Animation Source Forums

She's useful as a plot device. And as I noted earlier with another character, that makes her a "MacGuffin" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin) -- someone or something that moves the action along.

So does that make Jenna less than a plot device?
Without Jenna, we probably wouldn't even see Rosy.

Yes we would've Rosy's basically the only thing keeping Balto looking like a shallow twass. Which is an argument that's neither against or for her role in the movie(s).

I personally cringe at the use of the term "plot device" to describe any character beyond a "throwaway" character or a generic nameless one such as the typical "red shirts" in Star Trek who generally don't have names that anyone remembers and typically end up as the first ones to die. Let's just call both Jenna and Rosie what they are: supporting characters.

Exactly. Just because they aren't in the center of the action all the time doesn't make them "pointless."

Almost every character in a film or movie is a plot device in one way or another, guys. Yeah, it's a cold, technical term. But it isn't a bad thing. It's what moves the story along...for good or ill.

I see. I was of the understanding that "plot device" referred to an event or series of events within a story.

Technically anything can be a plot device. It depends on your usage of the term, but a plot device refers to anything that helps along the storyline--whether it be a character or something else.
So while I disagree with calling Jenna and Rosy "plot devices," the term does fit in the barest sense of the word..

Did you two read the link I provided regarding "MacGuffin"?

Sorry for taking so long. Yes, I've read the article. I was just saying that prior to this discussion, I was of the impression that a "plot device" referred to a turn of events or an object as opposed to a character. Thank you for educating me.

Jenna rocks, not only did she mother balto's pups, but we often forget that in balto 1 she saved balto's life with the bear!

Which proves that she had some use.

Apparently some people think being a mother has no value. Shows how much they appreciate theirs, I dare say.

Well some of us are judging it by being a movie and not real life. Whatever "use" she had wasn't in the film and therefore makes her useless as a character. Stop comparing this movie to real life and think of characters as characters and not people. Thank you.

For Jenna in the second film, other than being a mother, she was pretty much useless. Frankly, they could have given her a storyline in the movie. I mean, after the first movie, she deserved it, but Balto: Wolf Quest's creators were either stupid or incredibly lazy or both.

In three, she had a bit of value, but still, not as much as in the first movie.