Spirit Untamed is a 2021 animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was released on June 4, 2021.
An adaptation of Spirit: Riding Free and a standalone Sequel to Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, it specifically serves as an adaptation of events from the first season, making the series the first Netflix/Dreamworks show to receive a feature-length film.
After the death of her mother, Lucky Prescott moves from the city to the country, specifically to Miradero, a small town on the edge of the wide-open frontier to live with her father Jim and Aunt Cora. Much like her mother, Lucky isn't exactly a fan of rules and restrictions and is unsurprisingly unimpressed with Miradero. That is, until she meets Spirit, a wild Mustang who shares her free-spirited and independent personality, and befriends two local horseback riders, Abigail Stone and Pru Granger. So, when a notorious horse wrangler and his group plan to capture Spirit and his herd and auction them off to a life of captivity and hard labor, Lucky enlists her new friends to help her bravely embark on the adventure of a lifetime to rescue the horse who has not only given her freedom and a sense of purpose, but also helped Lucky discover a connection to her mother's legacy that she never expected...
Previews: Trailer
Voice cast:
- Isabela Merced as Lucky Prescott
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Jim Prescott
- Marsai Martin as Pru Granger
- Mckenna Grace as Abigail Stone
- Julianne Moore as Aunt Cora
- Andre Braugher as Al Granger
- Eiza González as Milagro Navarro
- Walton Goggins as Hendricks
Spirit Untamed provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Lucky straight-up fights a trio of villains in the first official trailer, even performing a Roundhouse Kick to the train conductor. In the movie, it's shown to be an Imagine Spot.
- Cora goes along with Jim and Mr. Granger to rescue Lucky and even knocks out some bandits with a boat oar.
- Adaptational Dye-Job: Snips is a blonde instead of a redhead.
- Snips' donkey, Senor Carrots is gray instead of brown.
- The wild herd foal and his mother are palominos instead of a pale brown color.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Abigail Stone seems just slightly less ditzy than her television counterpart, as she seems to have more of a head on her shoulders than Lucky initially.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Aunt Cora is a Downplayed Trope. She witnessed Milagro's performances calling her a "legend" and is much more open to Miradero, even declaring that she was going to stay with Lucky at the end of the movie.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- In the show, Jim and Lucky were shown as extremely close due to him raising her as a single parent with help from his sister Cora. Here, he's been an Absent Father for most of Lucky's life and the two struggle to connect for most of the movie.
- Downplayed with Spirit and Lucky. In the show, Spirit and Lucky form a connection almost immediately and he lets her ride him fairly soon. Here, Lucky needs to slowly earn his trust and it's not until he sees how she's willing to go help his herd does he willingly let her ride him. Also, Spirit stays with his herd rather than go with Lucky, although the ending implies a change of heart.
- Adapted Out: Kate Flores, Maricela, Turo, Mary-Pat, Bianca, Grayson and Butch LePray.
- All Girls Like Ponies: Lucky, Pru, and Abigail are all very affectionate with their respective horses.
- Ambiguous Ending: Will Spirit become Lucky's horse? In their last scene together, they part ways because Lucky realizes that he needs to stay wild, but a Gilligan Cut to Spirit several minutes later when Abigail says Lucky will need a horse implies that will return to Miradero, as happens in the source material.
- Anachronism Stew: Like the original film and series, the timeline is around the mid to late 19th century (1910s at the latest), but the regular wardrobe of Lucky (as seen on the poster above) and her friends looks very 21st century.
- Bait-and-Switch: Jim initially seems disappointed in Lucky for causing a squirrel fiasco in her grandfather's mansion. He turns out to be amused.
- Big Bad: Hendricks, the leader of a gang of horse wranglers.
- Big "WHAT?!": Jim utters one when Snips informs him that Lucky is riding a horse.
- Canon Foreigner: Hendricks is an original character made for this movie to fill the role of a prominent antagonist.
- Chance Meeting Between Antagonists: Lucky first meets Hendricks on her train ride to Miradero. He just so happens to save her when she almost falls off the train looking at Spirit.
- Dance Party Ending: At the end of the film, Lucky, her friends, and her father attend a festival in Miradero where Jim sings his late wife's song and Lucky dances with her friends and the other residents of Miradero.
- From New York to Nowhere: Lucky and her aunt Cora move from a lavish east coast city to the rural community of Miradero after Lucky causes a local politician to look like an idiot due to her shenanighans.
- Generation Xerox: Lucky's dad and others comment on how much she looks and acts like her mother.
- I Choose to Stay: Both Lucky and Cora decide to stay in Miradero with Jim.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Jim's appearance in the movie has him look a lot like his voice actor, Jake Gyllenhaal. Just take a look here◊.
- The Lost Lenore: Jim's parenting style in the film differs from the series because of how his late wife's demise differs. In the series, it was never stated how Milagro died. In the start of the film, however, her death is the result of an accident while riding her horse. This is why Jim forbids Lucky from riding horses.
- Missing Mom: Crosses over with Deceased Parents Are the Best. Lucky's mother died before the events of the film, but it's clear that Lucky herself remembers her fondly even after her passing. She even tells her as a baby to "stay wild".
- Non-Standard Character Design: Senor Carrots, the donkey accompanying Snips, has a disproportionately large head compared to the rest of his body, which stands out from animals like the horses that have more realistic proportions.
- Papa Wolf: Jim Prescott and Al Granger both qualify in the climax. Jim saves Lucky from drowning. Al defends Pru, along with Abigail, by throwing a barrel at the two bandits who lasso their horses.
- "Stay wild..."
