History of the Serum Run - Comparing Reality to the Film

[Balto's Claws]

Its insanely crazy but I have read a lot into the serum run, and there's a lot of history behind Balto's true story.  Sad to say, the movie takes intense liberties with history when it didn't need to.

- Balto being half wolf (he never was, but was an underdog of sorts and never meant to be in the relay)
- Steele being a villain (never existed, didn't really need one with deadly diphtheria being a "villain" enough)
- one relay team (there were over 20)


What the film did get right though:

- layout of the town of Nome
- the novelty of sled dog racing (very common at the time)
- the impending doom of the threat of diphtheria and the fact that only sled dogs would provide a reliable way to get the medicine to Nome when other options failed
- the storm the team had to go through (really did happen)
- arriving early in the morning (but the whole scene of giving the medicine to the doctor was recreated)


With that in mind, I'd like to share some items published at the time of the real serum run:


The real Balto, a Siberian husky; he drove freight sleds which were slower, not racing sleds, hence why he originally was not going to be part of the serum run.




News clips and photos:









Discuss any other things about the real event!

[nick35]

this was in 1925. Calvin Coolidge was president, having succeeded Warren Harding upon his death in 1923. Babe Ruth was becoming baseballs first superstar, and hitting more homers by himself in a year than ENTIRE teams. Alaska and Hawaii were more than 30 years away from statehood. The Philippines was US territory at the time, as was the Panama Canal Zone. Hitler wasnt yet a major international figure indeed he was just returning from prison. Mussolini was turning Italy into a dictatorship, having taken power in 1922. the Statue of Liberty had been declared a national monument the year before, although the monuments name was Fort Wood; it would be renamed Statue of Liberty NM in the 1960s. Unlike the film, Balto was merely part of the last of the relay teams, he diodnt go hundeds of miles like the film depicted.

[Littlefoot]

That's some interesting stuff you guys have posted! As for the historical inaccuracies, I've come to accept that movies like this tend to take a lot of artistic liberties, so when I first watched Balto, I wasn't exactly expecting a documentary on the Serum Run. That, my friends, is also how someone who knows a good bit about dinosaurs/paleontology and is thinking about making a career out of that can be such a die-hard fan of The Land Before Time (don't even get me started on the inaccuracies there). Although having said that, I also didn't really know much about the Serum Run...

[Balto's Claws]

Don't get me wrong, you can learn some things about the Serum Run of 1925 watching the film as a kid if you know nothing else about it. Its not a bad jumping off point about finding more about Balto, the town of Nome, limitations of 1920s transportation and technology, etc. Most probably buy the film because of Balto's cutesy mugshot on the cover and think its about dogs. Didn't realize they were partially getting a history lesson with their film.

[SimbasGuard]

Aug 4, 2018 21:36:02 GMT -7 Littlefoot said:

That's some interesting stuff you guys have posted! As for the historical inaccuracies, I've come to accept that movies like this tend to take a lot of artistic liberties, so when I first watched Balto, I wasn't exactly expecting a documentary on the Serum Run. That, my friends, is also how someone who knows a good bit about dinosaurs/paleontology and is thinking about making a career out of that can be such a die-hard fan of The Land Before Time (don't even get me started on the inaccuracies there).

Yeah when I found out about The Real Balto's story. Which by the way I would have never looked into (or known about) had it not been for this movie. I also learned how much creative leeway the based affords filmmakers when they say that something is based  on a True Story. I regard The "Balto" movie as historical fiction. I regard The animated Balto himself as a fictional characters that has a real life counterpart.

As for an aspiring paleontologist being a Die Hard Fan of The Land Before Time series. All that proves is that you can put your scientific knowledge. Aside for a time and connect with something that, may I be as bold to suggest might have played a part in sparking your love of paleontology?

It is not as if what you see in a Land Before Time movie causes you to question any scientific facts.The Land Before Time Series is a fantasized interpenetration of what
Dinosaur society might be like with a touch of humanity thrown in. You are just allowing yourself some time to enjoy seeing characters that you love.

Also if you can love a majority of those sequels, you can truly see the best in a situation. I also think it makes you as tough as nails.       

[Littlefoot]

Honestly, I hear that The Land Before Time gets a lot of kids into dinosaurs/paleontology, but in my case, I was actually the opposite way (I.e. my love of dinosaurs is what got me into LBT as a kid, not the other way around). And yes, when it comes to “bad” movies, I can find some goodness in them, and I am indeed tough enough to make a Toyota Hilux seem like a ball of tinfoil and pipe cleaners.

I do completely understand why the LBT sequels are so hated, even though I personally think most of them aren’t so terrible (although I will admit, some of them kinda suck ). I also feel that way about Wolf Quest: I like it, but I can totally understand why people don’t (although it was better than many of the LBT sequels imo)

[SimbasGuard]

Oh interesting, It was your love of real Dinosaurs that made you love The Land before Time. That means you will always be able to see the fun side of your work if you choose paleontology as a career.