Balto - A dog with a hero's heart

Movie
German title	Balto - A dog with a hero's heart
Original title	Balto
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1995
length	78 minutes
Age rating	FSK 6
Rod
Director	Simon Wells
script	David Cohen ; Elana Lesser ; Cliff Ruby ; Roger Schulman
production	Steve Hickner
music	James Horner
camera	Jan Richter-Friis
cut	Sim Evan-Jones ; Renee Edwards ; Nick Fletcher
synchronization
chronology
	Successor → ; Balto 2 - On the trail of wolves

Balto - A dog with a hero's heart (Original title: Balto ) is an American cartoon from 1995 based on a true story. In 1925, the sled dog Balto was the lead dog of the last team in a dog sled squad across Alaska , which brought the immune serum urgently needed to treat the epidemic to the city after a diphtheria epidemic in Nome .

action

Balto bronze statue in Central Park, New York

The beginning of the film differs from the actual plot in that real scenes were filmed here: In the present, a grandmother and her granddaughter and her husky are looking for the statue of the famous sled dog Balto in New York's Central Park. When the granddaughter is curious about what her grandmother said, the grandmother tells her about Balto.

Nome in Alaska, 1925. The wolfhound Balto lives with his best friend and foster father Boris, a snow goose, on the wreck of a stranded boat in front of the town of Man Strand. His wish is one day to take part in one of the famous dog sled races, but because he is half a wolf, he is despised and avoided by everyone in the city. Only little Rosie and her beautiful husky lady Jenna, with whom Balto is in love, are fond of him, because although he is different, they realize that he doesn't want any harm. On this day, both Balto and Boris witness how a dog team led by Balto's enemy Steele, an Alaskan Malamute, wins a race. Balto gets into the embarrassment of getting Rosie's musher hat, which was blown into the path of the team by the wind, and bringing it back to her. Steele has her eye on Jenna too, but she seems to like Balto more than him. He is a bitch swarm due to his fame due to numerous races won, but is selfish, arrogant and self-indulgent and despises Balto, who, unlike him, has a good character. As a thank you for his deed, Rosie wants to take Balto into her personal little team with Jenna, but her father forbids her because he regards Balto as dangerous, which makes Balto very sad. On the way back to the boat he also has to endure the ridicule of Steele and three dogs from his team, the articulate and quick-talking Kaltag, the stout Nikki and the clumsy star. Balto lies down on the boat, hurt. Boris tries to cheer him up, but only when their two friends Hak and Mak (in the original Muk and Luk), two polar bears who are apparently not the brightest lights and have a similar position among their own kind as Balto, appear, does his mood improve.

Meanwhile, a dangerous diphtheria epidemic breaks out among the children of Nome. When Rosie also gets caught, Jenna is very worried about her mistress. Balto wants to meet Jenna and so happens to notice. Since he has taken Rosie into his heart too, he's worried too. He leads Jenna into the hospital boiler room and they hear the doctor making the diagnosis. The situation is precarious as there are more and more cases and he no longer has any serum. Jenna is shocked. It is precisely in this situation that Steele shows up and tries to seduce Jenna, but Jenna ensures that he accidentally burns himself on the heater and howls. This noise makes Rosie's father and the local butcher's attention. Since Steele had a sausage chain with him, apparently stolen by him, they believe that Balto stole the butcher and was caught by Steele. Balto has to flee.

The danger of the disease is so high that the children are quarantined in the hospital and the city of Anchorage is notified that Nome urgently needs more serum. One then tries to deliver the medicine by ship, but this attempt fails because of the pack ice. An attempt by plane is also ruled out due to a snow storm. Then you get a message from the governor's office in Juneau that the serum is being sent by train. However, the railway line ends in the city of Nenana, which is why you should choose the fastest dogs to chase hundreds of miles through the arctic storm and bring the medicine from there to Nome.

These dogs should be determined through a race. Balto wants to save the children and especially Rosie and therefore takes part in the race against Boris' resistance. He can actually decide the race for himself, but Steele intrigues against Balto by kicking him on the foot, so that Balto shows his teeth in pain and the musher does not accept him into the team. Balto runs away, angry and sad. In the evening, lead dog Steele and his team, including Nikki, Kaltag and Star, set off for Nenana. A light is lit to show hope for the children. After a long journey, the dogs arrive in Nenana and get the medicine, but on the way back a heavy snowstorm approaches and the team gets lost. Steele refuses to admit it and runs like a madman. They slide down an icy slope, seriously injuring the musher. Now the situation seems hopeless.

When the news reaches Nome, the dogs in town are expecting the worst. Balto gets it. When he observes a carpenter making some coffins, it becomes clear that the disease has already claimed the first deaths among the children. He then decides to look for the team and bring the medicine back himself. Boris, Hak and Mak join him. Jenna follows them. While searching the Alaskan wilderness, Balto relies on his nose and marks trees with scratch marks so that they don't get lost. On the way, Hak and Mak annoy Boris a little for fun, but then the fun turns serious when they are suddenly attacked by a huge grizzly bear. Balto tries to help them, but is powerless against the big beast. Jenna arrives and tries to help Balto, but is injured. The bear follows Balto onto a frozen lake and they both break in. Hak and Mak jump into the water and save Balto. Jenna, who is getting closer to Balto, collapses from her injury. Thereupon Balto decides to continue the search alone and orders Boris, Hak and Mak to bring Jenna back to Nome, since she would only stop, as she says herself. Boris made the statement to him that a dog could not possibly do this tour alone, but maybe a wolf.

While Balto, who gave Jenna her red scarf to keep him from freezing, continues to search, Anchorage tells Nome that they can't send serum anymore because of bad weather and that they pray for the dogs. Balto finally finds the team, explains his intentions and shows that he has marked the path and can lead them home. However, Steele is very much against helping them. When Balto at least wants to take the medicine with him, Steele threatens to tear him to pieces if he touches the box. There is a violent confrontation. Initially, Nikki, Kaltag and Star are on Steele's side, but Steele tortures Balto so brutally that they are shocked and switch sides. Eventually the argument ends in Balto's favor when Steele is careless and falls down a slope. He survived the fall unscathed, but had to watch as Balto, who was accepted by the team as the new lead dog, leads it away with medicine and the musher. Steele doesn't want to accept that. In his wickedness he wants to make sure that Balto does not find his way back home and therefore marks numerous trees in the forest in the same way as Balto, which has the consequence that the dogs get lost again. Balto knows that Steele is behind it and runs so fast in despair that the team almost falls down an abyss. When the box with the medicine comes loose, Balto is able to hold it, but then falls down with the box.

Steele reaches Nome when it is dark and tells the other dogs, including Jenna, a lie that says the others are half dead, he loaded them on his back and dragged the medicine. Then Balto showed up and took the medicine from him in order to be a hero in Jenna's eyes, but died. He tells Jenna he had to promise Balto to take care of her. Since Balto would never have said anything like that to Steele, Jenna realizes his lie and believes that Balto is alive and will come back. After the light that should show hope for the children is turned off, Rosie's parents lose all hope for their daughter and are sad. Outside the city, Jenna uses colored bottles and a lamp to create the northern lights, as Balto had shown her before. She does it so that he can see the light from afar and find his way back.

Balto survived the fall unscathed thanks to the snow, just like the box with the serum. He has now apparently lost all courage and is already mourning Rosie. But then he remembers Boris saying that no dog but maybe a wolf could do this. He realizes that being half a wolf isn't his weakness, it's his strength. In the snowstorm, he encounters a white wolf, probably his mother, and howls together with her. That gives him new courage. Holding the box with his mouth, he climbs up the abyss, benefiting from the fact that he has the paws of a wolf. With the others, who are very impressed by this achievement, he continues on the way back. Steele did not consider that Balto can recognize his markings by his scent, which he does now. But there are other dangers to be mastered along the way. At first a kind of "ice bridge" gives way under their weight, but with combined forces they hold on and pull the sled up again. As soon as this is overcome, Star sneezes and the noise triggers a snow avalanche and the dogs run for their lives. They flee into a cave, where they have to avoid falling icicles. Finally Balto sees the light produced by Jenna and howls. All of Nome hears this and everyone runs out onto the streets. Balto, together with the team, brings the medicine into town and the children can still be saved. Steele is exposed as a liar and is left alone and horrified in a barn. Balto is celebrated as a hero. When Rosie wakes up, she hugs Balto and thanks him for saving him. There is also a reunion between Balto and Jenna. There now seems to be a bright future for both of them. Star and Kaltag say they should build a monument to Balto.

Now you can see the grandmother and her granddaughter in live action again in the present. They have now found the memorial and read its inscription. When the granddaughter leaves, the grandmother thanks Balto again. From this, and from the fact that her granddaughter calls her by name, it can be seen that she is the grown-up Rosie.

Reviews

The Dirk Jasper FilmLexikon calls Balto a lovingly and lavishly animated cartoon from Amblin, which tells the true story of a legendary dog that every child in the USA is familiar with.

In its 08/1997 issue, the film-dienst wrote: Thanks to a special eye for the mood of dramatic winter landscapes, the simple story turns into an entertaining and child-friendly cartoon.

Die Woche writes about the film on April 25, 1997: Very cute cartoon about the friendship between a dog and a gander.

Awards

The film was in 1996 for the Young Artist Award as Best Family Film - Musical or Comedy nomination.

The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable.

synchronization

The dubbing of the film was based on a dialogue book and directed by Marianne Groß .

Role name	English voice actor	German voice actor
Balto	Kevin Bacon	Tobias Master
Boris	Bob Hoskins	Michael Pan
Jenna	Bridget Fonda	Irina von Bentheim
Steele	Jim Cummings	Thomas Fritsch
Heck & Meck	Phil Collins	Stefan Gossler
Grandmother Rosy	Miriam Margolyes	Inge Wolffberg
Nikki	Jack Angel
Cold day	Danny Mann
Rigid	Robbie Rist
young Rosy	Juliette Brewer
Curtis Welch	Donald Sinden
Dixie	Sandra Dickinson	Philine Peters-Arnolds

Sequels

The film was followed by two sequels, both of which were produced directly for the video and DVD markets. In 2002 Balto - On the Trail of Wolves was created , followed in 2004 by Balto - His greatest adventure .

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Synchronization to the Balto film on German synchro file

[1] Synchronization to the Balto film on German synchro file