Spirit

Lore & Background

The franchise began with the 2002 film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, set in the Old West in the late 19th century. 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. The film was directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook, in their feature directional debuts, from a screenplay by John Fusco.

It was released in theaters on May 24, 2002. In July 2014, the film's distribution rights were purchased by DreamWorks Animation from Paramount Pictures and transferred to 20th Century Fox before reverting to Universal Studios in 2018. The television series Spirit Riding Free, created by Aury Wallington, premiered on Netflix on May 5, 2017. Set in the small frontier town of Miradero, it follows Lucky Prescott, a 12-year-old girl who had recently relocated from the city.

She encounters a wild Kiger mustang named Spirit. Lucky immediately bonds with the stallion and also makes friends with Pru Granger and Abigail Stone. The girls call themselves the PALs. The series spawned a short-form series titled Pony Tales, a spin-off series titled Riding Academy, and two television specials.

The 2021 film Spirit Untamed is a re-imagined version of the show Spirit Riding Free. Directed by Elaine Bogan, in her feature directorial debut, and co-directed by Ennio Torresan Jr., it follows a young girl named Fortuna "Lucky" Prescott who moves to the small rural community of Miradero, where she meets the titular wild Kiger mustang whom she names "Spirit" and immediately begins to bond with him. The film was released in the United States on June 4, 2021.

Reader's Guide

The Spirit franchise includes multiple films and television series. The original 2002 film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards. The television series Spirit Riding Free premiered on Netflix in 2017 and introduced Lucky Prescott as a main protagonist alongside Spirit. It spawned a short-form series titled Pony Tales (premiered August 9, 2019), a spin-off series titled Riding Academy (premiered April 3, 2020), and two television specials: Spirit Riding Free: Spirit of Christmas (premiered December 6, 2019) and Spirit Riding Free: Ride Along Adventure (premiered December 8, 2020).

A series titled Spirit & Friends, inspired by the characters from Spirit Riding Free and taking place in the same setting of Spirit Untamed, was released on YouTube on February 12, 2022, and later on Peacock. The cast trio of Spirit Untamed (Merced, Martin, and Grace) reprised their roles. A book series called "Spirit of the West" was released by writer Kathleen Duey shortly after the movie, telling the story of Spirit's family lineage and herd.