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The writers and artists of Balto 2 certainly meant to suggest they're the same wolf. Although the animation is much cheaper, all the unusual design elements are there, plus the howl and the same mystical quality of appearing/disappearing (although B2 is far more heavy-handed). As a general rule, if something appears in an animated film, it's always done for a purpose. That's just economy of story. If Aniu and the white wolf were truly separate characters, the writers and artists would have never gone through such lengths to make them seem similar.

So I believe within the context of the B2 world the white wolf and Aniu are one and the same.

BUT, and this is a big fat but of mine.... it's quite clear that the writers of Balto 1 never meant for the white wolf to be Balto's mother. It's the same principle at work in B2; artists and writers for children's films are very clear with their statements. If they had scripted the white wolf as Balto's mother, they would have offered some clue. Yet there's zero indication that he's a blood relative of this mysterious wolf or that they've ever even met before.

This means to me that Balto 2 is trying to retroactively edit the character of Balto 1 to suit their needs. Since the films don't share the same directors, writers, or animators, I see the film of Balto 2 trying to change what the original team had created. It's like you write out a complete story, and then 5 years later somebody else comes along and tries to give something a different meaning than it originally had. I think that is lame.

Anyway, that's my long way of saying "yeah they are the same character in Balto 2 but in Balto 1 there is no way that thing is Balto's mother :I"

Why not just add your opinion to this topic? There isn't a need for a whole new topic when there is one already...

^ What Mighty said.

Locked.