Balto (movie)

Balto is a 1995 live-action/animated adventure movie directed by Simon Wells, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is loosely based on the true story of the sled dog Balto, who helped save children infected with diphtheria in the 1925 serum run to Nome.

Plot

In 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 recounts a story about Nome in Alaska.

In 1925, a wolfdog named Balto lives on the outskirts of Nome with his adoptive father, a Russian snow goose named Boris, and two polar bears, Muk and Luk. Being a mongrel, Balto is ridiculed by dogs and humans alike. His only friends in town are a little girl named Rosy and her red husky Jenna whom Balto has in love with. He is challenged by the town's favorite sled dog Steele, a fierce and arrogant Alaskan Malamute, and his teammates, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star.

That night, Rosy and all the children in Nome are stricken with diphtheria. Severe winter weather conditions prevent medicine from being brought by air or sea from Anchorage, and the closest railway line ends in Nenana. After authorization to transport the antitoxin by rail is given by the Governor of Alaska in Juneau, 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 gets disqualified after Steele exposes his wolf-dog heritage. The team departs that night with Steele in the lead and picks up the medicine successfully. 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 the word reaches Nome, Balto sets out in search of them with Boris, Muk, and Luk. On the way, they are attacked by a huge grizzly bear, but Jenna, who followed their tracks, intervenes. The bear pursues Balto out onto a frozen lake, where it falls through the ice and drowns. Muk and Luk save Balto from a similar fate. However, Jenna is injured and cannot continue. Balto instructs Boris and the polar bears to take her back home while he continues alone. Balto eventually finds the team, but Steele refuses his help and attacks him until he loses his balance and falls off a cliff. Balto takes charge of the team, but they lose their way again since Steele had sabotaged the trail. Balto falls while attempting to save the medicine from falling down a cliff.

Back in Nome, Jenna is explaining Balto's mission to the other dogs when Steele returns, lying that the team including Balto, is dead. However, Jenna sees through his deception and she assures Balto will return with the medicine. Using a trick Balto showed her earlier, Jenna places broken colored glass bottles on the outskirts of town and shines a lantern on them to simulate the lights of an aurora, hoping it will help guide Balto home. When Balto regains consciousness, he is ready to give up hope. 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 through an ice bridge, an avalanche, and an ice cavern, and losing only one vial, Balto and the sled team finally return to Nome. A pity-playing Steele is abandoned by the other dogs who realize the truth about him. Reunited with Jenna and his friends, Balto earns respect from both the dogs and the humans. He visits a cured Rosy, who thanks him for saving her.

Back in the present day, the elderly woman and her granddaughter finally find the statue of 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, repeats the same line "Thank you, Balto. I would have been lost without you". She walks off to join her granddaughter and her Siberian Husky Blaze. The Balto statue stands proudly in the sunlight.

Other websites

• Balto on IMDb