Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is an animated film released in 2002 by Dreamworks Pictures. It follows the adventures of a Kinger mustang stallion who is nameless until the end of the movie.

Animation and Sound

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was made using a conscious blend of traditional hand-drawn animation and computer animation in a technique the film's creators dubbed "tradigital animation." In the sound department, recordings of real horses were used for the sounds of the many horse characters' hoof beats as well as their vocalizations. None of the animal characters in the movie speak English beyond occasional reflective narration from the protagonist Mustang. The background score was composed by Hans Zimmer, with songs from Bryan Adams.

"It follows the adventures of a Kinger mustang stallion who is nameless until the end of the movie."

There were no "Kingers" (or "Kigers" either) in the western US in those days! Most of the stock there, and then, was descended from the Conquistador's war horses(the true, pure Spanish mustangs, not the B.L.M.'s mixed modern breeds of today), and possibly the ponies of the early Norse explorers(the Indian's pintos). Some mustangs may even have traced back to horses brought over by the Phoenicians (that were origionaly imported by these ancient seafarers from Iberia, so they were also Spanish). Contact the University of Kentucky for an analysis of the genetics of the modern Kiger horse breed.

Storyline

The movie opens with the Mustang's birth and some scenes from his formative years as he grows into a stallion, taking control of a herd of horses living in the Cimarron Strip . After becoming too curious for his own good and investigating a human camp, he is captured and sold to the United States Army, who in the movie are fighting the Indian Wars. There he encounters a Colonel (based on Colonel Custer, in the movie he is known simply as "The Colonel"), who becomes somewhat obsessed with taming the wild horse. He eventually escapes with the aid of a Lakota man named Little Creek, falling in love with Little Creek's Paint mare, Rain. After an attack on the Lakota village by the Army regiment led by the Colonel, Rain is injured and the Mustang is again captured. He is sold as a workhorse for the Transcontinental Railroad. The Mustang manages to work a little sabotage and escape, reuniting with Little Creek. The climax has Little Creek and the Mustang running from the Colonel and his men, eventually leaping over a large canyon to safety. Returning to the rebuilt Lakota village, the Mustang finds Rain still alive. Little Creek finally gives the Mustang a name, Spirit Who Could Not Be Broken, and releases him and Rain to go back to Spirit's homeland.