Half wolf Balto has a litter with his full husky wife. Most puppies resemble her and are easily adopted by the Wild West villagers. Only one daughter, which has his lupine traits, must be raised by them and devoted goose Boris. She also proves a free-spirited rebel, drawn to the wild. Balto spares no effort to protect his stubborn, near-adult pup, which leads to both of them confronting and joining wise old 'wolf shaman' Nava's troop, which needs to make hard choices, requiring a strapping younger leader. Written by

Plot Synopsis:
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Balto and his mate, Jenna have a new family of six puppies. Five of their puppies look like their husky mother, while one pup, Aleu, clearly takes her looks from her wolfdog father. When they all reach eight weeks old, all of the other pups are adopted to new homes, but no one wants Aleu. Aleu stays with her father, Balto. A year later, after she is almost killed by a hunter, Balto tells Aleu the truth about her wolf heritage. In anger and sadness, she runs away, hoping to find her place in the world.

At the same time, Balto has been struggling with strange dreams of a raven and a pack of wolves. He cannot understand what the dreams mean, but when Aleu doesn't come back the next day, he runs off to find her and bring her back home. He meets with mysterious creatures, like a cunning fox, a trio of wolverines that taunt him, the same guiding raven from his dreams, and a furious grizzly bear, that suddenly disappears as if it was never there.

During the journey, his friends, Boris, a Russian snow goose, and Muk and Luk, twin polar bears, hope to find Balto, but they are halted by some unknown force. They soon realize that this journey to find Aleu is meant for the father and daughter themselves. Aleu, after taking refuge in a cave, meets the field mouse called Muru who lets Aleu realize that being part-wolf isn't so bad. He teaches her that everyone has a spirit guide. After singing the song "Who are you?", it turns out that Muru is Aleu's spirit guide.

When Aleu and Balto reunite after a close escape from the bear, a part that helped them escape is a strange ability that Aleu managed to get somehow, and allowed Aleu see the bear's thoughts. Aleu has started to grow, telling her father that she's not going home until she finds out who she is. The two of them travel onward, both following the raven, to a starving pack of wolves by the ocean. They are led by an old wolf named Nava, who has magic powers and can contact the mysterious white wolf, Aniu, in his "dream visions". He tells his pack that one day soon, they will be led by a new leader, "the one who is wolf but does not know." Everyone believes that Balto, who is half wolf himself, is the chosen one that Aniu was speaking of. However, Niju, a young wolf with the help of his three followers (Nuk, Yak, and Sumac), hopes that he will be the next leader since he is stronger and more powerful than the old, wise Nava.

The day comes to depart from their home to follow the caribou, the wolves' food source, across the large sea using pieces of ice like a bridge, with Balto in the lead. When Nava is separated from the rest of the pack, Aleu joins him to help him across, but runs into Niju, who is ready to take the elderly leader's life and the young half-wolf's as well. Balto abandons the pack to save his daughter, but before anyone gets hurt, they realize that the pack is floating away, leaderless. Nava cannot make the swim in his old age, and Niju shows his fearfulness when Balto tells him to swim across to the pack and returns to his homeland. Balto is prepared to help the pack, but Aleu realizes that this is where she truly belongs. She makes the swim to the pack to become its leader as Nava returns to his home to find Niju. As Balto makes his way back to Nome, the raven reveals its true form as the great white wolf, Aniu, who is Balto's mother.

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ginger_sling from United States
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Though it doesn't hold up to the wonderful original Balto, this is one of the very few animated film sequels that didn't totally make me gag. The storyline is completely different (thankfully not going the 'Oh, no! Another epidemic!' route one would expect) and the entire movie takes a Native American twist, focusing less of dog-sleds and more on the Wolf roots of both Balto and his daughter, Aleu. The songs are touching and beautiful, my favorites being "Taking You Home" and "Who You Really Are". "Taking You Home" is probably the only song I've ever heard from an animated film that has ever made me cry- and it take a lot to make me cry.

This film, combined with the original Balto film, would be a wonderful little gift pack for anyone who's a fan.

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Callie from United States
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Yes, I'm going to rant on about how horrible this movie is. I understand there are a lot of people who DID think this movie was great, and I actually wish I could be one of them. But this has got to be the worst sequeal of all times. Balto was such a classic! Here are some examples of how they ruined it: The animation. It was horrbile. The wolves didn't even look like wolves, and they looked completely out of wack from the first movie. And it seemed at the end of the movie it just started to get worse. All the good animation was put into that dumb little totem pole. I hated the drawings. Then there's the dialouge. For one thing- what's up with Boris? Suddenly he can't talk right? And not that I loved Muk and Luk from the first movie, but they were REALLY annoying in the second one. And howcome they were STILL cubs, even after Aleu was adult? Speaking of Aleu, who in there right mind gets mad at their parents and runs off because of their HERITAGE? It's not like Balto had control of who HIS parents were. And most of the dialouge in this movie was really cheap. Especially in the bear scene. And the whole "I'm following a raven, wow, you are too?" thing. And that mouse...eerrr. When Aleu walked into that cave and the song started to play, I actually thought the movie was getting a little better. It was such a pretty background song. But the MOUSE was singing it. Mice don't sing, and no one sang in Balto. Plus he was just creepy. How did he "appear" there next to Aleu at the end of the movie? Two more things. Nava and Niju. Niju was just some sad copy of Steele (what happend to him anyway?)He had no real purpose to be mad! And what was up with all that melting into trees and magic stuff? The first balto was based all on fact except the talking stuff, which it would've been boring without. All in all, Balto 2: Wolf Quest, was the worst sequeal ever- and it totally destroyed Balto. Balto was the story of a wolf-dog who longed to belong and run in a sled race, and he ended up saving Nome, Alaska. What did Aleu do? Nothing! There WOULD have been a message in that movie, if it even made since (like I said before, if you're upset about your heritage, that's YOUR problem, not your parents). This movie had no drama, no romance, not even any comedy.

P.S. What was up with that thing at the begining of the movie where the pups were being sold? Why didn't they choose Aleu? She was the only one left behind! That was SO Oliver and Company. And after what Balto did, who WOULDN'T want a half wolf- half dog? Really, the makers of this movie could've done better. With a little thought, even I could've done better.

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funjokerjake from Nome, Alaska
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What with the popularity of their numerous direct-to-video sequels to The Land Before Time and An American Tail, it's not surprising that Universal's latest video offering is a sequel to their 1995 Balto. The original is based on the true story of a dog who, facing unbelievable dangers, brought medicine to those of Nome, Alaska when many children were suffering a life-threatening sickness. This one finds Balto father to some adorable pups, all of whom are adopted by a human eight weeks after birth – except Aleu, who looks more like a wolf then her half-wolf father. When a hunter mistakes her for one, Balto reveals the truth about her mixed heritage, and she runs – with Dad hot on her trail, thanks to a mysterious raven from a reoccurring nightmare. The result is an enjoyable Wolf Quest, which surprisingly doesn't do harm to the original. While the animation here isn't top-notch – more Cartoon Network-ish -- that's to be expected from a direct-to-video sequel. Indeed, the film's main fault is being a musical – featuring a singing rat – something the first movie never was designed to be. The songs are good, and fit well, but longtime fans of the original might be a bit disappointed. On a nicer note, the villains from within the wolf pack pleasantly resemble Steele and his gang of bully dogs from the first movie, and the bear sequence would have been just as brilliant as the one in the original if not for the cheesy `inner knowing' ending to the scene. By far not as good as the first, but a wonderful movie nonetheless, and one I'll definitely watch again. ***** (5/5).



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Figaro-8 (greyfigaro@hotmail.com) from Columbia, SC
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I felt this film was kinda like Balto himself--a bit rough around the edges, but with a heart of gold underneath. I didn't care for Boris, Mu(c)k and Lu(c)k this time around, but Maurice LaMarche, Lacey Chabert and Mark Hamill were good as Balto, Aleu and Niju. However, the BEST piece of casting was David Carradine as Nava...he was WONDERFUL. The songs were generally well-done, and "Taking You Home" was beautiful. I really thought the ending of the movie was well-done: hopeful and leaving you with a satisfying feeling without being a traditional "happy ending."

So I have to say I still like the original a bit more, but this film was by no means a failure.



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Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois
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Since my friend lent me the movie Balto, I decided to see what the sequels were all about and also show it to my cousin, maybe he might get into it as well since he's 5 and he really liked it and so did I. Balto 2 may not have been up to par with the first Balto, but it did just as well with the story. I think because so many children could relate to where they stand in the world, they know they belong with Mom and Dad, but where does their life go?

Balto now has kids, including a little wolf named Aleu, Aleu doesn't understand why her sisters and brothers were adopted and why she wasn't. Balto finally explains how she looks more like a wolf than a dog and she freaks out and runs away. Balto goes to find her, in the end, they meet another wolf pack who is running out of food and need a new leader to guide them to food and start a new generation of wolves. Aleu is finally discovering her place in the world.

The animation was great and so was the story, I wish they didn't cut the ending so shortly, but I understand, kids usually have a short attention span, so it's all good. But I would recommend Balto II: Wolf Quest for a good family film to watch together. It was a really sweet and lovely film that anyone could be touched by.

6/10

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littlerob from Auburn, Alabama
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I think this film, as a sequel, does a huge disservice to the original Balto - in my opinion one of the finest animated moves ever and one of the few movies ever to move me to tears.

First, I really wish we could have had Kevin Bacon and Bridget Fonda back from the original. While the voices were good, it left me feeling a bit lost as to the relation to the first. Mark Hamill's voice was also completely inappropriate for Niju - at least as he was drawn, it should have been much deeper. Second, the animation - compared to the first - is atrocious. The computer-generated parts are easily identifiable and the scenes just don't seem to mesh as well as the original Balto. The combat scenes don't seem to flow very well. And one of the things that sticks out the most in my mind from the first is gone: the complex facial expressions of the characters. Third, the plot (while good) has some holes that you could fly a 747 through. The two evil wolves (and indeed the clan) were introduced so suddenly it sent me reeling, and how did the wolf pack suddenly know Balto's name? Fourth, it tried too hard to be Lion King - and it was so visible. With Aleu hanging off that cliff, I kept seeing Simba. With Niju standing up on the rock, I kept seeing Scar preaching to the lions. Why does every movie now feel they must pay homage to the Lion King in some fashion?

Still, the movie does have many redeeming qualities. It stays interesting for most of the film and deals with some issues that can be looked at by both children and adults from both sides - when to let go. Besides the holes - and no film is perfect - the plot was good, and I truly enjoyed the Inuit references in the film - one of the truly forgotten cultures of America.

Overall, it was a good film and worth the DVD, but it could have been so much more.

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Margaret Belt from Nappanee, Indiana
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Before you use the nostalgia factor on me, today was the very first time I watched Balto. So right after watching Balto, I was super excited to start watching Balto 2; however, my excitement faded quickly. The movie starts out in a trip dream with very lucid colors. It lasted too long and left me confused. After Balto awoke, Boris was way to "Boris". His language and ways of speech were over-exaggerated compared to the first Balto. Of course, Balto got laid after he saved Jenna's human. She has pups and all of them look like him except for one (Aleu) who looks more wolf than Balto. (Tell me how that works). So Aleu throws a tantrum after she founds out she's 25% wolf, tells her dad (Balto) she hates him, and runs away. Aleu turns out to be the chosen one in some half coyote half wolf looking pack thing to save them all!

Oh, and don't forget 6+ minutes of God awful cheesy music.

Although I will watch the 3rd one tomorrow, I absolutely loved Balto and am disgusted by Balto 2. I only suggest watching this movie if you can't let Balto go and are currently high. ~Margaret

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Lissy71 from United Kingdom
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How can anyone like this?! I bought this in the hopes that I would like it as much as the original but I thought wrong. Here are the reasons why this is awful...

There is singing in this one (I like singing in animated films but the first Balto movie didn't have it. So why are they in here?)

Spiritual stuff which I usually like but it doesn't belong in Balto!

The original cast not returning. If you can't get them back, don't make the movie!

Badly done animation including CGI effects which don't fit with the hand-drawn stuff.

The new characters were awful. Aleu was the most annoying thing I have ever witnessed in a movie along with that weird singing mouse! And those wolverines are things that could be easily mistaken for weasels so knowone would take them seriously and just die with laughter. I did and so did my sister.

The writer's rubbish attempt at being funny such as when Balto is leading the wolves and he says "Mush! Er..I mean..move out!". It makes me want to smack the writers and say "That is NOT funny!"

It was pretty much badly written in general. I mean, how can Aleu suddenly be the one destined to lead a wolf pack? She's only lived for one year, she is not a good fighter (from what I saw in the movie anyway) and she has never lived in a wolf pack before. I thought a wolf needed those things she doesn't have in order to be alpha! And why did Balto think he was the true leader when it is said the leader is "The one who is wolf and does not know". He knows he is part wolf so what was that about?

So if you love the first Balto film for being beautifully done, then don't watch this. It will ruin the first one for you!

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ajnrules from Why would you care?
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After seeing the commercials for this movie a bunch of times while watching TV, they only imply that this is one of those cute, kiddy, been-there-done-that film that non-Disney studios pop out once every month to combat the giant Disney empire. However, while actually watching this film, it turns out to be something completely different.

This film is *gasp* actually pretty good, and is easily better than the first!

The story, in a nutshell, is that our hero, Balto, had babies. While most of the pups look like their mother, one of them looks more like a wolf than a dog. She grows up and is unable to accept the fact she is more wolf-like than dog-like, then runs away. (She doesn't like being dominated by her father.) Meanwhile, both of them have the same dream filled with ice, a raven, caribou, and wolves. Well, both of them embark on a journey that manages to include all elements of the two dreams, then runs into a pack of wolves who must either leave the land they lived on for years or starve to death. Balto's daughter realizes her destiny is to leave her family and lead the wolves. Balto understands and lets her leave.

Yeah, I make it sound generic, but believe me, IT IS NOT! This film may be one of many that feature the "journey to find oneself" theme, but it succeeds extremely well! The message is deep, and the presentation is haunting with a little bit of comedy mixed in (the comedy is quite ordinary, so that may explain why the commercial makes the movie look so generic.) Add a great voice acting with talents such as Mark Hamill, Rob Paulsen, Jodi Benson etc., and you've got what may be the best direct-to-video animated motion picture ever made.

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Salazar from New Zealand
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"Balto" -the first one- is one of my all-time favourite flicks. When I found out that there was a "Balto 2" via "The Grinch" on video, I was really excited and really wanted to see it. Years later we got "Balto" & "Balto 2" on DVD and we all watched the second movie first and I was ultimately disappointed. The story: Balto and Jenna get together and have puppies. However, Balto keeps on and on having dreams about pursuing a raven that just beckons him. All but one of the puppies is adopted and the one who doesn't- who's called Aleu (atrociously voiced by Lacey Charbet)- has no idea why. Balto tells her that he's half wolf and she's inherited the wolf look. Aleu gets all upset and runs away. Balto sets out to find her with the help of the raven and must overcome some tests about a fox, a mongoose gang, a bear and elk with Aleu who finds out who she really is along the way and her destiny (which is to lead a pack of wolves after their elderly leader is nearing death).

The reasons why I don't like this film?: Terrible animation (the characters don't even look the same from the fist film!), stupid songs, a dire story all together and what I think is the cherry on top of it all, they don't have the original voice actors! In short: don't waste your life on this.

dream|wolf|dog|dog movie|duel|fall|bully|animal name in title|animal in title|wolf pack|mouse|ice|father daughter relationship|cave|bear|sequel|second part|

AKAs Titles:


Certifications:
Argentina:Atp / Australia:G / Brazil:Livre / Germany:0 / South Korea:All / Sweden:7 / USA:G