I've watched the film again, and analysed it entirely.
I've watched WQ again recently (I admit that I really don't watch it as often as Balto 1 & 3...) and I have found a few things that I'm surprised no one talked about yet.
I strongly think that Aniu is guiding Balto & Aleu all along the film.
1. Balto has these dreams / nightmares, even before Aleu is born. He can see ice bridges. He tries to go back but he can't because he's blocked by a cliff. And at the end, we see a close up of the bag from the hunter (see the next point), and the wolf face from the totem.
2. The hunter. Have you noticed the picture on his bag? It is a raven. (picture 1) The fact that there is a big close up on this bag, means that it is important. My theory is : Aniu has, in some way, called this hunter at this right time and place, to help Aleu understand her destiny. (that she's a wolf)
3. Just after that Aleu left, Balto has a dream again. But this time, we hear Aniu describing the totem pole to Balto. I won't describe that part, I'm sure you remember it.
4. When Balto starts his journey, he suddenly stops when he sees a face, appearing with the fog. (pictures 2 & 3) It is, obviously, Aniu. Then, just after, we see the raven appearing, within the fog as well. (picture 4) To me there's no doubt at that point that the raven is Aniu.
5. Just after, the raven starts moving into a direction, making Balto to follow him. And then, we see...A fox, appearing within the fog. (again) And Aniu told about the fox. Aniu even says 'the cunning trickster' while we see this fox appearing. Which is the best way to know the future? By making it...And if you want one more proof : listen carefully to the voice of the fox, for example. This is the exact same voice as Aniu, when she's telling about the totem in Balto's dream. So, the fox = Aniu.
6. I found this very interesting, and I've never seen anyone pointing that : when Boris & Muk & Luk discover Balto lying on another side of the river, we see the fog appearing, forbidding Boris to help Balto. (picture 5 & 6) And who does always come within the fog? Aniu. This is even more obvious when you notice that the fog is exactly between Boris and Balto, and nowhere else. And the fog suddenly disappear when Boris change his mind and leave...I believe that Aniu wanted Balto to come alone on this journey to find Aleu.
7. After this scene, when Boris is leaving, we can see Aniu watching them on a rock. (picture 7) And the rock is just in the middle of Balto and Boris, again...This confirms n°6.
8. The wolverines. (pictures 8 & 9) Same comments as for the fox, except that I don't see the point that Aniu has to prevent Balto from going on at that point. (they even say 'stop following the raven'...) Maybe she just wants to make him taking account of his fears and battle them out. Also, the wolverines have the same red eyes as the raven, and disappear in the fog (again...)
9. Same as 7 : we see Aniu on a rock watching Balto, and disappearing in the fog...
10. Just after, the raven appears next to Aleu and make her entering the cave. We can even see the raven pointing out the cave with his beak, very intentionally...(picture 10)
11. Aleu enters the cave, and finds Muru. At that point, I was not sure whether it was Aniu again, but later on we see that it's the case. Muru clearly tries to make Aleu understand that she is not what she thinks (a dog), but what is really in her (a wolf) Also, Muru make high praises about wolves, by saying that they have a wonderful howl, that they are wonderful creatures...Which seems obvious when you think that it is in fact Aniu the wolf who say that!
12. During the song 'Who you really are', we can see every creature from the totem displayed on the cave walls. (some pictures : 11, 12, 13, 14)
13. Something I never really noticed : during the song, we see what happened with the wolf pack and the caribous! Check these 3 pictures. We see the caribous crossing the river to get food, but the wolves did not follow them. And these pictures are showed twice.
14. At the end of the song, we hear 'who are you?' repeating, while all the creatures left except the wolves. And then we only see wolves and wolves, Muru (Aniu) clearly wanting her to believe that she's a wolf.
15. The bear : he has the same eyes as the wolverines and the raven. By looking at his eyes, Aleu hear his thoughts and jumps off the cliff. And he disappears in the fog. I'm sure you understand what I mean, and don't know if I have anything to add...Oh yes, he loses his red eyes just after he leave the cave. But I'm sure it's not intentional...(I would bet on a blooper)
16. The raven again, going in circles. Probably to tell Balto and Aleu to stay there until they meet the wolf pack, which is what happens. The, the raven stops the wolves from attacking Balto & Aleu, by startling them. Balto says 'now we know the raven is on our side', which is sure right.
17. Nava says 'Aniu, the white wolf, has come to me in a vision', telling him that 'the caribous have crossed the great water, and that we must move on, being lead by the one who is wolf but does not know'. Very clear message. Although Nava make the error of believing this is Balto, instead of Aleu.
18. When Nava asks Balto what they should do, Aleu has a vision of the caribous crossing the water, probably sent by Aniu. Then, after that Balto refuses that Aleu help them, he has a dream with more or less the same images as Aleu.
19. The ice is making a bridge, and they cross.
20. After Aleu, Balto, Nava and Niju got isolated on a piece of ice, the raven goes from them to the wolves of the pack, to show that they need someone to lead them.
21. Once Aleu has crossed, Muru appears in the fog, howls with Aleu, and disappear just after. The proof that it is really Aniu, again.
22. And finally, the raven stops next to Balto, and change into the wolf form of Aniu. And she disappears in the fog, howling...
So, from my theory : the raven, and maybe even Muru and the hunter, are always an appearance of Aniu. All along the film, she tries to guide Balto, Aleu and the others, to make them follow what she thought would be the best future for them. The fact that there is always a single appearance of one of them is another proof of that. (ex : we see Aniu on the rock only after that the wolverines have disappeared...)
I'm even surprised that no one pointed out all that yet... (instead of always trying to find if Aniu is the white wolf, eh...)
There are still some things that I can't explain, though, such as why Nava can control the elements and 'make one with a tree' (sigh) Maybe he really is related to Aniu, after all?
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src='http://baltosource.timduru.org/img/smiley/s12.gif' />.I
agree with everything you said,exept for
WOW!
is good article
raven, but I didn't know the clues in the song and the other stuff.
Also, a bit obvious but just in case, The fox tricks Balto from
falling off the bridge (that's why she's a cunning trickster) and
tells him to let the current take him, after that, he got the Aleus
scent, so basically The fox helps him through his Journey. Well any
way, Your articles great, well done