Animation Source Forums

Many probably assume that Ralph is an overweight dog, but is he really?

If Ralph were to be an overweight dog, he would have a food obsession. No where in the movie do we see him displaying that kind of behavior. Then there is Kirby. No one seems to mention anything about him being overweight, when actually Kirby is about the same size as Ralph. In fact, Kirby and Ralph are the largest of all the dogs on Mr. Simpson's team.





In the end, I think this boils down to the breed. I personally think that Ralph, and maybe even Kirby, is an Alaskan Malamute. Malamutes can have thick coats that can make them look "fat".

Examples:








If someone was to take one of these and draw them in a Balto style, they would probably come up with something that looks like Ralph.

I agree. I don't think any fat dog would ever be in a sled team, so same with all the minor dogs from the first movie (and they are usually described as "fat huskies") and even Nikki. I personally think that Nikki is a chow-chow that is an extremely fluffy dog.
Also, as you said, almost every cartoon character that is a "fat guy type" has a food obsession. None of those Balto characters have it.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4r00wIfzjNw/T ... _up_07.jpg

I completely agree with you two, as Troll said, mushers wouldn't really put a "fat" dog on a sled team; after all, the dog would simply slow the team down decreasing the team's chance of victory.
Also notice, Ralph and Kirby are also taller than the other huskies in the team, like malamutes usually do appear larger in size than huskies (if memory serves me right), ee yeah, they're Mals. As Mighty said, it was an animated kids film created when technology wasn't as advanced to make all the fancy fluffy fur thing that goes on when animating dogs in current films, therefore if somebody did draw a malamute in Balto style (as Mighty pointed out in her post) it would look something like Ralph.

THANK YOU, Mighty. I'm really tired of Ralph and Kirby both getting bashed just for looks and called fat. I hope your topic helps shut those posts up.

Though I must wonder if a sequel actually BETTERED itself in a way than the original. Considering Steele is supposedly a mal and yet his build is rather skinny (around the legs anyway) for such a bulky breed... Now that I think about it, he looks more like a husky than a mal. 8/

Well the reason why any of the dogs look the way they do is to establish "differences". The huskies are essentially Balto's exact opposite in design, because he's part wolf, and therefore has more wolf traits than husky traits (that are represented). Steele's a bad guy, so he should be more intimidating than Balto. Jenna's the love interest so she has to be sleek and elegant. Which is also one of the movie's biggest flaws in design, cuz even tho Jenna is more than likely the same (realistic) breed as the common sled dogs in the movie, she looks completely different than them.

As for Ralph and Kirby, I agree they do get alot of bad raps for being "fat" when they're just "fluffy". No musher in his right state of mind would keep a dog that was not in good physical condition. So their logic in design is that Ralph has a deep voice and is derpy, so the "logical" thing to do is to make him this plump dog. And Kirby couldn't be as good-lookin' as Kodi cuz.... reasons. We'll just say its because of Kodi's wolf traits. And then there's Dusty, who's the girl and shouldn't ever be ugly evur because she's not snobby-rude like prissy-wissy Dixie or Sylvie.

Basically their builds suit their personality, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

Ralph and Kirby are not fat. Malamutes tend to be bigger then Huskies , They are just "fluffy".