karahashianders Balto is a movie about a half-wolf/half-dog who is an outcast in his society - spending most of his time with Boris (a goose) and Muk and Luk (two outcast polar bears). When his hometown Nome is struck with a diphtheria outbreak and runs out of medicine, Balto has a chance to prove himself by trying out for the dog sled team which will have to deliver the medicine from a bigger city.What makes this movie so great?1. Compelling and inspirational story (based on actual events) 2. Respectable, honorable protagonist 3. Truly despicable villain 4. A great cast of supporting characters (including Balto's love interest) 5. Excellent pacing - the 75 minutes fly by, no wasted scenes or dialogue 6. Great cast of voice actors - including Kevin Bacon, Phil Collins, 7. PHENOMENAL soundtrack! I think this is easily James Horner's best (RIP) 8. Beautiful animation 9. Perfect use of humor - not so much that it undermines the power of the story 10. Appropriate/entertaining for all ages - including adultsAny movie I can think of 10 things to say good about gets 10 stars in my book. I am biased, because this was one of my favorite movies growing up, but I stand by everything I've said in this review. How James Horner didn't win an Academy Award (best original score) for Heritage of the Wolf is beyond me...."A dog cannot make this journey alone.......but maybe....a wolf can."

The_Light_Triton I grew up watching this movie multiple, multiple times as a kid. I had not seen it in probably 15 years when my mother dug it up on Netflix last night and I got to relive this dog-lovers classic. But unlike the last time I watched, I did no research done on the actual true story...but that's for later.Balto is the story of a half-dog/half-wolf who is the subject of intolerance by the living beings of Nome in the year 1925. Even though he has friends like Boris, the Russian Goose, and Muk & Luk, 2 goofy, fun loving polar bears, He desperately tries to fit in, but no matter what he does, the townsfolk don't trust his wolf side and the dogs of the town wish he would simply cease to exist, especially the vicious husky Steele. But when a sickness overtakes a wave of children in the town, including young Rosie, who's dog Jenna takes a liking to Balto, Balto takes it upon himself to help save the children, with Boris informing him "A dog cannot make this journey alone....but maybe a wolf can."Now with every "based on a true story" line there's got to be alterations to the story. and some alterations, like adding in comic relief in the form of a Russian goose and a british-accented polar bear are totally acceptable.But there are details that are left out. For example, The sled run was not made by one dog team, it was actually multiple mushers and 2 leaders - Togo (who we can assume is whom Steele is based upon.) and Balto, a trained, single breed Siberan husky. Togo ran most of the run, but Balto only ran the last leg of the course, and therefore got all the fame. If you really want to know the true story, just dig up the trivia section.The voice actors do a really good job, although Kevin Bacon sounds too good to play the role of a stray dog like Balto. Bob Hoskins definitely got the Russian snow goose role down very well, although having Robin Williams there would've been really, really fun (But too recognizable...and expensive.) Bridget Fonda for Jenna, She's got the beautiful girl voice. Phil Collins, the guy from Genesis for Muk & Luk, he's not bad but it feels out of place because of his british accent. Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas (Bob & Doug McKenzie) Would've been perfect, but they came later for brother bear. Jim Cummings? What can you say, the guy's a Voice-over legend but you can hear the traces of Tigger in his voice (Tigger from Winnie the pooh, Cummings also provides his voice) And finally, the uncredited Frank Welker as the bear. No really. give him credit. He made a killer angry bear.Animation-wise, it's very well done. Amblination/DreamWorks always have been able to hold a candle up to Disney (even though Disney's got the firehose to douse it.) look for a cute little reference to E.T. during one scene.As long as it's still up on Netflix, give this one a view.

Jesper Brun I began watching this movie with middle high expectation especially towards the characters. And it didn't disappoint! Balto is an outcast among his fellow dogs in this village because he is part wolf. He constantly mocked by this Husky called Steele who is full of himself. The humans in the village shun him claiming he is dangerous, but this little girl named Rosy is kind to him. Rosy and other children is later stricken by diphtheria and need medicine which is being delivered by sledge. And from that time on the excitement begins. Kevin Bacon, Bob Hoskins and Jim Cummings do great jobs as Balto, Boris and Steele, respectively. Some of the characters also have some clever lines here and there. One of my favorites are when a scared Boris say he "almost had people bumps". But the peak of the movie was the emotional impact the diphtheria- struck village had on me. It was really touching. I won't say more, it would ruin the experience. The animation is neat, not spectacular, but it has some good scenes and some longer passages with good coloring and backgrounds. Aside from that it is the average traditional animation. The only minor problem is Steele's co-dogs who have this mildly annoyingly formulated of talking. It is not throughout the movie, so it is just nitpicking.Balto is a great family movie and is overall highly recommendable.

ravsten428 I'm not exactly sure what they were aiming for with Balto. The story about one of the most famous dogs ever never seemed to pick up steam. Balto is not a bad film, it just somehow misses the mark. I'm not exactly thrilled with the voice cast. Kevin Bacon was weak as Balto. Bridget Fonda was okay as Balto's love interest. I feel that the best voices came from Bob Hoskins as Boris the Goose, and Jim Cummings as the nasty villain Steele.I didn't care much for the wolf/dog connection. I thought this was silly considering that Balto was an actual purebred Siberian Husky. The protagonist of the film was given that distinction. Not sure where they were going here.Balto has some great animation for the mid-90's, especially considering it isn't Disney. If anything, that's probably what saves it from being an absolute bottom feeder of the animation world. To me, Balto just seems rather weak in the story line. I believe they could have done better.I like but not love this movie. I am very picky about films and I have toyed with the thought of having this in my DVD collection. I will have to give it some consideration.Final verdict: Worth a shot.