Balto: Wolf Quest (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Family	Game Trailer-E.T.
Rating	?
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	72:21
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Phil Weinstein
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Maurice LaMarche Jodi Benson Lacey Chabert David Carradine Mark Hamill
Case	?
RPI	$36.95	Music	Adam Berry

    The sequel to Balto, Balto: Wolf Quest, was made in 2001, six years after the original. Just about everything is different in the sequel; the animation style, the characters, and the voices. The only thing that remains the same is that the storyline examines the same issues as the first, that is, someone struggling to find their place in a world that will not accept their differences.

    To be perfectly honest, after watching the first few minutes of this movie I was determined to hate it. Everything that I had loved in the first film was just different enough to be really disappointing. This was probably aggravated by having just watched the first film only last week. Imagine my surprise as I soon forgot all about the differences and started to be really drawn into the film. By half way I was really enjoying myself and, other than a couple of hiccoughs, had a great time right through to the end.

    This film offers a completely different take on the problem of being different. In the first film, Balto is finally accepted because his difference gives him a unique ability that those around him come to appreciate through adversity. In this film, we explore coming to terms with your difference internally. While it is still a cartoon and really only dips into the philosophy that it uses for this awakening, and still resolves the ending with external influences, it still does a great job.

    They have loosely based this film on ancient Pagan beliefs, in particular Shaman beliefs. These revolve around the animal kingdom and the concept of a spiritual guide in the form of an animal. They tie in native beliefs including the totem pole and the concept of a spiritual journey. It is rare that we get films based on a belief system other than Christianity where that belief system is portrayed in a good light. The only exceptions that I can think of are Monkey and the recently released Mists of Avalon.

    The animation style is quite different and they have made use of quite a lot of computer generated material. While this sometimes works, in this case the parts that are 3D and computer generated stand out from the traditionally animated parts. This is particularly noticeable in the colour schemes used by each system. There are only a limited number of colours in the traditional parts while the computer generated parts use a much larger palette.

    Without being nasty, it is interesting to compare the list of actors that performed the voices in the first movie with the second. I will let you draw your own conclusions...

    The music deserves a whole paragraph to itself. The theme song is a nice new-age sounding song sung by a woman and fits in well with the overall theme. The backing music is at times similar to native American music and sometimes Celtic and is very good indeed, giving a real feel to the sections they accompany. At one stage we are treated to a rather nice duet between two characters and again this works well. Where we are jarred out of our comfort zone is one part where the entire cast break out into what can only be described as an Andrew Lloyd Webber number. This did not fit for me and had me almost rolling on the floor in laughter.

    The basic story line is that the two main characters from the first film, Balto and his lady Jenna have had a litter of pups. All bar one of the pups looks like their mother, and thus are perfectly acceptable husky dogs. One of the litter, Aleu, looks even more like a wolf than does her father and is of course headed for a difficult life. We skip ahead a little and then follow Aleu as she comes to realise that she is different and will never be accepted into the mainstream. She runs away and is pursued by Balto. The rest of the film is about her coming to terms with her differences. There are other threads to the story, including Balto's reaction to his daughter's plight, all of which come together at the end. The ending does cop out a little but I won't say why for fear of spoiling it.

Video

    Sharpness is excellent throughout the film. Shadow detail is also very good and there is no low level noise.

    As I mentioned above, there are two distinct colour schemas in use, the computer generated material and the traditional. There are no problems with the colours in either palette, it is simply that there is a discontinuity between them. Some sections are quite beautiful and rich in their colour and scenery.

    The only MPEG artefact that I could pick up in the entire film was some very minor pixelization on the black outlines that surround the animated characters which only occurs where the line is in motion. An example is at 56:35 on the face of the old wolf as he turns his head. There is no aliasing or wobble present and the film master was in perfect condition with no marks or grain present.

    The subtitles are in English and accurate to the spoken word. They are easy to read.

     This is a single layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There were no problems with the dialogue, either spoken or sung and the audio sync was spot on.

    I really enjoyed most of the music accompanying this film, to the extent that I will re-watch the film just to hear the music, bar the one part outlined above. It really matches the feel of the film and helps draw you in, particularly if you are a fan of native American or Celtic music.

    The surrounds are used very well, both to expand the sound stage and for some quite good spilt rear effects.

    The LFE meter twitched several times through the film and this, combined with the redirected bass, gave a real solid foundation to the audio track with some quite deep rumbles at times.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    An essentially identical menu to Balto, inset and taking up only 2/3 of the screen and with no accompanying soundtrack.

Trailer: ET

    The same trailer that is present on Balto advertising the 30th anniversary release of ET to theatres only (mumble grumble, DVD release please, mumble grumble).

DVD ROM: Game

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on:

• Theatrical Trailer
• an advertisement for the Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes computer game
• Trailer - Balto; Beethoven's 4th;  The Land Before Time VII: The Stone Of Cold Fire; The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze.
• French Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack
• Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on:

• nothing

    There is nothing particularly exciting on the R1 version of the disc and seeing both are basically identical in format, video and audio-wise, I believe we have a draw.

    Balto: Wolf Quest will polarise people. For starters, some just don't like animation. Others will be put off by the differences from the original, and some by the storyline. Those that are left are going to spend quite an enjoyable evening with their family.

    The video is very good.

    The audio is a good solid effort.

    The extras are somewhat lacking.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall