Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

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DVD cover

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is an animated film that was released in 2002 by Dreamworks Pictures. It follows the adventures of a Kinger mustang stallion who is nameless until the end of the movie.

Animation and Sound

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was made using a conscious blend of traditional hand-drawn animation and computer animation in a technique the film's creators dubbed "tradigital animation." In the sound department, recordings of real horses were used for the sounds of the many horse characters' hoof beats as well as their vocalizations. None of the animal characters in the movie speak English beyond occasional reflective narration from the protagonist Mustang.

The background score was composed by Hans Zimmer, with songs from Bryan Adams. The opening theme song for the movie is "Here I Am" written by Bryan Adams, Gretchen Peters, and Hans Zimmer. It was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Another song, which was not included in the film itself (although it can be heard in the ending credits), is "Don't Let Go", which was sung by Bryan Adams with Sarah McLachlan on hamonies and piano. It was written by Bryan Adams, Gavin Greenway, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and Gretchen Peters. Many of the songs and arangments are set in the American West, with themes based on love, landscapes, brotherhood, struggles, and journeys.

The motion picture is narrated by Matt Damon.

Storyline

The movie opens with the Mustang's birth and some scenes from his formative years as he grows into a stallion, taking control of a herd of horses living in the Cimarron Strip. After becoming too curious for his own good and investigating a human camp, he is captured and sold to the United States Army, who at the time of the movie are fighting the Indian Wars. There he encounters a Colonel (based on Colonel Custer, in the movie he is known simply as "The Colonel"), who becomes somewhat obsessed with taming the wild horse. The horse eventually escapes with the aid of a Lakota man named Little Creek, falling in love with Little Creek's Paint mare, Rain. After an attack on the Lakota village by the Army regiment led by the Colonel, Rain is injured and the Mustang is again captured. He is sold as a workhorse for the Transcontinental Railroad. The Mustang manages to work a little sabotage and escape, reuniting with Little Creek. The climax has Little Creek and the Mustang running from the Colonel and his men, eventually leaping over a large canyon to safety. Returning to the rebuilt Lakota village, the Mustang finds Rain still alive. Little Creek finally gives the Mustang a name, Spirit Who Could Not Be Broken, and releases him and Rain to go back to Spirit's homeland.