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(This has already been posted in the articles section, but I believe not everyone has seen it yet)

I've watched WQ again recently (I admit that I really don't watch it as often as Balto 1 & 3...) and I have found a few things that I'm surprised no one talked about yet.

I strongly think that Aniu is guiding Balto & Aleu all along the film.

1. Balto has these dreams / nightmares, even before Aleu is born. He can see ice bridges. He tries to go back but he can't because he's blocked by a cliff. And at the end, we see a close up of the bag from the hunter (see the next point), and the wolf face from the totem.



2. The hunter. Have you noticed the picture on his bag? It is a raven. (picture 1) The fact that there is a big close up on this bag, means that it is important. My theory is : Aniu has, in some way, called this hunter at this right time and place, to help Aleu understand her destiny. (that she's a wolf)



3. Just after that Aleu left, Balto has a dream again. But this time, we hear Aniu describing the totem pole to Balto. I won't describe that part, I'm sure you remember it.

4. When Balto starts his journey, he suddenly stops when he sees a face, appearing with the fog. (pictures 2 & 3) It is, obviously, Aniu. Then, just after, we see the raven appearing, within the fog as well. (picture 4) To me there's no doubt at that point that the raven is Aniu.




5. Just after, the raven starts moving into a direction, making Balto to follow him. And then, we see...A fox, appearing within the fog. (again) And Aniu told about the fox. Aniu even says 'the cunning trickster' while we see this fox appearing. Which is the best way to know the future? By making it...And if you want one more proof : listen carefully to the voice of the fox, for example. This is the exact same voice as Aniu, when she's telling about the totem in Balto's dream. So, the fox = Aniu.



6. I found this very interesting, and I've never seen anyone pointing that : when Boris & Muk & Luk discover Balto lying on another side of the river, we see the fog appearing, forbidding Boris to help Balto. (picture 5 & 6) And who does always come within the fog? Aniu. This is even more obvious when you notice that the fog is exactly between Boris and Balto, and nowhere else. And the fog suddenly disappear when Boris change his mind and leave...I believe that Aniu wanted Balto to come alone on this journey to find Aleu.




7. After this scene, when Boris is leaving, we can see Aniu watching them on a rock. (picture 7) And the rock is just in the middle of Balto and Boris, again...This confirms n°6.




8. The wolverines. (pictures 8 & 9) Same comments as for the fox, except that I don't see the point that Aniu has to prevent Balto from going on at that point. (they even say 'stop following the raven'...) Maybe she just wants to make him taking account of his fears and battle them out. Also, the wolverines have the same red eyes as the raven, and disappear in the fog (again...)






9. Same as 7 : we see Aniu on a rock watching Balto, and disappearing in the fog...




10. Just after, the raven appears next to Aleu and make her entering the cave. We can even see the raven pointing out the cave with his beak, very intentionally...(picture 10)




11. Aleu enters the cave, and finds Muru. At that point, I was not sure whether it was Aniu again, but later on we see that it's the case. Muru clearly tries to make Aleu understand that she is not what she thinks (a dog), but what is really in her (a wolf) Also, Muru make high praises about wolves, by saying that they have a wonderful howl, that they are wonderful creatures...Which seems obvious when you think that it is in fact Aniu the wolf who say that!


12. During the song 'Who you really are', we can see every creature from the totem displayed on the cave walls. (some pictures : 11, 12, 13, 14)






13. Something I never really noticed : during the song, we see what happened with the wolf pack and the caribous! Check these 3 pictures. We see the caribous crossing the river to get food, but the wolves did not follow them. And these pictures are showed twice.





14. At the end of the song, we hear 'who are you?' repeating, while all the creatures left except the wolves. And then we only see wolves and wolves, Muru (Aniu) clearly wanting her to believe that she's a wolf.




15. The bear : he has the same eyes as the wolverines and the raven. By looking at his eyes, Aleu hear his thoughts and jumps off the cliff. And he disappears in the fog. I'm sure you understand what I mean, and don't know if I have anything to add...Oh yes, he loses his red eyes just after he leave the cave. But I'm sure it's not intentional...(I would bet on a blooper)



16. The raven again, going in circles. Probably to tell Balto and Aleu to stay there until they meet the wolf pack, which is what happens. The, the raven stops the wolves from attacking Balto & Aleu, by startling them. Balto says 'now we know the raven is on our side', which is sure right.

17. Nava says 'Aniu, the white wolf, has come to me in a vision', telling him that 'the caribous have crossed the great water, and that we must move on, being lead by the one who is wolf but does not know'. Very clear message. Although Nava make the error of believing this is Balto, instead of Aleu.

18. When Nava asks Balto what they should do, Aleu has a vision of the caribous crossing the water, probably sent by Aniu. Then, after that Balto refuses that Aleu help them, he has a dream with more or less the same images as Aleu.



19. The ice is making a bridge, and they cross.

20. After Aleu, Balto, Nava and Niju got isolated on a piece of ice, the raven goes from them to the wolves of the pack, to show that they need someone to lead them.

21. Once Aleu has crossed, Muru appears in the fog, howls with Aleu, and disappear just after. The proof that it is really Aniu, again.



22. And finally, the raven stops next to Balto, and change into the wolf form of Aniu. And she disappears in the fog, howling...





So, from my theory : the raven, and maybe even Muru and the hunter, are always an appearance of Aniu. All along the film, she tries to guide Balto, Aleu and the others, to make them follow what she thought would be the best future for them. The fact that there is always a single appearance of one of them is another proof of that. (ex : we see Aniu on the rock only after that the wolverines have disappeared...)
I'm even surprised that no one pointed out all that yet... (instead of always trying to find if Aniu is the white wolf, eh...)

There are still some things that I can't explain, though, such as why Nava can control the elements and 'make one with a tree' (sigh) Maybe he really is related to Aniu, after all?

Well explained, Steet. I couldn't have said it better myself.

I had noticed all of those things, and I think I can help you with the wolverine part.



I believe this accompanies your reason why the wolverines (or in this case, Aniu) are telling Balto to stop following the raven.

Before the scene starts, revealing Balto confronting the wolverine clan, Aniu says the words, "Your fears." This could mean that the wolverines are meant to try and get Balto's true purpose out in the open (which is to find Aleu and make sure she's safe, not to take her back home as he originally wanted) by using the things that he is afraid of (as you said).

It also seems that Aniu blocks everyone else close to Balto away from what she is planning to do with him and Aleu. (this started with the fog separating Boris, Muk, and Luk from Balto; afterwards, Boris tells Jenna not to go after them . . . could there be another reason for that other than the whole "part-wolf" thing? Maybe he knew there was a higher power that was in control of them?)

Also, at the end of "Who You Really Are," I think that the pictures of the wolves surrounding Aleu also symbolize the fact that she is destined to be a leader of many wolves (a leader is usually the center of a group, and note the fact that Aleu is the center of their attention? And they're all facing towards her? Bingo.) This foreshadows the end of her quest, if she decided to make it (which she does).

And I believe the reason Nava makes the mistake of thinking Balto is "the one who is wolf, but does not know" is probably because he is older than Aleu and he makes himself look "leader-like" (more experience, I guess). Maybe having Aleu seeing the visions too, helped them realize that Nava made a misjudgement, and that Aleu, not Balto is destined to be the leader. I guess he realized it, when Niju was defeated and Aleu stopped Balto from going with the pack that she was the true one (because she accpeted her fate).

And maybe, Nava is another form of Aniu. Who knows? That seems like Aniu could take another wolf's form (possible reincarnation?) and use her magic to do things. That would help explain why only Nava could see Aniu in his dreams.

But that's up to you.

Again Steet, great job! *wishes I had done this article*[/quote]

So why am I the first to make an article on all this, uh?

If Nava was Aniu, she wouldn't have made the error of believing that Balto should be their leader...But it would surely explain why Nava can do all these magic things.

And about the wolverines, maybe Aniu just didn't want Balto to come and look for Aleu, at first. After all, what was the purpose of the fox if it's not for blocking him too?

I must say that after having realized all that, I've watched WQ...differently. And I have a better opinion of it, too.

Very well explained Steet.

That's wrong; I've reproached it to be too far from the original, not the sequel that Balto needed. But I've never said that it was bad.

I've never said that it was bad either; It's one of my favorite sequels actually. But originally, I did think the sequel wasn't up to the same cailber as the original (storywise). Thanks to Steet's massive breakdown of the events that occurred, I think it's well done (storywise).

I know I'm never going to watch it the same again, either! (And I watched it a lot while getting screencaps)

*bows at Steet's feet* I'm not worthy!

That is a good piont to make Steet, good Idea making this topic.... I never thought of this myself.... Also as you stated priviously, most of the animals do dissapear in the wind (quote) Like Aniu (unquote)

Yep, I had noticed that kinda weird the way aniu transforms into different creatures, I still think the movie is gay

I don't think Aniu is all those animals like the raven and stuff.Like how can she be three wolverines at once? And the bag that the hunter has probably is just a sign in Balto's dreams that a hunter would try to kill Aleu.

I'm making suppositions, I'm not saying that what I say is 100% true. So there are obviously some things that may seem strange with my theory. The only way we would have to know the truth, would be to get the scenario (scenarii?) used to make the film.

It's all those spiritual stuff in the show that makes it bad.

At least you opened the doors to anwering a few frequently whined questions, though.

What would you rathe rhave than a spiritual journey for Balto's oddball daughter Aleu? As far as the movie shy's away from the original's splendor, i don't think i would have the spiritual stuff, dissapear, or changed in any way. It seemed good enough, and provides a more interesting story, when you deal with what you can't explain.

Well, explained steet, but one thing remains unanswered:

If you include the raven, all three animals with red eyes were antagonists in the story. The raven, being questionable because it led Balto AND Aleu into the path of danger, yet the danger was necessary for both of them to find eachother. The raven, the bear, and the wolverines. What make them so special?

Don't jump to conclusions too early. Aleu was also included, only she had a yellow aura instead of a red one. What does this mean, and how might it relate to Aniu?