(Universal DVD, 1995, 78 min.) - add this title to your Netflix queue
This animated feature, "the true story of an American hero," recounts (in admittedly fictionalized, child-friendly form) the actions of the famous sled dog who in 1925 led a team through perilous weather to bring lifesaving antitoxin to the diphtheria-struck children of Nome, Alaska. His heroic journey was memorialized with a statue in New York's Central Park, and the annual running of the Iditarod race over the same trail.
My 8-year-old son is the real authority on this movie, having watched it no fewer than 20 times, it seems. We sat down to watch it yet again, and giggles and gasps again accompanied the adventures of Balto (voiced by Kevin Bacon), the half-wolf outcast who proves his mettle in the end; his adversary the vainglorious husky Steele (Jim Cummings); the love interest Jenna (Bridget Fonda), another husky; and the sidekick who offers wisdom and humor in equal measure, the snow goose Boris (Bob Hoskins).
I was struck by the smart dialog (Boris at least once refers to the novels of Dostoevsky). Raphael was, as usual, taken with the action sequences and the comedic pratfalls. The movie obviously struck a nerve, or he wouldn't have watched it so many times - not to mention the fact that his mother wouldn't have let him.
It may be only a cartoon, but the nobility of the canine race is a theme we can all appreciate, no matter what the genre (or our age).
| Presence of dogs: |  |
| Respect for dogs: | |
| Canine star quality: | |
| Family friendly: | |
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