SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMMARON
US, 2002, 84 minutes, Colour.
Voices of Matt Damon, James Cromwell, Daniel Studi.
Directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook.
There is something about the speed, energy and beauty of galloping horses that appeals to audiences of all ages. A long tradition of movie horses has won over children and their parents: Flicka, National Velvet, The Black Stallion. Of course, a great part of their appeal was that it was youngsters who loved the horses, cared for them, trained them and made us love them.
A lot of children, and probably their parents, are going to add Spirit to their list. What is different about Spirit is that he is a computergraphic horse, a product of the growing skills in today's computer animation. He is not alone. We see his birth and early years and his love for his mother. We see him grow up and become the leader of the herd as they roam the desert canyons and the forests of the American west.
Another feature that is different is that Spirit tells his own story (with the voice of Matt Damon). The horses do not speak in this film as they do in other animated features. They do whinny and neigh in a manner that convinces you that they understand and that they are communicating with one another. As with most American animation, there are cute moments (and the horses all have the traditional Disney doe-eyes), but because the horses do not talk, it gives a stronger dimension to the film. We are looking at animal-animals not people animals. Voices are left to the humans.
Spirit tells us that he went on a journey. It is a journey through the 19th century history of the American West. At first, the horses roam free, encountering the buffalo herds, warding off attacks from cougars, moving through the range of seasonal weather. The landscapes are drawn with great beauty. Then the humans invade. The military capture Spirit and go to great lengths to tame him. He resists mightily and makes his escape with an Indian prisoner who seems to him different from the whites. He is better treated in the Indian camp, but still wants to be free. Again he is captured and made to work on the expanding railroads, the herd dragging an engine over a mountain until Spirit loosens it and its crashes down the slope setting the forest ablaze. These sequences are quite magnificent.
There is even more but this gives a taste of a film that works at many levels: of family entertainment, of a message about animals and their freedom in their environment, of the invasion of the military into Indian lands, of the plight of the Indians. As with all animated films since Disney, the Americans feel a need to insert songs into the story. While they comment on the plot here, some of us could well have done without them - but perhaps we can put up with them.
1. And entertaining film for children, for adults? For Americans and a glimpse of their history?
2. The quality of the animation, the drawings and their style, the significance of the scenery, its varied nature, layouts? The action sequences, the horses galloping? The military, the Indians? The chases? The horses dragging the engine up the mountainside, its coming loose, crashing and setting the forest alight? Spirit's final leap across the chasm? Computer graphics and the possibilities of creating such action on computers for animation?
3. The musical background, Bryan Adams' songs? Adding to the narrative, commenting on the plot and characters? Their style, sentiment?
4. The fact that the animals did not speak? Their whinnying and neighing as means of communication? Their looks at one another? Suggesting communication and understanding?
5. The voice of Spirit by Matt Damon? A voice-over rather than conversation? Enabling the horse to remain a horse while the audience understanding the horse and his experiences? The voice of the Colonel? Of Little Creek?
6. The primeval forests of the United States and the West? Their beauty, unspoilt? The buffalo and their roaming and feeding and watering? The horses, the herds, the birth of the foal, dependent on its mother, growing up, racing with the herd? Becoming leader? Defending the herd against the cougar attack?
7. The presence of the military, their invasion of the West, of Indian territory? Capturing the horses? Spirit and his bewilderment, being corralled? The confrontation with the soldiers, his hitting and kicking? (And some humorous touches?) The attempts to tame him and ride him? His being deprived of food and drink for three days? The Colonel riding him - then being thrown? The confrontation between the Colonel and Spirit?
8. Little Creek, his being tied up, the parallel with Spirit? Spirit and his bewilderment about their treatment of Little Creek? His finally escaping, taking Little Creek with him? Going to the Indian settlement? Again corralled, a different kind of treatment? Learning the ways of humans? Being more tolerant?
9. His seeing Rain, the attraction? Her being an Indian horse? The other horses and their observation of Spirit, especially the military horses sympathising with his treatment of the soldiers? The Indian horses?
10. Going away with Little Creek, the military attacking the Indian village? The little child with Spirit?
11. Spirit being captured again, being taken to the railroad, in the team dragging the engine up the hill, his rebellion, cutting loose, the engine careering out of control, destructive, spectacular? The forest fire? His escape and Little Creek finding him?
12. Out in the desert again, free? The final pursuit of the military, the chases through the canyons? Escaping to the top of the mesa? The Colonel confronting Spirit? His decision to run and leap? The Colonel respecting this and not allowing him to be shot?
13. The return to the camp, seeing Rain? Going away to find the herd again, across the territories, his mother, roaming free?
14. The film as an entertainment about horses, about animals in the wild, about animals in their environment? American history of the 19th century, the taking over the land, the animals, the invasion of the military, the effect on the Indians?
