My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analyses: "Balto" - The Steven Spielberg-Produced Canine Amblin Animated Feature Based on a True Story

Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.

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Don`t blame me (Balto) for having my head bigger than yours :) Blame the animator :)

Jenna and Rosie are having a
girl talk, so that`s why they`re
excluding me (Balto)

The year of 1995 was essentially an important year for animation. Regardless of how it was a good year for animation, it was the year where animation was starting to change. In the fall of 1995, Pixar had released their very first CGI feature ever made, Toy Story. Who was a Blockbuster success and saw the rise of CGI and the fall of Hand Drawn animation. But regardless of the important position of Toy Story, the truth is that the rise of CGI happened gradually. As it didn`t happen immediately. But 1995 was also a turning point for the Disney Renaissance. With the release of the anticipated, but also highly controversial Pocahontas. While it was on paper a success, it was still a victim of various criticisms. And was the turning point of the Renaissance.

We`re not taking much space :)

While of course there are many different opinions about if the Renaissance actually ended with Pocahontas, at least it was a small decline. As it had it`s own small setback and the following releases were declining. However, Full-Length Animation was still synonymous with the Disney Renaissance formula at the time: An outcast loner, animal sidekicks, a villain, musical numbers, ect. And while Toy Story was a small departure from it, it wasn`t perhaps such a radical change from it, overall. But despite of Toy Story, most studios who were trying to get into animation were trying to copy the Renaissance formula. But if we`re going to summarize a movie that felt like something that was in between, then it was none other than Balto.

General Information About Balto

Released December 22d in 1995, Balto was a little movie that was released with little fanfare. It was directed by Simon Wells (An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, We`re Back! A Dinosaur`s Story, The Prince of Egypt), produced by Amblin Entertainment, and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was the third and final film produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio, before it closed in 1997. Starring Kevin Bacon, Bridget Fonda, Phil Collins (yes, believe it or not), Bob Hoskins, Jim Cummings and Miriam Margoyles. Steve Winwood sang the end credits song Reach for the Lights. James Horner was the composer. Spielberg was the executive producer, as was Steve Hickner (Egypt).

Hans Bacher (Mulan) was the production designer. Rodolphe Guenoden, Fabio Lignini, William Salazar (all from DreamWorks), Harald Siepermann (Brother Bear) and Dick Zondag (Dinosaur) were the production designers and supervising animators. Also among the animators Jeffrey J. Varab (Mulan), Oskar Urretabizkaia (Hercules) and Rüne Bennicke (Brother Bear). Dave Webster (Space Jam) was a key assistant. As for the reception of Balto, it was a commercial failure theatrically, grossing $11,349,090 Worldwide. However, it was much more successful on video sales. And the critical reception seemed to be overall mixed. However, as for the final reception of Balto, the truth is that it`s not regarded as a milestone in animation. But it still has it fans, having a 7.1. rating on Imdb, 70% on Popcornmeter and 81% on Google.

The Disney Elements of Balto

I wanted to show that you can
look mean with your tongue
out :)

In many ways, Balto is both similar and a departure to the Disney Renaissance Formula. It`s similar in that regard by having an animal cast (despite how it wasn`t a Renaissance component, it`s still something synonymous with Disney), an outcast hero, a comical sidekick, a love interest and a villain. And most of the characters have Disney-esques design. However, it`s still a departure for not being a musical and having no songs whatsoever (with the exception of the end credit song). Which makes it certainly a departure, as the norm for the Disney Renaissance and animated movies was being a musical. But it certainly makes it interesting for that reason. But as for other comparisons to the Disney Renaissance, the characters comes across as stock characters who resembles their Disney counterparts.

I`m floating in air :)

Balto himself comes across as a canine Aladdin. While Stelle is a canine Gaston (and even acts like Gaston towards Jenna). The Three dogs could've easily been the hyenas from The Lion King, while the female dogs hearkens back the thoughts to the female dogs in Oliver & Company. The bear is reminiscent to the one in The Fox and the Hound. But in true Disney Renaissance fashion, Balto happens to be an outcast and of course the pure underdog that becomes the hero who saves the day. Despite how it (remarkably enough) doesn`t even have a showdown between the hero and the villain at the end. And nor does the villain get killed or defeated. However, what makes Balto remarkable is how it both begins and end with a live action framing device. Which makes it distinctive from many animated movies.

The Positive and Negative Parts of Balto

Yes, we`re shaking from the
cold :) Belive it or not.

However, to summarize the positive sides of Balto, the characterizations are awfully good. Balto comes across as a likable hero. Rosie is essentially a very endearing child character (and not as annoying as child characters can be). Steele is an effective enough villain. And his three sidekicks, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star, are very fun on their own right. And while Boris may not be unforgettable, he`s still memorable on his own right. The two polar bears, Muk and Luk, may be annoying, but they do have their good moments, all in all. The weak link is overall Jenna, who comes across as rather bland and dull as a whole. Despite how she is a dignified and honorable character and is a proactive and heroic love interest.

Yes, I`m stuck on the ice :)

Otherwise, while the animation in Balto may not be stellar (sorry to say), it`s still not completely underwhelming, either. The story is engaging enough, as are the scenery and the Disneyesque elements. And frankly, the score is overall good enough. However, if there`s a downside to Balto is essentially that it`s written for mostly a children`s audience in mind. As opposed to an all mind audience. Cause yes, some of the comedy is juvenile. And that the narrative is kinda cluttered and jumpy. But overall, Balto does succeed well with what it does right (and yes, it has even a contrived, but mandatorty nod to E.T).

The Historical Source Material

By analyzing Balto, it`s impossible to not exclude the fact that it comes from a source material that is based on historical facts. But frankly, Balto is based on the myth of the story rather than what actually happened. Instead of being the leader of the first and only team, Balto (1919 - 1933) was a part of the penultimate team led by the dog Fox. Left by famous musher Leonhard Seppala and driven by Gunnar Kaasen. They became the last team to carry the medicine to Nome. The longest and most hazardous distance was traveled by the last team, led by Togo (1913 - 1929). However, there are still some disagreement about if Balto truly led the team. As no record exists of Seppala having used him as a leader in races before 1925, and Seppala himself said Balto "was never in a winning team".

But the reason why Balto got all the fame was how he was the lead dog of his team and delivered the medicine (as he became a celebrity and even got a film contract). Making him the visible "finisher" for the press, while Togo was excluded from the press. In that regard, it makes it comparable to the likes of Pocahontas and the following Anastasia. And yes, Balto faced criticism of it, despite how it wasn`t huge. But unlike Pocahontas, it would be fair to say that Balto wasn`t particularly marked for that backlash. Mainly because Balto was perceived as being a better movie as a whole. But yes, Wells felt badly for the families who felt they were excluded. As for other inaccuracies, Balto was a black and white Siberian Husky, instead of a wolf-dog. Born in a kennel owned by Seppala, who raised and trained him. And the medicine Dr. Curtis Welch had expired and it was shipped from Anchorage. And none of the mushers were knocked unconscious.

Behind the Scenes Information

These are the stages of wolf
surgery :)

The idea for

Balto came from

screenwriter Elana Lesser having heard the story from her grandfather as a kid. And as an adult thought it would be a good animated and live-action film. When she and her husband, fellow screenwriter Cliff Ruby, pitched a screenplay to Amblin Entertainment and it was given to Wells, he pursued Steven Spielberg to make it. Spielberg saw the potential, but was concerned that such a film wouldn`t be colorful enough for it`s setting. But Wells showed him some color studies by Hans Bacher that convinced him.. Balto was officially put into production in March 1993, under the working title Snowballs.

Yes, I (Balto) tricked you to
think that this part was
romantic :)

The crew took trips to Finland to study dog sledding and actually ventured on them. And yes, it was so cold that the cameras froze. Balto was made for a modest budget, so it prevented many things. So the effects animators had to choose either footprints or shadows. Principal animation lasted from 1993 to 1994. The ink-and-paint work was the first time use of the 2D animation software program Toonz, which was still in development and needing help. Additional animation was made by the Danish studio A. Film Production. Wells said the casting process was easy. The characters were designed before the voices were cast, so they could looked at the sketches before recording session, in order to get a sense of the characters they were portraying. Kevin Anderson was cast as Balto and had finished his work and the animation was done. But late into production, Universal Pictures wanted a bigger name. But Kevin Bacon had to match Balto's mouth movement.

Yes, even a polar bear can be
a little chubby :)

Something that was hard for Bacon, as they played the lines the way Anderson said it in his head, right before he said his line.

Brendan Fraser, who was filming Airheads (1994), was originally cast as Steele. As Wells had envisioned Steele as a school quarterback jock. And they did a recording session with him that was terrific. But Spielberg wanted a clearer sense of Steele's evil, so Fraser was replaced by Jim Cummings. Who was officially cast in January 1995. Despite how Spielberg was too busy with Schindler's List to see Fraser's sessions, he wanted to direct Cummings personally, and finish his work in one day. Bridget Fonda was offered the role of Jenna via phone and got to see rough cut of the movie on tape.

No, a female dog can`t be
a part of this sled. Right,
Sinbad? :)

Bob Hopkins made Boris more emotional and effusive than he originally was. But he struggled with Boris's accent. Phil Collins had never voiced a character and wanted the part of Muk and Luk. Jack Angel, Danny Mann and Robbie Rist were flown to London to record as Nikki, Kaltag and Star together. And despite how they didn`t interact with Spielberg, he flew Angel, Mann, and Rist out again from London. The live action parts were filmed on-location in Central Park in late 1994, among two days. Closing down the area was hard, for uncooperative locals. Originally the end credits song was co-written by Neil Diamond and Carole Bayer-Sager, but it was never made.

Yes, I`m (Muk) are planning
how to eat ya :)

The crew didn`t have any reference for the ice cavern, so they had to make some license. And it was a challenge to supervise a character who had actually lived. Audrey Hepburn was the reference for Jenna. The origins of the White Wolf was consciously kept as a mystery. It took three years to make the movie. To make Balto a half dog and half wolf was a deliberate choice, to give him an arc and to stress the theme of compassion. The score was recorded on Abbey Road Studios. Because Horner worked in California, and Amblimation was in London, he sent his score as the orchestral finished product. And the story was simplified along the way, as were the amount of characters.

Cheapuels

Don`t be fooled, I`m usually
not a chill dog :)

Since
Balto became a hit on Home Video, it wasn`t strange that it was given sequels. But since the norm at the time was to follow Disney`s cheapquel mode, such was the case with the sequels of Balto. But at least it was given two of them. The first sequel was Balto II: Wolf Quest, released in 2002. Just as with some Disney cheapquels, it gave Balto a daughter, Aleu. Who just like a her father, has wolf features. But after getting rejected by buyers for her wolf features, Aleu runs aways. But both Balto and Aleu finds a herd of wolves, where Aleu finds her true herd. And yes, it was successful. The tighter budge and scheduling conflicts prevented the original actors from reprising their roles. They were replaced by Maurice LaMarche, Charles Fleischer and Jodi Benson.

Even a female goose can have
bangs :)

The second cheapquel, Balto III: Wings of Change, was made in 2004, but released the following year. Which also centers around a pup of Balto, Kodi (Sean Astin, The Lord of the Rings), who works for the US Mail. Balto is intrigued by the new bi-plane that has arrived in Nome. He wishes to fly. When the bush plane pilot, Duke, offers to take the place of the mail-dogs, Kodi and his friends are worried that they could lose their jobs. But it becomes a race between the plane and the dog sled. And when the plane crashes, it`s Balto and Kodi who must save the day. The third cheapquel was moderately successful. But it`s very remarkable how unlike the first Balto, the cheapquels actually has a couple of songs. But Wells himself has stated that he havent`s seen the cheapquels, for his love to the first films. But how his daughters watched Wolf Quest as kids and loved it.

Epilogue

Two of us are on the top of the
food chain :)

At the end, Balto is a respectful and honorable entry into the World of animation. And frankly deserves credit for what it does right. As for my personal experience with Balto, the truth is that it`s a movie that I saw theatrically in my childhood when I was twelve years old. The movie was released in early 1997 for some reason (yes, believe it or not). But frankly, while I liked the movie, the truth is that I was never crazy about it, and found it engaging and evocative, but not particularly outstanding and memorable. And frankly, that`s the same impression that I`m stuck with today. Sure, nostalgia plays a huge part on my view of Balto. But frankly, it`s a movie that is just fine and good, but not particularly a great one.

I (Balto) have seen The Lion
King too many times, so I`m
trying to copy Simba :)

Nor was it a movie that I neither owned or watched a lot growing up (in fact, I only saw it twice growing up). Until I bought the DVD as a young adult and saw it again in my adult years. But still, Balto deserves credit for what it does right. But since it`s essentially a Hand Drawn Animated feature that`s good, it does deserve credit for that reason. At the end, considering that this entry was meant to synergize with it`s belated 30th Anniversary (yes, it`s hard to believe that it`s been that long since it was released, despite how it was released overseas in 1996), there`s nothing left than to wish Balto Happy 30th Anniversary and may you continue to have many more.