Animation Source Forums

Sounds like Balto in a nutshell.

Hmm... correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't nearly every animated film ever made teach one that? Note I said 'nearly' not all.

Balto 1- Accept yourself for who you are, as a tiger can't change its stripes.
Balto 2- Although letting go is hard, sometimes you have to.
Balto 3- A job is not worth more than a life.

Balto 1 - Don't let the odds take you down, you must win no matter what happen.
Balto 2 - It's your choice if you stay in the darkness, or find out who you are.
Balto 3 - As the song sings: ''You don't have to be a hero, you just have to be there''

I think out of all the comments I see here at the moment, this one comes the closest to what I'd agree with. The catch is that the point of Balto was never about winning, at least in the competitive sense. It was about doing the right thing. Even if Balto had not managed to get the medicine through, in my opinion, he would have been a winner as long as he kept on going to his last breath. Would have been anticlimactic, but a victory in the moral sense anyway (since we are talking about morals). By contrast, if Steele had succeeded in getting the medicine through, he'd still be a loser because he was wrapped up in himself.

Honestly, I could probably write a book on the subtle messages thrown into the movies, both ones I agree with and ones I may not agree with for one reason or another. But this, for me, is the main takeaway.

Balto I has already been summed up by Baltic, pretty much.

Balto II: Wolf Quest - When the right time comes, you must let your young wander off and explore/live in the world on their own.

Balto III... Well, I'm trying to think of the best way to put it. I mean, Kodi nearly loses his job and gets into an argument with Balto about the bush plane. Then after Jenna talks to him, he goes back and helps his father return to Nome. I guess Davy B summed this up by saying "you give help to whoever needs it".

Too many posts talk about the lesson in the second movie being 'letting go'... Okay. From Balto's point of view.
Let your kids make mistakes and live their lives. Makes perfect sense when most of the viewing audience is kids.
Moving on. And also 'finding who you really are'. ...This point always just confused me and I gave up learning anything
from the movie. It was difficult to understand when Balto told her who she was in the beginning and it took her what.
An hour and a half for that to sink in? And a wolfdog brat with little life experience suddenly leading a pack? What.

There was another lesson though. About change. And learning to accept it when the time comes and it must be done.
In my opinion, this was a lesson that should've been touched on a lot more than the others.
I have a horrible time with change. ...Or I did until I was kinda thrown in collage and learned to get over it, but I digress.
How many kids approach change the wrong way? Now not accusing all, but you'll have ones that grow up too fast,
or ones that live in their parents basements until they're 40. I doubt a movie would change this,
but if you're going to bother at all with putting a lesson in it, at least make it a good one.
But of course it was Niju who had to learn that lesson. And forget learning anything from villains. Pffff.

There are a lot of moral lessons to be learned in all of the movies, so here's what I caught from them... or at least what I can remember.

Balto:
- Anyone can be a hero and save a life.
- Don't be prejudiced by others because of physical differences.
- Just because you're popular and purebred doesn't mean you have to be a proud, selfish jerk.
- Don't be afraid to embrace what makes you different.


Wolf Quest:
- Again, don't be afraid to embrace what makes you different.
- Running away from home after a near-death experience will lead you to learning who you really are. [Pffft... this is a horrible lesson, but it's true for this movie.]
- For the overprotective dads: Trust in your kids. Sure, they'll make mistakes in life, but they'll never learn anything unless you let them go.
- Change is going to happen. Deal with it.

Wings of Change:
- Be yourself and don't try to change yourself just because of someone of the opposite sex; if they really are in love with you, they'll love you for who you are.
- Every life is important, even if they might be the life of one that is considered as an enemy.
- Sometimes co-workers are not the best role models... [...pffft.]
- Obviously, change is going to happen. Deal with it. [Had to put this here, given the word 'change' being in the title.]

There's probably some others.... but I can't think of them.

- Juuchan17

Thats a good question. But should people care about what morals you learned? But I guess I learned a few from Balto 1. Balto 1- No matter what, or who you are, nor what you look like, your still a hero.

So I don't understand here...

On one hand, you're questioning the merit of anyone even asking or considering whether or not learning any possible morals from any of the Balto movies is worth caring about...


...and then, on the other, you go and mention that you "learned a few"...


...and then list only one. Which really isn't a moral lesson in any of the three movies whatsoever.

Yes, yes I did. I said I learned a few, but that doesn't meanmI have to list them all.

Eeyeah...oookay.