History YMMV / Balto

** Muk and Luk were ostracized from the other polar bears and consider their "uncle Boris" as family. Thirteen years later comes [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda another animated film featuring a chubby bear adopted by a goose after being separated from his own species]]. It's also worth noting that Muk and Luk's main animator, Nicolas Marlet, later went on to be a designer for various Dreamworks films, ''Kung Fu Panda'' included.

* GeniusBonus: Boris once compares Balto, Muk, and Luk's issues to [[Creator/FyodorDostoevsky Dostoevsky novels]].

* FanPreferredCutContent: After the discovery of a DeletedScene where Steele gets his collar snagged on a lever leading to him falling into a coal pit and being BuriedAlive, many fans have stated this would've been a more satisfying defeat for a sociopathic narcissist like him than simply being abandoned by the other dogs.

* WTHCastingAgency: Music/PhilCollins as a couple of comic relief polar bears who never even ''sing''.

** It's kinda funny that Creator/BrendanFraser originally recorded Steele's dialogue, only to get replaced by Creator/JimCummings. Years later, with ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'', Cummings had recorded some of Taz's dialogue, only to get replaced by Fraser in the final film!

** The telegraph operator is voiced by Gerrick Hagon, best known for playing [[Film/ANewHope Biggs Darklighter]], which is an interesting coincidence, considering Creator/MarkHamill would voice Niju in the sequel. Doubly so, since Creator/JimCummings (Steele) would later go on to voice [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars Hondo]] [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Onaka]].

* EvilIsCool: Steele has quite the fanbase just based on how obvious it was that the animators loved drawing him as the most evil dog ever seen. ''Every'' moment he's on screen has him looking and acting pure evil, and it's glorious.

** Steele is an arrogant blowhard in the opening of the first movie, but he sails over the line into '''''evil''''' when he deliberately sabotages Balto and the sled dog team's efforts to reach Nome, thus endangering not only the sled team, but the dying children who desperately need the medicine being delivered. And all of that was simply because Steele was jealous of Balto trying to help Steele's team, and then forced to take it over as a last resort.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Some kids liked it but thought that the rating was a bit too low as it's certainly scary enough to give some of the youngest children severe nightmares. This is for the Norwegian [=DVD=] that was rated "for all ages".

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The movie (and to a lesser extent it’s sequels) fared much better in Japan, if the amount of merchandise coming from the country back in those days was any indication.

** The Inuit child in [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/balto_native_alaskan_family.jpg this screenshot]] sure looks a lot like [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Frisk]] don't they? Maybe they shared their [[ArcWords Determination]] with Balto for the trip.

* {{Sequelitis}}: The sequels have their fans, but are generally considered vastly inferior to the original ''Balto'' for their decline in animation quality along with some weird plots and characters.

** Boris is quite popular among older viewers. Wonder why that is?
** Steele has quite the fanbase just based on how obvious it was that the animators loved drawing him as the most evil dog ever seen. ''Every'' moment he's on screen has him looking and acting pure evil, and [[EvilIsCool it's glorious]].

** IronWoobie: Despite all the turmoil Balto went through, he managed to go on a long and dangerous journey to get the medicine.

* [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct He Really Can Voice Act]]: Most people were surprised to learn that Balto's voiced by '''Creator/KevinBacon''' and this was his only voice acting role in his career, which is a shame since everyone agrees he gives it his all.[[note]]The obscurity of his role also makes for a fun game of SixDegreesOfKevinBacon.[[/note]]

* ValuesResonance: The race to deliver a cure for a fatal infectious disease that causes coughing and fever became more relevant in the face of the UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic in the 2020s.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: We're meant to consider the sled dog musher an inconsiderate jerk for refusing to use Balto on the medicine run. But the reasons he gives--that he's a random half-wolf who's unpredictable and has never pulled a sled before, and he doesn't have the stamina to be part of a dogsled team-- are perfectly legitimate ones.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The soundtrack by Music/JamesHorner for the original film is absolutely stunning. Just try and listen to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN5SmAWnQNo "Heritage of the Wolf"]] without choking up. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiE_ukeNNEE "The Journey Begins"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJZf4c6l_2s "Balto Brings the Medicine!"]] deserves a mention too. The best one, hands down, goes to Steve Winwood's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKBjoKZzhpc "Reach for the Light"]], a hauntingly powerful ballad which sums up Balto's journey to greatness.

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo_(dog) Togo]] is nowhere to be seen despite being the lead dog of the sled team that traversed the toughest (and longest) parts of the medicine run. Though one could argue that, given the hell he goes through in the movie, Balto is a CompositeCharacter of the two. Although mercifully Togo would [[Film/{{Togo}} would get his own film]].