It is easy to see why the animations of Dingo Pictures are relatively obscure, though those who have had the misfortune of seeing any of their output (which along with their equally low-budget computer animated counterpart Video Brinquedo have not once made anything worthwhile) cannot forget their awfulness. It is even easier to see why they are universally reviled.
'Balto's' lack of originality (this is not to be confused with the infinitely superior 1995 film) is actually the least of its problems. Its all round cheapness and laziness is far more of a problem. As was said before, it is hard to know where to start when there are no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and even for a studio with next to nothing worthwhile 'Balto' is just an abomination, an almost unheard of word for me to use these days but this deserves it.
The animation is some of the worst there is, so awful it's unacceptable even for low-budget animation. It has flat colours, very simplistic backgrounds and lack of detail and derivative, shoddy, unfinished recycled (some lifted directly out of previous Dingo Pictures efforts and have no relevance to the story whatsoever) and creepy character animation as well as a style that makes art of primary school children who draw and paint in half an hour or less seem more accomplished.
Music always sounds misplaced and never fitting with what's going on, not to mention that it has little breathing space even in scenes that are in dire need for it. The script is incredibly repetitive and juvenile, some of it making one question who the target audience was meant to be, that it will insult any adult is bad enough but even young children will feel dumber after hearing some of the dialogue here.
The story feels incredibly stretched and 'Balto' is not even that long at all. It also has incredibly plodding pacing, is very disjointed, goes nowhere a lot of the time and some of it is so aimless and jumpy it's incomprehensible, usually have no trouble following storytelling but had real trouble making sense of the story here. Some suspension of disbelief is needed too, like seeing penguins in Alaska.
Characters, some of which recycled, are excruciatingly irritating and a few irrelevant to the story. Not a likable or interesting character among them, most of them being nerve-gratingly annoying or too sugary that it makes the teeth hurt. There is nothing endearing about the lead character, which wastes a potentially inspiring and well-intentioned with the right execution character arc, and the conflict is more hammy than menacing.
Meanwhile, the sound effects are bizarre and randomly placed and the voice acting is amateurish even by low-budget animation standards, often being annoying, poorly recorded, creepy-sounding and incomprehensible and even ill-fitting.
To conclude, Dingo Pictures has a dubious output that is consistent in awfulness and make other bad animated films look like masterpieces. While it is not quite one of their worst, 'Balto' still epitomises everything that is bad about them. 1/10, a rare rating for me these days but this is one of its most deserved recipients in a while. Bethany Cox
