'Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron' is a refreshingly old-fashioned and gentle tale of a mustang stallion struggling to remain free in the old West. The film is a seamless blend of traditional hand-drawn and computer-generated animation. Opening with an impressive bird's eye pan of the Grand Canyon, from the viewpoint of an eagle, 'Spirit' captures the unspoiled beauty of the land. The animals in this particular animated film do not talk, and Matt Damon provides effective, sparse narration from the perspective of Spirit, an adventurous young stallion who is captured by the U.S. Army. But Spirit will not let the soldiers saddle and ride him. An authoritarian colonel (voiced by James Cromwell) is determined to break Spirit, at one point starving the horse to weaken him. A Lakota prisoner, Little Creek (voiced by Daniel Studi) is impressed with the horse, and helps him to escape. Little Creek can't break the horse either. But the two learn to respect each other, and Spirit meets Rain, Little Creek's horse, and falls in love.
Directed by
Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook
Written by
John Fusco
Starring
Matt Damon (Spirit (voice)); James Cromwell (The Colonel (voice)); Daniel Studi (Little Creek (voice)); Chopper Bernet (Sgt. Adams (voice)); Jeff LeBeau (Murphy / Railroad Foreman (voice)); John Rubano (Soldier (voice)); Richard McGonagle (Bill (voice)); Matt Levin (Joe (voice) (as Matthew Levin)); Adam Paul (Pete (voice)); Robert Cait (Jake (voice)); Charles Napier (Roy (voice)); Meredith Wells (Little Indian Girl (voice)); Zahn McClarnon (Little Creek's Friend (voice)); Michael Horse (Little Creek's Friend (voice)); Donald Fullilove (Train Pull Foreman (voice) (as Don Fullilove)). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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Sentimentality for Kids
Mark Banks (United Kingdom)
Opinion: Limited Recommendation
I was a bit perplexed when I saw this film in the USCCB's Top-10 list for 2002, and having now watched it I am none the less wiser with respect to its inclusion; okay the USCCB hadn't started compiling a family films list in 2002 but surely there were better films than this to fill the 10th spot. Anyway, with respect to the film itself, the above screenshots will tell you that the animation is indeed visually vibrant and thus highly likely to appeal to children. That most of the film is set in the great outdoors is perhaps the film's most welcome aspect - and indeed makes it easy-on-the-eye to watch. With respect to the screenplay, there is a commendable anti-racist sub-plot to the film; with the treatment of Little Creek depicted as unjust. However, the overriding theme of the film is the achievement of the horse's right to "freedom". The fact that stallions are well suited to horse racing, horse shows etc may well be lost on younger viewers of this film, who may be inclined to think that any employment of a horse (stallion or otherwise) for the use of man is a negative thing; thus contributing to a culture that so often promotes animal rights over those of humans - particularly the unborn. Nevertheless, that children should learn to care for life in some form, and develop the emotion of empathy, are far worthier things to encourage than those aspects which many other films promote. All in all this is a film that may appeal to animal lovers below teenage years, but the audience beyond that group will be limited.
