Animation Source Forums

i think because Balto is a WOLFdog in the movie, so he had to look a bit like wolf

Possibly because they wanted to make him look more common, as brown is a common color for dogs, and makes him look more like a mutt.

My opinion is that they wanted Balto to look like a normal wolf dog so that way it would look better on the screen, Balto being black i don't believe would not make the movie look right to an animator not that i am a genious in art but don't you guys think that would be the most logic answer?