It's 1925 in the primitive Alaskan territory. For Balto, life on the outer edges of society in Nome is both hard and lonely; his only close friend is Boris, a cranky but lovable Russian snow goose. Because Balto is half-wolf, and therefore "half-wild" and dangerous, no one trusts him. Among the respectable folk, only a little girl named Rosy and her beau­tiful husky Jenna seem to see that there is more to Balto than meets the eye.

Things take an ominous turn when Rosy and the other children of Nome begin to fall sick. The nearest supply of medicine is over 600 miles away at the Nenana railroad depot. Dangerous storms are preventing the delivery of the medicine by ship or airplane. A dog sled team is the only hope, and Balto knows what he must do to save the children.

Balto won't be starting his greatest journey alone. Boris insists on accompanying him, as do their young polar bear pals Muk and Luk. Along their journey in the wild they face danger of a storm, enemies among the ranks of the sled team and a race against time itself.

Balto, directed by Amblimation veteran Simon Wells (Fievel Goes West; We're Back!), marked our final hand-drawn animation feature before the DreamWorks Animation era that commenced with The Prince of Egypt.