84-106196076031 Mar 2004, 15:57 UTC
Isn't Alaska so far to the north that they don't have normal night and day. I think they have six months of daylight during the summer and six months of darkness during the winter. So why does the movie show a normal 24-hour cycle? That's a pretty big blooper. 
76-106196064531 Mar 2004, 16:37 UTC
hmmmm....very good point TG...come to think of it, they did make the time a normal 24 hour cycle... o.O
65-107815589731 Mar 2004, 16:44 UTC
Very true. The thought never even occured to me. Hmmm...not sure why. Maybe there are a few days that are like normal days, but even if there were, it is unlikely that those days would be the days when the movie takes place.
84-106196076031 Mar 2004, 17:06 UTC
I'm thinking the people who made the movie just wanted to keep it simple for the kids. How do you explain that kind of science to a 5-year-old? I guess we wouldn't want to force anyone to read a book;)
72-106196060931 Mar 2004, 19:26 UTC
Exactly. I noticed that when I first saw it back in '95, and i've pondered it ever since. The best reason I can come up with is that the kids (Lets face it, even some /adults/) would have a hard time understanding such a concept of 6 months of day time and 6 months of night time. =/ I think it makes the movie better though. Even more "realistic" for me in a sense, being that i've never experienced such conditions.
70-106196059231 Mar 2004, 21:59 UTC
As far as I know you need to be further north to the Arctic Circle for the day length to be that extreme. I believe Nome does experience some days of pure day light but not too many and the same goes for night.
If you look at footage from the Iditarod races you'll see night and day on a normal cycle so I think the movie was right. Also if you count the days on Balto's journey it also more or less equals the time it really took to get the serum through.
84-106196075201 Apr 2004, 01:04 UTC
I've been on a cruise there and it was pretty bright at nearly 10pm LOL So yeah...they have lots more light in the summer and not very much in winter I think...
116-106196084601 Apr 2004, 02:47 UTC
Alaska is a huge state... It varies from place to place, as does the weather.
65-106196052901 Apr 2004, 07:22 UTC
AC is right. You need to be above the Arctic Circle in order to experience a 24-hour dark or light pattern during the year. Nome is not north of the Arctic Circle, so they get distinct day and night all year long.
They are pretty far north, however, and thus experience some variation anyway. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe the shortest day of the year in Nome (the start of winter) is about 5 hours long, from the 10:00 am sunrise to the 3:00 pm sunset. When the sun as at its peak, about 12:30 pm, it is quite low over the horizon, there is no overhead sunlight during the winter.
Believe it or not, the movie gets it right. You'll remember that during the grizzly bear scene, the sun is low enough to shine through between the bear's legs when it's pressing Balto into the ground; the light levels during that scene indicate that it is neither early morning nor evening, since everything is pretty bright, so it probably takes place in the middle of the day, early evening, or late morning. A low sun makes perfect sense at peak.
Also, at the start of the movie, the initial dog race appears to take place at midday, while Balto's encounter with the wolves and Muk and Luk take place in the evening and at sunset. If you think about it, that entire sequence isn't really all that long in terms of time, perhaps an hour or two at most; this accurately reflects the quick passage of the daylight hours.
Speaking of the initial dog race, the blue sky and bright environment pretty clearly indicate that it takes place right around noon, when the sun is at its brightest... however, when they show Steele's team running forward and the guy on the cliff shoots the mile marker, you see the dog team casting pretty long shadows out to the side. The sun is not even close to being right overhead.
You may also note the prevalence of orange and red hues in the movie, primarily in the backgrounds. Most people know that the sky tends to appear reddish at sunset, and pinkish at sunrise; this has to do with the angle the sunlight is hitting the atmosphere. During the winter at such high latitudes, the sun is always very low in the sky, causing the sky to appear red for longer in the morning and evening than it would under normal circumstances. Even in the grizzly attack scene, the mountains in the background are orange. This is most apparent, however, during the scene where Steele is fighting with Balto; everything is either in nighttime shadows or bathed in orange light. It's possible that the artists drew it that way for dramatic effect, but given the levels of research that went into other parts of the movie (the train, for example), it seems more likely to me that they intentionally drew that scene with a realistic light condition.
And keep in mind that Balto takes place in late January and early February; the shortest day of the year is in mid-late December, and the days get longer and longer after that. A normal day-night cycle is apparent in Nome in December, albeit with a very low sun; in early February, the sun would be higher in the sky, making things seem even more "normal" to us southerners.
84-106196076001 Apr 2004, 20:05 UTC
I guess that's good enough for me. Thanks. 
72-106196060901 Apr 2004, 20:13 UTC
Very interesting report, Ag. Sounds like you did a bit of research into this before you posted. 
Thank you for clearing all this up. 
68-109293093520 Aug 2004, 03:16 UTC
When I graduate from avionics/airframe and powerplant college, I want to get a job maintaining and servicing aircraft in Alaska. The pay is good(something called harsh conditions) and I like the landscape.
Besides, I have gon from humid and hot, to desert dry and desert hot, I would welcome a cold climate.