians'. In truth, the voice acting for the dogs weren't that bad. The voice acting for the other animals were little more questionable, like Bob Hoskins as Boris, the goose and singer Phil Collins, as sidekicks Polar Bears, Muk & Luk. They could be a bit annoying, at times. Still, for the most part, they were there for some good laughs, which, they delivered on. I also dig, the music from composer, James Horner. Overall: I wish more people went to go see 'Balto' at the time. While not an outright bomb, it didn't turn a profit, due to new-kid-on-the-block Pixar releasing 'Toy Story'; which slaughtered this film at the box office. Some animation fans consider it to be the first sign of CGI eventually overthrowing traditional animation. It's sad, because the animation was honestly pretty good for Amblimation film. Sadly, the studio close its doors after only three films, as most of the staff would migrate over to Dreamworks Animation for 1998's 'The Prince of Egypt'. In the end, while it's not the most heart feel or entertaining, animated movie out there, Balto is still worth watching. It's engaging and very though-provoking. While, you can't teach an old dog, new tricks. You can still teach your children to grasp complex social issues, while showing them, great examples of honor, duty, self-sacrifice, humility, & dedication in the face of fear, with Balto. It's a must-watch.

This film is a real heart-warmer when I first watched it to this day. I was lured to it because I'm a dog lover, and I needed to see what this is all about. After I finished it, I felt like a hundred bucks! The film drove my body to the world of awesomeness!So first of all, I recommend this film because it has characters to have fun with, I usually like the canine characters the best, the voice acting is okay, though sometimes the voice actors sound like they have saliva in their mouths, the music is not bad, and so is the animation work. I also like seeing this because we see the frustrations our protagonist, Balto, has to go through for only being half-wolf, and this reminds all of us how much our lives can be much worse :D. The few problems in this film is the lack of content. The film is only 1 hour and ten minutes, but it feels shorter, The plot is explained, but a little bit too early and during the film you can easily guess the ending.But overall, If you do want to watch this, grab all your family, eat your potato chips, then when the movie is over, mute the TV, and play on speakers "The Killers - Spaceman" then you will feel how I feel. :)

I was only one year old when Balto got released in theaters, but I didn't even hear about its existence until recently. I love animation, I love dogs and I felt sorry to hear that this film wasn't very popular when it was released, so I decided to watch it on DVD. What I got was an amazing, inspiring and heart warming animated film which turned out to be one of the best I've ever seen.I was surprised about how much I was connected to the main character Balto. Because he is portrayed as a husky-wolf hybrid, the people of Nome fear of him for being part-wolf, the wolf packs reject him for being part-husky and the other dogs make fun of him for it. As a result, he is an outcast who doesn't know where he belongs, and only relying on Boris, a goose who is afraid of heights to take care of him. I showed a lot of sympathy towards Balto because I've been in similar situations and seeing him being left out was very emotive.The story is loosely based on the true 1925 serum run in Alaska. A disease spreads onto the children of Nome and a snow storm cuts all transport from delivering medicine, so a team sled dogs are sent to pick it up. But poor Balto isn't allowed to help out because of his wolf heritage. When the team is reported missing, Balto sets off on a daring quest to rescue them and get them home safely. This shows how courageous and determined he is to get the medicine to the sick children. That said, he is a very caring character and thats another reason why I really liked him.There's a bit of peril and emotional moments in this film, but plenty of comic relief is present to ease them, mostly involving Boris and Muk and Luk (the two polar bears). I personally liked the recurring gag when Kaltag hits Star in the head for saying something random. It gave me a smile each time. And the romantic moments of Balto and his girlfriend Jenna are extremely sweet indeed. Again, I found it sympathetic when Steele (the films ruthless antagonist) tries to spoil things for Balto by bullying him and trying to take Jenna from him.I found the animation to be very well done. With nice character designs and detailed Alaskan backdrops, all of which are well-drawn and gently animated, it allows to show how much work and effort Amblimation put into this traditionally animated masterpiece. James Horner's music is very atmospheric and dramatic and I liked how there were no random musical numbers to interrupt its flow.The voice acting is just as great. Bob Hoskins (as Boris) and Bridget Fonda (as Jenna) do a good job while Phil Collins voices Muk and Luk adorably and Jim Cummings is great as evil Steele. However, I would have to commend Kevin Bacon's performance for Balto. He voiced Balto sensibly. Not overacting, bland or hip, but he gave the character a more of a calm, humble, shy and likable personality similar to mine. Its another similarity me and Balto have.In conclusion, I would have to say that I absolutely adored Balto, and thats because of its great animation, story, casting and a protagonist who I could really relate to. I'm glad that I found out about this underrated classic and its a good thing others have too. If you like animation or dogs and you haven't seen it already, then I believe that Balto well deserves your attention. You will fall in love with it just like I did.Grade: "A"