Personally, I think they should have showed *less* in the movie... like, about an hour less, maybe even less than that. They could keep the opening dream sequence, but once Balto wakes up and you realize that his white eyes aren't just because of the weird dream-lighting, it's all downhill.
But short of that... I really think the ending was the best part of the movie, even though I think it was rushed and contrived. They could have gotten rid of the "Niju will kill us all!" bit, and the part where Aleu swims underwater, and a whole lot of other stuff, and just concentrated all of their miniscule creative talents on the point: Aleu is leaving, but she must hurry because the ice floes will only be lined up for a little while. Everything else is just attempting to tie up loose ends.