| “ | I wasn't thinking about those children. The important thing thing here is to get the medicine through, and that's just what I'm gonna do. (turns to Balto) And when I get back, I'm gonna fold you five ways and leave you for a cat toy. | „ |
| ~ Steele |
| “ | Touch that box, and I'll tear you apart. | „ |
| ~ Steele threatening Balto |
Steele is the main antagonist of the animated film Balto. He is an Alaskan Malamute with a bad attitude and mean streak, taking excessive pride in his popularity amongst both the village humans and the dogs and liking to bully Balto over his wolf-heritage.
His story
Steele was the lead dog on the best dog racing team in Nome, he first encountered Balto (in the movie, Steele's behavior towards Balto is an obvious indication that they have met on prior occasions) after being defeated by the latter in a race while rescuing Rosy's hat.
Steele's behavior became much worse when Jenna starts to fall in love with Balto - as well as the fact Balto is faster, smarter, and stronger than Steele.
Out of jealousy, Steele felt Balto was a threat so he bullied Balto. When the town became sick, there was a relay race to choose who would be on the sled dog team that would relay the medicine.
After successfully sabotaging Balto's attempts to enter the team of huskies that would deliver medicine to the village following a blizzard and an outbreak of illness, Steele became lost but refused to admit it: ultimately knocking out his master when he causes the sleigh to swerve uncontrollably in the snow, leaving him and his pack alone in the blizzard with no hope of returning home.
However when Balto sought the team out and offered his aid Steele, instead of being grateful, became enraged and had a brief confrontation with Balto who refused to fight him.
During this fight, Steele falls off the cliff but survives: in a final act of villainy he deliberately tampers with the markings Balto had left on the trees so that they would not find their way back.
This clearly shows he doesn't care that the children would die without the medicine, showing his true evil.
Steele returned to the village claiming innocence even blaming Balto for the "accident". Jenna sees through his lies, but the other dogs see him as a hero.
Until Balto embraces his wolf heritage and is able to smell the trees that he clawed and he and his team eventually arrive back in the village with the medicine, much to Steele's surprise and horror.
Steele is left an outcast when the other dogs realize the truth and turn against him. He finally loses the respect he once had with his fellow canines while Balto is treated as a hero.
It is unknown what became of Steele after the events in Balto for he was never seen or mentioned in the sequels Wolf Quest or Wings of Change.
However Phil Weinstein explained that in the original script for Wings of Change, Steele would be one of the volunteers who would help Balto on his search for Duke.
Although we never see him in any of the sequels the character Niju is based on him.
Personality
Steele is arrogant, cruel, jealous and selfish, representing all of which Balto despises. His hatred for Balto is made out of pure jealousy (as Balto beat him to the finish line.)
He also likes Jenna, but she sees through his lies and loves Balto the pure-hearted instead which further strengthens Steele's hatred and jealousy towards Balto.
He was also a crafty liar, claiming that Balto and the rest of the team had died and at the end of the film the undoing of his lies causes him to be shunned and hated by those who used to respect him.
Steele had no chance of going back on the sled team for it is possible that Balto had replaced him.
Trivia
- Like Drake from "The Pebble and the Penguin," Steele also shows several traits that were inspired by the Disney villain, Gaston.
- All three are very popular in the area they live in and are adored by many females, except the respective heroines, Belle, Marina, and Jenna, all of who know that the villains are not right for them.
- They want to have the heroine simply because of their beauty.
- All three try to get rid of the hero to ensure they get the girl.
- All three are vain, muscular, arrogant, and believe themselves to be the best.
- However, unlike Drake and Gaston, Steele does not die as punishment for his crimes or cause his own demise. Instead, Steele loses his fame and respect he craves so much and is left hated by the other dogs. Also Steele was possibly the worst of the three because after he failed to kill Balto, he tried to make sure Balto would be lost and not be able to deliver the medicine the children need. Gaston and Drake were evil, this is true, but neither have shown a willingness to sacrifice children. Luckily for the children, Jenna not only saw through Steele's lies but helped get Balto home by using broken bottles and a lamp to mimick the Northern Lights, helping the medicine get delivered and Steele losing his popularity. Also to note, Balto embraced his wolf heritage and was able to smell the trees he clawed. Along with this Steele did not seem to care for the children as he threatened Balto to keep away from the medicine by saying "Touch that box and I'l tear you apart"
- Also unlike Drake and Gaston, Steele never once used threats or blackmail into getting the female to be his. As well as this Gaston did not bully a protagonist unlike Drake and Steele. And also unlike Gaston and Drake who were focused on getting the female to be theirs, Steele didn't exactly care about Jenna. All he focused on was his fame whilst Gaston and Drake seemed more focused on getting the female to be theirs.
- Steele is possibly banished from Nome by the other dogs and forced to live in the wilderness, where he could have either:
- Starved to death.
- Frozen to death.
- Been eaten by a predator.
- Died of natural causes since the story is in 1925 and told by Rosie as a grandmother in 1995, the time of the film's release.
- Found a place called White Mountain and lived there.
- Steele was originally going to be voiced by Brendan Fraser but a last minute change meant that Jim Cummings would voice him instead.
- Steele is almost similarity to Buster: both in love with a heroines who don't love them, both are liars, both are betrayed by dogs who used to like them, both are leader of the team/group and both are jealous.
- Steele is almost similar to Nigel: both are jealous, both lost their fame, both get revenge, both are still alive after getting beat by a hero and both had a team.
- Steele has served as an influence for several of the CMZ animated villains, such as Sonia Evans the King Penguin (Y.T.J.R.T. Movie #3), a killer virus penguin, and Breezie the Hedgehog (Sonic X AMVs 2), an evil countess/terrorist.
- Steele is also similar to Arrow: Both are the rivals of the protagonist and both are in love with the protagonist's love interest.
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