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Balto (film)

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Balto
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin.
Directed bySimon Wells
Screenplay byCliff Ruby
Elana Lesser
David Steven Cohen
Roger S. H. Schulman
Story byCliff Ruby
Elana Lesser
Produced bySteve Hickner
Starring
CinematographyJan Richter-Friis
Edited byRenee Edwards
Nick Fletcher
Sim Evan-Jones
Music byJames Horner
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • December 22, 1995 (1995-12-22)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$31 million[2]
Box office$11.3 million[3]

Balto is a 1995 American live-action/animated adventure film directed by Simon Wells, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is loosely based on a true story about a dog of the same breed who helped save children infected by the diphtheria epidemic in the 1925 serum run to Nome. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Bridget Fonda, Jim Cummings, Phil Collins (in a dual role) and Bob Hoskins, with Miriam Margolyes in the live-action sequences. The live-action portions of the film were shot in New York City's Central Park.

The film was the third and final animated feature produced by Steven Spielberg's UK-based Amblimation animation studio. Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Bonne Radford acted as executive producers on the film. Although the film was a financial disappointment (it was overshadowed by the success of the competing Disney-Pixar film Toy Story) its subsequent strong sales on home video led to two direct-to-video sequels: Balto II: Wolf Quest (2002) and Balto III: Wings of Change (2004), though none of the voice cast reprised their roles.[4][5] Unlike the original film, the sequels were entirely animated and contain no live action scenes.

Plot

In New York City, an elderly woman and her granddaughter are walking through Central Park, looking for a memorial statue. As they seat themselves for a rest, the grandmother tells a story about Nome, Alaska back in 1925, which shifts the film from live-action to animation.

Balto, a wolfdog hybrid, lives on the outskirts of Nome with his adoptive father, a snow goose named Boris, and two polar bears, Muk and Luk. Being half-breed, Balto is ridiculed by dogs and humans alike. His only friend in town is a red husky named Jenna who Balto has a crush on and is challenged by the town's favorite sled dog, Steele, a fierce and arrogant Alaskan Malamute.

That night, all the children, including Jenna's owner, Rosie, fall ill with diphtheria. Severe winter weather conditions prevent medicine from being brought by air or sea, and the closest rail line ends in Nenana. A dog race is held to determine the best-fit dogs for a sled dog team to get the medicine. Balto enters and wins, but Steele exposes his wolf-dog heritage, resulting in him being disqualified. The team departs that night with Steele in the lead and picks up the medicine successfully, but on the way back, conditions deteriorate and the disoriented team ends up stranded at the base of a steep slope with the musher knocked unconscious.

When the word reaches Nome, Balto sets out in search of them with Boris, Muk and Luk. On the way, they are attacked by a huge grizzly bear, but Jenna, who followed their tracks, intervenes. The bear pursues Balto out onto a frozen lake, where it falls through the ice and drowns, while Muk and Luk save Balto from a similar fate. However, Jenna got injured and cannot continue on. Balto instructs Boris and the polar bears to take her back home while he continues on alone. Balto eventually finds the team, but Steele refuses his help out of jealousy and attacks him until he loses his balance and falls off a cliff. Balto takes charge of the team, but Steele, refusing to concede defeat, throws them off the trail and they lose their way again. While attempting to save the medicine from falling down a cliff, Balto himself falls.

Back in Nome, Jenna is explaining Balto's mission to the other dogs when Steele returns, claiming the entire team, including Balto, is dead. However, Jenna sees through his lies and assures Balto will return with the medicine. Using a trick Balto showed her earlier, she places broken colored glass bottles on the outskirts of town and shines a lantern on them to simulate the lights of an aurora, hoping it will help guide Balto home. When Balto regains consciousness, he is ready to give up hope, but when a large, white wolf appears and he notices the medicine crate still intact nearby, he realizes that his part-wolf heritage is a strength, not a weakness and drags the medicine back up the cliff to the waiting team. Using his advanced senses, Balto is able to filter out the false markers Steele created.

After encountering further challenges, and losing only one vial, Balto and the sled team finally make it back to Nome. A pity-playing Steele is exposed as a liar and abandoned by the other dogs, ruining his reputation. Reunited with Jenna and his friends, Balto earns respect from both the dogs and the humans. He visits a cured Rosie, who thanks him for saving her. Back in the present day, the elderly woman and her granddaughter finally found the memorial commemorating Balto, and she explains that the Iditarod trail covers the same path that Balto and his team took from Nenana to Nome. The woman, who is actually Rosie, repeats the same line, "Thank you, Balto. I would have been lost without you," before walking off to join her granddaughter and her Siberian Husky, Blaze. The Balto statue stands proudly in the sunlight.

Cast and characters

Kevin Bacon voices Balto
  • Kevin Bacon as Balto, a young adult male brown-and-grey wolfdog; being a Siberian Husky-Arctic wolf hybrid. Jeffrey James Varab and Dick Zondag served as the supervising animators for Balto. Bacon is succeeded by Maurice LaMarche in the direct-to-video sequels, Balto II: Wolf Quest and Balto III: Wings of Change.
  • Bob Hoskins as Boris Goosinoff, a Russian snow goose and Balto's caretaker and sidekick. Kristof Serrand served as the supervising animator for Boris. Hoskins is succeeded by Charles Fleischer in the sequels.
  • Bridget Fonda as Jenna, a female copper-and-white Siberian Husky and Rosy's pet as well as Balto's love interest. Robert Stevenhagen served as the supervising animator for Jenna. Fonda is succeeded by Jodi Benson in the sequels.
  • Juliette Brewer as Rosy, Jenna's owner and a kind, excitable girl who was the only human in Nome kind to Balto. She falls ill along with the other children in town, but Balto brings the medicine to save their lives. David Bowers served as the supervising animator for Rosy. Rosy makes a brief cameo in Wings of Change.
  • Miriam Margolyes as old Rosy in the live-action sequences who tells her story to her granddaughter.
  • Jim Cummings as Steele, a male black-and-white Alaskan Malamute who bullies Balto and also has a crush on Jenna. Sahin Ersöz served as the supervising animator for Steele. Brendan Fraser was originally cast to voice Steele, before the filmmakers decided to re-record the dialogue.
  • Phil Collins as Muk and Luk, a pair of polar bears.[6] Nicolas Marlet served as the supervising animator for Muk and Luk. Collins is succeeded by Kevin Schon in the sequels.
  • Jack Angel, Danny Mann and Robbie Rist as Nikki, Kaltag and Star, respectively, the only three prominent members of Steele's team, who later abandon him for Balto. Nikki is a red-and-tan Chow-Chow and quite snarky, Kaltag is a tawny Chinook-esque dog with a somewhat rude and obnoxious personality, and Star is an agouti-colored Siberian Husky and adorably timid and clumsy. William Salazar served as the supervising animator for the team. Nikki, Kaltag and Star make brief cameos in Wings of Change.
  • Sandra Dickinson as Dixie, a female Pomeranian and one of Jenna's friends who adores Steele until his lies are exposed by Balto returning with the medicine needed to cure the children. Dickinson also voices Sylvie, a female Afghan Hound who is also Jenna's friend; and Rosy's mother. Patrick Mate served as the supervising animator for Sylvie and Dixie. Sylvie makes a brief cameo in Wings of Change.
  • Lola Bates-Campbell as Rosy's unnamed granddaughter, who appears in the live-action sequences and is accompanied by her dog Blaze, a purebred Siberian Husky.
  • William Roberts as Rosy's father
  • Donald Sinden as Doc, an old St. Bernard
  • Bill Bailey as a Butcher
  • Garrick Hagon as a Telegraph Operator
  • Frank Welker (uncredited) as the Grizzly Bear. Welker later reprises his role as the bear in Wolf Quest.

Production

Production and development on Balto began in May 1989 at Universal City Studios and Amblin Entertainment in Universal City, California, along with An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) and We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993). Voice-recording sessions took place in 1992. The few British actors (Bob Hoskins, Phil Collins and Donald Sinden) recorded their voices at The Bridge Writing Studio in London, England, while the many American actors recorded their voices at Interlock Studios (now Larson Studios) in Los Angeles. Brendan Fraser was originally cast as Steele, and recorded all of his dialogue. However, due to Fraser's voice for Steele not receiving a positive reaction from test audiences, he was replaced by Jim Cummings.[7] Due to the finished animation, Cummings had to exactly match his timing to Steele's mouth movement.

After the actors recorded their voices, animating and filming commenced at Amblimation in London in 1993. To make the film's content appear highly realistic, the animators thoroughly studied dog sledding, snowstorms, wireless telegraphy, antiquated medicine bottles and the symptoms and progression of diphtheria.[8] Although most of the film's animation was hand-drawn, certain scenes were painted digitally with Softimage. Additional animation was done by the Danish studio A. Film Production. James Horner composed the film's music, including the film's only song, "Reach for the Light", sung by Steve Winwood, which plays over the film's closing credits.

The film's live-action prologue and epilogue segments were filmed in Central Park in Fall 1994. The role as elderly Rosy's granddaughter's husky, Blaze, was played by two light red blue-eyed Siberian Huskies.

Historical differences

  • The film portrays Balto (1919-March 1933) as a brown-and-gray wolfdog. In real life, Balto was a purebred Siberian Husky and was black and white in color.[9][10] Balto's colors changed to brown due to light exposure whilst on display in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.[11] The makers of the film may have chosen to differentiate Balto from the other prominent sled dog of the movie, Steele, who also had a black-and-white coat.
  • In real life, the sled run to retrieve the medicine was actually a relay. Instead of being the leader of the first and only team, Balto was the leader of the 20th and last team to carry the medicine to Nome. The longest and most hazardous distance was traveled by the 18th and third-to-last team, which was led by Togo.[12][13]
  • In the film, the reason why Dr. Curtis Welch orders the medicine to be sent to Nome is because his supply has completely run out. In real life, the reason was that his entire batch was past its expiration date and no longer had any effect.
  • In the film, the medicine is shipped to Nenana from the Alaskan capital of Juneau, but in real life, it was shipped from Anchorage, 800 miles southeast of Nome.
  • The medicine was transported in a 300,000 unit cylinder. In the film, it is transported in a large square crate.
  • In the film, the only residents of Nome who contract diphtheria are 18 children, but in real life, many more were infected, including adults.
  • In the sequels, Balto became a proud father with Jenna and they had a litter of puppies who grew up and moved on with their lives, but in real life, Balto was neutered at 6 months of age, and thus, he never sired a litter.
  • In real life, the dogs never drove the medicine by themselves, because none of the mushers were ever knocked unconscious.[9]
  • Balto was never an outcast street dog as shown by the film, but was instead born in a kennel owned by the famous musher and breeder Leonhard Seppala, who raised and trained him until Balto was deemed fit for pulling a sled as the lead dog. Seppala was also the owner of Togo (1913-1929), whom he personally used to lead his dog team during the relay. Balto was used to lead the team driven by one of Seppala's workers, Gunnar Kaasen.[9][10][12]
  • In the sequels, Balto continued living in Nome along with his family and friends (the events of the third film happened in 1928), but in real life, Balto and his team were sent to the Brookside Zoo (now the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo) in 1927 where they spent their last years. Balto rested there until his death on March 14, 1933 at the age of 14. After he died, his body was taxidermied and kept in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where it remains today.[14]

Release

The film was theatrically released in the United States on December 22, 1995 and then international theatres on January 13, 1996 when it first premiered in Brazil.[4] Its release was vastly overshadowed by the performance of Disney•Pixar's Toy Story, which premiered a month earlier.[5]

Box office

The film ranked 15th on its opening weekend and earned $1.5 million from a total of 1,427 theaters.[15] The film also ranked 7th among G-rated movies in 1995. Total domestic gross reach up to $11,348,324.[5] While the film was the biggest box office disaster of the year, it was far more successful in terms of video sales. These strong video sales led to the release of two direct-to-video sequels: Balto II: Wolf Quest and Balto III: Wings of Change being created, though neither sequel received as strong a reception as the original film.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews upon release. According to review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 54% rating based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 5.88/10. The critical consensus reads, "Balto is a well-meaning adventure with spirited animation, but mushy sentimentality and bland characterization keeps it at paw's length from more sophisticated family fare."[16] Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, describing the film as "a kids' movie, simply told, with lots of excitement and characters you can care about" and praised every thrilling scene.[17]

Home media

Balto released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1996 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in North America and internationally, and CIC Video in the UK. The VHS version was made available once more on August, 11, 1998, under the Universal Family Features label.

The film has released on DVD in February 19, 2002, which includes a game, "Where is the Dog Sled Team". This version was reprinted along with other Universal films such as An American Tail, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West and The Land Before Time. It was released in widescreen on Blu-ray for the first time on July 4, 2017, which included a digital HD and UltraViolet copy.

Soundtrack

Balto
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedDecember 4, 1995
Recorded1994-1995
GenrePop, modern classical[18]
Length54:30
LabelUniversal
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
LetsSingIt[19]

Balto: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack of the film, composed by James Horner.[18]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Performer(s)Length
1."Reach for the Light"James Horner, Barry Mann, Cynthia WeilSteve Winwood4:24
2."Main Title/Balto's Story Unfolds"  4:40
3."The Dogsled Race"  1:41
4."Rosy Goes to the Doctor"  4:05
5."Boris & Balto"  1:29
6."The Journey Begins"  5:06
7."Grizzly Bear"  5:23
8."Jenna/Telegraphing the News"  2:22
9."Steele's Treachery"  4:38
10."The Epidemic's Toll"  3:29
11."Heritage of the Wolf"  5:54
12."Balto Brings the Medicine!"  4:53
13."Reach for the Light (Long Version)"James Horner, Barry Mann, Cynthia WeilSteve Winwood5:27
Total length:54:30

Sequels

Two fictional direct-to-video sequels of the film followed, made by Universal Cartoon Studios with their animation done overseas by the Taiwanese studio Wang Film Productions, as Amblimation, which did the animation for the original film, had gone out of business. Due to the sequels being completely fictional and having a completely different crew, Kevin Bacon, Bob Hoskins, Bridget Fonda, and Phil Collins did not reprise their roles in either of the sequels. Instead, Bacon was replaced by Maurice LaMarche as the voice of Balto, Hoskins was replaced by Charles Fleischer as the voice of Boris, Fonda was replaced by Jodi Benson as the voice of Jenna, and Collins was replaced by Kevin Schon as the voices of Muk and Luk. Futhermore, numerous supporting characters from the original (such as Nikki, Kaltag and Star) either did not return in the sequels or were turned into background characters for unstated reasons (possibly because they were either written out or the writers simply forgot about their existence). The first sequel, Balto II: Wolf Quest, was released in 2002 and follows the adventures of one of Balto and Jenna's pups, Aleu, who sets off to discover her wolf heritage.[20] The second, Balto III: Wings of Change was released in 2005. The storyline follows the same litter of pups from Balto II but focuses on another pup, Kodi, who is a member of a U.S. Mail dog sled delivery team, and is in danger of getting put out of his job by Duke, a pilot of a mail delivery bush plane.[21] Unlike the original, neither sequels took any historical references from the true story of Balto.

References

  1. ^ https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7dbbb4a5
  2. ^ "Balto (1995)". The Wrap. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  3. ^ Balto at Box Office Mojo.
  4. ^ a b "Balto (1995)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  5. ^ a b c "1995 Yearly Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  6. ^ Phil Collins. Not Dead Yet. London, England: Century Books. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-780-89513-0.
  7. ^ "Trivia/Balto". TV Tropes. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  8. ^ "Western Animation/Balto". TV Tropes. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Aversano, Earl. "Balto - Balto's True Story". Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  10. ^ a b "The True Story of Balto - Facts". Animation Source. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  11. ^ "Balto - Balto'S True Story". Baltostruestory.net. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  12. ^ a b Vrhovec, Maj. "The Real Story of Balto - Alpha Howl Library". Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  13. ^ Aversano, Earl. "Togo - Balto's True Story". Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  14. ^ "The Sled Dog Relay That Inspired The Iditarod". History.com. 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  15. ^ "Balto - Box Office Data, DVD Sales, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers". Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  16. ^ "Balto - Rotten Tomatoes". Flixster. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  17. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Balto Movie Review & Film Summary (1995)". Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  18. ^ a b "James Horner - Balto (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  19. ^ "Balto Soundtrack Album". LetsSingIt. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  20. ^ "Balto: Wolf Quest (Video 2002)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  21. ^ "Balto III: Wings of Change (Video 2004)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Balto (film).
  • Balto: Universal Studios – Restored version of the original 1995 official Balto site.
  • Balto at IMDb
  • Balto at Rotten Tomatoes
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  • ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› Balto at AllMovie
  • Balto – Keyframe – the Animation Resource
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