Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

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Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
Movie Poster
Directed by	Kelly Asbury Lorna Cook
Produced by	Jeffrey Katzenberg Mireille Soria Executive Producer: Max Howard
Written by	John Fusco
Narrated by	Matt Damon
Starring	Matt Damon James Cromwell Daniel Studi Chopper Bernet Jeff LeBeau
Music by	Hans Zimmer Bryan Adams
Editing by	Clare De Chenu
Distributed by	Dreamworks SKG in USA Universal Studios in Canada (both Quebec and Toronto)
Release date(s)	May 24, 2002
Running time	83 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$80,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue	$122,563,539

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a 2002 animated film that was released by DreamWorks Pictures. It follows the adventures of a young stallion

Plot

After a brief introduction featuring an eagle and the mustang's homeland (which resembles Yellowstone National Park, and is likely to be Cimarron County), there is a scene showing the birth of a buckskin dun Kiger Mustang, who is the main protagonist, Spirit. His mother is known as Esperanza - a beautiful palomino mare. His father, Strider, is never shown in the actual movie. Although he is seen in photos to be pure black (as his mother is yellow and white mixed with black, creating yellow and black). He grows into a stallion, and assumes the role as leader of the herd. As leader, he defends two foals from a cougar.

Spirit is a good leader however, at times his curiosity gets the better of him. Spotting a camp ahead, the stallion is unable to control his curiosity and moves towards it his herd has never seen a human before, and against his mother's wishes he investigates. After a long chase, he is captured and sold to the United States Army, who at the time of the movie are fighting the Indian Wars. There he encounters a Colonel (based on Colonel Custer; in the film he is known simply as "The Colonel"). He sees the stallion as a symbol of the West, of which he is setting out to conquer. Naturally, he attempts to conquer the mustang too. Spirit is not tamed easily, and manages to outwit all who attempt to ride him. Not pleased with this, The Colonel orders for the horse to be tied to 'the post' for three days, without food or water.

During this time, a Lakota American Indian named Little Creek is also brought into the fort and tied to the human post. In the night, one of Little Creek's friends throws him a knife, which he quickly hides just as the bugle sounds. This marks the end of the three days, and the Colonel rides the mustang. After tricking the Colonel into believing that he has been broken, Spirit manages to escape and Little Creek escapes with him. The rest of the horses are intentionally freed in the process. Distracted by a paint mare, Little Creek and his allies capture Spirit.

After failing to tame the mustang, Little Creek ties him and the paint horse, his own mare named Rain, together. Rain shows the mustang her world of the Lakota village. Spirit begins to understand their ways and grows close to the mare. His affections for Rain, however, do not soften his yearning to be free.

During an attack on the Lakota village by the Army regiment led by the Colonel, Rain is shot by the Colonel and falls into a river. Spirit is determined to save her, and falls over a waterfall with her in his attempt. They survived, but Rain is injured and is unable to stand. Spirit is captured, yet again, by the Army. After finding Rain just as they lead Spirit away, Little Creek is determined to free the mustang once and for all, and follows the men who captured the stallion.

The mustang is used as a workhorse for the Transcontinental Railroad. As he and many other horses are dragging the locomotive up a mountain, the mustang realizes that if the track extends along its present course, it will infringe on his homeland. Spirit tricks the humans once again and, with the aid of the other horses, breaks free from the steam engine and causes it to fall down the steep incline they had been moving on. The engine explodes. As fire erupts, the chain that had remained around Spirit's neck catches on a log, but he is freed by Little Creek.

When the mustang wakes in the morning, he spends short time playing in a lake and on the grass with Little Creek before the Colonel and his men find them. In desperation, Little Creek sends the mustang running. Realizing Little Creek is in danger, the mustang runs back and pushes Little Creek on his back.

During the climactic chase scene between and on canyon walls, the two get trapped on a plateau. As the Colonel and his army get closer, there is no way to go except to jump over a large gorge. In a spectacular leap of faith, the mustang and Little Creek jump across to the other side. The soldiers do not attempt to follow. The Colonel stops one of his men from shooting the two, and exchanges nods of respect with the mustang before they part.

The mustang races back to the rebuilt Lakota village with Little Creek still on his back, where he finds Rain still alive. The horses share a happy moment, and Little Creek finally gives the Mustang a name: Spirit-who-could-not-be-broken. Little Creek sets Spirit and Rain free, and they back to Spirit's herd. The mustang however, dos not obtain a desire to explore the rest of the United states landscape, although he investigated a human camp earlier in the film. As they race back, the song "I Will Always Return" is played. Eventually, they meet up with his herd and Esperanza. The whole herd gallops across the plains, with Spirit and Rain the leaders of their new herd.

Animation and sound

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 in a technique the film's creators dubbed "tradigital animation." DreamWorks purchased a horse as the model for Spirit and brought the horse to the animation studio in Glendale, California for the animators to study. In the sound department, recordings of real horses were used for the sounds of the many horse characters' hoof beats as well as their vocalizations. None of the animal characters in the movie speak English beyond occasional reflective narration from the protagonist mustang (voice of Matt Damon). Many of the animators who worked on Spirit also worked on Shrek 2, and their influence can be seen in the horses in that film, such as Prince Charming's horse from the opening sequence and Donkey's horse form.

The background score was composed by Hans Zimmer, with songs from Bryan Adams. The opening theme song for the movie is "Here I Am" written by Bryan Adams, Gretchen Peters, and Hans Zimmer. It was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Another song, which was not included in the film itself (although it can be heard in the ending credits), is "Don't Let Go", which was 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 are 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.

Many of the scenes used for the song of "I Will Always Return" were taken from the earlier parts of the movie to "This Is Where I Belong". A good example is when Spirit and Rain are standing on the hill. That was taken directly from the earlier part of the movie, only there were some slight modifications.

The original soundtrack contains 15 songs, and the special edition has one extra.

Soundtrack listing

music by Hans Zimmer, songs by Bryan Adams

1. Here I Am (End Title)
2. I Will Always Return
3. You Can't Take Me
4. Get Off My Back
5. Brothers Under the Sun
6. Don't Let Go (f. Sarah McLachlan)
7. This Is Where I Belong
8. Here I Am
9. Sound The Bugle
10. Run Free
11. Homeland (Main Title)
12. Rain
13. The Long Road Back
14. Nothing I've Ever Known
15. I Will Always Return (Finale)
16. Where Do I Go From Here

Critical reception

Based on 117 ^[1] collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron has an overall "fresh" approval rating of 68 percent, with a weighted average score of 6.4/10. Top critic, Roger Ebert, said in ^[2] his review of the film, "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."

Crew

Annie Awards

Popular culture

Rain received an honorary registration certificate from the American Paint Horse Association (APHA), which has registered more than 670,000 American Paint Horses to date. She is the first animated horse to be registered by this organization.

In the Disney animated feature Home on the Range, Maggie once refers to Buck as "Stallion of the Cim-moron".

References

See also

• List of animated feature-length films

External links

• Official website
• Official website
• Running Free - fansite
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron at the Internet Movie Database
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron at Rotten Tomatoes
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron at Box Office Mojo