Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (also known as Spirit) is a 2002 American animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook (in their feature directional debuts) from a screenplay by John Fusco. The film follows Spirit, a Kiger Mustang stallion (voiced by Matt Damon through inner dialogue), who is captured during the American Indian Wars by the United States Cavalry; he is freed by a Native American man named Little Creek who attempts to lead him back into the Lakota village. In contrast to the way animals are portrayed in an anthropomorphic style in other animated features, Spirit and his fellow horses communicate with each other through sounds and body language like real horses.

Synopsis
A wild stallion is captured by humans and slowly loses the will to resist training, yet, throughout his struggles for freedom, the stallion refuses to let go of the hope of one day returning home to his herd.

Why It's The Spirit Who Could Not Be Broken

 * 1) Amazingly timeless traditional animation. Even though it uses some CGI backgrounds, this movie still is a great example of 2D animation at its absolute best.
 * 2) In spite of the movie itself may not seeming like such at first glance to some, the story is actually high staked and has a great deal of emotional energy packed into absolutely every single scene, regardless of how obvious or subtle.
 * 3) Great voice acting, especially from Matt Damon voicing the protagonist Spirit. Another interesting thing is how this movie goes full-on Garfield and has Matt voicing Spirit's thoughts as opposed to him speaking.
 * 4) It has some interesting characters such as the horses.
 * 5) Beautiful soundtrack from Bryan Adams. As it has songs and music tracks like You Can't Take Me, I Will Always Return, Brothers Under the Sun, Run Free, Rain, and This is Where I Belong among many others.
 * 6) Many heartwarming moments like:
 * 7) * The opening narration in general: The story that I want to tell you cannot be found in a book. They say the history of the West was written from the saddle of the horse... but it's never been told from the heart of one. Not till now. I was born here, in this place that would come to be called "The Old West". But to my kind, the land was ageless. It had no beginning, and no end. No boundary between earth and sky. Like the wind in the buffalo grass, we belonged here... we would always belong here. They say the mustang is the spirit of the West. Whether that West was won or lost in the end, you'll have to decide for yourself. But the story I want to tell you is true. I was there. And I remember... I remember the sun and the sky, and the wind calling my name, in a time when wild horses ran free.
 * 8) * The other Lakota horses, comforting Spirit up after they are captured all the while resisting their fears in spite of how obvious it was that they were incredibly scared at the time. And there's also him joining them after the (albeit short) dream sequence, and he even takes the liberty of calming them down when they were all led off the train. The fact that this was all after his initial hostility toward everything related to the two-legged, it's only made all the more impactful and important.
 * 9) * Colonel making the decision to let Spirit and Little Creek go.
 * 10) * Spirit finally allowing Little Creek to ride him.
 * 11) * Spirit's reunion with Rain after he'd thought that she'd been killed.
 * 12) The backgrounds are very well done. Especially for 2000s traditional animated film standards.
 * 13) The humor, like in most Dreamworks 2D animated movies, is amusing and doesn't mess with its mature and deep tone.
 * 14) Unlike most run-of-the-mill animal movies, the horses don't need any voice actors since their facial expressions, body language, and horse sounds say it all.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The CGI-animated backgrounds can be bit poorly done at times, despite the movie being traditionally animated.
 * 2) * This could be because of the time period this was made in.
 * 3) Some of the horse characters don't even talk this much.
 * 4) The movie occasionally has a narrator that much like mh:terribletvshows:Peppa Pig's, does little more than just stating the obvious.

Critical reception
Based on 128 reviews collected by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron has an overall positive approval rating of 70% and a weighted average score of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A visually stunning film that may be too predictable and politically correct for adults, but should serve children well." Review aggregator Metacritic gave the film a score of 52 based on 29 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Critic Roger Ebert, said in 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." Leonard Maltin of Hot Ticket called it "one of the most beautiful and exciting animated features ever made". Clay Smith of Access Hollywood considered the film "An Instant Classic". Jason Solomons described the film as "a crudely drawn DreamWorks animation about a horse that saves the West by bucking a US Army General". USA Today's Claudia Puig gave it 3 stars out of 4, writing that the filmmakers' "most significant achievement is fashioning a movie that will touch the hearts of both children and adults, as well as bring audiences to the edge of their seats." Dave Kehr of the New York Times criticized the way in which the film portrayed Spirit and Little Creek as "pure cliches" and suggested that the film could have benefited from a comic relief character. The film was screened out of competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Rain was the first animated horse to receive an honorary registration certificate from the American Paint Horse Association (APHA).

Box office
When the film opened on Memorial Day Weekend 2002, the film earned $17,770,036 on the Friday-Sunday period, and $23,213,736 through the four-day weekend for a $6,998 average from 3,317 theaters. The film overall opened in fourth place behind Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Spider-Man, and Insomnia. In its second weekend, the film retreated 36% to $11,303,814 for a $3,362 average from expanding to 3,362 theaters and finishing in fifth place for the weekend. In its third weekend, the film decreased 18% to $9,303,808 for a $2,767 average from 3,362 theaters. The film closed on September 12, 2002, after earning $73,280,117 in the United States and Canada with an additional $49,283,422 overseas for a worldwide total of $122,563,539, against an $80 million budget.

Trivia

 * A CGI reboot of the movie, mh:awfulmovies:Spirit Untamed; was released in theaters on June 4, 2021.