Set in the Old West in the late 19th century, the film follows Spirit, a Kiger mustangstallion (voiced by Matt Damon as a narrator), who is captured during the American Indian Wars by the United States Cavalry; he is eventually freed by a Lakota man named Little Creek with whom he bonds, as well as a mare named Rain. In contrast to the anthropomorphic style of animal characters in other animated features, Spirit and his fellow horses communicate with each other through non-linguistic sounds and body language (albeit with many human facial expressions and reactions).
In the late 19th-century American West, around 1892 a Kiger mustangcolt, Spirit, is born to a herd of wild horses; he grows into a stallion, and assumes the leadership of the herd. One night, upon following a strange light near his herd, Spirit finds horses tied to a log and their wranglers sleeping around a campfire. The men awaken, and, after a chase, capture Spirit and take him to a US cavalry fort.
The senior officer of the fort, the Colonel, orders Spirit to be broken; however, Spirit defies all attempts. The Colonel retaliates by having him tied to a post for three days without food or water. Meanwhile, a Lakota Indian named Little Creek is also brought into the fort and held captive; his friends toss a knife over the wall for him, which he uses to secretly cut his bonds.
After three days, Spirit is weak enough that the Colonel temporarily subdues him, boasting that any wild horse can eventually be tamed. Seeing the other captive horses' disappointment, Spirit gets a second wind and throws the Colonel off. Angered, the humiliated Colonel attempts to shoot Spirit in the head; however, Little Creek saves the horse, and the two escape, setting the other captive horses free in the process.
Little Creek and his fellow Lakotas lasso Spirit and return to their village; there, Little Creek unsuccessfully attempts to tame Spirit with kindness. Little Creek ties the other end of Spirit's lead rope to his own pet mare, Rain, hoping she can discipline him. Spirit eventually falls in love with Rain, despite not understanding her attachment to humans. He and Little Creek gradually come to respect each other; realizing that Spirit is not meant to be domesticated, Little Creek sets him free.
Spirit starts back towards his herd, and tries to convince Rain to come with him. They notice the Colonel and his men charging to attack the Lakota village in retaliation for their stolen horses, and return to help. During the confrontation, the Colonel shoots Rain and she falls into a river; he is about to shoot Little Creek, but Spirit knocks the Colonel off his horse, deflecting the shot and saving Little Creek's life. Trying to rescue Rain, Spirit leaps into the river, but they both plummet over a waterfall. Once out of the water, Spirit stays by Rain's side, only for the cavalry to recapture him and leave her for dead. Little Creek tends to Rain; realizing that Spirit saved his life, he sets out in pursuit of the cavalry.
Spirit is put in a train with other captured horses from the village, and becomes disheartened; however, he has a vision of his herd running free across their homeland, strengthening him again. Spirit and many other horses are then forced to work on the transcontinental railroad, sledging a steam locomotive through the woods. After noticing that the railroad will pass right through his homeland, Spirit tricks the men; releasing himself and the other horses. The unattached locomotive tumbles backwards down a hill, crashes into a second locomotive in a station below, and starts a fire which sets the surrounding forest ablaze. Spirit is trapped when a loose chain around his neck snags on a fallen tree, but Little Creek arrives and cuts him free; and together they escape by jumping into a ravine.
The next morning, the Colonel and his cavalry find Spirit and Little Creek. A chase ensues through the Grand Canyon; eventually, though seemingly trapped at the edge of a wide gorge, Spirit makes a tremendous leap to the other side, with Little Creek on his back. Impressed, the Colonel stops his men from shooting at Spirit and Little Creek, gives the stallion a nod of respect, and calls off the pursuit. After celebrating their freedom, Spirit and Little Creek return to the Lakotas, meeting up with Rain, who has recovered. Little Creek sets the two horses free, and they return to Spirit's herd and run free across the plains.
Writer John Fusco, best known for his work in the Western and Native American genres (such as the films Young Guns and Young Guns II), was hired by DreamWorks Animation to create an original screenplay based on an idea by Jeffrey Katzenberg.[7] Fusco began by writing and submitting a novel to the studio and then adapted his own work into a screenplay format. He remained on the project as the main writer over the course of four years, working closely with Katzenberg, the directors, and artists.[8]
Animation and design
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was made over the course of four years using a conscious blend of traditional hand-drawn animation and computer animation.[8] James Baxter said that the animation was the most difficult piece of production he worked on for a movie: "I literally spent the first few weeks with my door shut, telling everyone, 'Go away; I've got to concentrate.' It was quite daunting because when I first started to draw horses, I suddenly realized how little I knew." The team at DreamWorks, under his guidance, used a horse named "Donner" as the model for Spirit and brought the horse to the animation studio in Glendale, California for the animators to study.[8] Sound designer Tim Chau was dispatched to stables outside Los Angeles to record the sounds of real horses; the final product features real hoof beats and horse vocals that were used to express their vocalizations in the film.[9] None of the animal characters in the film speak English beyond occasional reflective narration from the protagonist mustang, voiced by Matt Damon in the film.[10] Many of the animators who worked on Spirit would later work on Shrek 2, as their influence can be seen for the character Donkey.[11] The production team, consisting of Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook, Mireille Soria, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Kathy Altieri, Luc Desmarchelier, Ron Lukas, and story supervisor Ronnie del Carmen took a trip to the western United States to view scenic places they could use as inspiration for locations in the film. The homeland of the mustangs and Lakotas is based on Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and the Teton mountain range; the cavalry outpost was also based on Monument Valley.
Traveling to all those different places, we were reminded that this is a magnificent country, so in some respects, it was a way for us to honor and to celebrate the grandeur in our own backyard. Geographically, we kind of threw convention out the window. We took the best from nature and gave it our own spin, and ultimately it served the story well.
The instrumental score was composed by Hans Zimmer with songs by Bryan Adams in both the English and French versions of the album. The opening theme song for the film, "Here I Am" was written by Bryan Adams, Gretchen Peters, and Hans Zimmer. It was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Another song, not included in the film itself (although it can be heard in the ending credits), is "Don't Let Go", which is sung by Bryan Adams with Sarah McLachlan on harmonies and piano. It was written by Bryan Adams, Gavin Greenaway, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and Gretchen Peters. Many of the songs and arrangements were set in the American West, with themes based on love, landscapes, brotherhood, struggles, and journeys. Garth Brooks was originally supposed to write and record songs for the film but the deal fell through. The Italian versions of the songs were sung by Zucchero. The Spanish versions of the tracks on the album were sung by Erik Rubín (Hispanic America) and Raúl (Spain). The Brazilian version of the movie soundtrack was sung in Portuguese by Paulo Ricardo. The Norwegian versions of the songs were sung by Vegard Ylvisåker of the Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis.
Release
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was released in theaters on May 24, 2002.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron holds an overall approval rating of 69% based on 127 reviews, with an average rating of 6.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A visually stunning film that may be too predictable and politically correct for adults, but should serve children well."[16] Review aggregator Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[18]
Critic Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four and said in his review, "Uncluttered by comic supporting characters and cute sidekicks, Spirit is more pure and direct than most of the stories we see in animation – a fable I suspect younger viewers will strongly identify with."[19]Leonard Maltin of Hot Ticket called it "one of the most beautiful and exciting animated features ever made". Clay Smith of Access Hollywood considered the film "An Instant Classic".[20]Jason Solomons described the film as "a crudely drawn DreamWorks animation about a horse that saves the West by bucking a US Army General".[21]USA Today's Claudia Puig gave it 3 stars out of 4, writing that the filmmakers' "most significant achievement is fashioning a movie that will touch the hearts of both children and adults, as well as bring audiences to the edge of their seats."[22]Dave Kehr of the New York Times criticized the way in which the film portrayed Spirit and Little Creek as "pure cliches" and suggested that the film could have benefited from a comic relief character.[23] The film was screened out of competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.[24] Rain was the first animated horse to receive an honorary registration certificate from the American Paint Horse Association (APHA).[25]
Box office
When the film opened on Memorial Day Weekend 2002, the film earned $17,770,036 on the Friday-Sunday period, and $23,213,736 through the four-day weekend for a $6,998 average from 3,317 theaters. The film overall opened in fourth place behind Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Spider-Man, and Insomnia. In its second weekend, the film retreated 36% to $11,303,814 for a $3,362 average from expanding to 3,362 theaters and finishing in fifth place for the weekend. In its third weekend, the film decreased 18% to $9,303,808 for a $2,767 average from 3,362 theaters. The film closed on September 12, 2002, after earning $73,280,117 in the United States and Canada with an additional $49,283,422 overseas for a worldwide total of $122,563,539, against an $80 million budget.
Tim Chau (supervising sound editor) Carmen Baker (supervising sound editor) Jim Brookshire (supervising dialogue editor/supervising adr editor) Nils C. Jensen (sound editor) Albert Gasser (sound editor) David Kern (sound editor) Piero Mura (sound editor) Bruce Tanis (sound editor)
Two video games based on the film were released on October 28, 2002, by THQ: the PC game Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron — Forever Free and the Game Boy Advance game Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron — Search for Homeland.[40]
A third game "Lucky's Big Adventure" was released in 2021 based on the "Untamed" film sequel below.
Shortly after the movie, a book series called “Spirit of the West” was released by writer Kathleen Duey; telling the story of Spirit's family lineage and herd.
A computer-animated spin-off television series based on the film, titled Spirit Riding Free, premiered on Netflix on May 5, 2017.[41] The series follows all the daring adventures when Spirit, who is the offspring of the original, meets a girl named Lucky whose courage matches his own.[42][43]
A computer-animated film, titled Spirit Untamed, was released on June 4, 2021, by Universal Pictures. It is a film adaptation of the spin-off series Spirit Riding Free as well as a spin-off of the original film.[44][45]
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is a 2003 American animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. Featuring the character Sinbad the Sailor, it was directed by Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore and written by John Logan, and stars the voices of Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Joseph Fiennes. It tells the story of Sinbad, a pirate who travels the sea with his dog and his loyal crew, alongside Marina, the fiancée of his childhood friend Prince Proteus, to recover the stolen Book of Peace from Eris to save Proteus from approving Sinbad's death sentence.
Hidalgo is a 2004 epic biographical western film based on the legend of the American distance rider Frank Hopkins and his mustang Hidalgo. It recounts Hopkins' racing his horse in Arabia in 1891 against Bedouins riding pure-blooded Arabian horses. The movie was written by John Fusco and directed by Joe Johnston. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Zuleikha Robinson, and Omar Sharif.
The Kiger mustang is a strain of mustang horse located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. The name applies only to wild-captured individuals and does not apply to their bred-in-captivity progeny, which are known as Kiger horses. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers two herd management areas for Kiger mustangs in the Burns District—Kiger and Riddle Mountain, in the Steens Mountain area. DNA testing has shown that Kiger mustangs are descended largely from Spanish horses brought to North America in the 17th century, a bloodline thought to have largely disappeared from mustang herds before the Kiger horse populations were discovered in 1977.
Ronaldo del Carmen is a Filipino writer, director, storyboard artist, illustrator, and voice actor. He co-directed and co-wrote the story for the Pixar film Inside Out (2015), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Simon Finlay Wells is an English film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great-grandson of author H. G. Wells, and is best known for directing The Prince of Egypt with Brenda Chapman and Steve Hickner.
James Baxter is a British character animator. He was first known for his work on several Walt Disney Animation Studios films, including various characters in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Rafiki in The Lion King, and Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Kelly Adam Asbury was an American film director, writer, voice actor, and illustrator. He was best known for directing animated films, including Shrek 2, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Gnomeo & Juliet, Smurfs: The Lost Village, and UglyDolls.
John Fusco is an American screenwriter, producer, and television series creator born in Prospect, Connecticut. His screenplays include Crossroads, Young Guns, Young Guns II, Thunderheart, Hidalgo, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and The Highwaymen. He is also the creator of the Netflix series Marco Polo. Fusco is also a blues musician and a prose fiction author.
Nassos Vakalis is an animation director and animator.
"Here I Am" is a song co-written and recorded by Canadian singer Bryan Adams. The song was written and recorded in 2002 for the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and was both released on the official soundtrack and as a single. "Here I Am" reached number one in the Czech Republic and Portugal, number five in the United Kingdom and on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and the top 20 in at least 10 other European countries. The song won an ASCAP Award and was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Adams also recorded the song in French, called "Me voilà".
Anthony Stacchi is an American animator, effects animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and film director.
Carlos Grangel is a Spanish character designer for animated films.
Mireille Soria is an American film producer, most notable for working at DreamWorks Animation on many of their films and for producing the animated sitcom Neighbors from Hell.
Victoria Jenson is an American film director of both live-action and animated films. She has directed projects for DreamWorks Animation, including Shrek, the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, giving rise to one of Hollywood's largest film franchises.
Priscillano "Pres" Antonio Romanillos was an American animator with DreamWorks and Walt Disney. His work included animated characters such as the Native American Little Creek in DreamWorks' Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Pocahontas, and the villainous Hun Shan-Yu in Disney's Mulan.
Max Howard is a film producer and studio executive, based in Los Angeles. He has run studios for Walt Disney Feature Animation in London, Paris, Orlando and Los Angeles, and was president of Warner Bros. Feature Animation. He has worked on or been responsible for a number of successful film projects. His credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Igor.
Spirit Riding Free is an animated television series, produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and distributed by Netflix, based on the 2002 Oscar-nominated traditionally animated film, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and the first series in the Spirit franchise. The series was first released on Netflix on May 5, 2017.
Spirit is an American media franchise owned by DreamWorks Animation, which began with the 2002 animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron written by John Fusco from an idea by producer Jeffrey Katzenberg. The franchise follow the adventures of a Kiger Mustang stallion named Spirit.
Spirit Untamed is a 2021 American animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was directed by Elaine Bogan and co-directed by Ennio Torresan Jr., from a screenplay written by Aury Wallington and Kristin Hahn, making this the second theatrical film release of the Spirit franchise and is both a spin-off and a stand-alone sequel of the traditionally animated Academy Award nominated Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and loosely based on the characters from its Netflix animated spin-off television series Spirit Riding Free, developed by Wallington.
↑ Green, Susan (January 9, 2002). "A Reel Revolution: Vermont's John Fusco Resurrects Ethan Allen on Film". Seven Days. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2018. Fusco fell in love with American paint ponies and began a program to restore original Native American herds. This expertise made him a natural to write the script for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, a DreamWorks animated film. It's scheduled to open on Memorial Day.
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