Starring (the voices of): Matt Damon, James Cromwell, Daniel Studi
Director: Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook
Category: I
The second of this summer's big-studio animated efforts to hit our shores, DreamWorks' Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron follows the Disney lead in that, like Lilo & Stitch, it is a return to the more traditional values of the genre.
The main advance in the animation is that the film-makers combine hand-drawn images with computer-generated work. But the story itself is a classic goodversus-evil yarn aimed right at the heart of the family market. Strangely, though, for a film with many good messages, this is a Spirit that lacks any real soul.
The Spirit in question is a stallion (voiced by Matt Damon) living in America's Wild West. He happily roams the wilderness with his fellow neddies. One day, though, darkness descends on his life in the shape of The Colonel (James Cromwell), who's out to conquer the West and everything in it. Spirit is captured by horse traders and sold to the soldiers, who then try to break his will. But a friend appears in the form of a Native American boy, Little Creek (Daniel Studi). The pair form an alliance (with a little help from Little Creek's mare Rain, who captures Spirit's heart) and try to reach safety. Things go wrong again and Spirit ends up working with the pack horses on the railways - but this is a Spirit that cannot be broken and he fights for his survival, and for freedom.
