Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (also known as Spirit) is a 2002 American animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook in their directional debuts, and written by John Fusco. The film follows Spirit, a Kiger Mustang stallion, voiced by Matt Damon through inner dialogue, who is captured during the American Indian Wars by the United States Cavalry; he is freed by a Native American man named Little Creek who attempts to lead him back into the Lakota village.

In contrast to the way animals are portrayed in an anthropomorphic style in other animated features, Spirit and his fellow horses communicate with each other through sounds and body language like real horses.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was released in theaters on May 24, 2002, and earned $122.6 million on an $80 million budget. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, losing to Spirited Away.[

The film opens with an eagle flying through various locations in the 19th-century American West. As the proper story begins, a young Kiger Mustang colt, Spirit, is born to a herd of horses. Spirit soon grows into a stallion and assumes the role of leader of the herd, whose duty is to keep the herd safe. Spirit is a courageous leader but has great curiosity. One night, upon spotting a strange light near his herd, the stallion decides to investigate the location, where he finds restrained, docile horses and their human wranglers sleeping around a campfire. They wake up, and seeing him as a magnificent specimen, chase and capture him, taking him to a US cavalry post.

At this time, the US army is fighting the Indian Wars and taking over the soon-to-be western United States. Frightened and confused, Spirit finds himself enslaved among other horses. Then, he encounters "The Colonel", who decides to have the mustang tamed, refusing to believe the idea of Spirit being too stubborn, but Spirit manages to fight off all attempts to tame him. To weaken Spirit, the Colonel orders him tied to a post for three days with no food or water. Meanwhile, a Lakota Native American named Little Creek is also brought into the fort and held captive. Spirit is later supposedly broken in by the Colonel, who speaks his idea of how any wild horse can be tamed. However, Spirit gets a second wind and finally throws him off. Frustrated, the Colonel attempts to shoot him before Little Creek (who frees himself from his bounds with a knife) saves Spirit from being shot as they, along with the rest of the horses, escape from the post. Little Creek's mare, Rain, meets them along with other natives who capture Spirit again.

After returning to the Lakota village, Little Creek tries to tame Spirit with kindness, but Spirit refuses to be ridden. Little Creek ties Spirit and Rain together and, when he tries to leave, she insists on staying, then shows him her world. Spirit begins to warm up to Little Creek and falls in love with Rain. At the end of their time together, Little Creek tries again to ride him, but Spirit is still unwilling. He then decides that Spirit will never be tamed and frees him. As Spirit asks Rain to come with him to his herd, a cavalry regiment led by the Colonel attacks the village. During the vicious battle, the Colonel tries to shoot Little Creek, but Spirit runs into the Colonel and his horse, deflecting the shot and saving Little Creek's life. However, Rain is shot by the Colonel, knocking her into the river. Spirit dives into the river to try to rescue Rain but is unsuccessful and they both plummet over a waterfall. Spirit finds Rain dying from her injuries and stays by her side until the army captures him. Watching Spirit being pulled away, Little Creek arrives, vowing to free him to satisfy his life-debt and follows the men after tending to Rain.

Spirit is loaded onto a train and taken to a work site on the Transcontinental Railroad, where he is put to work pulling a steam locomotive. Realizing that the track will infringe on his homeland, Spirit breaks free from the sledge and breaks the chains holding the other horses. They escape, and the locomotive falls off its wooden sledge and rolls down the hill, chasing Spirit back to the work site. The locomotive demolishes two wooden storage sheds and then slams into another locomotive, causing a massive explosion that sets the forest ablaze. Spirit attempts to escape the fire, but is trapped when the chain around his neck snags on a fallen tree. Little Creek appears in time and saves Spirit, and together they jump into a river to escape the flames.

The next morning, the Colonel and his men find Spirit and Little Creek. Spirit allows Little Creek to ride him and a chase ensues through the Grand Canyon. Eventually, they are trapped by a gorge. Little Creek gives up, but Spirit manages to successfully leap across the canyon. Spirit's move amazes the Colonel; he humbly accepts defeat, stops his men from shooting the two, and allows Spirit and Little Creek to leave. Spirit returns to the rebuilt Lakota village with Little Creek and finds Rain nursed back to health. Little Creek decides to name Spirit the "Spirit-Who-Could-Not-Be-Broken" and sets him and Rain free. The two horses return to Spirit's homeland, eventually reuniting with Spirit's herd.

The eagle from the beginning (that had been seen at various points through the story) reappears and flies upwards into horse-shaped clouds. 1

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