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Movie Info
Cast & Crew
Grandma Rosy, Extra Voices
Voice
Granddaughter
Voice
Balto
Voice
Boris the Goose
Voice
Jenna
Voice
Steele the Sled Dog
Voice
Critic Reviews for Balto
All Critics (24) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (11)
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With no cheesy songs to slow proceedings down and some barnstorming chase sequences, this is enchanting, highly enjoyable and impressively crafted (not least for its adventurous "camera work") and would have made a pretty fair live action film.
March 4, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review… -
Brave dog saves kids in adequate fact-based film.
September 23, 2010 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review… -
The goose and bears, in particular, don't add much to the proceedings, while Balto himself proves rather blandly heroic.
March 26, 2009 | Full Review… -
The makers of this half-hearted animated feature let the story ramble on with a minimum of second-hand plotting and characterisation.
January 26, 2006 | Full Review… -
Avoiding the mythological grandiosity and freneticism that afflict so many animated features these days, "Balto" makes modesty a virtue.
May 20, 2003 | Full Review… -
Even as voiced by Bacon, Balto doesn't have the sort of charisma to get kids to truly root for him.
August 15, 2002 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for Balto
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Aug 29, 2014It's disappointing that for a movie with so many possibilities for a heartfelt and inspiring, albeit "for kids," story, 'Balto' frequently misfires and becomes pretty devoid of emotional payoff. The jokes are awkward and way overplayed, and the characters are basic, paper-thin and without chemistry. Instead of giving time to develop the plot, time is wasted superimposing the "anti-prejudice, underdog suddenly becomes a big hero" theme onto scenes that already make it pretty clear what this movie is going to be about. The animation is also sketchily inconsistent for some characters. With the exception of the black bear, who I'm convinced is one of the most well animated characters in traditional film, in terms of both presence and style. One of the upsides I can see in this movie is pausing a few times to study do's and don'ts of character design. The only other upside I've found (and this is a long shot) are the fan fiction stories surrounding 'Balto' and its characters, many which I've found have dove into the themes and developments that the film overlooked. I'm interested in Balto as an expansive character; I really feel this movie was a missed opportunity that it only carried his namesake but not the prominence of his legend. I wish I could like this movie more, but I just can't. If you're especially interested in traditionally animated talking animal movies, then maybe you'll like it, but even the talking lacks purpose that it makes you question whether or not it was necessary to make them say anything in the first place.Diego T Super Reviewer
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Nov 18, 2011One of my favorites when I was a kid but now that I'm older I'm not so sure. It is a true story and also touchy. But it was poorly made. There are many ways to make this better. The plot was poorly thought. Even though it was a true story I'm pretty sure every thing didn't happen in real life. The plot build up was also horrible. This is more for kids then adults. It will be hard for me to sit through this now that I'm older. The animation was good. It was different and it was nice "eye candy" animation. If you like sweet fell good films that are animated then this might be for you but for me I'll stick to non animated.Eduardo T Super Reviewer
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Aug 16, 2011Balto is a hugely under rated animated film. It was released at the same time as Toy Story and therefore overshadowed. But I preffered this film, I enjoyed it because it was funny and Bob Hoskins shows real enthusiasm to his character of the goose who is Balto's sidekick. Balto is one of the greatest hero's of an animated film and whilst watching you'll care about what he does next. I know you see a lot of animated films with the central character as an outcast but I will say Balto is the best of them all.Directors C Super Reviewer
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May 01, 2011A fantastic and very underrated animated film from the 90s with great voice acting, great animation, and some great drama.Michael E Super Reviewer
Balto Quotes
Steele: | Go ahead, wolf-dog. You'll never get home. I'll make sure of that. |
Boris: | [watching Balto scratch a tree] Good work, Balto. You took on the biggest, meanest tree in whole forest, and you won. |
Balto: | I'm marking the trail. |
Luk: | [to Muk] He's marking our trail. That's very clever. |
Boris: | And here I was leaving bread crumbs. |
Balto: | Since when do you need a pedigree to help someone? |
Steele: | Hey Balto, I got a message to your mother (lifts head and howls Nikki, Kaltag, and Star join in) |
Steele: | Hey Balto, I got a message to your mother [lifts head and howls Nikki, Kaltag, and Star join in] |
Balto: | (growls and begins to approach the dogs) |
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