Animation Source Forums

Why would Steele mate with a pure bred wolf if Steele keeps talking about how being a half wolf and half dog is bad?
And why would Steele make fun if his son?
Not to mention the age difference. Steele and Balto don't look to old or too young. Plus, Balto and Steele look like a few years apart.



(random/funny remark):....
By the way, this topic reminds me so much of Star Wars!
Balto: I'll never forgive you! You killed my father!
Steele: No Balto. I AM your father.
Balto: NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Since it's been established that Balto said himself that his dad was a husky, and that (eye color and logic aside) Steele is a Malamute, why is this issue even being debated anymore? It seems pointless. Just sayin'.

It isn't official that Steele is a Malamute. Due to his blue eyes, which Malamutes do not have, I personally view him as a Siberian Husky.

But one thing is for sure, Steele is not Balto's father. I agree with you when you say this topic is pointless.

I take it this is not official enough for you?



Unless you're just refusing to acknowledge it.

No need to be rude, Paxis. I didn't see that post.

So I am wrong, Steele is not a Husky. Happy now?

I wasn't intending to be rude, my apologies.

Although i would say no way to Steele being Balto's dad, I have to ask does he hate wolves as people suggest? I don't believe that the movie (having watched it 5 minutes ago ) says that he hates wolves - he just hates Balto. Because of his wolfness? Or because he is different? Or because he is a stray like the poor kid in town? Who knows.

I have a theory
Steele is a large, heavily furred, muscularly built dog. Everything about his build suggests a malamute background, however his eyes make a purebred background physically impossible. I have a slight belief that steele is a crossing between Malamute and husky, causing the blue coloration of his eyes ang the large furry build. Making it completely possible for a son of his to more closely reassemble one of his parents who devoted the husky half of his breed. I also believe that steele does not exclusively hate Wolfdogs, he hates all wolves. This hatred could be caused by a bad experience with one of them in his past. Say he had a fling with a female on his younger days and the relationship deteriorated causing a bitter attitude towards her kind, and suppose that female happened to be a white wolf. Secondary note- Malamutes and huskies belong to the husky belong to the spitz family of breeds, this family is the closest related to wolves, wolves and spitz-related dogs age ate a rate of puppyhood to adult hood in three years. Let us say that Steele was two years old and met Aniu, fathered a litter, destroyed the relationship, and left them behind. Then Balto was born, in 1924. Now I realize that the actual Balto lived from 1919 to 1933 but this is completely fictional. In 1925 Balto would have been in his adolescence, meaning he would have been small, scrawny, and short, his exact description from the original movie. If you look at Steele in the original film he is only 1 1/2 times the size of Jenna and Balto has the same height as her. Over the course of the three films Balto shows growth in size and muscle. The third film opened with the statement that it was 1928, in that film the comparison in height between Balto and Jenna is very close to that of the one between her and steele. Then there is Aleu's eyes, her blue eyes. One of Jenna's parents could of had blue eyes, but let's just say that they came from her paternal grandfather (steele).
Choose your side.

Not necessarily. Malamutes can have blue eyes, it's just not as common. Not that I'm saying that your opinion is wrong, because, in fact, a lot of dogs back then were mixed with other breeds.

And as for Steele hating wolves? I have to disagree with you. Steele is supposedly suppose to be a purebred Malamute, and a leader of a championship sled team. Steele just has a lot of pride and dispises anyone bellow him.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe that there is a breed of dog that is mo closely related to wolves. Correct me if I'm wrong.

How do you know that the cartoon Balto was born in 1924? There is nothing which suggests that Balto was born in 1924. Since we don't know how old Balto is, describing him as a juvenile is irrelevant. Let's note that Balto is a stray animal, so he obviously isn't going to be the healthiest dog around. And comparing him to the other two films is also irrelevant. It has been confirmed that Phil Weinstein never saw the first film prior to directing the 2nd and 3rd film.

So no, Steele is clearly not Balto's father.

A. You're another person who seems to have forgotten that the Balto movie is a work of animation and fictionalized history. Not a documentary. There was no intent by Amblimation or Universal Studios to delve into canine genetics to the level which some fans seem to think they either did, or should have. It's an animated movie. Aimed at children. It's not "Dogs 101".


B. You've misstated the historical information about the real Balto. Yes, he died in 1933. That is a documented fact. His birth date, however, is a matter of conjecture. And has not been firmly established or documented (at least not by any method available to open scrutiny by the public). Nor was the real Balto "small, scrawny, and short". He was, in fact, large, boxy and barrel-chested (http://www.baltostruestory.net/balto.htm).


C. You're also another person who seems to have fallen for the mythological standard, perpetrated by show breeders of Alaskan Malamutes, that they do not EVER have blue eyes unless they have been crossbred with something else. That it's "physically [i.e. genetically] impossible". This is a lot of baloney, and there is absolutely no reliable scientific or genetic research or foundations to back up that mythology. It is, however, based upon the breed standard which was established by the American Kennel Club, which ONLY states that blue eyes are a "disqualification" (for SHOW purposes): http://www.akc.org/breeds/alaskan_malamute/breed_standard.cfm. Since these breeders also show their "stock", they have to do whatever they can to not lose points and "reputation" ( ) by breeding and showing dogs which HAVE blue eyes. So they've convinced the lay public, and themselves in many cases, that the blue-eyed Alaskan Malamute is either a fallacy or a fiction. They are WRONG. This website delineates why, better than most I have seen: http://nicholescritters.homestead.com/malcolorEyes.html


Clearly we're never going to be rid of this eye color in Malamutes silliness whenever it comes to Steele. Nor the question of whether or not he is a Siberian Husky or an Alaskan Malamute. Again, to Steven Spielberg and Universal Studios, it is a NON-ISSUE. So it should be for fans.


And folks? Litter genetics? And breeding genetics? About fictional cartoon characters? Again? Really?



The northern ("Spitz-type") breeds are considered, genetically, among the oldest domesticated breeds of dogs, M. Just FYI. Again, not that genetics has any place in considering what was presented in three animated movies, which were almost entirely works of fiction.


I agree with you completely on all of this. I do believe that Balto, in the first movie, was presented as younger than Steele...perhaps just a year or so old (though that's just a personal viewpoint...it has no bearing on the production history of the movie itself). But overall, you've hit it on the mark in this viewpoint.

I have to disagree as well with the idea that Steele could have fathered Balto with Aniu. If he ever was in a fling with her, i'm sure the town of Nome (or the dogs at least) would never let him hear the end of it, much like Balto. I dunno, I always assumed Steele, being a purebreed Malamute, could have been raised in a higher-class environment and taught that dogs were superior to wolves, similar to early colonists to Native Americans. Steele could have always since birth not viewed wolves as animals with feelings like dogs. As for their looks, Balto of course is a gray-brown scruffy and scrawny guy, while Steele is the burly, thick-coated and with a broader muzzle and smaller ears.

Just a quick question, why are we focusing on whether or not Malamute's can have blue eyes or not when this is a fictional story with dogs that look like this:

Can you explain that? Look like what, exactly?

You're focusing on genetics and real life dogs for a debate while this is an animated cartoon, and dogs like Star, made to look derpy and for humor, exist in this same universe, where he proves dog-likeness or realism has no real part in this world set up by the animation.

Just saying, not trying to start anything. ^^"

Although I don't really believe that Steele is his father, it's actually quite interesting to think if Balto and Steele could somehow be related. It might be just me, but maybe a biological relation could be a reason for Steele hating wolves.