YMMV / Balto

• Adorkable: Star. So very much. He's a small, meek, timid Butt-Monkey with an adorably awkward personality who gets kicked around by Nikki and Kaltag, and whacked in some shape or form anytime he says one thing.
• All Animation Is Disney: It's also commonly mistaken for a Don Bluth film, especially given its similar style of character design. It doesn't help that it's produced by Steven Spielberg and distributed by Universal, just like An American Tail and The Land Before Time, and thus it's often advertised alongside those films. Adding to the confusion is the fact that Amblimation, the studio that did make it, also produced An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, which many think Bluth worked on.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: The white wolf from the original film. A lot of Epileptic Trees stem from its almost ethereal appearance, the way it vanishes and reappears in the thick blizzard, and the fact that it only appears in a single scene with Balto alone. Is it real? Is it a memory from Balto's past? Is it a hallucination? Is it a spirit guide? Is it a visual metaphor for Balto's acceptance of his heritage? The ambiguity of the scene is what makes it so brilliant. Granted, the Direct to Video sequel removes all the ambiguity, but there are fans who do not count the sequels as canon. Neither do the original movie's writers, who intended this wolf to be male.^note Specifically, in Wolf Quest the wolf is revealed to be Balto's mother. Phil Weinstein has since clarified that Balto's mother was meant to be the dog half of the wolf/dog union, ergo why Steele's joke... works.
• Ass Pull: After Balto takes over the medicine sleigh team, Steele watching them depart somehow manages to get ahead of them and marks trees everywhere to make the journey home for Balto's team confusing, even though he had just tumbled down a hillside, and should be injured and exhausted.
• Awesome Art: Its fluid and expressive character animation and absolutely beautiful environments rival many Disney films.
• Awesome Music: The soundtrack by James Horner for the original film is absolutely stunning. Just try and listen to "Heritage of the Wolf" without choking up. "The Journey Begins" and "Balto Brings the Medicine!" deserves a mention too. The best one, hands down, goes to Steve Winwood's "Reach for the Light", a hauntingly powerful ballad which sums up Balto's journey to greatness.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Star, Kaltag, and Nikki on whether they're funny or just annoying. Same goes for Muk and Luk.
  • Jenna is either a compelling character who adds depth to the film or a one-dimensional Satellite Love Interest depending on who you ask.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: That squeaky cat toy... thing.
• Broken Base: Over the sequels as to whether they're decent or just plain awful. And even then the fanbase is divided on which one of the two sequels is superior over the other as well as which one should be considered canon.
• Complete Monster: Steele starts out as a Jerk Jock before becoming far worse, Driven by Envy at Balto being placed on his sleigh team. Angrily trying to sabotage their efforts to get medicine delivered to sick children, Steele spitefully tries to make them lose their way on the path to the village, uncaring for the lives of the dogs or kids. Returning to the village on his own, Steele claims his teammates died in a blizzard while he was unable to save them, caring nothing for anything save his own glory.
• Contested Sequel: 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.
• Critical Dissonance: Balto received mixed reviews from critics, but is generally well liked by its target audience and is considered by many to be a classic.
• Cult Classic: Wasn't a huge hit when it was released, but has a very large and active fanbase today in part due to television runs and home video releases.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Steele and Niju, despite being the Big Bad of their respective movies, have their share of fans. At least Niju has the excuse of just being afraid of losing his home. Steele, on the other hand, is repulsive, inside and out. But as always, that doesn't stop fanfiction and fanart from depicting Steele somehow performing a Heel–Face Turn and Niju getting paired with Aleu. Though Steele was actually in the original script for the third movie, where he was supposed to help Kodi find Balto along with several others. He was left out for reasons unknown, possibly by Steele's unsympathetic character in the first movie.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Star from the first movie. Sadly, he wasn't in the sequels. Same goes for Kaltag and Dixie as well.
  • Besides Kodi and Aleu, Balto and Jenna also had other puppies (named Dingo and Saba in the credits, although two more unnamed pups exist); we only see them like in two minutes of the second sequel (there's not even any consensus on which of the puppies is supposed to be who!), and yet they are very popular in the fan base.
• Evil Is Cool: 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.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • A sizeable chunk of fanfics center on how Balto's parents met. Given how little we know about either of them, save which sub-species which parent was, there's a fair bit of variation. It gets a very passive mention in Wolf Quest, simply saying that Balto's father "had puppies" with a wolf.
  • Some fics make an effort to squeeze Togo back into the story in some way, usually by reimagining him as Balto's father.
  • Many fanfics set after the second film focus on Aleu's adventures with her new wolf pack, and whether or not she ever reunites with her family back in Nome.
• Fan-Preferred Cut Content: After the discovery of a Deleted Scene where Steele gets his collar snagged on a lever leading to him falling into a coal pit and being Buried Alive, 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.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • There's a lot of fanart and fanfiction crossing the characters from this film over with Don Bluth's All Dogs Go to Heaven, another Renaissance-era animated feature starring dogs. It helps that most of the animators for that film also worked on the two Bluth films Spielberg produced, so their character designs compliment one another to the point that many mistake Balto for a Bluth film.
  • In part due to the similar art styles, the series shares its fans with Oliver & Company, The Fox and the Hound, 101 Dalmatians, and the two Lady and the Tramp films.
• Genius Bonus: Boris once compares Balto, Muk, and Luk's issues to Dostoevsky novels.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The movie (and to a lesser extent its sequels) fared much better in Japan, if the amount of merchandise coming from the country back in those days was any indication.
• Growing the Beard: Amblimation's first (and ultimately only) success at a weightier story and heavier drama.
• He Really Can Voice Act: Most people were surprised to learn that Balto's voiced by Kevin Bacon and this is (as of 2022) the only major 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 Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • It's kinda funny that Brendan Fraser originally recorded Steele's dialogue, only to get replaced by Jim Cummings (1952). Years later, with Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Cummings had recorded some of Taz's dialogue, only to get replaced by Fraser in the final film!
  • Bob Hoskins putting on a Russian accent.
  • Muk and Luk were ostracized from the other polar bears and consider their "uncle Boris" as family. Thirteen years later comes 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.
  • The telegraph operator is voiced by Gerrick Hagon, best known for playing Biggs Darklighter, which is an interesting coincidence, considering Mark Hamill would voice Niju in the sequel. Doubly so, since Jim Cummings (1952) (Steele) would later go on to voice Hondo Onaka.
• Iron Woobie: Despite all the turmoil Balto went through, he managed to go on a long and dangerous journey to get the medicine.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Balto and especially Jenna are prone to Crossover Ships.
• Love to Hate: Steele, so very much. He is an utterly despicable individual, yet it's for this exact reason why viewers find him so intriguing.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Pretty much anything that Star says, really.
  • Muk's famous entry quote: "Uncle Boooorrrrriiiiiss!"
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Steele is an arrogant blowhard in the opening of the first movie, but he sails over the line into outright villainy 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.
  • He may have crossed it earlier than that during his and Balto's initial confrontation, when he knocks over the sled carrying the medicine in a fit of rage, potentially breaking the fragile jars. Even Nikki, Kaltag and Star are appalled by this.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Any time Balto howls like a wolf.
• One-Scene Wonder: The white wolf in the original movie. The sequel made it out to be Balto's mother, although the creators of the original stated it wasn't meant to be.
• Popular with Furries: Several of the characters (most commonly Balto, Jenna, and Steele) have a lot of furry fans.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Apparently Rosy grew up to be Professor Sprout.
  • Star's voice actor, Robbie Rist (already somewhat notable for playing the original Cousin Oliver), would later go on to voice Choji Akimichi.
  • In the Polish dub, with Arkadiusz Jakubik voicing Balto a few years before starring in some acclaimed movies and becoming one of the most recognizable actors in the country.
• Ron the Death Eater: Strangely enough, Balto is this for the Alpha and Omega fanbase, with fan fictions usually portraying him as a villain trying to take over the valley, whether it's just to troll or genuine malice against the fanbase is up in the air. May count as Fandom Rivalry.
• Signature Scene:
  • The White Wolf towards the end of the first film.
  • Balto howling when he's sledding.
  • Balto and Jenna seeing the lights together.
• Strawman Has a Point:
  • 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.
  • Same goes for Rosy's father being reluctant to let Rosy pet Balto. Wolfdog personalities are often highly unpredictable, and even discounting his heritage, Balto is still a stray dog.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • 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 Composite Character of the two. Although mercifully Togo would get his own film.
  • Oddly enough, some have pointed out that Balto became this during the closing portions of the original film due to being given very minimal dialogue.
  • Jenna is barely used in the sequels as she is turned into a secondary character and barely has much screentime with her own pups.
• The Woobie:
  • Star from the first movie. It's impossible not to just want to hug him after Kaltag keeps hurting him. Its thankfully dropped at the end with a much needed smile from the latter.
  • Luk can also count, when he whimpers about Balto not coming back from his journey, and his brother reassuring him that he will come back not doing anything to calm him.

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