"They say the mustang is the spirit of the West."
Hello everyone!
I can't even fathom it to be honest.
This movie released so long ago at this point!
And yet it's still so great.
Now if only I could find the Sinbad one animated online somewhere ...
I digress. Before I head out to the open waters, I have to head back in time to when the Wild West wasn't just a story, but actually a place to be discovered and, for lack of a better word, tamed.
There's plenty of movies about it out there, but this one is near and dear to my heart, because of course it's about horses. It's Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron.
Spirit tells the story of a Kiger mustang stallion, aptly named Spirit, although he never refers to himself directly as such. In fact, there's no speaking between the animals in this movie, and they communicate as animals do, which is to say with sounds and body language, but you don't have to worry.
You'll understand everything PERFECTLY fine.
Born to inherit the leading position of the Cimarron herd, things go wrong for Spirit after he spies something new in his land which he's never seen before: the spark of a fire. Finding humans, he flees from them, only to lead them to his own herd, and then having to lead them away.
They end up capturing him and taking him to the fort of the US Cavalry, where he meets his nemesis of the movie: the Colonel.
The Colonel believes the West can be tamed, and so can just about any horse, but Spirit refuses to give in even after days without food or water. Right before he could get shot, he's rescued by a Lakota, Little Creek, who was also captured by the soldiers, and together they escape out into the wilderness ... only for Little Creek's people to lasso Spirit again and take him back to their village.
There, he once again refuses to be dominated by anyone, and Little Creek eventually ties his lead rope to his own mare, Rain, a gentle paint horse whom Spirit falls in love with, and thus gradually accepts the Lakotas.
But as he was never meant to be ridden or tamed, he just ... doesn't fulfill the role Little Creek wants him to, and because he's not cruel, the boy sets him free one day.
Spirit tries persuading Rain to come with him, but they notice the Colonel and a troop of his people coming to attack the Lakota village in retaliation for their stolen horses (yeah, Spirit and the kid took off with some of the others ...), so she rushes back to help her human.
Spirit tries to help her, but can't stop her from getting shot; he does, however, push the Colonel off his horse and the shot goes wide. Then he tries rescuing Rain out of the river, but unfortunately both of them go over the waterfall, and he ends up lassoed AGAIN, while she's left for dead.
Thankfully, as this is a family-friendly story, Little Creek finds her to nurse her back to health, and he realizes Spirit saved his life, which prompts him to follow in the horse's tracks so that he can return the favour.
Loaded onto a wagon taking him elsewhere again, Spirit is despondent and practically loses the will for anything and everything, until seeing a vision of his herd running across the land towards him in the snowstorm one night, which revives some of his spirit (pun intended here).
He and the others are put to work dragging a steam locomotive up a steep hill when the path forward can't be blasted with dynamite, and the transcontinental railroad can't stop.
Realizing that this monstrosity will cut straight through his beloved home, Spirit leads the horses in revolt, frees them from the chains, and lets the locomotive tumble back down and crash through everything in its path - also setting a fire to the forest in the process, because oops.
This might have been the end for our brave equine, if not for Little Creek who frees him, and the both of them escape together ... until they're found the next morning by the Colonel and his people, who give chase.
Allowing Little Creek to finally ride him, Spirit dashes through the Grand Canyon like the wild, untamed horse he is, and while every other might have balked or thought it was the end of the road when they reach the top of a path with no apparent way forward, he has only one thing to say to Little Creek's 'Oh no'.
Oh yes.
Clearing a vast distance in a tremendous jump, Spirit earns the respect of the annoying Colonel, who stops his people from shooting them, nods his head, and calls off the pursuit. Little Creek reunites Spirit with Rain, and then frees both horses, seeing their bond and how they're meant to be together. Then, finally, after so many misadventures, Spirit returns home to his beloved land and herd, and he and Rain are free to run together under the western skies.
OMG I got teary-eyed just typing this alone! This movie is just ... perfection. I fell in love with it the very first time I saw it, and not just because horses are my absolute favourite animals. It just has something I can't explain, a heart and message that transcend years and still resonate even today.
Not to mention the killer soundtrack. Hans Zimmer would be a winner any day, but paired with Bryan Adams? The songs Here I Am, Brothers Under the Sun and Sound the Bugle are classics that never fail to raise goose bumps over my skin when I hear them.
In short, this is a must-see for ANY fan of animated feature films, and especially if you love horses. Matt Damon does surprisingly well in this voice-only role, adding a hint of his own mischief to the tale he spins.
Overall, I give this a 10/10 and I'll gladly watch it again, and again, and again.
xx
*images and video not mine
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