| Spirit Untamed | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Elaine Bogan |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on |
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| Produced by | Karen Foster |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | R. Orlando Duenas |
| Music by | Amie Doherty |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million[2] |
| Box office | $42.7 million[3][4] |
Spirit Untamed is a 2021 American animatedadventure film directed by Elaine Bogan and co-directed by Ennio Torresan Jr., written byAury Wallington andKristin Hahn. The second theatrical film of theSpirit franchise, it is asoft reboot[5] ofSpirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and is based on characters fromNetflix spin-off series,Spirit Riding Free.
With the voices ofIsabela Merced,Jake Gyllenhaal,Marsai Martin,Mckenna Grace,Julianne Moore,Walton Goggins, andAndre Braugher, the film is about a young girl named Fortuna "Lucky" Prescott who moves to the small rural community of Miradero, where she meets the titular wildkiger mustang. As the son of Spirit and Rain fromSpirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, she names the horse "Spirit" after his father, and Lucky immediately begins to bond with him. The film was announced to be in development in October 2019, and production was done remotely during theCOVID-19 pandemic. The film was dedicated to the memory ofKelly Asbury, the co-director of the originalSpirit film, who died on June 26, 2020.
Spirit Untamed was theatrically released in the United States on June 4, 2021. The film received mixed reviews from critics who deemed the film inferior to the original and unnecessary, though its animation and humor was praised. The film was abox-office failure and grossed over $42 million worldwide against a budget of $30 million, making it both DreamWorks Animation's cheapest film and its lowest-grossing film to date.
In the early 1900s[6] in theWild West, Milagro Navarro-Prescott performs her trademark act in thecircus until she falls from a horse during one of her performances and dies. Years later, her young daughter, Fortuna "Lucky" Esperanza Navarro-Prescott has been living with her aunt Cora and grandfather James in a city on the east coast. However, after Lucky lets aflying squirrel in their house and ruins her grandfather's campaign party, she and Cora head to the western town of Miradero where they will stay with Lucky's father Jim, whom Lucky has not really known after the incident with Milagro, for the summer. On the train over, Lucky notices akiger mustang running with his herd and goes to the back of the train to meet him. Upon arriving in Miradero, the pair meet local young riders Pru Granger (and her father Al), and Abigail Stone (and her brother Snips).
The next day, Lucky goes to a corral where she sees the same horse from before. A man named Hendricks is trying to break the horse and treating it abusively. Lucky tells Jim and Cora about the horse, thinking he can be her new friend, but Jim does not want Lucky to go near the horses after what happened to Milagro. Nonetheless, Pru and Abigail help Lucky win over the trust of the horse, whom she names Spirit (naming him after his father from theoriginal movie.). After a while, Spirit trusts Lucky enough to eat an apple she offers him and allows her to pet him, sealing their bond.
Lucky attempts to ride Spirit but he escapes from the corral and runs away, while Lucky is saved by Pru and Abigail after almost falling off a cliff. Jim finds and reprimands Lucky for disobeying him. They go home arguing, making Lucky think he has given up on her. She sneaks out at night through the forest where she finds Spirit and his herd together, but is interrupted by Hendricks and his men, who capture all the horses but Spirit and take them in with a stolen train. Knowing Hendricks and his men arewranglers, who are taking the horses to a boat to be auctioned and worked to death, Lucky agrees to help Spirit rescue his herd. She enlists Pru and Abigail with their horses to embark on a journey to try and cut the wranglers off on their path by beating them to awater depot located beyond a summit called Heck Mountain. During the trip, Lucky builds up her relationship with Spirit and becomes good friends with Pru and Abigail as they travel.
The girls reach the water depot the night before the wranglers are set to arrive, but Lucky wakes up the next day realizing the wranglers made it earlier than expected. Spirit desperately attempts to save his herd on his own but gets taken in by the wranglers. Determined to save Spirit, Lucky and her friends follow the train to the docks, where the wranglers are boarding the horses onto the boat. The girls arrive too late to stop the boat from leaving, but they manage to save Spirit. Lucky and Spirit get on board by leaping off the docks, free the other horses, and subdue the wranglers, with Spirit knocking Hendricks off the boat. Jim, Cora, and Al show up on a fast steam train and arrest Hendricks and the other wranglers.
On their way back to Miradero, the girls travel to a field in the middle of the wilderness, and Lucky lets Spirit go, saying that he needs to stay with his herd. When she returns home, Lucky and Cora initially plan to return to the city, but after Lucky bonds with Jim at a rodeo, she decides instead to stay in Miradero with him and her friends, as Spirit is seen riding through the fields with his herd.
On October 7, 2019,DreamWorks Animation announced that a spin-off film ofSpirit: Stallion of the Cimarron as well as an adaptation of its spin-off TV seriesSpirit Riding Free was in development, with Elaine Bogan serving as director and Ennio Torresan Jr. serving as co-director from a script by series developerAury Wallington, and produced by Karen Foster.[9] WhileSpirit Riding Free explores the characters of Lucky and her PALS,Spirit Untamed focuses deeper for Lucky in an emotional take in the standalone film that's not a sequel to the original nor the TV series.[10][11]
The film would be produced on a lower budget and be made by a different animation studio outside of DreamWorks, similar toCaptain Underpants: The First Epic Movie.[9] Following the first trailer, it was confirmed thatJellyfish Pictures, who worked onHow to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming, would be providing the animation for the film, making Jellyfish's first animated project for over 300 people working on it.[12][13] The film uses a style that is a mix of 3D with the look of a handpainted look fromRiding Free, taking about 1300 shots, 25 of which were animated by Jellyfish, and used 2D drawings to make 3D maquettes, some of which were supplied by DreamWorks.[14] Additional animation was provided by 88 Pictures fromTrollhunters: Rise of the Titans, and model rigging for the characters was provided by Minimo VFX.
Production of the film started in August 2019 and shifted to work remotely during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[15]
On May 6, 2021,Amie Doherty, composer for the DreamWorks Animation short filmMarooned, was confirmed to be composing the music for the film, replacingHans Zimmer who composed the score forSpirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Doherty was the first woman to compose a DreamWorks film.[16] The following day, a single titled "Fearless (Valiente Duet)", written by Doherty and performed byIsabela Merced andEiza González, was released byBack Lot Music.[17] A second single, titled "You Belong", performed byBecky G, was released on May 21, 2021.[18] A soundtrack of the film was released on May 28, 2021, and additionally,Robin Pecknold ofFleet Foxes is featured on several tracks contributing vocal harmonies along with Eiza González. "Riding Free", the theme song fromSpirit Riding Free by Kari Kimmel, is featured inUntamed.[19]
Spirit Untamed was theatrically released on June 4, 2021, byUniversal Pictures.[20] It was previously scheduled for May 14, 2021.[9] The film was released on digital rental on June 24, 2021, on streaming servicesApple TV andAmazon Prime Video.
Spirit Untamed was released onDVD andBlu-ray on August 31, 2021, byUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment through Studio Distribution Services LLC in the United States.
It was then released on DVD and Blu-Ray as a "Special Sleepover Edition" on October 25, 2021, byWarner Bros. Home Entertainment in the United Kingdom which features an hour of special features including "How to" sessions on how to create your own indoor "campfire", how to Ukulele, and how to make smores, meet the cast, drawing Spirit, finding your Spirit, deleted scenes and sing-along videos. It was later released onHulu on November 3, 2021. The film grossed $2.9 million in home video sales.[21]
Spirit Untamed grossed $17.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $25 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $42.7 million.[3][4]
In the United States,Spirit Untamed was released alongsideThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 3,200 theaters in its opening weekend.[22][2] The film made $2.4 million on its first day, and went on to debut to $6.3 million, finishing fourth at the box office.[23][24] In its sophomore weekend the film dropped 57% to $3.8 million, finishing sixth.[25]
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 47% based on 116 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "While it might be a passable diversion for younger viewers,Spirit Untamed is a middling sequel that lacks the essential energy suggested by its title."[26] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[27] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same as the 2002 film.PostTrak reported 87% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 66% saying they would definitely recommend it.[24]
Lovia Gyarke ofThe Hollywood Reporter praised the film for its animation, writing "Spirit Untamed is beautiful to look at and occasionally genuinely funny. The stunning and detailed animations saturate Lucky's world with an impressive array of colors, from the crimson apples she feeds Spirit to the pistachio and emerald-green leaves on the swaying trees". However, in criticizing the character of Spirit, she noted that Spirit "is more one-dimensional here; he lacks the simultaneous mix of curiosity and complete disdain for humans that made his perspective charming in the first place."[28]
Pete Hammond ofDeadline praised the film for its female cast, stating that "After all the decades of boy-driven stories set in the wild West, it is refreshing to see the girls get their turn...And that is exactly whatSpirit: Riding Free writerAury Wallington andKristin Hahn have in mind, along with their director Elaine Bogan and producer Karen Foster." Additionally, Hammond praised the soundtrack and vocal performances, which he wrote were "perfectly pitched here, a step above the TV show if not quite up to the artistry of the original film."[29]
Peter Debruge ofVariety was critical of the film's animation, stating the film "substitutes unappealingly designed, obviously digital characters, who've been badly rigged and stuck in under-detailed environments." He also added that "Spirit still looks like Spirit, but neither the horse nor the girl (who's voiced bylive-action Dora actorIsabela Merced) has much of a personality, while the plot is less sophisticated than what audiences might expect from an early-20th-century single-reel silent movie."[30] Beatrice Loayza ofThe New York Times gave the film a negative review, stating that "This spinoff ofSpirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a bland, bubbly romp through the Wild West, with a heavy dose of girl power."[31]
Jesse Hassenger ofThe A.V. Club gave the film a C+, stating that "As a Dreamworks production,Spirit Untamed carries inarguable novelty: It's a sweet, simple Western, relaxed about its identity as a girl-centric adventure story, in contrast to bigger DreamWorks cartoons sweaty about their desire to draw eyeballs fromPixar andMinions". He also praised the film for its expansion of the original series, noting that "Spirit Untamed essentially retells, modifies, and expands the events of the show's pilot."[32]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heartland Film Festival | 2021 | Truly Moving Picture Award | — | Won |
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 17, 2021 | Best Original Score - Animated Film | Amie Doherty | Nominated |
| Best Original Song - Animated Film | Fearless (Valiente) – Amie Doherty (Isabela Merced andEiza González) | Nominated | ||
| Annie Awards[33] | March 12, 2022 | Best Storyboarding | Gary Graham | Nominated |
| Imagen Awards[34] | October 2, 2022 | Best Feature Film | — | Nominated |
A video game adaptation, titledSpirit: Lucky's Big Adventure, was released on June 1, 2021, on PC,PlayStation 4,Xbox One andNintendo Switch. The game was developed by Aheartfulofgames and released byOutright Games.[35]
Spirit Untamed, in partnership with the hair care and horse care companyMane 'n Tail, would sponsorStarCom Racing driverQuin Houff in the NASCAR Cup Series for select races. Throughout the midway point of the2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Houff would do numerous events including autograph signings with specialSpirit Untamed merchandise being made. As of June 27, 2021, Houff has raced the scheme four times, once at theCircuit of the Americas, once atNashville Superspeedway, and two during thePocono Raceway doubleheader. Houff would finish 34th at COTA with a DNF, 38th at Nashville with a DNF, 31st at Pocono-1, on the lead lap, and 33rd at Pocono-2, 5 laps down.
On February 9, 2022, DreamWorks announced a new seriesSpirit & Friends inspired by the characters fromSpirit Riding Free, which takes place in the setting ofSpirit Untamed and release has begun onYouTube on February 12.[36]
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