If the animators from Balto 1 had designed Aleu
Technically, I guess this is an article that can be for Balto 1 or 2, but since I'm involving Aleu, I'm saying it's Balto 2-related.
Okay, so well all know about Aleu: Balto and Jenna's daughter, who appeared in the second film and, let's face it, sadly since the animation in Balto 2 wasn't as good as the first, she's not as unique as she could or should be.
What I like about Aleu, though, is the physical characterisitics she shares with both her mother and father and the idea of what she likely would have looked like if she were created by the staff of Balto 1 (I'm more than positive she would have looked more like her mother in the face and like her father in body rather than a Wolf Quest cut-out, because, she looks like all the other WQ wolves except for her larger eyes...that's about it...same body type and everything....)
So, let's get this started:
First: Balto and Jenna from the original movie:
Obviously, they're very different in apperance (because they were created by different animators, which makes them all the more unique). Now,
Balto: wide muzzle; scruffy muzzle; pointed ears; yellow eyes; slightly rounded cheek fur which does backwards/slightly upwards; large chin; scruffy back fur, without being too poofy
Jenna: thin, smooth muzzle; pointed, but softer ears; wider eyes; very pointed cheek fur which points downward; very fluffy neck fur
Not to mention, the obvious differences in body type...
Now, let's take a look at Balto and Jenna in the sequels:
They've lost most of their differences. They're about the same height and their facial features are much less pronounced. From an image from Balto 3, they're practically the same dog with different markings...
Sooo, if we take a look at Aleu, we see her obvious physical combinations to her parents.
#1: Her face. Her ears resemble that of her father, and her facial markings are a mix between Balto's and Jenna's (the main fur color darting between her eyes like Balto, but not encircling her eyes like Jenna). Her diamond-shaped eyes were a part on her animators to give her that feminine look, so I'm not going to make a big deal about those, as you can see neither Balto nor Jenna has diamond-shaped eyes.
Her nose scruff comes from her father, but where her mother comes into play is by her cheek fur. If Aleu were drawn by the animators of Balto 1, her cheek fur would likely be a little more prononced; her cheek fur is not as pointed as Balto's and goes downward like Jenna's.
Her fur is greyish tan, a result of her father's greyish brown coloring and her mother's cream fur, most likely.
#2: Aleu's neck scruff.
Like I said, all of the wolves of Balto 2 have thick neck that, sadly, aren't really justified as most of them don't even look furry (see the difference between Aleu's neck fur and Jenna's below)
Had Aleu been more elaborately drawn, her neck scruff would probably be slightly less thick than her mother's, but she'd probably have a very furry neckline, coming from her husky side.
#3: Aleu's body type.
Short subject here: I'm pretty sure Aleu's body type would be almost identical to her father's (forget that fact that all of the WQ wolves had the same body type); as she does look more like a wolf and Jenna's body is too short to be a wolf's, not to mention Jenna's paws are far too small.
#4: Aleu's eyes.
I'm not going to make a big deal about this, because I've already stated that the diamond shape of Aleu's eyes are more than likely a work of the animators than bloodline accuracy.
The yellow part of her eyes comes from her father and the blue pupils are likely a result of a husky relative on Jenna's side or on Balto's father's side.
#5: Aleu's tail
I'm also not going to spend a whole lot of time talking about Aleu's tail. In Balto 1, Balto's tail is very scruffy and Jenna's is obviously groomed.
In WQ, the wolves have slightly scruffier tails, but, as obviously seen, the animation detail is not as elaborate in the sequel. The only reason I'm bringing up Aleu's tail is because during the scene where Balto talks to her about her wolf heritage, she curls her tail like a husky. Now, that's likely her way of displaying her dog features but despite the animation quality of the sequel, I'm pretty sure a lack of grooming, if nothing else, would make Aleu's tail scruffy like Balto's.
So, to make my point clear, I think Aleu would be a much prettier wolfdog had she been designed by the animators of Balto 1. Instead of looking like a female copy of her WQ father, she's likely become a more graceful looking wolfdog, with many wild traits from her father and gentlier traits from her mother. If any of you think Aleu is ugly, blame her unattractice Balto 2 parents...
I hope this article has made my point clear: I am an Aleu fan, though I wish as much effort had been put into her design as her Balto 1 parents; I'm sure she'd be all the more likeable. :3

















