Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron [DVD] [2002]

Usually I don't enjoy watching animated movies, but the story of Spirit really had me glued to the screen, I just had to find out what happened at the end.

The animation is so beautiful, the horses seem so life-like, and this makes for a fast-moving visual treat. Couple this with a wonderful music score and songs by Bryan Adams and you have the perfect combination.

I dare anyone not to feel at least a small amount of emotion while watching this film, afterall, it had me sniffling on more than one occasion!

Overall, I think the filmmakers more than rise to the challenge of telling a story without talking animals. This is not a cute cartoon in the grand Disney tradition and "Spirit" is much the better for it, with the expressiveness of Spirit's face exceeding anything you have seen before. The story is set in the Old West and tells the story of Spirit, a wild mustang stallion who comes into contact with humans: first cowboys, then the U.S. cavalry, and then Indians. Each group thinks they can tame the wild stallion, but they underestimate their opponent (just branding the horse proves to be an insurmountable obstacle). Eventually Spirit learns to distinguish between the heavy handed colonel (voiced by James Cromwell) and the young brave Little Creek (voiced by Daniel Studi).

Yes, Spirit emerges through these adventures as something of a super horse, constantly doing the impossible, but holding animated films to the standard of reality is hardly appropriate. Spirit symbolizes the imperative of freedom and as such ultimately earns the respect of the mere humans in his story. The result is not a great animated film, but certainly a very good one that should appeal to adults as well as children, and since the film only runs 83 minutes long it should not tax either age group that much.