Cast (voices): Matt Damon, James Cromwell, Daniel Studi
Directors: Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook
Producers: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Mireille Soria
Screenplay: John Fusco
Music: Hans Zimmer
Songs: Bryan Adams
U.S. Distributor: Dreamworks Pictures
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a classic "kids' movie" - not a "family movie", as most recent animated movies have been described, but a "kids' movie". Frankly, aside from some gorgeous artwork, there's nothing in this movie to interest a viewer over the age of about 10. Unlike Dreamworks' previous animated effort, the computer-generated Shrek, this movie isn't interested in appealing to an all-age audience. It has its sights set on prepubescent movie-goers. Parents accompanying their offspring will not be bored out of their minds by Spirit. The storyline is simple but engaging; however, this isn't the kind of motion picture that lone adults will seek out.
The group most likely to appreciate Spirit is comprised of young girls. As everyone knows, there's some sort of non-verbal connection between girls and horses, and the marketing people have acknowledged that in the way they have put together the promotional material for the film. The average boy, on the other hand, views a horse as a prop in a Cowboys and Indians scenario. The interest on the male side of the elementary school gender gap will be considerably less enthusiastic.
Dreamworks does some interesting things with this movie. To begin with, it's a Western - a genre that has all but gone to Boot Hill. (You probably have to go back to the adventures of Fievel to find another animated Western of any kind.) In the second place, the filmmakers have decided not to allow the animals to talk - a big plus as far as I'm concerned, albeit a risky proposition. I don't think it would have worked if the horses had engaged in deep conversations with each other. Unfortunately, since there aren't always humans on hand to enrich the soundtrack with dialogue, we're subjected to about a half-dozen painful songs that are crooned by Bryan Adams, whose voice sounds more hoarse than it did when he was a hot commodity. Hans Zimmer's score is perfect for the material. Sadly, every time we're enjoying the visuals and the music, Adams starts singing and ruins the effect.
"They say that the history of the West was told from the saddle of the horse. But it's never been told from the heart of one before." With those words from the narrator (Matt Damon), Spirit opens with the birth of the title character, a mustang colt who grows into a mighty stallion. As an adult, Sprit finds his world threatened by the arrival of the White Man to the frontier. After a wild chase, a group of these interlopers capture the horse by throwing nooses around his neck. For a while, Spirit is penned inside a fort under the watchful eye of an army colonel who is determined to break him. But luck intervenes and Sprit escapes from the cavalry - only to be caught by Indians. But his treatment at their hands is more kind, and he learns that all human beings are not interested in subjugation. Also, during his time with the Indians, he meets the mare of his dreams.
The storyline for Spirit is infused with the kind of reverse approach to Westerns that has been in favor since Dances with Wolves. The Indians are the good guys; the cowboys and soldiers are the villains. Spirit's twin morals of tolerance and harmony with nature are simplistic and unsubtle (as one would expect from a children's feature). For the most part, this is a straightforward adventure with enough action to keep just about any child involved for the 80-minute running time.
Due to the limited screen time accorded to humans, this is a rare occasion when voice casting is almost irrelevant. There are only three significant speaking parts. The narrator is Matt Damon (whose voice is so generic that I didn't recognize it). Daniel Studi provides the vocal persona of Indian Little Creek. And James Cromwell is the Cavalry Colonel who develops a long-standing feud with Spirit after his initial attempts to break the horse result in failure.
One area in which Spirit excels is its animation. Easily the equal of anything to come out of Disney's studios in the past decade, Spirit's artwork is virtually without flaw. The movie was directed by the team of Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook, both of whom were storyboard artists on Dreamworks' The Prince of Egypt. Their work, and the efforts of the animators toiling under their direction, has resulted in a richly textured motion picture. And, since the horses do not talk, the task falls to the animators to have the animals communicate and convey emotion through actions. As a result, there's a distinctly "human quality" to the horses' facial expressions.
Despite entering an already crowded summer blockbuster season, Spirit has enough of a unique niche that it needn't be intimidated by the presence of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Spider-Man. While there may be some spillover, the target audiences are different. Those for whom Spirit was made will find this to be a thoroughly enjoyable production. As a "kids' movie", Spirit is a resounding success.
© 2002 James Berardinelli