I've never written an article before, and I haven't been to active in discussions in such on the site, though I do enjoy it and love gazing at all the wonderful Fan fics and artwork.  But I thought I should bring this up.

Wolves, in general, are larger than dogs, right?  Well, Balto's father was a husky and his mother a wolf, with Steele being all husky.   And yet in all the scenes where Steele is attempting to intimidate Balto, or attack him in some way, it is clear that Steele is larger than Balto.  That doesn't make sense, as Balto is half wolf and logically would have been the larger of the two.  How can Steele have a larger and stronger build than Balto when Balto is the one who should naturally be larger and more strongly built than Steele?!

I tried to find still images that proved this, but the ones I found were blurry and hard to make out.  And yes, I think that even if Balto's father was a malamute, Balto would still be bigger than Steele.

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Demon-BP, August 16, 2007 at 08: 44 Member

In the movie, they needed Steele to feel more like a bully so they made him bigger since in most tv shows and movies they are bigger then the others. Before the movie was created they probably took in these facts but they couldn't have made Steele smaller then Balto because it just wouldn't go.

harpier, August 16, 2007 at 13: 29 Member

Actually, there's already an article about that. Anyway, the idea of wolves being larger and stronger than dogs is not necessarily true: the "large and strong" wolf is a Hollywood derived stereotype; in fact, due to the hard conditions of the natural environment where they live, wolves are often smaller and weaker than dogs. For example, Japanese wolves were quite small, because islands have less food resources and space than continents and so, over the generations, they shrunk in size.

Kelev, August 16, 2007 at 14: 19 Member

Very true on what harpier said. Wolves can end up smaller then most Large dogs. The wolves up where I come from a rather small, almost like coyotes. But then again, the artic wolves in Alaska are VERY big, you you have a point too. Perhaps it should be left to the fact this is a childrens movie, and there will be mistakes made.

Dragon Tamer, August 16, 2007 at 17: 10 Webranker

Hasn't someone asked this before? I think the main reason Balto is so much smaller is because A: he slinks along in a low, submissive posture and therefore looks smaller, whereas Steele walks around looking as big as possible. B: Street dogs don't tend to eat very well, so they don't tend to reach as full a size as house dogs.

Aleu45, August 17, 2007 at 01: 52 Member

hmmmm..... I believe that there was also an article on this topic but I still think that its a good point and its a great first article. Good Job

Chickawaii*canine, August 17, 2007 at 04: 55 Member

Hmm, well, I agree with Dragon Tamer. But, maybe Balto could've also inherited the size of a husky. Sure he's half wolf, but I've seen some pictures where hybrids are the same size as huskies. That's what I think. Good Article for your first!

Cobalt, August 17, 2007 at 06: 45 Member

Steele's a malamute, and would of been bigger than Balto anyway even if he was full wolf. Plus, Balto wouldn't of been well fed as Steele would have been, and not having enough nutrition, he wouldn't of reached full size. Also another factor may be that Balto might of been fairly young and not full-grown then, as in teenager age.

Writewolf, August 17, 2007 at 14: 20 Member

Steele is a malamute so that would probably make a little bit of difference. Good article

dustpaw, August 18, 2007 at 15: 18 Member

I think it's true that they made Steele larger because he's the bully and the fact that wolves aren't always larger or stronger than dogs but maybe it was because Balto was younger

CatWings, August 20, 2007 at 13: 53 Member

animators do that to show how bigger and athoritive he is. If he made steele smaller, how scary would he be to Balto?

Fire_paw, August 22, 2007 at 17: 45 Member

Hmmm..Intresting thought. But Steele pulls sleds and is owned. Being the lead dog, he would be well looked after and strong. Balto had no owner, I think Balto would have to serch for food and would be quite thin. But it is a cartoon anyway...

Juneau, August 22, 2007 at 20: 15 Member

You are correct. However, how would it look if Steele was smaller than Balto? Pretty silly! But either way, good article

Apri-werewolf, August 28, 2007 at 01: 39 Member

I agree with CatWings. If Steele was tiny to Balto, I don't think he'd really care if Steele bullied him. Steele would be too scared to bully someone bigger than him. But you do have a point. Since Balto is only half wolf, though, he could have inherited his father's size. Also, to add to my first comments, Steele is the villain of the movie. He should be big, stocky, and intimidating. If all villains were scrawny, weak, and unintimidating, there would be no use for them, right? Anyway, good article for your first try

harpier, September 14, 2007 at 13: 17 Member

Your quite right about the villains thing, but I still prefer the "small wolf" theory.

warriorcat*ndog, September 16, 2007 at 01: 35 Member

they just made steele bigger to enphasize his threating personality. think about it, balto be being steeles size and steele being baltos? wouldnt be very menacing now would it?

beauty wolf, January 27, 2008 at 00: 54 Member

that is a good point!!

Tsumeato {Wolf ‘Fang’}, February 21, 2008 at 16: 12 Fan News editor

Nice topic. I always noticed how large Steele was next to Balto. I think that they made him bigger just to make him look well.... intimadating.

wolf_girl_772, June 05, 2008 at 01: 34 Member

I think that Universal did a lot of this for effect, but I can see your point of view. Here's another possibility: although Steele LOOKS like a purebred, he COULD have been a mixed breed, considering that dog sledding teams don't always use pure blooded dogs. Keeping this in mind, sometimes mixed breeds have something with their DNA - like a genetic mutation - that speeds up their growth......or something like that. Sorry, I can't put a name on the source of that information, but this could have been possible. What do you think?

SouthPaw, July 09, 2008 at 21: 36 Member

Well, it depends on which features Balto inheritaed from his parents, if he inheritaed his fathers husky build, yet his mother wolf like features then that could be a reson why hes smaller. great point though

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