Incorrect sizes © Balto

If Balto is part wolf, why's he smaller than Steele?

I've never written an article before, and I haven't been to active in discussions in such on the site, though I do enjoy it and love gazing at all the wonderful Fan fics and artwork. But I thought I should bring this up.

Balto

Wolves, in general, are larger than dogs, right? Well, Balto's father was a husky and his mother a wolf, with Steele being all husky. And yet in all the scenes where Steele is attempting to intimidate Balto, or attack him in some way, it is clear that Steele is larger than Balto. That doesn't make sense, as Balto is half wolf and logically would have been the larger of the two. How can Steele have a larger and stronger build than Balto when Balto is the one who should naturally be larger and more strongly built than Steele?!

I tried to find still images that proved this, but the ones I found were blurry and hard to make out. And yes, I think that even if Balto's father was a malamute, Balto would still be bigger than Steele.

Last comments


Keehl86	March 27, 2017

Maybe Balto was the runt in his litter.


KidaMead owlark	August 05, 2011

Steele isn't actually a husky, he's an Alaskan Malamute. Plus, if they made him any smaller he wouldn't be as convincing to the audience as the bully and antagonist.


Geothe54 wolf	November 20, 2009

	Creator of the 'Nome Pack'

Ok,if Steele was smaller universal would have to change the whole story line to fit balto and steele's fight and steele's threatening in


Wishbone (wolfpac 9)	July 09, 2009

	I love animals 8D

Because Balto is slim and Steele is muscular.


Baltoske eper	July 07, 2009

SouthPaw I totally agree with u Balto could've inheirited his dads size and his mothers sleekness


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SouthPaw	July 09, 2008

Well, it depends on which features Balto inheritaed from his parents,
if he inheritaed his fathers husky build, yet his mother wolf like
features then that could be a reson why hes smaller. great point
though


Wolf_gir l_772	June 05, 2008

I think that Universal did a lot of this for effect, but I can see
your point of view.

Here's another possibility: although
Steele LOOKS like a purebred, he COULD have been a mixed breed,
considering that dog sledding teams don't always use pure blooded
dogs. Keeping this in mind, sometimes mixed breeds have something with
their DNA - like a genetic mutation - that speeds up their
growth......or something like that. Sorry, I can't put a name on the
source of that information, but this could have been possible. What do
you think?


IchiRuki fanatic	February 21, 2008

	Rock of Ages

Nice topic. I always noticed how large Steele was next to Balto. I
think that they made him bigger just to make him look well....
intimadating.


Beauty Wolf	January 27, 2008

that is a good point!!


Guest	December 10, 2007

This is very true but I agree with Demon-BP, they had to
make Steele intimidating or else Balto would never really
seem like a victim. If Balto was larger then Steele, he
would be able to intimidate Steele instead of the other way
around. Good article though ;]


Warriorc at	September 16, 2007

	R.I.P the warriorcat pack

they just made steele bigger to enphasize his threating
personality. think about it, balto be being steeles size and
steele being baltos? wouldnt be very menacing now would
it?


Harpier	September 14, 2007

Your quite right about the villains thing, but I still prefer
the "small wolf" theory.


Apri-wer ewolf	August 28, 2007

I agree with CatWings. If Steele was tiny to Balto, I don't
think he'd really care if Steele bullied him. Steele would
be too scared to bully someone bigger than him.

But you do have a point. Since Balto is only half wolf,
though, he could have inherited his father's size.

Also, to add to my first comments, Steele is the
villain of the movie. He should be big, stocky, and
intimidating. If all villains were scrawny, weak, and
unintimidating, there would be no use for them, right?

Anyway, good article for your first try


Juneau	August 22, 2007

You are correct. However, how would it look if Steele was
smaller than Balto? Pretty silly! But either way, good
article


Fire_paw	August 22, 2007

Hmmm..Intresting thought. But Steele pulls sleds and is
owned. Being the lead dog, he would be well looked after and
strong. Balto had no owner, I think Balto would have to
serch for food and would be quite thin. But it is a cartoon
anyway...


Guest	August 20, 2007

I agree with cat wings and demon. but still a great
article!!!


Guest	August 20, 2007

animators do that to show how bigger and athoritive he is.
If he made steele smaller, how scary would he be to Balto?


VioletCl oud	August 18, 2007

I think it's true that they made Steele larger because he's
the bully and the fact that wolves aren't always larger or
stronger than dogs but maybe it was because Balto was
younger


Guest	August 18, 2007

This was an excellent article. And since Steele was kind of
the villian of this movie (or a bully. Whatever you call it)
so as a bully he had to be built and bit bigger and
stronger.


Guest	August 17, 2007

i think that was an excellent article.


Writewol f	August 17, 2007

Steele is a malamute so that would probably make a little
bit of difference. Good article


Cobalti�	August 17, 2007

	no u

Steele's a malamute, and would of been bigger than Balto
anyway even if he was full wolf. Plus, Balto wouldn't of
been well fed as Steele would have been, and not having
enough nutrition, he wouldn't of reached full size. Also
another factor may be that Balto might of been fairly young
and not full-grown then, as in teenager age.


Duma9	August 17, 2007

Hmm, well, I agree with Dragon Tamer. But, maybe Balto
could've also inherited the size of a husky. Sure he's half wolf, but I've seen some pictures where hybrids are the same size as huskies. That's what I
think. Good Article for your first!


Aleu45	August 17, 2007

hmmmm..... I believe that there was also an article on this
topic but I still think that its a good point and its a
great first article. Good Job


Jake Razor	August 16, 2007

Hasn't someone asked this before? I think the main reason
Balto is so much smaller is because A: he slinks along in a
low, submissive posture and therefore looks smaller, whereas
Steele walks around looking as big as possible. B: Street
dogs don't tend to eat very well, so they don't tend to
reach as full a size as house dogs.


Kelev	August 16, 2007

Very true on what harpier said. Wolves can end up smaller
then most Large dogs. The wolves up where I come from a
rather small, almost like coyotes. But then again, the artic
wolves in Alaska are VERY big, you you have a point too.
Perhaps it should be left to the fact this is a childrens
movie, and there will be mistakes made.


Harpier	August 16, 2007

Actually, there's already an article about that. Anyway, the
idea of wolves being larger and stronger than dogs is not
necessarily true: the "large and strong" wolf is a Hollywood
derived stereotype; in fact, due to the hard conditions of
the natural environment where they live, wolves are often
smaller and weaker than dogs. For example, Japanese wolves
were quite small, because islands have less food resources
and space than continents and so, over the generations, they
shrunk in size.


Guest	August 16, 2007

Demon is right, Steele would be weird...small. Bullys arent...small. Great for a first article thought!


Guest	August 16, 2007

In the movie, they needed Steele to feel more like a bully
so they made him bigger since in most tv shows and movies
they are bigger then the others. Before the movie was
created they probably took in these facts but they couldn't
have made Steele smaller then Balto because it just wouldn't
go.

Balto 3 : Wings of Change Soundtrack	Animation Balto icons	Balto overview	Balto screenshots gallery
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