Balto Review

Balto


Release Date: 27th June 1996 - Australia


Production Companies
Universal Pictures (present)
Amblin Entertainment (present)
Amblimation

Distribution
Universal Pictures Australia


Genre: Animation/Family

Rating: G

Runtime: 74 minutes


Budget: $31,000,000

Box Office Gross: $11,349,090 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Balto is an outcast shunned by humans and other dogs due to his part-wolf heritage, except for a Russian goose named Boris,

two polar bear cubs, Muk and Luk, and a beautiful husky named Jenna. One day, a severe case of diphtheria struck the children of Nome when it spread fast. All routes of transport that carry the anti-toxin are closed off by a treacherous snowstorm.

Only a team of sled dogs can race about 600 miles through the blinding Arctic blizzard, delivering medicine to all the sick children. But the dogs are lost in the frozen wilderness, and Balto is their only hope in rescuing the team and saving the lives of the children.


Voice Cast
Kevin Bacon - Balto
Bridget Fonda - Jenna
Bob Hoskins - Boris
Phil Collins - Muk & Luk
Jim Cummings - Steele
Juliette Brewer - Young Rosy
Jack Angel - Nikki
Danny Mann - Kaltag
Robbie Rist - Star
Sandra Dickinson - Dixie/
Sylvie/Rosie's Mom
Donald Sinden - Doc
William Roberts - Rosy's Father
Garrick Hagon - Telegraph Operator

Bill Bailey - Butcher

Big Al - Town Dog

Live-Action Cast
Miriam Margoyles - Old Rosy
Lola Bates-Campbell - Rosy's Granddaughter


Crew
Director - Simon Wells
Story/Screenplay - Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser
Screenplay - David Cohen and Roger S.H. Schulman

Associate Producer - Rich Arons
Executive Producers - Kathleen Kennedy, Bonnie Radford and Steven Spielberg
Producer - Steve Hickner

Production Designer - Hans Bacher

Additional Art Director/Background Artist -

Luc Desmarchelier

Additional Art Director/Background Supervisor -

Colin Stimpson

Costume Designer: Live-Action Scenes -

Ellen Lutter

Character Designer/Supervising Animator:
"Muk and Luk" - Nicholas Marlet
Character Designer/Supervising Animator:

"Sylvie", "Dixie" and Principal Humans -

Patrick Mate
Character Designer - Carlos Grangel
Storyboard Supervisor - Daan Jippes
Storyboard Artist/Supervising Animator:

"Balto" - Dick Zondag
Storyboard Artist/Supervising Animator:

"Rosy" - David Bowers
Storyboard Artist/Supervising Animator:

"Steele & Jenna Sequences" - Rodolphe Guenoden
Storyboard Artist/Supervising Animator:

"Nikki", "Kaltag" and "Star" - William Salazar

Background Supervisor/Digital Background

Color Balance - Ray Rankine
Layout Supervisor - Douglas Kirk

Director of Photography/Camera Operator:

Live-Action Scenes - Jan Ritcher-Friis

Production Manager - Jill Hopper

Assistant Production Manager - Mark Swift

Animation Production Supervisor - Colin J. Alexander

Color Production Supervisor - Matthew Teevan

Assistant to the Director - Steve Pegram

Supervising Animator: "Balto" - Jeffrey James Varab
Supervising Animator: "Jenna" - Robert Stevenhagen
Supervising Animator: "Boris" - Kristof Serrand
Supervising Animator: "Steele" - Sahin Ersoz

Animator: "Grizzly Bear" - Daniel Jeannette

Animator: "White Wolf" - Erik Schmidt

Additional Digital Effects Animation/

Digital Scene Design Supervisor - David Morehead

Digital Scene Designers - Robert Edward

Crawford and James C.J. Williams

Supervising Editors - Sim Evan-Jones

and Nick Fletcher

Assistant Editors - Claire Knight and

Marcus Taylor

Supervising Sound Editors - Louis L. Edemann

and Charles L. Campbell

Re-Recording Mixers - Gregg Landaker

and Steve Maslow

Foley Artists - John Roesch and Hilda Hodges

Music - James Horner

Music: Song "Reach for the Light" - Barry Mann

Lyrics: Song "Reach for the Light" - Cynthia Weil
Performer: Song "Reach for the Light" -

Steve Winwood

Music Editor - Jim Henrikson

Assistant Music Editor - Joe E. Rand

Scoring Mixer - Shawn Murphy

Review
Despite the historical differences in the movie, BALTO has its marvellous animation that makes the entire film look exceptionally drawn and ambitious. Unlike the other hand-drawn animated flicks (like those made by Disney), it is not a musical. It doesn't include the characters singing, which is a good thing. There's nothing wrong with this overlooked picture. I found some commendable aspects, such as some laughs, including an E.T. reference and well-known voice-over talents of Kevin Bacon, Jim Cummings, Phil Collins, Bob Hoskins and Bridget Fonda. The film has a brilliant music score by James Horner, who does tremendous work composing this feature.

It's a shame BALTO got beaten out of the box-office competition by Pixar's Toy Story. BALTO is an underrated movie that the dog-lovers and furries might want to rediscover. It's better than Disney's Pocahontas, which is also based on a true-life story and unfortunately fails to bring what BALTO has a happy ending.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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