- “Adventure awaits.”
- ―Tagline
Spirit Untamed[1] is an upcoming coumputer animated film that is a sequel/spin-off to the 2002 traditionally-animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, as well as being a reboot of the Netflix series, Spirit Riding Free. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures, the film was directed by Elaine Bogan and co-directed by Ennio Torresan in their feature film directorial debuts and written by the show’s creator Aury Wallington. It is set to be released on June 4, 2021, and will be the 40th feature film of DreamWorks Animation.
Plot
Lucky Prescott never really knew her late mother, Milagro Navarro, a fearless horse-riding stunt performer from Miradero, a small town on the edge of the wide-open frontier. Like her mother, Lucky isn’t exactly a fan of rules and restrictions, which has caused her Aunt Cora no small amount of worry. Lucky has grown up in an East Coast city under Cora’s watchful eye, but when Lucky presses her own luck with one too many risky escapades, Cora picks up stakes and moves them both back with Lucky’s father, Jim, in Miradero. Lucky is decidedly unimpressed with the sleepy little town. She has a change of heart when she meets Spirit, a wild Mustang who shares her independent streak, and befriends two local horseback riders, Abigail Stone and Pru Granger. Pru’s father, stable owner Al Granger, is the best friend of Lucky’s father. When a heartless horse wrangler and his team plan to capture Spirit and his herd and auction them off to a life of captivity and hard labor, Lucky enlists her new friends and bravely embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to rescue the horse who has given her freedom and a sense of purpose, and has helped Lucky discover a connection to her mother’s legacy that she never expected.[2]
Cast
- Isabela Moner as Lucky Prescott[3]
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Jim Prescott
- Julianne Moore as Cora Prescott
- Marsai Martin as Pru Granger
- Mckenna Grace as Abigail Stone
- Walton Goggins as Hendricks
- Andre Braugher as Al Granger
- Eiza González as Milagro Navarro
- Jaxon Andrews as Spirit
- Jana Kayla Disher as Chica Linda
- Ellie Gentile as Boomerang
Development
In October 2019, DreamWorks Animation announced that a feature film based on the Spirit Riding Free series was in development, with Elaine Bogan serving as director and Ennio Torresan serving as co-director from a script by series creator Aury Wallington, and produced by Karen Foster. The film will be produced on a lower budget and be made by a different animation studio outside of DreamWorks, similar to Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. The film was scheduled for a release on May 14, 2021.[4]
Production
In May 2020, production was done remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] In November 2020, the film was delayed to June 11th, 2021.[6]
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Trivia
- Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is DreamWorks' eighth film to become a franchise, after The Prince of Egypt, Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Trolls and The Croods.
- This also has the longest gap for a DreamWorks Animation sequel with the original coming out 19 years ago. Beating The Croods: A New Age.
- This is the seventh DreamWorks Animation film to have a female protagonist, after Chicken Run, Monsters vs. Aliens, The Croods, Trolls, Trolls World Tour, and Abominable.
- This is first theatrical film based on a DreamWorks Animation TV series, not counting Penguins of Madagascar (since that film's plot is unrelated to that of the TV series of the same name).
- This is the fourth DreamWorks Animation sequel not to have its music score composed by the same composer as its predecessor after Penguins of Madagascar (which had its music score composed by Lorne Balfe), Trolls World Tour (which had its music score composed by Theodore Shapiro), and The Croods: A New Age (which had its music score composed by Mark Mothersbaugh); Hans Zimmer composed the music score for the first film while Amie Doherty takes over for this film.
- Thus, it is also the seventh DreamWorks Animation film not to be composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Rupert Gregson-Williams, Henry Jackman, Lorne Balfe, Steve Mazzaro, or Theodore Shapiro, as Amie Doherty takes over as the film's composer; the first three being 2005's Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (which was composed by Julian Nott), 2012's Rise of the Guardians (which was composed by Alexandre Desplat), 2013's The Croods (which was composed by Alan Silvestri), and 2014's Mr. Peabody & Sherman, 2016's Trolls (which was composed by Christophe Beck), and 2020's The Croods: A New Age (which was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh).
- This is the first Spirit film to be rated PG by the MPA, unlike Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was rated G, making it the first and only DreamWorks Animation sequel not to be designated the same MPA rating as its predecessor.
- The fourth animated sequel to be rated PG by the MPAA, unlike the previous installments which were rated G, after Rugrats Go Wild, Finding Dory and Sherlock Gnomes.
- This is the third time none of the original voice cast from a TV series returns to reprise their respective roles in a computer-animated film based on a TV series after Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Sony Pictures Animation's Smurfs: The Lost Village.
- This is the world's first theatrical film based on a Netflix original TV series.
- This is the third animated film to retell the events of a TV series after Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! and Warner Animation Group's Scoob!.
- Thus, not counting Paramount Animation/Nickelodeon Movies' The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (which shares its continuity with the main series, despite SpongeBob first meeting Squidward, Sandy, and Gary the Snail as kids back at Camp Coral), it is also the ninth animated film based on a TV series to take place in an alternate timeline after Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Penguins of Madagascar, Sony Pictures Animation's Smurfs: The Lost Village, Warner Animation Group's The Lego Ninjago Movie, Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us, Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution, and Warner Animation Group's Scoob!.
- It is DreamWorks Animation's first reboot of its own media, due to the film retelling the events of Spirit Riding Free (including its first episode).
