The third and final film to be produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio, Balto was overshadowed at the box office by Toy Story and was considered a financial failure. But, through strong home video sales and a bolstered audience, it went on to inspire two direct-to-video sequels.

It's 1925 in the primitive Alaskan territory. For Balto, life on the outer edges of society in Nome is both hard and lonely. Because Balto is half-wolf, and therefore "half-wild" and dangerous, no one trusts him. Among the respectable folk, only a little girl named Rosy and her beau­tiful husky Jenna seem to see that there is more to Balto than meets the eye. Things take an ominous turn when Rosy and the other children of Nome begin to fall sick. The nearest supply of medicine is over 600 miles away at the Nenana railroad depot. Dangerous storms are preventing the delivery of the medicine by ship or airplane. A dog sled team is the only hope, and Balto knows what he must do to save the children.

Reviews
"On its own turf it works well enough: This is a kids’ movie, simply told, with lots of excitement and characters you can care about." – Roger Ebert