Balto: The gray-coated wolfdog

            The best way to describe the movie Balto is that it’s basically the story of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, except Balto, the main character, is shunned for being a wolf-dog (part dog part wolf), not because of a red nose, and that the stakes are much bigger than Santa Claus potentially delaying the delivery of his presents to the kids of the world. Balto is a movie based on a real life story of a wolf-dog that led a dog-sled team that transported a life-saving serum in horrible stormy conditions.

            The movie begins depicting Balto’s father-son relationship with a goose, Boris. Their unlikely relationship coupled with how Balto is drawn to look somewhat like a mutt with his muted gray coat and lean body, let me immediately project myself onto him. He was an oddball, and as later shown through the townspeople rejecting him in the later scenes, he was an outcast, looked down upon for his half&half identity. I immediately related to Balto unconsciously because at the time of watching the movie, I was very young, and I had recently immigrated to America. My English was not good, I didn’t understand American culture so I was the oddball of the class, and most importantly, my family was poor, ugly. I didn’t wear nice clothes, didn’t have fancy haircuts, and didn’t have the cool school supplies like my peers did. This was unlike Steele, an Alaskan Malamute, who was the pride of the dog-sleds in town, the primary antagonist of the film. His coat was big, beautiful, and majestic, exactly the opposite of Balto. It was easy for me to also project the kids that bullied me, and the kids that I was jealous of onto Steele who was malicious, powerful, and cocky. In the movie Steele fends off Balto from leading the dog sled several times even though Balto proves how he is worthy for the position. Even understanding that Balto is a better sled-dog, Steele, out of jealousy and pride, uses the excuse of Balto being a wolf-dog, and physical aggression as a way to keep him away. Further, I even projected my parents onto Boris, who were odd and outcasts in their own ways, a mentor figure in my life, but weak(poor) and unable to provide the support when most needed. And within these characters that I could place the real people in my life onto, the most compelling aspect of this movie was how Balto was an underdog that rose up within the circumstances. 

            But Balto while there were some unarguably deus ex machina moments in the movie, I was wonderstruck by this movie because of how Balto often won conflicts and even brought the literal heroic journey home through his skill and intellect, not through abusive power or unfair advantage. For example, Balto lives in his fight against a grizzly bear by leading it out onto the thin ice where it falls through and drowns. He also ousts Steele and proves himself by winning against him in a dog race early on. There was a relatability in the way that Balto overcame the conflicts that he faced. 

            After watching the movie, two things stuck with my little-Abraham brain. One was the motivations of Balto. The way that he suffered through the obstacles, and easily gives into self-sacrifice for a greater good, instilled in me a recognition of nobility. After watching the movie, ending where Balto delivers the serums and the sick children on their deathbeds all recover, I felt proud. I was inspired to similarly help others when I could in hopes of feeling that same pride again. Balto became a figurehead of my morality. I wanted to live just like him. Second thing was that in the ultimate sacrifice scenes of the movie where Balto has been abandoned and is on the verge of death, he realizes that being a wolf-dog isn’t a oddity or anything to be ashamed of, but rather an advantage because of his superior sense of smell which he uses to navigate the sled team home. The realization that being both American and Korean was something to be proud of was not exactly something that became conscious in that moment. But the movie planted that seed for later realization in my life. 

            After watching the movie Balto, I watched it again and again, and became obsessed with sled dogs. I would read for days, encyclopedias about dogs, and read more books like The Call of the Wild by Jack London, thirsty for a similar story, a similar experience to watching Balto. I was attached to this idea of companionship and love between a dog and a human, and the heroism of the traditional “companion”. But in the end, I think my obsession was mostly inspired by the relatability of the characters, and depiction of the nobility in self-sacrifice for the greater good.