Animation Source Forums

That's true. But a site can still have standards. I refer you back to something I said to TikTac, which makes total sense with regard to this subject:

"Would you be okay with Disney World or Disney Land having sections of those properties devoted to homosexual literature and paraphernalia? Rides? Shops? How about incest themes? Or violently-dark themes (say, a "4-D" ride where Ronno, the deer from the original Bambi movie who challenges Bambi for Faline's attentions, skewers Bambi with his antlers, and slices him with his hooves? Or for the forest fire to graphically consume the animals running for their lives?). Or the animatronic characters in the Hall of Presidents spouting off profanity-laden speeches? (Can you imagine the animatronic Abraham Lincoln ending a section of a speech along the lines of "I kicked the F**K out of those redneck Cornfed B*ST*RDS! YEAH! W0000T! The Union PWNS! SH*T!")

How do you think parents and parent groups and children's advocates would respond to that? And what do you think would happen to Disney's profits? (And they earn GOBS of money off of those two parks.) And how would it affect their movie business and other properties?

How, then, is that any different from a proclaimed "kid-friendly" Balto fan site allowing fan fictions with homosexual, bisexual, incestual, violent and profane themes? Both the Disney properties, and this Balto fan site, are noted to be "kid-friendly" (and, thus, "kid-safe"). And no matter the liberal mindset, these themes (including homosexuality) are NOT child-appropriate. Traditional nuclear heterosexual family life is. That is the very biological nature of our species, ever since pre-history."

Since when does a website, or any other entity, HAVE to allow such themes just because they're currently "in vogue" and/or politically-correct? There are reasons for having standards. And just because it's currently not socio-politically acceptable to oppose those themes, or deny them in the views of a certain percentage of the world's population, that doesn't make those reasons any less valid. Sure...parents SHOULD be policing their own kids...that's where education begins. It's not where it ends.

I know:). I'm simply saying that parents should keep a closer watch on their children if they are going to complain, especially on the Internet, as anything seems to go on the World Wide Web. Disney on the other hand is known for it's child-friendly themes, which is why the post you quoted makes sense. The 'Net being kid-friendly, however...not so much.

I understand what you're saying. But keep two things in mind about this site, and what it's about:

1. The Balto cartoon movies were conceived with a young audience in mind...primarily children. Not a bunch of teenagers and college-aged people who wanted to write controversial fan-based material about them.

2. This site proclaims itself to be "kid-friendly". Right now, as I have said (and as I interpret the words "kid-friendly"), it's really not. Because sexual themes of ANY kind (even heterosexual ones...and whether or not they are "vague" and not very descriptive), as well as violent, deviant or profane themes are NOT "kid-friendly" material, and not kid-appropriate. Not at all.

M'kay, got ya.

Wow, aren't we all filled with interesting rantage conversation, eh?

Well, sorry I haven't been on here for the past few days - busy weekend in NYC (I got to meet Balto first hand! The statue, I mean.), work, school, and of course, the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday (which is tomorrow!).

But I haven't forgotten about my rantages! And here's something that really gets on my nerves that I wish fans would get into their heads:

Balto is NOT a Disney movie!

(I know I have some people who will agree with me that this is ridiculous, right?)

Anywho, just because the Disney Channel (Toon Disney, actually) shows the Balto films (well, I've seen the first two on there, but never WoC . . . that's sad. They really should show all three in a Balto marathon of some sort one of these days! That would be awesome!), doesn't mean that the Walt Disney Co. made them. But this is what new young fans of the Balto franchise believe, and I understand why.

Of course, the Amblimation Co. is long gone (the company that animated Balto, which I believe was their last film before closing down), so where else to show their films but on the Disney Channel (or the rare occasional Cartoon Network), right?

I'm sure that most older fans (late teens and up) were around when the film was released in theaters and VHS in 1995-1996, so I have a feeling most of us know that Balto isn't a Disney film (Hell, you could go on any Disney website and not find anything Balto related on it. I dare you to try.). Besides, the art style in Balto is nowhere close to the classic Disney style that was used in the mid-1990s. And I think just the opening of the film (with the "Universal" logo) is obvious proof that Balto is not a Disney feature film (Although it would be nice . . . maybe it would have given the film a bit more steam for being a good film against the Pixar powerhouse film Toy Story in the theaters, perhaps . . .).

So with that being said, I hope you younger fans will finally get it: Stop calling Balto a Disney film!

Thank you. *Ah, good rantage. Until next time!*

- Juuchan17

Juuchan, I totally realize that the Balto films are not Disney properties. I was drawing a comparison between this site, and what's going on here (as opposed to what SHOULD BE), and another very kid-centric and "kid-friendly" entity. And what would happen if Disney decided to allow those things which are currently being debated out of some modern liberal attitude of not "making waves" or "bowing to socio-political pressure".

Where did you get the impression that I was calling the Balto films Disney material?

As a kid thats how I could tell Balto wasn't a Disney movie XD It took me forever to realize which company did make it, for some reason I could never put two and two together O_o But yeah I hate when people say its a Disney movie just because they show it on the Disney channel. Disney isn't a COMPLETE Nazi XD C'mon, people, have an open mind!

I know that you know that - Sorry, I had started a new rant. And I understand whatever the heck your previous rant reply was on the whole "kid-friendly" thing . . .

And I wasn't even talking about you really - I meant other fans (or n00bs, if you prefer that term). Even my half-sister (who is 18 years old) thought Balto was made by Disney. And I'm sick and tired of people saying that Balto is a Disney film . . . gah.

Sorry if that confused you, BaltoSeppala!

And well said, Cat! Even I knew it wasn't Disney since even back then I was a huge Disney fan! (I think it was back then, I wanted to become an animator for Disney . . . then I grew up and gave it up, due to the craptacular DTVs that they've made recently . . . since they're all mostly animated out of the USA (in Korea, I think?) . . .)

- Juuchan17

Okay, Juuchan. No problem. It was just a miscommunication.

Okay, here's a new rant (multiple topics actually) about a topic that has totally made me start to think some people on this forum are clueless nutcases:

Aleu haters and being 25% wolf - Who really gives a crap?

Okay, I know lots of people hate WQ for the terrible, not-up-to-par animation, and the fact that it was full of flaws. (Who cares about that? Movies aren't supposed to be perfect and neither are you. XP . . . But, I'm starting to get ahead of myself . . .)

But what pisses me off is the fact that people hate Aleu.

Sure, they like Kodi and the others just fine, but the reason why they hate her so is pointlessly stupid: The entire movie of "Wolf Quest" was all about her. That's like saying, "Oh, the movie "Balto" sucks because it's all about Balto and his wolf side of him making him feel all depressed and crap. Boo-hoo." Gawd, what a bunch of whiny-babies. These people, whomever they are, don't understand that there are bigger meanings in the sequel that try to prove a point to Aleu, who is upset over something that was never in her control in the first place (it just takes her a while to accept it, although she was acting like a wolf while growing up and probably never realized it made her seem like a wolf).

I mean, I heard the bulk of these things that people don't like about her character: her voice, her "annoying" personality, the fact that she has a thing for correcting other people's bad grammar (which would make her a big asset to the many people of this forum XD), and the big kahuna of them all: She hates the fact that she looks like a wolf and has wolf blood in her.

Stupid. She's normal to not like that; Heck, in people years, Aleu's only a typical teenager like most of you (considering that most of you are in the "tween"/teen ages - between 10 and 19), only wanting to learn more about who she is and what her life is meant for and WQ does that. Because Balto told her the truth, she had to run away from the life she had always lived and discover what her true purpose was to be: the leader of Nava's clan. I suppose at some point she was to find out why she wasn't chosen by a human, but I still believe that this was the way for things to be.

(Because Aniu knows everything . . . Bwahaha.)

I suppose the writers wanted the viewers to relate to Aleu somehow . . . because of her being different than her siblings. I mean, at least they didn't show anything brutal, like in the ways Balto was being made fun of. He was bullied because he too was part wolf (Half wolf, mind you. His mother, Aniu, was all wolf, making him 50% wolf. Do you guys get it yet?), and his overprotectiveness was only to show that he wanted to always protect her since there was a chance that if she was given a human, she would also have to endure the same teasing that he had when he was younger. But of course, these weren't to be, since Aleu, upset by her father's confession of her heritage and breeding, ran away into the wild with no clue on why these things were happening to her.

Again, this shows that "teenage" side of her: she was still immature and naive, and the only other option that she felt would be best was to run away to find a home that she as herself could belong to. We've probably all had those feelings sometimes too (I know I have!), but the rest of the film gave Aleu's personality time to understand the different situations at hand: the caribou and the clan, her personal quest to discover who she is, and getting her father to stop living her life for her all the time. In the end, she realizes that because of the wolf side that she once hated, she has been led to the life that she had always wanted to live: A life where she could be wild, freed from the clutches of her father's watchful eyes but never forgetting the love of her family. (I suppose her mother understood that Aleu is now happy, since in WoC, the question never came up . . . I'll again leave this to the fanfic writers to figure out, okay?)

To tell you the truth, I believe that Aleu is probably one, if not, the most well-developed characters in the entire Balto series.

So to all of your WQ and Aleu haters out there, here's my little bit of advice: Shut up with your flaming hate for it. It's a movie, for goodness sake. Maybe if you watch it and ignore the flawed animation, you might understand where I'm coming from. Or maybe not . . . because most of you are too dense to understand the personal struggles that these characters are facing.

And another thing: Aleu is not . . . and was never HALF-WOLF. She, like her brothers and sisters, is only 25% wolf. She just obtained the wild, wolfish look, that's all. Let it go, okay?

To the rest of you people: Uhh, I don't know. I hope this helps you understand where I'm coming from in this situation. I suppose some of you don't like Aleu either (I can name a few), but maybe this sheds new light on the story that WQ symbolizes: a coming-of-age story of a child that becomes a leader.

========rant over.

Wow, that felt very good indeed! I think I'll have to rant at least once a week now, right?

No flames, plz (please). XD Let's all rant like good friends do, okay?

- Juuchan17

Yeah...Aleu is a very well-developed character. For a knock-off another XD (sorry LoL I'm done XD)

Well, you do make a good (and brief) point, Cat.

Aleu is mainly a knock-off clone of Balto (except that she's female). Balto sees himself in her, but he wants to be a good dad too. (I'm surprised he never got her to wear a sled harness yet . . . . XD) The only difference is that Balto preferred the life near Nome, where people and sled dogs lived out their lives normally, while Aleu felt different in that world (which is probably why the only time we ever saw her in the town was during the adoption scene) and didn't realize that her wild habits were essential for her destined fate in the wild. She was just more dramatic than Balto was, that's all; Perhaps that's what was so annoying about her?

Thanks for your feedback!

- Juuchan17

Your Aleu rant is very well said,and put Juuchan17.

Yeah, her dramatic sense of dealing with situations is why I hate her, probably (i'm pretty sure you remember my long list of reaosns as to why I hated aleu XD) But it's basically why I hate any person really LOL No more drama!! DARE to keep kids off drama! Ok, that was lame... Anyway. But as for character knocks-off, I was actually referring to her personality relating ridiculously-close to Kiara's from Lion King 2.