Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a DreamWorks Animation film set in the Wild West. The movie follows the story of a mustang stallion named Spirit who resists attempts by two-legged men to enlist him as a beast of burden. The movie is the first to use a new style of animation that blends traditional 2-D and 3-D computer animation, which the producer calls “tradigital.” It is also the first animated film to be shot entirely in point-of-view style, allowing viewers to experience the world as Spirit sees it.
What Kind of Horse Is Spirit?
Spirit is a beautiful mustang stallion and leader of the Cimarron herd. He loves to run free with an eagle flying overhead, but he also remembers his responsibilities. One night, he sees a campfire in the distance and decides to investigate. The other horses urged him to leave, but he is curious about the strangers. He soon realizes that the soldiers are planning to brand, shoe, and break the herd, which he tries to stop.
The stallion’s efforts are unsuccessful, and he is captured. He is taken to an army fort where he defies soldiers’ attempts to bribe him and tame him. His actions anger the Colonel, who orders him to be tied up for three days with no food or water. During this time, the stallion befriends a Lakota Native American named Little Creek.
When the stallion is finally released, he runs back to his herd and warns them of the danger ahead. The herd then makes its way to the fork of the Cimarron River, where a railroad company is constructing a train track. The stallion senses that this machine will threaten their lives with the herd and is able to sabotage it, but he must face the Colonel in one final confrontation before returning to his life of freedom.
After the film’s release, Spirit became a symbol for the fight to protect wild horses and their natural habitats. Today, he lives at Return to Freedom’s American Wild Horse Sanctuary in California and interacts with visitors. He is a proud ambassador for the sanctuary and helps educate people about America’s mustangs and their need for freedom.
The movie was filmed in many different locations, including Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, and other places. The herd of horses that Spirit leads is based on the herd of mustangs at the Mustang Rescue Ranch in Applegate, Oregon. The herd’s mother is a brown and white paint Mustang named Sierra, and her grandmother was a pampered riding horse who once lived in Mexico. Spirit’s dad, Strider, is a black stallion. If a bay horse has one copy of the cream gene, it becomes buckskin, and if it has two copies, it is dun. The film’s color scheme was inspired by this herd.