When a film can be enjoyed and analyzed by both adults and children, the mature themes can resonate with people of all ages. More importantly, it leaves a lot of wiggle room for telling a story that can grow with an audience and allow them to understand the bigger picture as they grow up. Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook’s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) encapsulates the essence of the Old West and what it means to break free from the bonds of oppression while still portraying Native American people in a respectful manner. The overall theme of freedom is the common goal seen between both a human character and a horse, further proving that it doesn’t matter who or what you are, freedom, at its core, is a necessity.
Spirit is about a wild stallion that lets his curiosity lead him into trouble. While settling down to go to sleep with his family he spots campfires in the distance and sets off to investigate, much to his mother’s disapproval. When he finds sleeping U.S. Soldiers camping out, he accidentally wakes them up which leads to his capture and the start of his journey to get back home. Spirit (narrated by Matt Damon) finds himself having to fight for his freedom for the rest of the film with the help of a captured Native American by the name of Little Creek (voiced by Daniel Studi). The two of them work together throughout the film which allows Spirit to learn that not all humans are bad and that some have a respect for horses. Because of the relationships he forms, he finds himself willing to sacrifice his own freedom, which is his main goal, for the well being of others. While the rest of the film can be seen as repetitive because of the cycle of Spirit getting captured by the soldiers and breaking free over and over again, the messages within the film stand strong. The main takeaway is the message of freedom being worth fighting for.
This idea of freedom is seen in both Spirit and Little Creek through their interactions and overall ideals. However, it can first be seen in the beginning of the film when Spirit is a colt. His curious nature causes him to lick an icicle for water, which then leads him to get his tongue stuck to it. He prevents getting stuck on the icicle by breaking it off and carrying it with him when he goes to see his mom. In general, Spirit is also presented throughout the film as having his freedom whenever he isn’t being forced to use saddles, reins, spurs, and more. It gives the horses less of a sense of being owned and makes it even more noticeable when he does get tied up tightly by the Colonel (voiced by James Cromwell) and his men when he is first brought to their camp. Especially when they try to cut his hair, brand him, and clean his hooves, much to Spirit’s dismay. All of these actions have never been done to him because he is a wild horse, therefore making him even more against it. During this scene he’s fighting back against the men, to try and get them to stop what they are doing and give him his freedom back. Spirit has to fight even more for his freedom when the Colonel claims that, “any horse can be broken.” The Colonel then proceeds to put on a show by having his men, and later himself, try to tame Spirit by riding him like a bull in a pen. Spirit’s resilience and unwillingness to give up during these sequences inspires the other penned up horses. They even cheer Spirit on when he bucks off some of the men off of his back. When the film progresses on and Little Creek is introduced by being brought to the camp, it is then noticeable that both characters have an overlapping slave-revolt story. When the two of them first meet, it is noticeable that they are treated similarly by the Colonel and his men. Both are looked down upon, tied up, and starved for their disobedience. Because of Spirit’s lack of interaction with humans, he is very tongue and cheek with Little Creek, who is very playful and doesn’t take offense; he is amused by Spirit’s personality. It is when Spirit is about to be shot by the Colonel for bucking him off his back, that Little Creek intervenes by knocking the gun out of the Colonel’s hand at 33:40. The two of them then ride off and mutually agree to help free the other horses, giving them their freedom. However, after they escape Spirit assumes the worst when Little Creek and his men loosely tie him up and bring him to their camp. He believes they’re going to treat him poorly like the Colonel and his men, but, ultimately, he is proven wrong. The Native Americans treat the horses with respect and care. It’s mainly shown through Little Creek’s interactions with a horse named Rain. She loves Little Creek and is treated like family by him and the other Natives, by being able to run around in the open and play with them. Rain show’s Spirit this freedom by going out to apple trees with him and allowing him to grab an apple by himself, which he ultimately splits with her. With her help and some time, Spirit opens up to Little Creek. Their dynamic is overall very playful, partially because Spirit refuses to let Little Creek ride him. This is because of his desire for freedom. He doesn’t want to be ridden because he doesn’t want to belong to someone other than himself.
It ultimately comes down to Little Creek respecting Spirit’s wishes of not wanting to be ridden, and by doing so, he even says to Spirit that, “No one should” ride him. He then encourages Spirit to leave so he can have his freedom by saying at 46:27, “You can go. It’s okay, go.” Little Creek understands that Spirit longs for his freedom and wants to give that to him. He clearly empathizes with Spirit because he and his people have been treated terribly by the U.S. Soldiers like Spirit has. Both find themselves having to move around, because of the soldiers, in order to maintain their freedom and avoid westernization. This is made clear when the Colonel and his men savagely storm Little Creek’s camp and force Spirit to come back and risk his freedom again in order to save Little Creek’s life as well as Rain’s. After having his life saved by Spirit --who knocked the gun away from the Colonel like Little Creek had done for him earlier on in the movie-- Little Creek tears up as Spirit is taken away by the soldiers, once again having his freedom taken away. Understanding this sacrifice, Little Creek whispers at 53:28, “You saved my life.” He takes this heroic gesture seriously and makes it his mission to rescue Spirit and help him get his freedom back. Little Creek is able to do this toward the very end of the movie when Spirit is forced to work at the railroads with the other horses. These horses have given up hope. It's evident based on how low their heads are bowed while they pull the train. Spirit hasn’t given up hope, especially when he realizes that the U.S. soldiers are planning on spreading out to his homeland where his family is. He’s even more driven to prevent this because, while he was hauled on the train ride with the other horses, he had a vision of his family running freely. In a plan to stop this from happening, he pretends to faint and manages to escape. He literally and symbolically breaks the chains that have shackled him for his freedom and, in the process, causes a fire. This fire spreads rapidly and Spirit ends up trapped because his chain gets caught on a log which allows Little Creek to swoop into the scene and help him break free once more.
While saving Spirit, Little Creek says at 1:05:38, “I knew I would find you.” He greets Spirit as a friend and the two escape only to be chased after by the Colonel and his men yet again. This prompts Spirit to allow Little Creek to ride him, in order to make sure the man makes it out alive. When pursued further, Little Creek is riding Spirit bareback, which is respectful to Spirit and, in turn, allows Little Creek and Spirit to successfully escape the Colonel and his men. This is because of how free and unconstricted the two of them are and the overall trust they both have for each other. The Colonel and his men all have their horses encumbered with saddles and reins which prevents the horses from being able to have all of the possible freedom they could while chasing. This is partially because there is a lack of respect the soldiers have for the horses. They just see them as a means of transportation, whereas Little Creek sees Spirit as a being with desires, needs, and thoughts of his own. The lack of constraints on Spirit allows Little Creek to jump off of Spirit’s back to avoid the surroundings in the canyon as they escape. At the end of this scene, Spirit displays the utmost freedom he has by making a huge leap across the divide between the canyons, conveying that he is as free as an eagle in this moment. It’s right after this moment that the Colonel breaks his mold of being a foil character. Instead of trying again to take away Little Creek and Spirit’s freedom like he had for the majority of the movie, he instead nods his head to them, finally understanding their desire for freedom. He then rides away with his men, letting Little Creek and Spirit be free at last. At the end of the film, Spirit brings Little Creek back to his people and reunites with Rain. He is, then again, forced to make the hard decision of whether he should stay or go. Ultimately, Spirit decides to go and Little Creek even encourages Rain to go with Spirit because he understands that’s what her heart desires. He says his goodbye to her before turning to Spirit and saying, “Take care of her Spirit who could not be broken. I’ll miss you my friend.” While both of these characters clearly come from different walks of life, they resonated with each other's struggles and understood each other without needing to vocalize it.
The theme of freedom is also symbolically represented by an eagle character. This eagle is shown within the first few seconds of the film flying across the screen and continues to come and go throughout. Toward the beginning of the film, Spirit is shown running with the eagle. This imagery presents his freedom and how happy it makes him. However, when Spirit gets captured at 18:01 by soldiers, the eagle tries to follow him but ultimately leaves, symbolizing Spirit’s freedom being taken away unwillingly. The eagle then appears again after Spirit becomes used to living with Rain, Little Creek, and the rest of Little Creek’s people. However, this time it symbolizes that, even though he has grown to love living with them, he still misses his family and the freedom that came with being with them. He’s ultimately presented with a tough decision of deciding whether or not he should stay. Finally, the eagle shows up at the very end of the film when Spirit decides to go back to his family with Rain, who was scared of freedom but always had the option to pursue it, earlier on in the film. The two of them are running freely and the eagle comes and flies near them, showing that the horses have obtained their freedom at last.
Overall, both Little Creek and Spirit exhibit a willingness and determination to seek out their freedom as well as help others obtain their freedom. It’s what makes them great protagonists in the film because they seek to do good and don’t give up when situations get tough. This concept of freedom as a whole is represented through visuals like the breaking of chains, or use of horseback riding gear, but most importantly by incorporating the eagle character that comes and goes during important parts of the film. While animation has evolved greatly since this film came out in 2002, the story holds up to the test of time.
Sources Cited
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), Directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook, Voice Acting/Narration Performances by: Matt Damon, Daniel Studi, James Cromwell,
and Chopper Bernet, DreamWorks Pictures and DreamWorks Animation, 2002.