Never supposed to be white
Once I already mentioned all hints of the White Wolf being a metaphor of Balto's wolf side and self-acceptance, i.e. he wasn't real, but a symbol, in the original movie. And it was Boris the goose, Balto's adoptive father, who always supported Balto and helped him to find and embrace his true self, and exactly his words Balto recalls in the White Wolf scene and decides to find out, who he truly is. I.e. it was Boris, not the White Wolf, who helped Balto to accept his wolf nature. The White Wolf was a symbol of Balto's wolf heritage, his paternal family side and his self-acceptance.
In this post I kinda quickly want to focus on the fact that the original movie never intended Balto's wolf parent to have a white fur, and hence no way the White Wolf could ever be this parent or somehow based on him. I actually doubt that Balto's parents were ever developed in the original movie. Most likely there was only a brief mention of Balto's mother being a sled dog and hinting Balto's father being a wolf in the scripts. As I once pointed out, the original movie itself hinted Balto's mother as a husky and Balto's father as his wolf side. But I can tell for sure that Balto's wolf parent wasn't white, and it wasn't the White Wolf, whether as real/ghost/hallucination/memory. I would tell that Balto's white parent was only Boris.
First, if Balto's wolf parent was white, Balto's fur color would be very light (i.e. light-sandy, light-dusty, light-yellow, light-creamy or light-grey) with dominant white color in fur or even fully white. While his markings on face and paws would and should be dog's, not wolf's. I.e. Balto wouldn't have the mask on his face and long dark markings with short light "socks" on his paws. He'd have either a stripe on nose or fully light face Jenna, Nikki or other sled dogs had, while his markings would be similar to Jenna's, Kaltag's or other sled dogs we see in the original movie. Second, if it allegedly was the mother, then Balto immediately would recognize the White Wolf as his mother and then referred to her this way. As well as she would reveal herself to him immediately and comforted him, also speaking to him. But no, instead Balto is afraid of the White Wolf and is ashamed of himself, so he turns away. Balto doesn't know this silent and pretty indifferent white wolf. If the White Wolf was the father, then it would explain Balto's reaction, because Balto never knew him, but it wouldn't explain, why the father doesn't reveal himself to Balto as such and doesn't comfort him. Plus, if it's Balto's parent, he/she would help him with antitoxine. So, these details debunk the idea of the White Wolf being Balto's parent, whether real or ghost or Balto's hallucination/memory. Third, the script of the movie confirms the White Wolf being a male, not to mention the novel and all production materials, which also depict and state this character as a male. Fourth, in 2015 interview Simon Wells, the director of the original Balto, states the White Wolf as a male, but himself debunks the idea of the White Wolf being Balto's parent, the White Wolf was a metaphor: "Whether the White Wolf is Balto's father or some kind of ephemeral Spirit of the Wolf is deliberately unstated. [...] We wanted to keep it mystical and vague — is this a real event or is it some kind of hallucination that Balto is experiencing? [...] Perhaps the Wolf is a manifestation of Balto's inner voice, telling him to take ownership and use that part of him that he has always been ashamed of. (And by the way, if it was really his dad why didn't the old man help him drag the antitoxin up the cliff?)"
In 2025 interview Simon Wells again (starts on 1:45:30) points out the White Wolf as deliberately ambiguous, but still points out this character is a male and that Balto's father was a wolf, whether the White Wolf or some another unknown wolf: "[It is like a rebirth.] That was intention. And all thing about the White Wolf it was all deliberately ambiguous. You could see it as a sort of Bambi's father scene "You must get up!". He could be his father, or he could be just a spirit of a wolf that appeared to him. You know, was it a real animal or it was just his imagination." But I still want to make it clear. None of the scripts ever hint that the White Wolf can be Balto's father or a parent in general. Yet all scripts confirm the White Wolf being a male and hint him to be a symbol, a metaphor, neither real nor a spirit. At the same time the fact that Simon Wells made a parallel with Bambi and his father scene, it is another proof that in the original movie Balto's mother was a husky, while Balto's father was a wolf.
At the same time, for some reason Simon Wells didn't mention the friendly wolf pack Balto encounters in the beginning of the movie. In the scene with the wolf pack certain details hint the possibility of them being Balto's family, so the leader wolf can possibly be Balto's father. But who knows.
In any way, Balto's wolf parent should and would look like these regular grey wolves on the hill. Balto's wolf parent was never intended to be white in the original movie at all. And as I once told, in the original movie either Balto's backstory was never developed or Balto's wolf side came strictly from his father.
