I was no older than 6 at the time when I first watched Balto, barely out of preschool and yet I remember the movie as if I had first watched it.  It would be my first canine protagonist movie (All Dogs go to Heaven would be my second on my 8th borthday).  When I first saw it I  saw it as the usual talking animals adventure.  And oh! was it an adventure!.  Though animated, the creators of the movie knew how to occupy the persons watching, never was there a dull moment.  Serious, casual, romance, conflict, and comedy--Balto had all of this, even adults watching this film for the first time could follow the story and get the jokes spoken within.

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What I liked most about Balto is how the ending was.  Before Balto I had watched most movies' villians fall to their deaths or meet a fast or slow death at the end.   However, in Balto, the villian is not killed.  He lives until the very end, leaving his fate to be decided by fans in their fanfiction.  Also at the end, is also another cliffhanger--what happened to Balto and Jenna after he came home?  True, it would seem they would live 'happily ever after' but it left their fate and the other characters--major and minor--up for grabs once again for the fans to decide.

I loved and continue to love this beloved film.  It never ceases to amaze me and entertain me.  It was because of Balto I became a supporter of wolf reintroduction into the U.S. and other countries, to bring back what once symbolized the true wild and formerly Man's best friend of old.