Balto

Poster

Balto is a 1995 American live-action/animated historical adventure family drama film directed by Simon Wells and produced by Amblimation. The film is loosely based on a true story about the dog of the same name who helped save children from the diphtheria epidemic in the 1925 serum run to Nome. The live action portions of the film were filmed at Central Park.

Balto was the final animated feature produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio. Although the film's theatrical run was overshadowed by the success of the competing 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).

Plot

In present day 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 best friend, a Russian goose named Boris and two polar bears, Muk and Luk. Being half-breed, Balto is ridiculed by both dogs and humans alike; his only friend in town there is a red husky named Jenna, for whose attention Balto is challenged by the town's favorite sled dog, Steele, a fierce, overly competitive, selfish purebred Alaskan Malamute.

One night, the children of Nome - including Jenna's owner, Rosy - begin to fall ill with diphtheria. Severe winter weather conditions prevent medicine to be 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 is disqualified thanks to Steele. 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 word reaches Nome, Balto sets out in search of them with Boris, Muk, and Luk. On the way, they encounter a huge grizzly bear, which attacks them. Jenna arrives to save them, but is injured in the process, prompting Balto to have Boris take her, Muk, and Luk back to Nome while he continues on alone. Balto eventually finds the stricken team, but Steele refuses his help (having lost his mind) and a fight ensues, ending with Steele falling 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. When he awakens, he has lost all 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, Balto and the sled team finally make it back to Nome. A pity-playing Steele is exposed as a liar and abandoned by the rest of the dogs. Reunited with Jenna and his friends, Balto earns respect from both the dog packs and the humans and visits Rosy, who thanks him for saving her life.

Back in New York City, the elderly woman and her granddaughter find 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 Rosy, whispers "Thank you, Balto. I would have been lost without you", before walking off to join her granddaughter as the sun shines upon the Balto statue.