Airplanes - was the concern real?

[Balto's Claws]

A major piece of the movie's story is that the use of airplanes threatened the roles and jobs of sled mushers in Alaska.  Reality shows--that was indeed a real concern right around the time Balto would've been alive.  In fact, there was a push to have airplanes take part in the serum run, but weather made that impractical.  Airplanes at the time weren't much more than wood so until design and different building materials came around, planes would not see a lot of use.  In fact this is part of the movie plot--the pilot crashes in a storm, and it certainly was the main thing that held aviation back.  Eventually though, technology will catch up and major things like the US mail and other essential services would now be handled by man's machines.


So indeed, the sequel did get a part of the historical circumstance correct--and that's partially why I enjoyed this sequel!

[nick35]

yeah, that part of the film was correct, the shift from using dogs to planes was a very real thing.

[Balto's Claws]

Actually, honestly I think the whole historical standpoint makes Kodi's argument a bit understandable. Whenever something new comes along that threatens a current way of life, people that are affected the most have the most to lose. Kodi worked awfully hard to become a relay team for delivering mail only for it to be taken away from him; its understandable how pissed he'd be about that! Can't say I was surprised he reacted so strongly at first. That's how many people react!

[SimbasGuard]

One point I liked however, is that even though the airplane was the enemy of sorts. Duke is a great guy that has no evil intention. Duke is an adversary, but not a villain.

[Balto's Claws]

3rd movie didn't have a true villain.

[Littlefoot]

That is true. There really was no villain in Wings of Change. There is no denying that Duke is a very nice guy, and yes, he had no evil intentions, in fact, I'd argue that he had good intentions because he wanted to deliver the mail in a way that would be quicker than using the sled dogs. It just so happens that the movie centers around the sled dogs, so that's why Duke is kind of an adversary (but certainly not a villain)

[SimbasGuard]

The fact that there is no real villain in Balto 3 is something that makes the movie unique. I can't really think of many (or any) animated movies that do that.