Bridget Fonda is more boring but less charming as his love interest. Bacon has had the misfortune of being a character actor with a lead’s face and body, a fate that has stricken quite a few, but he does take to voice work pretty well, even if they don’t let him do anything interesting. Kevin Bacon delivers a very Kevin Bacony performance as Balto, in that he’s fine, but a bit out of his depth as a leading man. Not that they don't slip up occasionally. A clever antagonist keeps the movie interesting, and none of the things he or any of the other dogs do are things that seem particularly un-doglike, which is nice after all that Don Bluth stuff. When he loses the trust of the sled team out in the woods and Balto takes over, Steele doesn’t jump on him and try to rip his throat out, he runs ahead and destroys the marks Balto left to find his way back. When Balto is being considered for the sled team, Steele tricks him into exposing his teeth, making the humans realize he’s half wolf and dismiss him. The egotistical leader of the sled team, Steele is set up as a Gaston-type, a big and strong Miles Gloriosus who is undone by his hubris, but in a nice twist on this sort of character’s usual portrayal, his brains are what make him a threat. The villain, Steele, is particularly good. The core adventure story of the rescue mission is exciting and well-animated, and the tale easily bears the addition of a love interest and a villain. To jump right to my usual question of “was the film story worth the changes to the real story”, I can easily say absolutely yes.
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