Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002, DVD)

I am beginning to wonder what s up with American Audiences. Have we become such drones that we can t appreciate the wonder of our world, and GET the message of this beautiful little film? Not one of those movies that had 40 million behind the Advertising campaign, this is nevertheless, in my opinion, the best animated feature to be made in America last year. Don t get me wrong. I liked TREASURE PLANET, despite its flaws. I loved THE ICE AGE , haven t seen LILO AND STITCH -and I still think Miyazaki s film SPIRITED AWAY earned the Oscar. But SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON could have been serious competition.

This movie is a perfect film for children. There are so many things of value in this movie, that despite the lack of cute gimmicks, animated rocks , or clever one liners, it is a powerful and exciting film to watch, even if you only recognize the child in yourself. I really loved this flick. I have been where this movie goes, I recognize the details of the landscape, and I have heard similar legends spoken through the mouths of Ancient Navajo storytellers. For me watching this film is like coming home.

STORY AND DIRECTION

This is the fist directing effort by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook. Cook has worked as an artist and animator for 25 years, and Asbury for 19, both with various studios and projects before settling into Dream works. These two are both artists in their own right, and Asbury, in addition, writes and illustrates children s books. The screenplay was written by John Fusco (YOUNG GUNS) with help from writer and animator Tom Sito, and Henry Mayo (DINOSAUR).

The artistic soul and gentle nature of these directors shines through in their feature length commentary, although the commentary is not necessary to appreciate the movie. The movie is an artistic an offering . If you are familiar with the work of Western Artist RJ Reynolds, you will clearly see his influence here. The story is simple (although there is plenty of action, and even a romance ) with a simple message. The point of view, and they way the story is told is what makes this movie so very interesting.

THE WEST FROM THE MIND OF A MUSTANG

A point of view about the taming of the west is told by a wild horse stallion, who will be called SPIRIT, by the end of the flick. If you know anything about horses, you will see the essence of a horse s heart in the character. The horse is not a human dressed up in a horse suit, but a horse, who is given a human voice only for the purpose of the narrative connections , to set up scenes. The narrator is the only human language we ever hear (coming from a horse s mouth). He introduces us to the story-and then shows the story by acting it out, with occasional linking short narrative comments.

As the directors say, they did not set out to change the horse. Their imagination goes to work in enhancing and strengthening and elaborating on the characteristics of a horse, and you need a considerable amount of heart-and do a fair amount of research- to do it.

I have heard others say the lack of dialog bothers them. In fact, I think this is the root of the difficulty adults have with the film. They don t have a spoken dialog-but they communicate just the same. It doesn t bother me in the least. These are expressive (and often true to nature) gestures of emotion , and intent -conveying the story much better than if someone had been discussing it. The pictures are worth many thousands of words here. This is a good movie to watch at home with the kids. Because you can insert your interpretation of the dialog, or let the kids do it, as a family activity. Heck, don t we do that anyway, when we watch a film? (You mean I m the only one?)

I heard some say they thought the movie devoid of humor. This amazes me. The antics of the willful stallion as well as his relationship with his newfound love, a Paint Horse, Rain, are very funny. But you have to be watching the film to see it. The scenes where the horses are serving as the chorus, and laughing at the antics of Spirit, and rooting for his success were very funny. A horse often sounds like they are snickering. You have to wonder. The movie had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion, had me crying a time or two, and had my heart racing in more than one harrowing scene.

I have heard people say the plot for this flick is not a story, but a cheap melodrama. I didn t think so. It is, rather a legend, with heroic elements, and should be appreciated as such.

***SPOILER ALERT***-IS IT MORE THAN JUST NOT DISNEY ?***SPOILER ALERT

Is DREAM WORKS setting out to pop Disney s Balloon? After all the in-jokes in SHREK, a supremely anti-Disney flick, you have to wonder if it isn t becoming a tradition. Certainly there are enough Ex-Disney people working at Dream works now to make it plausible . This movie, although not so obviously as Shrek, flies in the face of Disney tradition.

Think about it. The horse, instead of following what almost certainly would have been a different ending under Disney , is set free. Wouldn t the horse have thought the human more important than his own freedome in Disney? The fact that the HORSES as the main characters do not speak in HUMAN language flies in the face of standard Disney antics. The fact that there are not cute little sidekicks, magical buddies or talking teapots is definitely anti Disney. I for one, find it extremely refreshing.

Finally, one scene in this movie , which is my favorite, has an almost Zen-like quality- definitely anti- Disney. The antagonist, the army colonel intent to break Spirit almost catches him. Spirit and his Indian friend Little Creek narrowly escape the chasing calvary by a deed quite daring. In that moment, a Winchester rises and sites on the horse. The colonel stops the shooting, and nods his head in a wordless acknowledgment of his opponent-and lets them go. . Spirit acknowledges this also. I think it was the most important scene of the movie as well. Because it is shows what I have always felt was my most treasured right as an American-the right to be an individual, paired with the responsibility to respect the rights of others to be the same. It was a gesture of great honor, indicating that the Colonel was, as all others were, who came to know him, changed by the Spirit who could not be broken.

****END OF SPOILER ALERT *****

ANIMATION

This movie incorporates digital and hand drawn animation, to good effect. Dream works claim they were the first, Disney makes the same claim. Who cares? What I love about the animation is the extreme realism of the setting, the exquisite movements of the horses, and several key scenes. The white water episode is superbly animated, the train engine crashing is an amazing scene, and the broad expanses of Western landscape seen from the eyes of a Bald Eagle flying through the Grand Canyon and beyond is simply awe inspiring. If you have been to the American West, you will know that the colors of the magnificent sunset are true to life, and achingly beautiful.

MUSIC

The score is contributed by Oscar winning composer, Hans Zimmer (LION KING, GLADIATOR) . It has echoing tones reminiscent of Aaron Copeland, and is heroic when it needs to be, bouncy and funny at times, and lyrically beautiful at others. The songs that define the character are sung (and occasionally co-written) by Brian Adams. I liked them, and find myself singing along, on second viewing. But I suppose I am easy to please. I liked the closing song, with Adams and Sara McLaughlan, as well.

DVD EXTRAS

This is kind of an interesting DVD, especially for people who have always wanted to learn to draw horses. John Baxter gives a horse drawing lesson! There is a music interview feature, a feature length film makers commentary with producers and directors, some crew Bios, and an interactive feature which allows kids to make their own movie from some of the animation elements from the film.

THE PLOT


They say that the history of the west was written from the saddle of a horse, but it has never been told from the heart of one. Not until now .


The movie opens with the narrator, who introduces himself as the horse of the story, later to be named Spirit.

He is born into a mustang herd before the West was won . He, as a colt, unusually inquisitive and fearless. Unfortunately, that curiosity is almost his undoing, as he wanders over to a campfire to see what or who was there. The wranglers are out looking for wild horses to muster into the army (this is a historical fact by the way). Spirit, in order to save his herd, decoys the men away, but is caught and taken to the fort. He resists efforts to break him, but is tied to a post without food or water for days to break his spirit. While tied there, a Lakota boy is brought in, and similarly chained to a post.

The day the colonel comes to ride the wild horse (and to him , conquering of the horse means the taming of the West in a broader sense) is an important one, as it almost seems that the horse will allow a rider. Breaking the horse has a symbolic meaning to the horse as well. There are many ways a spirit can be broken, as Spirit discovers.

The central conflict will be Spirit s need to get back to his herd. To do this, he will have to be strong, fearless, and never be broken. But there are many obstacles and hardships to be faced, a lesson or two to be learned, some tough decisions , and even the love of his life to win.

A lot happens in this movie. It has a wonderful, uplifting ending. To me the spirit of the horse is the courage to be true to yourself through adversity . Never forget who you are, and never give up. It is an important message.



CAST AND CHARACTERS


The best aspect of acting comes from the sound department as the realistic horse nickering, whinnying and chuffing. The second best aspects are the songs that illustrate aspects of our hero s personality and the plot developments as well.

Matt Damon as Spirit (voice, and narration) there is so little dialog, that he never acts except through his spirited small bits of narration. But I like Matt Damon, and the voice fits very well. The CHARACTER is a buckskin horse, who leads his own herd, until he is captured by the two-legged. His character will develop during the movie, but we know right away that he is brave, and very curious.

James Cromwell-as the Colonel. This character speaks as a human...because he IS a human. Duh! I would never have guessed Cromwell for this antithetic personality. The character starts out being the true villain of the piece, and while he remains adversarial, there is an important scene where we find that he, like all the characters in this story is changed, or learns something, by his association with SPIRIT. Cromwell has had quite a career doing voices in animation, in addition to his live acting gigs !

Daniel Studi as Little Creek. -This is the one human being that Spirit comes to know well. He is an excellent supporting player for our hero, being full of life, and fun, and seeing with the eyes of his soul into the soul of the horse . Nicely done, and really a fun character. The actor is the son of Wes Studi, and is full Cherokee. He has not done too many films, but does some acting locally.

Jeff Le Beau- as Murphy ( the horse shoer), and nemesis, a funny character.
The rest of the characters are really pretty minor, except for the horses who never speak.

RAIN is the paint horse, who is the love interest in this story. She belongs to Little Creek, and she has a delightful distinctive personality of her own. She is playful, stubborn and even heroic. The developing romance is beautifully animated.

THE MOTHER-this character is a strong one, although I can t see that they gave her a name anywhere. She is supportive, serene, as patient and sweet a mother as ever walked or galloped on the screen.

THE INDIAN PONY WITH THE BLUE EYE RING- and his buddies are the chorus that show the audience that Spirit is clearly a horse among horses, a leader.

THE CAVALRY HORSES- are hilarious, as they first try to warn Spirit. away from the camp he finds, and later laugh when he throws rider after rider. They are just fun.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION

You know I may be the only one in this whole Epinions community that likes this movie. The rest of you are probably just too grown up. It was a beautiful flick, full of wondrous animation, with a story that should speak to your heart, if you have one. Think about the message of the film, when you consider how to get through the next tough aspect of your own life. I think it might help. I only have to watch this movie and I m home.


****

The budget for this flick was a cool 80 million. It is still 5 times what Miyazaki s SPIRITED AWAY cost. Is there something we are missing here? It did better at the Box Office than TREASURE PLANET.