''Balto'' is a 1995
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extr ...
film directed by
Simon Wells, produced by
Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy (producer), Kathlee ...
and distributed by
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
. The film, which stars the voices of
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller ''JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), th ...
,
Bridget Fonda
Bridget Jane Fonda (born January 27, 1964) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Godfather Part III'' (1990), '' Single White Female'' (1992), '' Singles'' (1992), '' Point of No Return'' (1993), '' It Could Happen to You ...
,
Jim Cummings
James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as t ...
,
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
and
Bob Hoskins
Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), '' Who ...
, is loosely based on the true story of the
eponymous dog who helped save children infected with
diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...
in the
1925 serum run to Nome. Though primarily an animated film, it uses a
live-action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
framing device
Framing may refer to:
* Framing (construction), common carpentry work
* Framing (law), providing false evidence or testimony to prove someone guilty of a crime
* Framing (social sciences)
* Framing (visual arts), a technique used to bring the foc ...
that takes place in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
's
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
and features
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The To ...
.
''Balto'' was the third and final feature produced by
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spi ...
's UK-based
Amblimation studio before it became
DreamWorks Animation, which would later be acquired by Universal's parent company
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primaril ...
in 2016. Although the film was a major
financial disappointment (it was overshadowed by the success of
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
's ''
Toy Story
''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut
This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's fi ...
''), its subsequent sales on
home video
Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming m ...
led to two
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...
sequels: ''
Balto II: Wolf Quest'' (2002) and ''
Balto III: Wings of Change'' (2005), though none of the original voice cast reprised their roles.
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
Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 record ...
.
In 1925, Balto, a
wolfdog
A wolfdog is a canine produced by the mating of a domestic dog (''Canis familiaris'') with a gray wolf (''Canis lupus''), eastern wolf (''Canis lycaon''), red wolf (''Canis rufus''), or Ethiopian wolf (''Canis simensis'') to produce a h ...
hybrid, lives on the outskirts of Nome with his adoptive father, a Russian
snow goose
The snow goose (''Anser caerulescens'') is a species of goose native to North America. Both white and dark morphs exist, the latter often known as blue goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The species was previously placed ...
named Boris, and two
polar bears
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear spec ...
, Muk and Luk. Being a half-breed, Balto is ridiculed by dogs and humans alike. His only friend in town is a red
husky named Jenna who Balto has a crush on and is challenged by the town's favorite sled dog, Steele, a fierce and arrogant
Alaskan Malamute
The Alaskan Malamute () is a large breed of dog that was originally bred for its strength and endurance to haul heavy freight as a sled dog and hound. It is similar to other arctic breeds such as the husky, the spitz, the Greenland Dog, ...
.
That night, all the children, including Jenna's owner, Rosy, fall ill with
diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...
. Severe winter weather conditions prevent medicine from being brought by air or sea, and the closest rail line ends in
Nenana. 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
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos hor ...
, 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 got 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
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
, hoping it will help guide Balto home. When Balto regains consciousness, he is ready to give up hope, but when a large, white
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
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 and characters
*
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller ''JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), th ...
as
Balto, a young adult brown-and-grey
wolfdog
A wolfdog is a canine produced by the mating of a domestic dog (''Canis familiaris'') with a gray wolf (''Canis lupus''), eastern wolf (''Canis lycaon''), red wolf (''Canis rufus''), or Ethiopian wolf (''Canis simensis'') to produce a h ...
; being a
Siberian Husky-
Arctic wolf
The Arctic wolf (''Canis lupus arctos''), also known as the white wolf or polar wolf, is a subspecies of grey wolf
There are 38 subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' listed in the taxonomic authority '' Mammal Species of the World'' (2005, 3rd e ...
hybrid.
Jeffrey James Varab and Dick Zondag served as the supervising animators for Balto. Bacon is succeeded by
Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in ''Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off ''Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in '' Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...
in the direct-to-video sequels, ''
Balto II: Wolf Quest'' and ''
Balto III: Wings of Change''.
*
Bob Hoskins
Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), '' Who ...
as Boris Goosinov, a
Russian snow goose
The snow goose (''Anser caerulescens'') is a species of goose native to North America. Both white and dark morphs exist, the latter often known as blue goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The species was previously placed ...
and Balto's caretaker, mentor, adoptive father, and sidekick. Kristof Serrand served as the supervising animator for Boris. Hoskins is succeeded by
Charles Fleischer in the sequels.
*
Bridget Fonda
Bridget Jane Fonda (born January 27, 1964) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Godfather Part III'' (1990), '' Single White Female'' (1992), '' Singles'' (1992), '' Point of No Return'' (1993), '' It Could Happen to You ...
as Jenna, a young adult female copper-and-white
Siberian Husky and Rosy's pet as well as Balto's love interest. Her facial design is based on actress
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen ...
. Robert Stevenhagen served as the supervising animator for Jenna. Fonda is succeeded by
Jodi Benson
Jodi Marie Benson (née Marzorati; born October 10, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for providing the voice of Ariel in Disney's 1989 animated film '' The Little Mermaid'' and throughout other films, including its seq ...
in the sequels.
*
Jim Cummings
James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as t ...
as Steele, a fierce-looking black-and-white
Alaskan Malamute
The Alaskan Malamute () is a large breed of dog that was originally bred for its strength and endurance to haul heavy freight as a sled dog and hound. It is similar to other arctic breeds such as the husky, the spitz, the Greenland Dog, ...
who bullies Balto and also has a crush on Jenna. Sahin Ersöz served as the supervising animator for Steele.
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...
was originally cast to voice Steele, before being replaced.
*
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
as Muk and Luk, a pair of
polar bears, Boris' adoptive nephews, and Balto's adoptive cousins.
Nicolas Marlet served as the supervising animator for Muk and Luk. Collins is succeeded by
Kevin Schon in the sequels.
* Juliette Brewer as Rosy, Jenna's owner and a kind, excitable girl who was the only human in
Nome who was kind to Balto before his epic journey.
David Bowers served as the supervising animator for Rosy. Rosy makes a brief cameo in ''Balto III: Wings of Change''.
**
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The To ...
as an old Rosy in the
live-action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
sequences who narrates her story to her granddaughter at the beginning of the film.
*
Jack Angel, Danny Mann and
Robbie Rist
Robbie Rist (born April 4, 1964) is an
American actor. He is known for playing Cousin Oliver in '' The Brady Bunch'', Martin in '' Grady'' and "Little John" in ''Big John, Little John''. Rist is also known for voicing assorted characters in ...
as Nikki, Kaltag, and Star, respectively. The only three prominent members of Steele's team, who later abandon him for Balto. Nikki is a reddish-brown
Chow-Chow, Kaltag is a honey-yellow
Chinook-esque dog, and Star is a mauve-and-cream Siberian Husky. William Salazar served as the supervising animator for the team. Nikki, Kaltag and Star make brief cameos in ''Balto III: Wings of Change''.
*
Sandra Dickinson
Sandra Dickinson (née Searles) is an American-British actress. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She has often played characters who fell into the trope of a dumb blonde with a high-pitched voice.
Early life ...
as Dixie, a female
Pomeranian and one of Jenna's friends who adores Steele until his lies are exposed by Balto returning with the medicine needed to cure the children. Dickinson also voices Sylvie, a female
Afghan Hound who is also Jenna's friend; and Rosy's mother. Patrick Mate served as the supervising animator for Sylvie and Dixie. Sylvie makes a brief cameo in ''Balto III: Wings of Change''.
* Lola Bates-Campbell as Rosy's unnamed granddaughter, who appears in the live-action sequences and is accompanied by her dog Blaze, a purebred Siberian Husky.
* William Roberts as Rosy's father
*
Donald Sinden
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was a British actor.
Sinden featured in the film '' Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including '' The Cruel Sea ( ...
as Doc, an old
St. Bernard. Doc makes a brief cameo in ''Balto III: Wings of Change''.
*
Bill Bailey
Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom ''Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows ''Never Mind the ...
as a butcher
*
Garrick Hagon
Garrick Hagon (; born September 27, 1939) is a British-Canadian actor in film, stage, television and radio, known for his role as Biggs Darklighter in '' Star Wars: A New Hope''. His many films include ''Batman'', '' Spy Game'', '' Me and Ors ...
as a telegraph operator
Production
Production and development on ''Balto'' began in May 1989 at
Universal City Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
and
Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy (producer), Kathlee ...
in
Universal City, California
Universal City is an unincorporated area within the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Approximately 415 acres (1.7 km) within and around the surrounding area is the property of Universal Picture ...
, along with ''
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (1991) and ''
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'' (1993). Voice-recording sessions took place at The Bridge Facilities in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
(now folded into
Miloco Studios and renamed The Bridge Writing Studio) between late 1992 and early 1993.
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...
was originally cast as Steele, because director
Simon Wells had envisioned Steele as a school quarterback jock carried away by his sense of importance, and felt that Fraser fit that personality well. According to Wells, "I liked Brendan a great deal, and we did one recording session with him that was terrific." However, executive producer
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spi ...
wanted a clearer sense of Steele's "inherent evil", so Fraser was replaced by
Jim Cummings
James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as t ...
. Wells stated that Cummings "did a fantastic job, and totally made the character live, so I don't regret the choice."
After the actors recorded their voices, animating and filming commenced at
Amblimation in London on March 1, 1993. To have a source for the dogs' character animation to be based on, the filmmakers brought in about seven
Siberian Huskies and videotaped them walking around in the studio. Although most of the film's animation was hand-drawn, the animators used
Toonz to improve the graphics, and also created the
snowstorms using an early CGI particle animation system. Additional animation was done by the Danish studio
A. Film Production
A. Film Production A/S (previously A. Film A/S, A. Film ApS and A. Film I/S) is a Danish animation studio currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Affiliated to the Copenhagen studio are A. Film Estonia located in Estonia and A. Film L.A., Inc. ...
.
James Horner
James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music.
Horner's first film score was i ...
composed the film's music, including the film's only song, "Reach for the Light", sung by
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his distin ...
, which plays over the film's
closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...
.
The film's live-action prologue and epilogue segments were filmed in
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
in
Fall 1994. The role as elderly Rosy's granddaughter's husky, Blaze, was played by two light red blue-eyed Siberian Huskies.
Historical differences
The film has many historical inaccuracies:
* The film portrays
Balto (1919 – March 14, 1933) as a brown-and-gray
wolfdog
A wolfdog is a canine produced by the mating of a domestic dog (''Canis familiaris'') with a gray wolf (''Canis lupus''), eastern wolf (''Canis lycaon''), red wolf (''Canis rufus''), or Ethiopian wolf (''Canis simensis'') to produce a h ...
. In reality, Balto was a purebred
Siberian Husky and was black and white in color.
Balto's colors changed to brown due to light exposure while on display in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
* Balto was never an outcast street dog as shown by the film, but was instead born in a kennel owned by the famous musher and breeder
Leonhard Seppala, who raised and trained him until Balto was deemed fit for being a sled dog.
* In reality, the sled run to retrieve the medicine was actually a relay. Instead of being the leader of the first and only team, Balto was scheduled to be part of the penultimate team led by dog Fox. This team left by Seppala, while driven by
Gunnar Kaasen. Although they were scheduled to hand off the serum to the final team, Kaasen decided to advance on. They eventually became the last team to carry the medicine to
Nome.
The longest and most hazardous distance was traveled by the 18th and third-to-last team, which was led by
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its ...
(October 17, 1913 – December 5, 1929).
However, considerable controversy surrounded Balto's use as a lead dog on Kaasen's team, including many mushers and others at the time doubting the claims that he truly led the team, based primarily on the dog's track record. It was believed that at most Balto was co-lead with Seppala's dog Fox.
No record exists of Seppala ever having used him as a leader in runs or races prior to 1925, and Seppala himself stated Balto "was never in a winning team", and was a "scrub dog".
* In the film, the reason why Dr. Curtis Welch orders the medicine to be sent to Nome is because his supply has completely run out. In reality, the reason was that his entire batch was past its expiration date and no longer had any effect.
* In the film, the medicine is shipped to
Nenana from the Alaskan capital of
Juneau
The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and t ...
, but in reality, it was shipped from
Anchorage
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...
, 800 miles southeast of Nome.
* The medicine was transported in a 300,000 unit cylinder. In the film, it is transported in a large square crate.
* In the film, the only residents of Nome who contract diphtheria are 18 children, but in reality, many more were infected, including adults.
* In reality, none of the mushers were ever knocked unconscious.
* In the sequels, Balto becomes Jenna's mate and they have a litter of puppies who grow up and move on with their lives. In reality, however, Balto was neutered as a puppy and consequently never fathered a litter.
* In the sequels, Balto continues living in Nome along with his family and friends, but in reality, Balto and his team were sent to the Brookside Zoo (now the
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo) in 1927 where they spent their last years. Balto rested there until his death on March 14, 1933, at the age of 14. After he died, his body was taxidermied and kept in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where it remains today.
Release
The film was theatrically released in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
on December 22, 1995 and then international theatres on January 13, 1996 when it first premiered in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
Its release was vastly overshadowed by that of
Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Califor ...
' first film, ''
Toy Story
''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut
This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's fi ...
,'' which had premiered a month earlier.
Box office
The film ranked 15th on its opening weekend and earned $1.5 million from a total of 1,427 theaters. The film also ranked 7th among G-rated movies in 1995. Its total domestic gross was $11,348,324.
Despite being a
disappointment at the box-office, it was much more successful in terms of video sales. These strong video sales led to the release of two direct-to-video sequels: ''
Balto II: Wolf Quest'' and ''Balto III: Wings of Change'' being created, though neither sequel received as strong a reception as the original film.
Critical reception
On the
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film has an approval rating of 56% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 5.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Balto'' is a well-meaning adventure with spirited animation, but mushy sentimentality and bland characterization keeps it at paw's length from more sophisticated family fare."
Film critic
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outl ...
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film a positive review, describing the film as "a kids' movie, simply told, with lots of excitement and characters you can care about" and praised every thrilling scene.
Home media
''Balto'' was released on VHS and Laserdisc on April 2, 1996, by
MCA/Universal Home Video
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...
in North America and
CIC Video internationally. The VHS version was made available once more on August 11, 1998, under the Universal Family Features label.
The film was released on DVD on February 19, 2002, which includes a game, "Where is the Dog Sled Team?". This version was reprinted along with other Universal films such as ''
An American Tail'', ''
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' and ''
The Land Before Time''. It was initially released in
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
for the first time exclusively at
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
retailers on April 4, 2017 before its wide release on July 4, 2017.
Music
''Balto: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack '' is the soundtrack of the film, composed by
James Horner
James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music.
Horner's first film score was i ...
.
The soundtrack was released on December 4, 1995 by
MCA
MCA may refer to:
Astronomy
* Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars
Aviation
* Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways
* Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...
. It includes the film's only song, "Reach for the Light" performed by
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his distin ...
.
Awards
The film received five
Annie Award
The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally d ...
nominations, including
Best Animated Feature
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
, but lost to ''Toy Story''.
Sequels
Two fictional direct-to-video sequels of the film followed, made by
Universal Cartoon Studios
Universal Animation Studios (formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios) is an American animation studio and a division of Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. It has produced direct-to-video sequels to Un ...
with their animation done overseas by the Taiwanese studio
Wang Film Productions
Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. (also known as Hong Guang Animation (宏廣) and Cuckoos' Nest Studio) is one of the oldest and most prolific Taiwanese-American animation studios since 1978. The company, based in Xindian, Taipei and Los Angeles, ...
, as Amblimation had gone out of business. Due to the sequels being completely fictional and having a completely different crew, Kevin Bacon, Bob Hoskins, Bridget Fonda, and Phil Collins did not reprise their roles in either of them. Instead, Bacon was replaced by
Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in ''Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off ''Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in '' Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...
as the voice of Balto, Hoskins was replaced by
Charles Fleischer as the voice of Boris, Fonda was replaced by
Jodi Benson
Jodi Marie Benson (née Marzorati; born October 10, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for providing the voice of Ariel in Disney's 1989 animated film '' The Little Mermaid'' and throughout other films, including its seq ...
as the voice of Jenna, and Collins was replaced by
Kevin Schon as the voices of Muk and Luk. In addition, numerous supporting characters from the original (such as Steele, Nikki, Kaltag and Star) either did not return in the sequels or became background characters in them. The first sequel, ''
Balto II: Wolf Quest,'' was released in 2002 and follows the adventures of one of Balto and Jenna's pups, Aleu, who sets off to discover her wolf heritage. The second, ''Balto III: Wings of Change'', was released in 2005. The storyline follows the same litter of pups from ''Balto II'', but focuses on another pup, Kodi, who is a member of a
U.S. Mail dog sled delivery team, and is in danger of getting put out of his job by Duke, a pilot of a mail delivery
bush plane,
as characters from the first sequel could not be brought back owing to
Mary Kay Bergman’s suicide in 1999, causing ''Balto II'' to be delayed for two years. Unlike the original film, neither of the sequels took any historical references from the true story of
Balto and contain no live action sequences.
References
External links
Balto: Universal Studios– Restored version of the original 1995 official ''Balto'' site.
*
''Balto''at
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
*
*
''Balto''– Keyframe – the Animation Resource
{{Universal Animation Studios
1995 films
1995 animated films
1990s adventure films
1990s historical adventure films
1990s American animated films
Amblin Entertainment animated films
American adventure films
American children's animated films
American children's animated adventure films
Animated films about dogs
American films with live action and animation
Animated films about birds
Films scored by James Horner
Films directed by Simon Wells
Films set in 1925
Animated films about wolves
Films set in Alaska
British films set in New York City
Mushing films
Northern (genre) films
Universal Pictures animated films
Universal Pictures films
American historical adventure films
1990s children's animated films
Animated films about bears
American films based on actual events
Animated films based on actual events
Adventure films based on actual events
Films based on actual events
1990s English-language films
Amblin Entertainment films
British adventure films
British historical adventure films
1990s British animated films
1990s British films