Spirit: The story that I want to tell you cannot be found in a book. They say the history of the West was written from the saddle of the horse... but it's never been told from the heart of one. Not till now. I was born here, in this place that would come to be called "The Old West". But to my kind, the land was ageless. It had no beginning, and no end. No boundary between earth and sky. Like the wind in the buffalo grass, we belonged here... we would always belong here. They say the mustang is the spirit of the West. Whether that West was won or lost in the end, you'll have to decide for yourself. But the story I want to tell you is true. I was there. And I remember... I remember the sun and the sky, and the wind calling my name, in a time when wild horses ran free.
Without even watching the film, try and read the quote while listening to the accompanying soundtrack "Homeland" without getting chills. Not an easy task.
The whole "Horsey" scene with the little Lakota toddler and Spirit seems designed to make you go "d'awwww." Spirit quickly goes from snorting and jerking away in pain when the toddler grabs his nose to comforting and nuzzling her. The cherry on the sundae is the little smile on his face with the toddler leaves; given how he previously felt about humans, it's a small but lovely scene.
Only a small moment, but a telling one nonetheless. Just before Spirit's loaded onto the train and "Sound the Bugle" starts up, one of the train workers pets him kindly and speaks calmly to him, saying that it'll be alright. It's good to see there are 'two-leggeds' that treat horses with genuine compassion, and who aren't Lakota.
While "Sound the Bugle" starts out depressing, it ends on a note of hope. Many viewers who are suffering through depression have cited the final verses as helping them cope:
Then from on high Somewhere in the distance There's a voice that calls "Remember who you are"
If you lose yourself Your courage soon will follow So be strong tonight Remember who you are
Yeah You're a soldier now Fighting in a battle To be free once more Yeah, that's worth fighting for
The other Lakota horses, who are obviously scared, pushing their fear aside to trying cheer Spirit up after they were captured, him joining them after the short dream sequence, and he calming them when they're led off the train. After his initial hostility toward everything related to the two-legged, this is beautiful to see.
When Spirit pretends to collapse from exhaustion, the other horses are afraid he's dead. They soon cheer up and look overjoyed that Spirit's alright and hasn't given up.
Spirit finally letting Little Creek ride him. It doubles as a Moment of Awesome as he allows him in order for them to escape the Colonel's army together.
The moment after they escaped the Colonel at the end, in which Spirit allows Little Creek to ride him so they can return home. Especially since this is a Call-Back to the moment earlier during their training in which Spirit trolled Little Creak by making him think he would let him ride him, only to throw him off.
In particular, the moment after they leap the gorge together. Spirit lands, Little Creek falls off of him, both of them roll to a stop beside each other. Little Creek sits up... and for several long moments, they both just breathe hard and stare at each other, Little Creek holding onto Spirit's mane as the enormity of what just happened sinks in. And in that moment, they're more united than they've ever been.
In a weird sort of way, the Colonel's decision to let Spirit and Little Creek go. He even goes so far as to stop one of his men from shooting and killing the pair of them, before sharing a nod of acknowledgement and respect with Spirit for all he has done (not least of all, jumping a freaking CANYON to escape). It's a Worthy Opponent moment at its finest.
Spirit reuniting with his mother Esperanza at the end, to the fitting music of "I Will Always Return".
Now I know it's true
My every road leads to you
And in the hour of darkness
Your light gets me through.
The understatedness of said reunion. It's like she always knew he'd be back.
Gets even more heartwarming if you realize the symbolism behind this. "Esperanza" is Spanish for "hope."
Spirit's reunion with Rain after he'd thought she'd been killed. Just... d'aaaaawwwwwww!!!
without getting chills. Not an easy task.
