Balto II - Wolf Quest

Description

A true American hero returns - in a breathtaking new quest as big as the wild, untamed North! This action-packed, feature-length sequel to the original Balto is a brilliantly animated adventure your whole family will want to share again and again! Part husky and part wolf, Balto knows what it means to hear "the call of the wild." So when his headstrong young daughter Aleu discovers her own wolf heritage, Balto understands she must follow her heart. Now, deep in the Alaskan wilderness, Aleu will seek her own path, tangle with a renegade wolf pack leader and - with a little help from Dad - fulfill her own heroic destiny! Filled with laughter, action, unforgettable characters and the voices of David Carradine, Lacey Chabert, Mark Hamill and Peter MacNicol - Balto II: Wolf Quest is an adventure classic to cherish for a lifetime!Bonus Content:Theatrical Trailer]]> Review: My 3 yr old loves it; I like it too - We like Balto 2 a lot -- even without having seen Balto 1. Our local library only has Balto 2. But we have watched it probably about 8 times by now, and it holds her attention every time. I find it a lot less annoying than most kids animated movies (such as most Disney). It does have some pretty scary scenes, which young kids will definitely need some kind of adult guidance to work through -- for instance, a bear with red eyes suddenly appears and attacks Alue; and there are some fierce wolves, both spirit wolves and real wolves. You need to judge whether your child is ready for the idea that the world can be scary. I don't think it's more scary than, say, Malificent in Sleeping Beauty, and actually I think it's less scary than Snow White, which I haven't yet let my daughter watch; or Dumbo, which I hate. The scariness of "Balto 2" is about the wild, the idea that there might be monsters or demons out there, which could also be within us; it's not about the even scarier idea that even those we love and trust, like the mother, could be bad; the stepmother theme; or that the mother could be killed or taken away, as in Babar. And it's not misogynistic. And it's not as loud as most Disney, and not so dependent on cutesy characters (there's an annoying goose, but he has a relatively, blessedly, small part). But it does have some scary scenes all the same; this isn't a movie to leave a young child to watch for the first time alone. But my daughter seems to have found it very sustaining for her imagination; she's always talking about the spirit animals coming to life, and about how to escape from a spirit bear. I like the fact that it has a semi-cheesy but kind of appealing native American philosophy, about the one-ness of nature and finding your own true identity. The theme of a child trying to find her own self is one that matters to all children, and in fact all people. I also like that, unlike in Disney princess movies, it's not a rescue plot: it's about the daughter, with her father's help, finding her own path, not about a prince/fairy godmother coming to the rescue of a passive heroine. The songs are kind of cheesy, but we both enjoy them. My daughter likes the fact that it is all dogs and wolves and animals, not people; it's a good movie for animal-loving kids. Actually I like that too. Nicely drawn, good voices; all in all, great kids movie. Now I am going to buy Balto 1. Review: Great movie, better than the first even - Balto 2 is one of my favorite movies of all time, in my opinion even better than the first. I honestly don't know why many don't like the movie, you just have to remember that unlike the first it was lower budget being a straight to TV release rather than made for theater. As for the beliefs that it shows that for some reason gets many bent out of shape, especially the Christians apparently, well all I have to say is that I am a Christian too and I honestly have no issues with it. Native American beliefs have always intrigued me and you have to remember that there are other views in this world than just yours and so long as they don't promote immorality (which this one does not) then why worry too much about it. In the long run I think if you shelter kids too much it is bad for them because they will be completely unprepared to face the world when they get older. Back to the movie though. You will notice it has different artists and different voices, but honestly when I think of Balto the voice in this movie is the one I think of and in my opinion suits him better for this movie. To me in the first one he sounded younger and more reckless(which he was) and in the second he sounds to me more experienced and fatherly which suits him better here. As for one negative review I heard about Alue acting the way she does and being so disrespectful toward Balto on several occasions... Well I challenge you to tell me any teen who is not. They made her feel more like a real teen rather than some transparent fictional character and I dare say that when the children whom you worry about being 'influenced' by it become teens themselves they will act similarly rather you allow them to watch or not, it is just how teens are. I like the music in the movie and the only thing I can think of that I don't like about it is that I can't find it in widescreen which I don't think Balto 2 was filmed in in the first place. I just hope someday that this trilogy makes it to Blu-Ray.