Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

• (Also known as Spirit)
• Directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook (Feature Directorial Debuts)
• May 21, 2002 (Cannes) / May 24, 2002 (US)

Voice Cast

• Spirit/Narrator-Matt Damon
• The Colonel-James Cromwell
• Little Creek-Daniel Studi
• Sgt. Adams-Chopper Bernet
• Murphy, Railroad Foreman-Jeff LeBeau
• Bill-Richard McGonagle
• Joe-Matt Levin
• Jake-Robert Cait
• Roy-Charles Napier
• Little Creek’s Friend-Zahn McClarnon
• Little Creek’s Friend-Michael Horse
• Train Pull Foreman-Donald Fullilove

A captured Kiger mustang remains determined to return to his herd and freedom no matter what.

I avoided this movie for 20 or so years. Though a Western AND animated (two pluses right there), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron seemed more like it was aimed at young girls than it was at a general audience. And given the current iteration of the Spirit concept on Netflix that preconception was solidly driven home. Not being one to completely limit my horizons, I saw this DVD for pretty cheap at my local Dollar General and wanting to treat myself decided to give it a shot.

While not the greatest Western ever made Spirit certainly is a very good Western. It is not only an uplifting adventure but has something below the surface as well. There are themes of love and brotherhood experienced through a journey across the epic and untamed landscape of the 19^th century Western United States. Our title character of Spirit (that name feels a bit on the nose to me) learns life lessons and experiences character growth. And interestingly villains are not just evil to be evil but rather have more nuanced reasons for their actions.

Like all of the great Westerns, Spirit loves the environment in which it is set even if that environment is hand drawn like here. There are carefully crafted vistas and epic shots throughout this movie. The camera showcases the scenery and this movie could be enjoyable without sound. Then again this is hand drawn with computer assistance so it is art in my book.

What the film does differently from other animal centric movies is it has no talking animals. Thus this movie is not saddled with unnecessary musical numbers or comedic animal sidekicks since half the cast cannot vocalize. The only animal vocalizing at all is Spirit who serves as the narrator of the movie. Directors Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook and others are forced to create their animal characters’ personalities through their actions and it does that perfectly.

Spirit is an adventurous, well, spirit and the whole point of the story is that he is never broken by what he must overcome. Spirit is the embodiment of the untamed West and the wild and free nature it embodies in the imagination. He is a creature of nature and like nature cannot ultimately be controlled.

There are moments of weakness and doubt but ultimately the character triumphs because he remains true to himself and most importantly does the right thing. And he does it even when doing the wrong thing would be easier. He steps up to the challenge and succeeds largely because he stepped up.

His troubles begin when he is captured by a group of horse wranglers who sell him to the US Cavalry where he meets the film’s never named nemesis who is a cavalry colonel determined to break him. The Colonel initially sees Spirit as a thing and not a living creature. His actions go from getting a job done to a source of pride for the man and these two wills face-off time and again. He is wrong but not necessarily evil. A fine line there.

Their paths continually cross from when Spirit escapes his confinement in the fort to the finale. But interestingly while The Colonel is a jerk and the story’s villain, he does have honor and in a simple moment it is all demonstrated. When Spirit has successfully escaped and can no longer be pursued one of The Colonel’s soldiers is preparing to shoot the horse when The Colonel stops them after which hero and villain exchange acknowledgements. Without saying anything The Colonel admits he has been beaten while Spirit acknowledges The Colonel doing the right thing.

It is a level of complexity and sophistication not often found in movies-animation included. Two equal wills faced off and were mature enough to engage each other with honor. This demonstrated The Colonel was not evil but rather misguided. He did what he did because he thought it was right and HE was right. When proven wrong he acknowledged that.

Spirit is joined in much of this film by Little Creek (though I do not think his name was used) whom he meets at the fort and helps him in his escape only to attempt to tame Spirit as his horse. Intentionally or not, the movie in that moment demonstrates that people are not all that different no matter where they come from-cultural differences aside. But unlike The Colonel, Little Creek knows when he has done something wrong and is not so proud to keep pushing beyond that point. And in that moment he and Spirit did become friends.

I am just impressed with how well this movie communicates its story. There are themes of friendship and honor and fighting the good fight. And in many of those instances, communicating that is all on the head of a horse and minimal voiceover work by him as the narrator. They even do a full-fledged romance for Spirit. You see where it begins and ends as clearly as anything done with two humans. This film is a masterwork in storytelling, and it just astounds me it is not better known than it is.

Largely the characters are crafted with actions and not words with that extending often to the humans. Their actions are logical and based on what we learn about them through their previous actions. From a characterization perspective this movie is absolutely perfect. And no one character is quite painted as an out and out villain.

Hans Zimmer did the instrumental work with Bryan Adams writing such stuff as “Here I Am.” Zimmer’s work clearly sets the tone and Adams’ work also does that but neither does much to tell the story. I don’t think any of Adams’ work ever made it into the top 40. And I certainly would not rank the songs up there with things like “Circle of Life” either. 

More importantly there is genuine emotion in the film and by the end you will feel good. You feel the highs and lows of the characters. The focus may be a horse but the story is relatable easily to humans as it deals with things we can all understand. 

I recommend Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron to everyone. This family friendly bit of animation will satisfy children and adults and is something both can enjoy independently. I highly recommend it!