Balto 3 faces behind the characters

BALTO 3: WINGS OF CHANGE
Also produced as a "direct-to-video" release, this sequel returned to the dogsledding foundations of the first movie. It is also of better production quality than the second, in terms of animation and artwork. Plus, the recurrent characters returned with their voice talents from Balto 2: Wolf Quest, and obviously feeling more comfortable and familiar with their parts.

What's great about this movie is that, while it is still a completely fictional story, it has an entirely historically-plausible storyline (apart from the Balto wolf-dog thing, and the idea of Balto as a father. Two elements we have long since established are utter fantasies). Not only is the basic storyline of the threat to dogsledding as a means of primary transportation and mail delivery quite real and plausible for the 1920s in Alaska, but the appearance of the bush plane and it's consideration as a means of carrying mail across Alaska faster. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423849)

So...

1. Balto
Voice talent artist Maurice LaMarche reprises his portrayal of an older, wiser, gentler, more affable Balto in this second sequel. And here, Balto gains a more heroic role than in the last sequel. For more on Maurice LaMarche, see my notes and links in the Balto 2 post.





2. Jenna
Voice talent artist Jodi Benson returns again to reprise her portrayal of a now more confident Jenna...older and more mellow than in the last sequel, but not the heroic young dog she was in the first. Rather more the domestic pet. For more on Jodi Benson, see my notes and links in the Balto 2 post.





3. Kodi
One of Balto's sons gets his own movie. Heh. Kodi is portrayed in this movie by the very well-known and versatile actor Sean Astin, who is best known recently for his portrayal of hobbit Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Despite the age of the actor, his youthful voice is what won him this part (and no doubt his resume as well). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Astin)





4. Boris
Veteran voice talent artist and occasional actor Charles Fleischer returns to reprise his role as Boris in this movie, and obviously a bit more naturally and comfortably than in Balto 2 (and a BIT more Russian this time). For more on Charles Fleischer, see my notes and links in the Balto 2 post.





5. Duke
One of the most dynamic and in-depth human characters shown in ANY of the Balto movies (save maybe for little Rosy), Duke, the bush pilot, is portrayed quite well, and warmly, by actor Keith Carradine, half-brother of veteran actor David Carradine (who portrayed Nava in Balto 2). He has appeared in many movies and television series, but perhaps is most recently best known for his work in Into The West and Deadwood. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Carradine)





6. Kirby
The lead dog of the team which Kodi has joined is voiced by actor Carl Weathers, who has a long list of movie and television roles to his credit. But he could not possibly be known better than for his role as Apollo Cree in Rocky and Rocky 2. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Weathers)





7. Ralph
Goofy, dopey, loveable Ralph is portrayed, in this movie, by voice talent artist and actor Bill Fagerbakke, who has done a great deal of cartoon voice work, and appeared in such television series as Heroes and Coach. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Fagerbakke)





8. Dusty
The female member of Kirby's team, and a staunch realist, Dusty is portrayed by voice talent artist Charity James, who has appeared in many cartoons and done some live-action voice over work, and also did a few runs as an actress. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0416349)





9. Mel
Veteran actor and occasional voice talent artist David Paymer brought nervous-nellie terrier Mel "to life" in a beautiful comic-relief way in this movie! Some people see Mel and Dipsy as sad replacements for Sylvie and Dixie (from the first Balto movie), but I don't get why. Sure, they both love to gossip, but do we really believe that Sylvie and Dixie are the only two dogs in the cartoon version of Nome who do so? Besides, Mel being the pet to the postmaster is much more reasonable for this movie. As is giving him a best buddy in the form of Dipsy. David Paymer has many great movies to his credit, but I still think I like him best in the Mel Gibson movie Payback. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Paymer)





10. Dipsy
Dispy, Mel's chunky, loveably-sneaky, beef-jerky addicted pal (who is obviously some kind of overweight spaniel) may have been conceived either as a subtle romantic interest for Mel, or just a best friend and commiserator. I still enjoy the character, and don't find her or Mel to be shallow replacements for Sylvie and Dixie (from the first movie) at all. They stand on their own as dynamic characters. This pet of Mr. Gundersen, the owner of the general store next to the Nome post office, is played quite well by actress Kathy Najimy. She's had many roles, but she could not possibly be known better for anything other than her portrayal as the bubbly, portly Catholic nun, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and Sister Act 2. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Najimy)





11. Stella
A lot of younger Balto cartoon fans really seem to despise this character. Again, I just don't get that. Obviously perceived as a love interest for Boris, Stella is not the slutty, sleazy character many accuse her of being. She is a more mature character, yes...and a tiny bit risqué. But no more (or little more) than, say, Dixie (from the first movie). I think she's a great character. And she was portrayed very well by actress and veteran voice talent artist Jean Smart, who has had several roles in both areas, but perhaps most noteably in the Frasier television series and the Kim Possible animated series. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Smart)





12. Muk and Luk
Reprised, for this sequel, by voice talent artist Kevin Schon once again, it is clear that he, too, started to fit a bit better into the roles the second time around. For more on Kevin Schon, see my notes and links in the Balto 2 post. And please forgive me...I used the same picture of Muk and Luk here that I did in the Balto 2 post (this being FROM Balto 2).





Okay...perhaps Maya can help me here (and I will check tonight on the DVD credits for this movie), but the characters Mr. Conner, Mr. Gundersen, and Mr. Simpson, each who appear and have speaking roles in the movie, are not credited on the IMDB page for the movie. So, at the moment, I have nothing for them. That might change!

Right, well, I found out some stuff. I watched the credits of Balto 3: Wings of Change, and have learned that the following voice talent artists mentioned above, in the Balto 3 post, did the following additional characters:

Maurice LaMarche: moose 1 and moose 2

Charles Fleischer: White Mountain's Post Master

Bill Fagerbakke: Mr. Conner (Nome's Post Master)

Kevin Schon: Mr. Simpson (the musher of Kirby's team)

*the voice of Mr. Gundersen, the general store owner, is not credited on the DVD or on the IMDB page.


Okay...I said earlier that I was going to do this. So here it is.

In my first post, I mentioned in the section about Rosy and Juliette Brewer that there was no photo of her on the internet (which I could find) save for an obscure shot of her and a bunch of other kids from the 1994 Little Rascals movie (and a related one which you can see from her IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0108186). Now, in those photos, there are at least three girls visible, and no way of immediately telling who's who, and which of them is Juliette Brewer. Without another picture of just her to go on, one might say that there is no way of concluding that the girl I selected, from the one photo, IS Juliette Brewer for certain. Until...

...In the credits for the Little Rascals movie on IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110366), Juliette Brewer is credited as playing the original Little Rascal character Mary Ann Jackson (which is the real name of the actress who played her, too). The original Mary Ann Jackson had a very distinctive appearance in the original Little Rascals series of the 1920s and 30s. Look at her photo, and then the selection of the photo I provided for my section on Juliette Brewer, as evidence of my thinking (and then the link for the Wikipedia page about the original Mary Ann Jackson, from which the below photo comes) for addition information:





Mary Ann Jackson was the only original Little Rascal with that particular "bob" ("Dutch boy") haircut...and the only character in the 1994 movie with the same. Thus my conclusion. Heh. And our look at Juliette Brewer (at least in character in another movie, that is). Here, then, is the original Mary Ann Jackson's Wikipedia page, as promised: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Jackson.

Tsk. Did you, perchance, make use of a topic I made over on Animation Source without crediting it? That's not really all that cool. You should have done so. Though I see the pictures and several links didn't make it in the copy and paste.

You should always credit your source material...whether you copy and paste it (which should be done with prior permission first), or if you reference it in creating your own work.

Oh sorry I did not mean to steal it If you want I will give full credit to you and have it be your topic I ust thought It would go good here is all I will not take anything else that is yours with out asking again

BaltoSeppala wrote:Tsk. Did you, perchance, make use of a topic I made over on Animation Source without crediting it? That's not really all that cool. You should have done so. Though I see the pictures and several links didn't make it in the copy and paste.

You should always credit your source material...whether you copy and paste it (which should be done with prior permission first), or if you reference it in creating your own work.

How Rude!

Hey guys, take it easy, this is just for fans! don't make it personal, is just info that everyone can find on different sites, need to worry if some
one is stealing art or something like that, not for info that you can find it on some sites.

Just remember, this is just for Balto fans! give the credit to Balto and Universal Studios and don't make little things like that personal!

Is just my opinion, i don't wanna start a fight : [

I agree with you on that one

Firefoxwolffie wrote:I agree with you on that one

Then I guess I need to resign my membership.

FireWolfBalto wrote:

BaltoSeppala wrote:Tsk. Did you, perchance, make use of a topic I made over on Animation Source without crediting it? That's not really all that cool. You should have done so. Though I see the pictures and several links didn't make it in the copy and paste.

You should always credit your source material...whether you copy and paste it (which should be done with prior permission first), or if you reference it in creating your own work.

How Rude!

Hey guys, take it easy, this is just for fans! don't make it personal, is just info that everyone can find on different sites, need to worry if some
one is stealing art or something like that, not for info that you can find it on some sites.

Just remember, this is just for Balto fans! give the credit to Balto and Universal Studios and don't make little things like that personal!

Is just my opinion, i don't wanna start a fight : [

It is rude to ask for credit for the work I did in that post? I don't think so. NOR was I rude in my words. At all. I think I was polite and restrained.

You cannot find that information on any Balto fan site...most of that information you cannot even find on BALTO SOURCE. I did the leg work in researching it and posting it. It's no different than the work that goes into creating art.

If this is how members are going to behave, and if people like you are going to act so melodramatically over a person wanting to protect the work he or she put into something, then this SURELY is not the place for me.

BaltoSeppala wrote:

FireWolfBalto wrote:

BaltoSeppala wrote:Tsk. Did you, perchance, make use of a topic I made over on Animation Source without crediting it? That's not really all that cool. You should have done so. Though I see the pictures and several links didn't make it in the copy and paste.

You should always credit your source material...whether you copy and paste it (which should be done with prior permission first), or if you reference it in creating your own work.

How Rude!

Hey guys, take it easy, this is just for fans! don't make it personal, is just info that everyone can find on different sites, need to worry if some
one is stealing art or something like that, not for info that you can find it on some sites.

Just remember, this is just for Balto fans! give the credit to Balto and Universal Studios and don't make little things like that personal!

Is just my opinion, i don't wanna start a fight : [

It is rude to ask for credit for the work I did in that post? I don't think so. NOR was I rude in my words. At all. I think I was polite and restrained.

You cannot find that information on any Balto fan site...most of that information you cannot even find on BALTO SOURCE. I did the leg work in researching it and posting it. It's no different than the work that goes into creating art.

If this is how members are going to behave, and if people like you are going to act so melodramatically over a person wanting to protect the work he or she put into something, then this SURELY is not the place for me.

i told, don't make it personal, it's ok, you got right, it's your work, but you find that all info right? then everyone are able to find that info too... but well, forgive me, i wont fight, i just wanna made friends, not lost them so... please forgive me, sorry