Animation Source Forums

Alright, we all know that Balto 1 encountered a great deal of problems during its theater run. This forum is about discussing what might of happened had that not been the case. And no, this isn't just about what involves the first film, its about what direction might Balto 2 & 3 of taken or if they would of even happened, also if the fate of the company that made Balto might of been something other than bankruptcy. Lets start this discussion.

That is a good point, or points. Though there is the possibilty that if Balto had been a blockbuster, it might of changed some minds in the ones who made it. And I agree, if Balto 1 had done better at the Box Office, Balto 2 & 3 would of had more work put into them. The major problem with Balto, as most of us know, was it was overshadowed by the more heavily advertised towards a family Toy Story. Now lets consider if say Balto's release had been, for some reason, postponed till after Toy Story's theater run and was better advertised.

I was tending to think that Balto two and three suffered from the same lack of advertising as Balto one, or in Balto 3's case, there was a lack of distrubtion, at least in my area. Its not a stretch that if Toy Story hadn't been released at the same time as Balto and more advertising had been done with Balto, Balto might of become a very popular film because if the members of this site are an inclination, those who have seen Balto adore it. This in turn, as we have both mentioned, would likely of had an effect on the other two films. I have to say though I despised Stella's number in Balto threes, I found Jenna's song rather enjoyable. Another intresting question is how might Baltosource of been effected if Balto was a more well known movie?

If we're speaking on terms as if the first movie was a large success and was released with decent advertising and just as importantly at a better date then I believe that things would be a lot more different (obviously.) By this I mean firstly about merchandise, I'm sure loads of people has seen the concept artwork for possible merchandise items and may even own some of the items themselves. We can imagine that this alone would bring in loads of money for Amblition without the added value of movie ticket sales and (back then) VHS releases.

Therefore I think (as stated before above me) that a lot more work would have gone into making the second movie. Firstly the original voice actors would have been re-hired, because I'm sure they would have loved to capitalise on the success on of the first film (or maybe not, who knows.) I find it kinda funny though, when Jack Angel (voice of Nikki) was answering questions he even said that he was oblivious to there even being a Balto 2 and 3. So that makes me think two ways, either the writers of the second movie never wanted most of the old cast. Or they didn't think to include them, as perhaps they didn't deem them popular enough. However if the first movie did succeed then I believe word of mouth would have passed around more and the writers would think that by getting as many original voice actors as possible would add value to the second movie and I'm sure that the voice actors themselves would have loved to of gone along with it. Only thing is I've heard that some original voice actors weren't hired because they chose not to, i.e they knew that Balto 2 was more or less thrown together for a quick profit and didn't want to be a part of that. If Balto 1 was a huge success then I'm sure they would have loved to be in the sequels, if they liked the script of course.

So this brings me to my next point, would the sequels have been written differently? Personally I think they would have, people would perhaps try to capture what made the first film so great, not attempt to copy it but try to get a little bit of that magic that makes Balto 1 such a great film. Therefore I can imagine that WQ and WoC might have turned out quite differently if the first film would have been a success, as they would have got more money for production, perhaps some more time to work on it and maybe even have a little bit more value added to the script and of course the hiring of old voice actors along with the new ones.

As for 'Would this forum would be here if Balto 1 was a success?' Jersey does bring up a good point about some highly succesful movies having small internet fan bases. I personally think Balto Source would still be here, Lion King is the most successful animated movie I can think of and that has a huge following, I'm 100% sure that if Balto got the success and time it deserved then this (and many other forums) would still be live and well on the internet today.

Nice dicussions, I knew this thread would get some discussions. I have to agree with Squival, we're not here because Balto wasn't a huge sucess at the box office, we're here because it has something we like. I also like that he (sorry if thats the wrong pronoun, not sure) brought up the fact that the old voice actors might of wanted to take part in Balto 2 if Balto 1 had been a bigger hit and thus be something very nice on the resimay. Also, if Balto 1 had been a sucess, maybe Balto would of had the same writers as Balto 1, which might of sent us in a more historical direction, such as Balto tour the country and all that.

Hah that's a really good point, I didn't really think about what sort of movie Balto 2 would have been if the first was a huge success. I certainly like the idea about Balto touring the country (along with the team and Jenna etc) after the serum run. Although the movie was never entirely accurate to the true story (and it doesn't even matter as it's the message and the way the movie is told that makes it so great) a sequel having Balto do what the real life Balto did would be great. I'm sure writers of any degree could write up a decent plot for it that didn't involve spirits or magic

Personally I would have loved to see a sequel go in this direction, it would be that much more of a tribute to the real Balto as well as providing a great basis for the Balto universe to expand and perhaps even to get out of Nome for awhile (although we do love it so )

P.S- I remember that JerseyCaptain wrote a crossover fanfic between Lady and the Tramp and Balto with the sled team touring the country, I suggest reading it as it's similar to how I would picture the movie (without lady and the tramp ofc) as a sequel to the first Balto movie if Balto: Wolf Quest was never made

I also wrote a story mentioning the tour around america, though it ended with Balto himself returning to Nome, though if I'd gone on, maybe the others would of suffered the fate of their real counterparts. After that it gets into time trevel involving Balto's descendent and a homacidal monster, it was actuelly well recieved and took place before the second movie, no major changes to the timeline. Yeah, if Balto had been sucessful, Balto 2 might of been closer to real events, though likely mildly based off the true events like the first one as opposed to retailing the events, likely Balto would've saved the dogs instead of a human doing it buying them back. Also, a little off topic, were there really dogs named Nickie, Kaltag, and Star on the real Balto's team or does anyone know?

well Shrek,Toy Story, and Ice age are set to have at least 2 movies besides the original (Shreks will have 5).. all of them will/are going to be theatrical.. but maybe it's because of the CGI craze or the people behind them know people don't give a crap about Direct-to-Video sequels anymore..

it's possible Balto II and III might have had more effort put in it if the original was more successful.. but when you look at films like Aladdin and Lilo and Stitch which were highly successful.. and yet made sequels for the almighty dollar.. then well..

at least Balto didn't go the Land Before Time route.. :p