Balto II: Wolf Quest

Last updated

Balto II: Wolf Quest
Balto2.jpg
DVD release cover
Directed byPhil Weinstein
Screenplay by Dev Ross
Produced byPhil Weinstein
Starring
Edited by
  • Jay Bixsen
  • Ken Solomon
Music by Adam Berry (score)
Amanda McBroom
Michele Brourman (songs)
Production
companies
Distributed by Universal Studios Home Video
Release date
  • February 19, 2002 (2002-02-19)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Balto II: Wolf Quest is a 2002 American animated adventure film produced and directed by Phil Weinstein. It is the sequel to Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment's 1995 Northern animated film Balto . [1]

Contents

Plot

A few months after his heroic journey, Balto has mated with Jenna, and they now have a new family of six puppies in Alaska. Five of their puppies resemble their husky mother, while one pup named Aleu takes her looks from her wolfdog father. When they all reach eight weeks old, all of the other pups are adopted to new homes, but no one wants Aleu due to her wild animal looks, forcing her to live with her father. A year later when she is grown, Aleu is almost killed by a hunter who mistakes her for a wild wolf. Balto tells Aleu the truth about her wolf heritage, causing her to run away, hoping to find her place in the world. Balto then goes out into the Alaskan wilderness to find her. At the same time, Balto has been struggling with strange dreams of a raven and a pack of wolves, and he cannot understand their meaning. Balto resolves to find the meaning of these dreams as he searches for Aleu. His friends Boris, Muk, and Luk attempt to join him, but after they are halted by some unknown force, they realize that this journey is meant only for the father and daughter themselves.

Taking refuge in a cave, Aleu meets the field mouse Muru, who explains that Aleu should not be ashamed of her lineage, which tells her what she is but not who she is. Muru reveals himself to be Aleu's spirit guide and tells her to go on a journey of self-discovery. Balto and Aleu reunite when he saves her from the grizzly bear and reconcile, and find their way to the ocean, where they are attacked by a group of starving Northwestern wolves led by Niju, an arrogant and vicious wolf. The confrontation is defused by the elderly Nava, the true leader of the pack, who welcomes Balto and Aleu. Nava announces to his pack that the wolf spirit Aniu has contacted him in "dream visions". Aniu has told him that the caribou herd they depend on during the winter has moved across the ocean and will not return and that they will soon be led by a new leader, "the one who is a wolf but does not know". Nava believes that Balto, who is half wolf himself, is the chosen one that Aniu was speaking of. However, Niju refuses to abandon his homeland and takes control of the pack, and plots to steal from other animal clans in the area to survive the winter.

Aleu has a "dream vision" of the caribou herd crossing a bridge made of ice floes. The next morning, Niju prepares to lead an attack on a clan of bears, but is stopped by Balto just as a large group of ice floes in the ocean come together to form a land bridge. Balto then leads the pack across the bridge until Nava falls behind. When Aleu attempts to help Nava, Niju attacks, and Balto doubles back to save them, leaving the pack leaderless. Nava cannot make the journey across the ice in his old age, and Balto tells Niju to go lead the clan. Niju refuses, too afraid to leave his home, and soon returns to the shore. Balto prepares to go to the pack, but Aleu realizes that her true place is to take leadership of the pack as Nava foretold. Balto and Aleu say goodbye to each other before Aleu rejoins the pack and takes over as the leader. Back on shore, Nava bids farewell to Balto before going to look for Niju so they can survive together. The raven appears to Balto again, and transforms into Aniu, revealing herself to be his mother before he begins to make his way home.

Voice cast

Balto II: Wolf Quest is the last film Bergman contributed to before she committed suicide on November 11, 1999, releasing it posthumously.

Production

Following the original film's strong video sales, development on Balto II: Wolf Quest, as well as Balto III: Wings of Change, began at Universal Pictures's animation division, Universal Cartoon Studios. Television animation director and storyboard artist Phil Weinstein, who had recently finished directing on Hercules at Disney Television Animation, was interviewed to direct the sequel, and accepted the job. By the time Weinstein had joined the project, screenwriter Dev Ross had written a screenplay. [2]

Due to a significantly lower budget and faster turnaround time than those of the original film, all of the animation in Wolf Quest was outsourced to the Taiwanese-American animation studio Wang Film Productions, and completed in approximately 36 weeks. [3] The tighter budget, as well as scheduling conflicts, also prevented Kevin Bacon, Bob Hoskins, Bridget Fonda and Phil Collins from reprising their respective roles as Balto, Boris, Jenna, Muk and Luk from the original film; instead, they were replaced by Maurice LaMarche, Charles Fleischer, Jodi Benson and Kevin Schon, respectively. [2] Having seen Star Wars (1977) in theaters as a child, Weinstein found it surreal to be working with Mark Hamill, who voiced Niju. [4]

While songwriting duo Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom wrote the songs for Wolf Quest, the film score was composed by Adam Berry. Berry and Weinstein watched animatic scenes that were mocked up with temp score together, to agree on musical ideas. Though Weinstein already had clear ideas for the score, he stated that Berry "took it way beyond what I ever could have imagined." Berry recorded his score at the chapel of Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington. Weinstein enjoyed being able to sit in the room with the orchestra, as opposed to sitting in an isolated room. [4]

Music

The songs are written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom. A chorus performs several of the songs, and includes Amanda McBroom, George Ball, Roger Freeland, Ali Olmo, Lisa Harlow Stark and Rob Trow.

Original songs performed in the film include:

No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Taking You Home"Kimaya Seward1:28
2."Muru's Chant" Rob Paulsen 1:12
3."Who You Really Are" Rob Paulsen & Chorus2:02
4."The Grand Design" David Carradine, Mark Hamill & Chorus3:13

Awards

Balto II: Wolf Quest was nominated for an Annie Award [5] in 2003 for "Outstanding Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production".

Writer Dev Ross was awarded the Humanitas Prize in 2002 for her script in the Children's Animation category. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toshiko Fujita</span> Japanese actress

Toshiko Fujita was a Japanese actress, singer and narrator. She was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of her death.

<i>Balto</i> (film) 1995 American film directed by Simon Wells

Balto is a 1995 live-action/animated adventure film directed by Simon Wells, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is loosely based on the true story of the eponymous dog who helped save children infected with diphtheria in the 1925 serum run to Nome. The film stars the voices of Kevin Bacon, Bridget Fonda, Phil Collins, and Bob Hoskins. Though primarily an animated film, it uses a live-action framing device that takes place in New York City's Central Park and features Miriam Margolyes as an older version of one of the children. This was the third and final film to be produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio, before the studio's closure in 1997.

<i>The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island</i> 1997 American film

The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island is a 1997 direct-to-video animated adventure musical film produced and directed by Charles Grosvenor. This is the first film in the series to be directed by Grosvenor, as well as the first film in which Anndi McAfee voices Cera, Aria Noelle Curzon voices Ducky, and Miriam Flynn voices Grandma Longneck. It is also the only film in which Brandon LaCroix plays Littlefoot; it is the first in which Thomas Dekker provides the singing voice for Littlefoot. Three songs for the film were written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom, with music composed by Michael Tavera and the London Symphony Orchestra.

<i>Hoodwinked!</i> 2005 animated film

Hoodwinked! is a 2005 American independent animated mystery comedy film. It retells the folktale "Little Red Riding Hood" as a police procedural, using backstories to show multiple characters' points of view. It was produced independently by Blue Yonder Films with Kanbar Entertainment, directed and written by Cory Edwards along with Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech, and produced by Katie Hooten, Maurice Kanbar, David K. Lovegren, Sue Bea Montgomery, and Preston Stutzman. The film features the voices of Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, Patrick Warburton, Anthony Anderson, David Ogden Stiers, Xzibit, Chazz Palminteri, and Andy Dick.

<i>The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire</i> 2000 American film

The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire is a 2000 American direct-to-video animated adventure musical drama and the seventh film in The Land Before Time series, produced and directed by Charles Grosvenor. It stars the voices of Jeff Glen Bennett, Anndi McAfee, Thomas Dekker, Aria Noelle Curzon, Rob Paulsen, Kenneth Mars, Miriam Flynn, John Ingle, Tress MacNeille, Jim Cummings, Charles Kimbra, Patti Deutsch and Michael York. This was the only Land Before Time film to be written by Len Uhley. This is the first installment to not have John Ingle's narration. Starting with The Stone of Cold Fire, Taiwanese-American studio Wang Film Productions takes over the overseas animation work on the entire Land Before Time series until the 2007–08 television series of the same name and The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, after South Korean studio AKOM provided their animation for the last five direct-to-video sequels: The Great Valley Adventure, The Time of the Great Giving, Journey Through the Mists, The Mysterious Island, and The Secret of Saurus Rock.

<i>Charlottes Web 2: Wilburs Great Adventure</i> 2003 American film

Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure is a 2003 American animated direct-to-video musical adventure film. The sequel to the 1973 film Charlotte's Web, the film is a co-production between Universal Home Entertainment Productions and Paramount Pictures Corporation, with Nickelodeon Animation Studio handling production services, and Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Video respectively handling North American and overseas distribution.

Amanda McBroom is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Notable among the songs she has written is "The Rose", which Bette Midler sang in the film of the same name, and which has been sung by many other recording artists. McBroom is also known for her collaborations as lyricist with songwriter Michele Brourman, writing lyrics for 14 animated films including some of the songs in The Land Before Time film series, Balto II: Wolf Quest, and the musical Dangerous Beauty based on the film of the same name, which had its world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse on February 13, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Nibbelink</span> American animator and film director

Phil Nibbelink is an American animator and film director as well as comic book writer and illustrator known for his work on films as the Academy Award-winning Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the 1991 cult animated sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.

Michele Brourman is an American composer and songwriter who is known for writing the songs to most of the films in Land Before Time series, as well as the accompanying television series. Brourman has also written the songs for sequels Balto II: Wolf Quest and Balto III: Wings of Change and one song for the family film Shiloh.

<i>The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends</i> 2007 American film

The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends is a 2007 direct-to-video animated film and the thirteenth film in The Land Before Time series.

Kevin Schon is an American voice actor who is known for his voice-over work in video games, movies and television shows. He is best known as a voice double for Nathan Lane for animated media, most notably as Timon in the Timon & Pumbaa television series and in various other Disney related projects.

<i>Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil</i> 2011 film directed by Mike Disa

Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil is a 2011 animated spy comedy film and the one and only sequel to Hoodwinked! (2005). Directed by Mike Disa in his theatrical feature directorial debut, the film was written by Disa, Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards and Tony Leech. It features the voices of Hayden Panettiere, Glenn Close, Patrick Warburton, Joan Cusack, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Martin Short, Andy Dick, and David Ogden Stiers. In the sequel, Red and Wolf team up to rescue Hansel and Gretel and Granny from an evil witch.

Unstable Fables is a trilogy of animated films produced by The Jim Henson Company in association with Flame Ventures, Prana Studios, and The Weinstein Company. The direct-to-DVD feature-length films were distributed by Genius Products.

Claudio Moneta is an Italian actor, dubber and dubbing director. He contributed to voicing characters in animation, video games, sitcoms, and more. He is very well known for providing the voice of the title character in the Italian language version of the Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. He is also known for voicing Shadow the Hedgehog in the Sonic franchise, Kakashi Hatake in Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden, and Son Goku in Dragon Ball Super. The role of Kakashi Hatake was temporarily filled by fellow voice actor Gianluca Iacono between 2010 and 2011, due to a motorbike incident suffered by Moneta. He was also replaced in Mass Effect 2 because of that accident as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrizia Mottola</span> Italian voice actress (born 1970)

Patrizia Mottola is an Italian voice actress. She contributes to voicing characters in anime, cartoons, and films. She provides the voice of the protagonist Raf in the animated series Angel's Friends. Mottola also voiced the character Hanon Hōshō in the Italian-language version of the anime series Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.

Elisabetta "Lisa" Mazzotti is an Italian voice actress who is affiliated with Associazione Doppiatori Attori Pubblicitari.

A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the Canidae family and a subspecies of the gray wolf.

Nicolas "Nico" Marlet is a French-American animator and character designer employed by DreamWorks Animation. He is best known for his character design work on films in the Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon franchises, as well as Disney television shows such as TaleSpin and DuckTales. He also worked on an unproduced animated version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats at DreamWorks' predecessor studio, Amblimation. His work has appeared in several "art of" books, including The Art of Kung Fu Panda, The Art of How to Train Your Dragon, The Art of Bee Movie, and his own limited edition sketchbook containing some of his personal works.

Events in 1961 in animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dev Ross</span> American actress

Dev Ross is an American screenwriter, children's book author, performer, director, and producer in theater, film, and television industries.

References

  1. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. pp. 262–263. ISBN   978-0-8160-6600-1.
  2. 1 2 "Phil Weinstein interview!". animationsource.org. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  3. ↑ "Production length and costs". animationsource.org. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Sourcecast Follow-up Interview with Phil Weinstein" (PDF). Sourcecast. July 6, 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  5. ↑ 30th Annie Awards
  6. ↑ Humanitas Winners Archived April 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.