Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron (Full Screen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Done
Review: I never watch a movie more than twice, but this movie I watch almost every evening with my little girl before her bed time. There is so much artist diversity I cant get over it. From the old fashioned hand drawn characters to the artist painted mountains and other backdrop to the computer generated grass, trees and its hard to tell at times what else. I think the lack of english dialogue is wonderful. My daughter is just over one and she reacts to the body language as though she understands what is going on. When baby Spirit is born my daughter smiles and laughs each and every time she sees this part, she loves it when he makes his little noises and his mom welcomes him into the world. The music is fantastic, Brian Adams and Hanz are amazing together, not that my growing up with Bryan Adams blaring in the background most of my young life has anything to do with it :) This movie has not been given the publicity and credit it justly deserves. I encourage anyone who gets this DVD to watch all the special features as well because you wont believe the work put into this movie. I recommend this movie for any age.

Rating:
Summary: It's got the spirit!
Review: This Old West adventure follows a saucy dun-colored Mustang stallion from his birth on the plains of the Cimarron to his capture by the U.S. Cavalry, to his escape and his friendly foray into the life of a native American brave, Little Creek, and Little Creek's prized pinto mare, Rain. Rain and Spirit fall forelock over fetlocks for each other, but unstoppable forces drive them apart.

The hands-on or painterly look of traditional animation -- instead of the popular CGI (computer generated imagery) that was used in Shrek and Monsters, Inc. -- seems to have been a significant choice. In doing so, the filmmakers conveyed onto film the same feel that exists in the work of the great Western artists, like Frederic Remington, Charles Russell, and Frank Tenney Johnson. It's familiar and refreshing at the same time, but the really amazing feat is that of the horsey heroes. Their faces are rather stylized (horses don't have eyebrows, folks!) and their eyes have been made with human-like sclera showing to help facilitate a range of expressions, but as someone who knows horses very well, I was continually amazed and delighted by the accuracy of the horse's movements in all gaits, and even swimming and rolling. It's breathtaking.

The DVD's additional release material includes audio commentary from directors Lorna Cook and Kelly Asbury, plus a bonus short "Learn to Draw Spirit with James Baxter", and a featurette "Film Music with Bryan Adams". There is also the obligatory film-to-storyboard comparison, and an interactive game called "Make-A-Movie Studio", which I could not get to work... I guess you have to be about nine years old to figure out some of the more complicated features.

Staci Layne Wilson
Author of Staci's Guide to Animal Movies


Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: Our daughter got this as a gift.She had to hold the case while we were watching this. Was unsure if she would watch this but it kept her focused even though I am sure she doesn't understand the storyline at 2yrs. We enjoyed watching this I am sure you will too!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Best Horse Movie Ever
Review: The theatrical trailer and TV commercial for this movie just did NOT do it any justice, and that's very unfortunate. I just saw the movie with my son - 2 years after the film's premiere - and was just shocked how great this film was! The film's previews made it look amateurish, with wan-looking characters, generic-looking scenery and childish plot. Boy, was I wrong. This is the most MATURE of any recent animated film to date, by which I mean the breadth and intensity of passion, suffering, and redemption of the principal characters, matched by the central theme of indomitable spirit that founded the Native America and the subsequent USA. The facial animation of the horses were rendered with such extraordinary skill that the producers did not have to resort to the annoying cliche of wise-cracking donkey, etc. All of the characters are endowed with diginity befitting the grand epic drama, and I found myself tearing up in the last 10 minutes of the film, which was incredibly moving. (In contrast, "The Incredibles" was pure eye-candy but did not make me laugh or cry. In the context of incredible hype, "the Incredibles" did not measure up to its title.)

Overall, "Spirit" is a rare jewel that is still relatively hidden beneath the mountain of better-known animation cliches. I liked it better than Lion King, Finding Nemo, or any other animation offering for last thirty years. Rent it and check it out for yourself. Most likely, you'll end up buying the DVD.(Gee, I should go work for Dreamworks :) Enjoy. )