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I'm sure from the mushers point of view, it looked like Balto's reaction was fairly violent. As if he was going to bite him. He didn't raise or own Balto, so how's he to really know what his temperment is like..

And as far as how long and that certain scene, I don't think it would've worked out so well. There probably would've been a vicious fight that wouldn't look so good in a kids movie, and could extent it, and other complicated things. I rather liked the ending as it was though. And if you added that scene with the ending, it would've taken to much time from the main point with the town being saved.

Hmm... Okay, that makes sense. Then again, they clearly acknowledged the obvious "part-wolf" excuse and just walked off... all after sounding really curious and almost happy about the hybrid, I dare say it. It was just... weird and off to me, that's all. Heck, I'm sure mushers back then had to deal with other breeds of dogs that had awkwardly unknown temperments, so he should have tried harder to give a chance, regardless of breed... BUT of course, mostly all of the humans were racists [or "breed-ists"?] about Balto's wolf side, so I suppose wanting that is probably moot, as well as impossible to happen for the sake of having a meaningful plot and story surrounding Balto defying the odds and being the imperfectly perfect hero.

...I don't think it would have been too long [younger kids, maybe. Older kids, I doubt it, even in 1995.], nor do I think that it would have been violent. Steele would have gotten what he deserved, and for Star [the "butt-monkey" comic relief dog that usually worked behind him on the team; how he got that position... oh man, I have no idea.] to just remove that collar... it would make it seem as if he [Steele] has no more power over what they do. It's the completion of the villain's downfall, which all began when Balto survived their "quite-violent-already" fight on the mountain for the lead [Yeah, there wasn't any blood, but there were hard hits. That's already pretty violent, even after the dangerous bear fight and near-death experience under ice. In reality, Balto wouldn't have stood a chance after all of that torture, unless he had undying determination.]. No matter what Steele did to try and keep Balto from succeeding - as well as keep the other dogs from knowing the truth of the matter - they always failed somehow. Balto kept pushing on and struggling, and at his lowest point, he realized his true strength as not only a dog, but also as a wolf. Even Jenna with her defiance against Steele through her words, leaving the group, and her showing her faith in Balto through her curtain of "Northern Lights" were all little cracks in Steele's plan... Hearing his approaching howls seemed to be In other words, it really wasn't a completely fulfilling ending... UNLESS that loss of his collar was shown as the other dogs' [or at least Star's, anyway] last straw. But that's just me.

- Juuchan17

Quite a lot, actually. My biggest pet peeve is Balto's timidity however, which greatly tips the scale of the storyline. Is this for good or for worse? I'd say the latter.

Despite him being half-dog, half-wolf, he has the spine of an electric eel when taunted by his peers, and acts like little more than a scared girl dancing on flames, frantically searching for her lost doll amidst the fire. From members of the sled dog team kicking snow in his face, to Steele constantly intimidating him and—obviously threatening the lives of many by resisting to hand over the antitoxin. I disliked Steele enough to begin with—it's more than obvious that the character illustrators intended this animosity in his personality—but if there's one thing I dislike in movies, novels, games... It's when the main protagonist (occasionally inspired by their lackluster sidekick) attempts to act holier-than-thou, even when they're getting abused, or mocked; usually setting a disadvantageous point for the scene's period, which is how most of the trouble begins to brew in the first place. This, in turn, makes the viewers feel "pity" toward the character, regardless of whether or not the main protagonist could've perhaps actually stood up for him/herself, and pretended as though they could change and defy their fate.

And, you'd think that with all that's riding at stake, Balto would, for example, possibly fend off Steele at the snow hill sequence, rather than let him rip Jenna's scarf off from around his neck, and tumble off the cliff in an anti-climatic fashion. How droll...

I didn't like how Balto kept his wolf heritage among his pups. That sooo annoys me!

Kept it from them you mean?

I was thinking the same thing.... even though this topic seems to be more about the first film and not the sequels.

But I will admit that bothers me a little too. Maybe he was afraid that after Aleu's outburst in WQ, some of the others would either deny it, accept it, or be dramatic like Aleu was and run away... not like that would help change things in the end though, but eh. Perhaps the other pups didn't know at the time because they looked like huskies, not wolves? By WoC, Kodi must have known something by the way he was howling, but I'm not sure if it was just because he was going along with his team, he didn't know the real meaning of why his father howls, or that was just his wolf side shining through. We'll never know, unfortunately; we can only guess.

And another thing to add to my list of things that bother me about the first movie [and probably with every animal-human movie out there by Disney or some other company]: How did the humans know Balto's name? I mean, did someone give him that name and it just stuck or was it something else? It's like with the sequel of "Lady and the Tramp", which clearly does the exact same thing with Tramp and Angel [Angel's was more of a coincidence, I'm guessing...], but that's just another of many examples. For tame dogs, I can understand how humans know their names - they've lived with them and I'm sure they named them as such - but explain!

Argh... You can't really except to get away with that one, movie.

- Juuchan17

He, as you recall, either mentions to Aleu or Jenna, that Aleu was almost as much wolf on the outside as she was on the inside. For this reason, he chose not to disrupt his family by assorting to his own heritage. The singular reason he told Aleu not only sprouted from her naïveté of humans (which... was not her fault), but because she almost got killed by one.



Kodi was... really less than intelligent; ignorant; and his role held no specific significance to his father's family ties. The only thing that made him any bit remarkable was his consideration for the "enemy", and of course Balto, who was helping him. I suppose you could chalk it up to an uncreative mind to those who designed the movie, however.



I assume the villagers referred to him as such, not from knowing but out of wanting. Though he was not like Steele--and didn't actually have an owner to call his own--where else would one spot a particular half-dog, half-wolf stray...? I imagine he must have been popular with Nome's inhabitants, whether it was for good or for bad.



It's, anti-climatically and unrealistically, most likely supposed to be a coincidence that the humans refer to the animals as their true names. Not to forget that Angel is a very popular name among canines. Other than that, no explanation can hold relevance; again, you can chalk it up to an uncreative mind.

I didn't like muk and luk I found them too embarassing and annoying

The lack of plot. there were many plot-holes in the film...

Overall, I liked the movie. The one thing I didn't really like, though, (and I'm sure it's been stated before) is how the end of it seemed to be a bit rushed. As soon as Balto finds the team, they fall off a cliff (which was well-placed and effective, as it led to the White Wolf scene), experience an avalanche, icicles falling on them, the ice bridge --all with almost no time in between.

I did, however, like the scene where Jenna brings the lantern up to the top of the hill and recreates the Northern Lights to guide Balto home. I just wish they would have added a bit more to the middle of that scene. Maybe show Jenna hearing about how Balto "died" and then go to Rosy's bedside and try to comfort her because she knew Rosy was going to die, and have the idea a few minutes later to make the Lights. Also, show her torn between leaving Rosy again and helping Balto. This, in my opinion, could do a better job of showing her love for and devotion to Balto--how she would do anything to help him.

The only things I didn't like in the movie was Steele (because he was super mean ) and the ending (it felt a bit rushed to me).

You're right! The ending was pretty rushed! I guess they had a time and money limit and compressed it all into 78 so they could say in the budget

Haha, I said the exact same thing about the pacing. My only qualm about the film is that.

I think there's a fine line between "rushed" and "action packed," and at the end of the day it's largely a matter of taste and style. It's a little like how in martial arts movies they often speed up the footage of the guys throwing punches and such. Rushed? Very, but there's no denying it spices up the action too. Slowing fight scenes down to get in more detail works sometimes (I'm a huge fan of that one fight scene between Peter Parker and Flash Thompson in Spider-Man, for example), but imagine if all action sequences were done that way. It'd get pretty boring ultimately.

I think that's mostly the reason why the movie wasn't so well received with critics