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Balto

Balto, an action packed emotional thriller, is an animated feature film of the "children's classic" variety, about a dog who saves the day.

Set in Alaska in 1925, a serious snowstorm threatens the lives of the children in the village of Nome as they are cut off from medical supplies during a diphtheria epidemic. Dog teams are dispatched in search of the much needed medicine and Balto, the town outcast, braves the elements to save the day.

From a technical perspective, this is the first feature animation production that has used a comprehensive on-site solution. The film was entirely digitally inked and painted with a commercially available software installed on-site with a comprehensive hardware configuration. Most importantly, the system thruput equalled the required amounts needed to finish the film on time and on budget.

Every one of the 200,000 plus drawings that make up the final 100,800 frames of film were individually scanned, inked, painted and composited with Softimage Toonz. Softimage Eddie was also used to create film effects, such as the Northern Lights, and 3D modelling and animation on the sled, plane and train sequences were done using Softimage 3D.

http://www.mca.com/universal_pictures/balto/index.html