40. Balto (1995)

Code-name: Half-breed hero

Director: Simon Wells
Type: animated, based on a true story, nostalgia, dogs, wolves
Music: James Horner

Cast:
[Voiceovers]
Balto- Kevin Bacon
Boris- Bob Hoskins
Jenna- Bridget Fonda
Rosy- Juliette Brewer
Steele- Jim Cummings
Muk & Luk- Phil Collins
Dixie & Sylvia- Sandra Dickinson
Nikki- Jack Angel
Kaltag- Danny Mann
Starr- Robbie Rist
[Live Action]
Grandma- Miriam Margolyes
Granddaughter- Lola Bates-Campbell

Write-up:

[Nostalgia Trip]

With the exception of two animated movies (one Universal, one Disney) in my top 10-15, it doesn't get much more nostalgic than this for me.
I don't know what drew me to this particular movie when I was a kid... other than the fact it was animated and dogs were the main characters. Then again, animals are notoriously big draws for young audiences.

That being said, it holds up extremely well. Bits and pieces get me teary-eyed because watching it brings me so much joy. And as far as animation goes, Universal Studios will always be a personal favorite of mine. Disney is number one by default, but Universal... it always has great animation, great storytelling and every age group can get something.

In this case, we don't just get dogs and wolves. We get a bit of a history lesson as well.
Personally, I got a love of wolves out of this. Astrology may place me as a Leo born in the year of the Tiger, but wolves are my favorite animal... although white tigers will occasionally challenge the number one position.
I got a stuffed wolf for Christmas one year and he's still wearing that bandana somewhere in my closet, alongside maybe 2-3 other stuffed wolves I've gotten over the years. There was even a time where I was gifted with a wolf in the wild I could sponsor. Hinton (rather a photo of him) assisted me in an oral report I gave in 7th grade English, but after that, I lost track... I guess because you need to keep giving money to maintain said sponsorship. That same year, I also did a book report on the junior novelization based on a movie. A good break from that string of Animorphs books I did the year before, but it was kinda cheating :-P

Other than that, I wrote a novel about a teenage girl making a new life for herself in Alaska with her estranged mom after her dad died. It featured her participating in a dog sled race with her new boyfriend where they planned to use the winnings to save an old dog sled shop in town. It also had sporadic sightings of a wolf that I attempted (not sure how well I did this) to write up as containing the spirit of her dad looking out for her in the Alaskan wilderness in times of hardship.

And Balto and Jenna were among the several animated characters I sketched on the back on my elementary school test papers :-P

As much as I love the look of Siberian huskies and the notion of having one that has wolf in him, I doubt that'll ever happen. In general, huskies are very active breeds that require a lot of exercise and a strong hand with early training. We wouldn't be a good match.
I got to know a husky named Buddy at our local no-kill shelter. It took a few extra seconds to get control of him the first time, but we got on great. After that, each walk was a little more difficult. Mainly because they were after he'd been adopted and brought back because the people weren't a good match for him. Hopefully this latest adoption works out in the long run.

[Based on a True Story]

A book in my elementary school library about Siberian Huskies had some insight into the story this movie was based on.
There was a Diphtheria epidemic in Nome, Alaska in 1925. With blizzard conditions, transportation of serum by air and sea were impossible. So the only solution was shipping it by train from Anchorage to the nearest railroad stop. From there, a relay of sled dogs would take it to Nome. There were 20 teams, supposedly, and Balto was the lead dog on the final lap. Unlike in the movie, Balto was a purebred Siberian Husky, but according to the trivia I just read, he was dismissed as "just a freight dog." But the movie did take one important fact into account when they wrote their version: Balto followed the scent to the right of a fork in the trail... supposedly, if they went left, they would have fell through ice and died.

IMDB also has some true about what happened to the sled team. They ran the media circuit for a while, got passed to a couple different owners and even got to a point where they were mistreated and neglected. Luckily, a Cleveland businessman named George Kimball that raised money to save them. Then in 1933, it goes on to say that a veterinarian offered to take in an ailing Balto free of charge and cared for him for the remaining hours of his life.
And apparently, he was stuffed, mounted and is still on display in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

(Getting some of these post-1925 facts for the first time... it's amazing how some people can be so cruel and some other people can be so amazing... this is also the first time I've gotten to see what he really looks like, outside some black & white pictures from the book)

 

He looks nothing like the animated version :-P but I could care less... man, if I saw this in person, I might be tempted to fall to my knees...

As seen in the film, there's also a statue of him in Central Park... which I would love the chance to see once in my life.

[Cast and Crew]

Before the actors themselves, I need to take a moment to give props to James Horner. His music on this picture is just as much a part of it as the animation and voices. It brings the Alaskan terrain to life. It carries us through the drama of those "hold your breath" scenes where our hero(es) are in peril. Like the strokes of a paintbrush, it adds such beauty that the scenes where Balto and Jenna create the Northern Lights from broken bottles and Balto comes face to face with the white wolf... they just wouldn't carry the same emotional weight for me.
He also co-wrote "Reach for the Light," the song sung by Steve Winwood that plays in the ending credits.

Now onto the actors.
Everyone knows that celebrity game, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. This was the first time I heard about him and he does amazing voiceover work for Balto. His husky voice is perfect for this role... which is fitting cuz he's playing a husky who's part wolf :-P
Usually when I like an actor's voiceover work, I try to see as many of their movies as I can. With Kevin Bacon, I can't explain why I haven't followed through. I'd only seen him in "Footloose" (it was YEARS ago and was freaking depressing) and "Tremors" (again, vaguely remember it)... and I don't plan on seeing "The Following" because thrillers aren't my cup of tea. One of these days, I'll check into more of his work to see if I like his acting as much as his voice.

Bob Hoskins, I knew as the dude from "Who Framed Rodger Rabbit?" but since he plays a goose with a Russian accent, it's hard to make the connection.
Bridget Fonda, I'd only seen in "Lake Placid"... that was also years ago, so to me, she's still Jenna, a gorgeous red-headed (in dog speak, her coloring is "copper") husky.

Then there's our old friend, Jim Cummings... finding yet another convincing villain in Steele. Not just because he wants to be the town hero for glory alone, but as a rival for Jenna's affection. What a despicable character.
His sled team lackeys aren't much better. Except for maybe Starr, who's basically the comic relief of the team. In half a dozen scenes, Nikki and Kaltag try to find the right adjective for a dog or a situation and Starr gets punched for adding something they deem idiotic. (Fun fact: his voice actor, Robbie Rist also played Michelangelo in the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles")

In Balto's crew, the comic relief are Boris's "adopted" nephews, Muk & Luk, hydrophobic polar bears who believe they don't know how to swim until they come through for him in a desperate situation. In clichéd fashion, Muk is the shorter and smarter of the two and Luk is the taller one incapable of speech, expressing himself in grunts and whimpers only Muk can understand.  Both are played by Phil Collins, taking some time away from his musical career for something decidedly different.

As for our live action actors, this was Lola Bates-Campbell's only credit, but Miriam Margolyes is one of those older actresses that gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling... you feel like you're home when she's on screen because she plays a lot of wonderful, maternal characters.
Oddly enough, one of her most memorable parts for me is a voiceover, the border collie, Fly from "Babe". I used to confuse her a lot with Brenda Fricker, who I remember from "Angels in the Outfield" and "Home Alone 2."
She also played Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter series.

[Additional Comments]

!Spoilers ahead!

Going beyond the fact this is an animal-centric film, it has a lot of great things going for it. It deals with the difficult theme of outcasts, not knowing where you belong in the world. The plot is propelled by emotion.
Balto doesn't just want to help Rosy, one of many children sick under the epidemic, because he wants to impress her dog, Jenna. He's not in it for the glory and notoriety the way Steele is. He thinks about helping her and the other children above all else. And the ending pay-off is huge because everyone gets exactly what they deserve based on their motives. Steele is outcast from dog society... for abandoning his team and also LYING about what happened to them. His "story" was that the team was gone, he was trying to help Balto, but he and the medicine fell down a cliff. Only Jenna saw through the lie and soon enough, everyone else would learn the truth. Steele was nothing but a coward :-P You know it's huge when even Dixie, Jenna's best friend and Steele's #1 fangirl, turns her back on him.

It's also a nice moment when Rosy's father, who shooed Balto away in every scene they had together, lets him into the hospital to see her after she's recovered. At last, his town has decided to accept him as a part of it

Even Starr gets a pay-off at the end. He proclaims, amid Nikki and Kaltag arguing, "they should build a statue of him!" and Kaltag agrees: "you said it." 8-)

[Sequels]

I wasn't aware of this, but this movie's theatrical release was downplayed because "Toy Story," the first full-length CGI animated film, was getting all the press. Even sadder, this was the last film released by Spielberg's animated company, Amblimation. The studio went away after Spielberg co-founded... wait for it... DreamWorks Studios with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. But thanks to a little something called VHS, it became regarded as a classic and led to two sequels.

Unfortunately, neither lived up to the original. Things are already off to a bad start when they don't even bring the original cast back.
Maurice LaMarche is like Jim Cummings, great for a wide number of voiceovers, but he just isn't Kevin Bacon.

First sequel centers around Balto's relationship with his daughter, Aleu, the only one of his puppies with Jenna that wasn't adopted... supposedly because she has the look of a wolf. Ultimately, she ends up finding a home with a wolf pack after a journey fraught with peril and bits of Inuit mythology. It's well-done, yes, but it doesn't have the soul of the original.

The second, subtitled "Wings of Change" involves the introduction of airplanes as the preferred method of mail transport. Balto befriends the pilot of the new plane, intrigued by the idea of flying, but this innovation might come at the expanse of the sled team, led by one of Balto's sons. It only saw this one once. Neither one stands to the original, but both of them have their pluses and minues. One minus they share is that they include one too many unnecessary musical numbers.

[Coming Next Week]

A rom-com featuring one of my favorite actresses and a grossly overrated comedic actor in one of his best roles.

44. The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Code-name: 7 on a pair of die
("he gave me loaded dice!")

Director: Eric 'Bibo' Bergeron and Don Paul (and 2 others)
Music and Lyrics: Elton John & Tim Rice
Score: Hans Zimmer and John Powell
Type: animated, adventure, comedy

Cast:
Miguel- Kenneth Branagh
Tulio- Kevin Kline
Chel- Rosie Perez
Chief- Edward James Olmos
Tzekel-Kan- Armand Assante
Cortes- Jim Cummings

Write-Up:

Opening Remarks

I wouldn't exactly call this a nostalgic choice because this came out when I was 13-14. I didn't grow up with it as I have some of the other animated movies further along my list. But it has the same two ingredients as my favorite types of movies in those days:
1) it's animated
2) it's a comedy

Days before my tastes in movies had a growth spurt. But even now, I look back some of these films fondly enough that I feel they deserve to be mentioned.

Actors and Actresses

Like a lot of my favorite animated movies, "El Dorado" brought certain actors to my attention that I made sure not to forget about.
Kevin Kline's voiceover skills previously appeared in Disney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame," but he really stood out here thanks to the on-screen chemistry he has with Kenneth Branagh (who, a couple years later, I'd forever link with Hogwarts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart). As for the rest of his resume, Kevin Kline is one of those actor's actors I flat out respect. I always enjoy his work, whether it's the hilarity of "A Fish Called Wanda" or his inspirational teacher film "The Emperor's Club."
Kenneth Branagh, I don't know quite as well, but my hat's off to him for his director of "Thor" (his Shakespearean touch made it very inviting) and the latest "Jack Ryan" movie might end up on my radar (although for Chris Pine more than him, lol).

Aside from being seasoned actors in their own right, their work in this film is kinda special because they did their voiceovers together whereas traditional voiceovers, which are performed separately. Not to mention the potential for ample improv.

Rosie Perez, I recently saw as Woody Harrelson's girlfriend in "White Men Can't Jump," but like her sassy character, El Dorado native Chel, she's more than able to keep up with our two leading men.

Interestingly, according to the DVD extras, this was constructed as a movie starring characters that you'd usually find in supporting roles. So-called "side-kicks" and "losers." I did not pick that up at all, which obviously means that they did a great job.

The Plot

Living in Spain in 1519, Miguel (Kenneth Branagh) and Tulio (Kevin Kline) are con men longing for riches and adventure. In a street craps game, which they'd been winning thanks to their pair of loaded dice, they win a map to El Dorado, the legendary city of gold. A series of events (the reveal of their con, the diversion, the chase scene, etc.) leads them onto a ship headed for the New World, heralded by the Spanish Conquistador, Cortes.

They're caught, he promises they'll be punished, so they decide to make their escape in the dead of night. Along with the unexpected addition of war horse, Altivo, they make their way through everything mother nature has to throw at them.
Eventually, this leads them to El Dorado, where they are mistaken as Gods by the natives... a misconception construed from ancient carvings and the fact it's the first time they've seen white man.

Fearing that the possibility that they'll be discovered, they continue with this misconception long enough to load up on gold to take back to Spain. Chel overhears this conversation and asks to join them, something they reluctantly agree to, but ends up helping them a great deal in the long run.

Then things start to get a little hairy when the High Priest discovers they're mortal and Cortes is hot on their trail after his crew arrives ashore.

The Characters

It's only coincidence that two weeks in a row, my movie features a duo of best friends. Miguel and Tulio feed off each other as well as the best of bromances (a term I'll equate with a film later on in the countdown). Miguel is the dreamer and optimist, blonde haired and green-eyed and Tulio is the dark-haired, blue eyed realist. Between the two, Tulio is the one I can relate to more, but Miguel is the better looking of the two.
As the plot goes on, their relationship is tested between how they handle this newfound "fame" and Tulio's growing friendship with Chel, which blossoms into romance.
Although these two are con men, they really are quite lovable and aside from their big plan (loading up on gold and running back to Spain), they do the right thing in every situation. This is especially prevalent in the scenes where the High Priest wants to do a human sacrifice for them and they advise against it.

There's also an interesting push and pull between the El Dorado Chief and High Priest. The Chief is the heart and soul of the city, a fair and much-loved ruler. On the other hand, the High Priest is a little psychotic, adhering to the ancient texts as if his livelihood depended on it. Reading into it a bit further, it seems like he's just power-hungry and being the speaker of the Gods is his ticket to become supreme ruler.

The Comedy

Yet another of my favorite quotable films. The dialogue comes out almost like a play or musical. It's all in the delivery and the timing with Miguel and Tulio, something made possible by their experienced voice actors. And of course, the task isn't complete until DreamWorks animators put their voices to their sketches. To me, that's positively mind-blowing, how advanced that is for an animated film.
Hopefully in the years to come, that'll gain more appreciation amongst the masses.

[Tulio is banging his head against the wall in the brig]
Miguel: So how's the, uh... how's the escape plan coming?
[Tulio stops banging his head]
Tulio: Wait! I'm getting something!
[pauses, then goes back to banging his head on the wall]
Tuilo: All right. Here's the plan. In the dead of night, you and I grab some provisions, hijack one of those... one of those longboats... and then, we... row back to Spain like there's no mañana!
Miguel: [pauses] Back to Spain, yeah?
Tuilo: Yeah.
Miguel: [uncertainly] In... a rowboat.
Tuilo: Yeah!
Miguel: [sarcastically] Great. Sensational. That's your plan, is it?
Tuilo: That's... pretty much it, yeah.
Miguel: [delighted] Well, I like it!


Miguel: this is really the map to El Dorado...
Tulio: [very dryly] You drank the sea water, didn't you?

Miguel: let's follow that trail
Tulio: What trail?
Miguel: the trail, that we blaze
[hacks greenery away with a machete to reveal a rock]
Miguel: (a beat) [points in another direction] That trail that we blaze!

and just so Chel isn't left out of the fun...

Chel: and I suppose you'll be wanting these back [reveals the loaded dice in her hand]
Tulio: [taps his pockets to find them empty] How did you get those?
Miguel: Where was she keeping them?

The Music

"The Lion King" was another early theatrical experience of mine. One of the biggest selling points of "El Dorado" was the fact it reunited the amazing, award-winning musical team Elton John, Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer.
Their process for this is quite fascinating. Elton and Tim communicated across the pond, Tim would write the lyrics and Elton would construct the music. Then they'd give the songs to Hans Zimmer, who'd revamp them to fit the spirit of the picture (which he co-scored with John Powell).

I'm quite aware of Elton John's massive repertoire on his own right, but there's something about his film work that needs to be celebrated as well. A certain je ne sais qua. All I can kinda say is flock to YouTube, but it doesn't do as much as justice as seeing the film in its entirety. Having the jaw-droppingly colorful visuals accompanied by the triumphant adventurous music.

In Other News...

The Oscar nominations came out yesterday... and most of them followed suit with the Golden Globes. Not too many surprises to report on.

*Jonah Hill got another supporting actor nom for "Wolf of Wall Street." And Martin Scoreses, who also didn't get a nod from the Golden Globes, is in the Best Director category.

*"Nebraska," a film I hadn't even heard of until the Golden Globes, earned several nods including Best Picture, Best Actor and Supporting Actress.

*"Saving Mr. Banks" got snubbed almost completely, it has one for Thomas Newman's score, but there was no love for Emma Thompson, the only nomination the Golden Globes had for this film... the people on GMA made the argument that Meryl Streep took her nomination slot because there's only room for one older woman in that category.
I mean, it's a comfort that of her dozens of nominations that she'd only won three times, but... c'mon, enough is enough, Academy.

*Of course there's a lot of talk about the fact "The Butler" and Oprah were snubbed... as if there's only room for one African-American contender at the Academy. Way back last summer when the movie came out, I figured it'd get some Oscar buzz because it's just that type of movie that does well at these things. But, alas, it is not to be... possibly because it came out too early to be considered.

*There's also talk about no love for Tom Hanks, shut out of the Best Actor category despite having been in TWO big movies this year. "Captain Phillips" and "Saving Mr. Banks," about which I've heard he was a very convincing Walt Disney.

*While people on Yahoo are debating about whether Idina Menzel or Demi Levato should perform "Let it go" at the Oscars (Idina all the way!), I'm afraid it'll be another win for Bono and U2.

*No love for "Blue is the Warmest Color" in the Foreign Film category, but Miyazaki got into the best animated film category with "The Wind Rises"

Other than that, I'll leave this entry off with a remark about next week:
Another comedic, quotable film. This time, it's by one of my favorite actor/writer/directors.
And it's a family-favorite :-P