Early 1998 brought news of DreamWorks making an animated feature about horses who don't talk. Instead, there would be narration from the leading character which was then rumoured to be Robert Redford. Upon reading that at Aint It Cool News, my heart danced in joy and began to respect DreamWorks more than ever before. In those days, I was looking forward to their first traditional animated feature The Prince of Egypt which later on became my favorite film of all time. The animation, story, characters and emotions in that film were tremendously influential and remarkable. After watching the story of Moses in the animation form, I anticipated Spirit Stallion of Cimarron with great avidity. Now having seen this gorgeous epic of colorful proportions, I have so much to talk about. This is by far the best animated feature ever made. It is emotional, powerful, phenomenal and remarkable.

The film opens with the Eagle (that's his name) flying through the rocky mountains and over the river as seen in the first preview featured on Shrek DVD. The two things featured are the beautiful and heart stirring music by Hans Zimmer and voice-over by Matt Damon. That leads us to the childhood of Spirit and the first song by Bryan Adams which gives us the introduction of the world of Spirit and his surroundings. When I listened to the soundtrack on my CD player last week, I did not find the songs very effective. However, it became an extraordinary tool in telling the story.

Unlike your conventional animated feature, this 82 minute film has only five leading characters. Spirit (voice narration by Matt Damon), Little Creek (voice by Daniel Studi), Cavalry Colonel (voice by James Cromwell), Rain and Esperenza (with no voice or narration). Although, Matt Damon provides the narration for Spirit character it wasn't a big part of the film. Almost 80% of the times the producers and directors relied on veteran animators like James Baxter, (Supervising Animator of Spirit) who created expressions that were so easy to understand and feel. You will see Spirit happy, sad, confused, tired, angry, lost, hopeful and more all in shape of his facial expressions. People say it is hard to act. I suggest you try sketching or animating a character that talks without word s. Rain and Esperenza characters who didn't even have a voice-over say a million words in times of fear, loss, love and joy.

James Cromwell (Colonel) and Daniel Studi (Little Creek) are the only two leading characters who speak in the film. Cromwell's presence in three separate acts plays a key role and his performance is strong and effective. Not more or less can be said about Studi. I was pleased to see that DreamWorks took the time to study Indians culture and heritage; it was presented with respect. It is rare to see the American Army playing the role of bad guys whilst the opposing party (in this case, the Indians) being good.

The seamless combination of 2D and 3D animation in this film is something that people haven't seen before. The 3D trees and grass with hand painted rocky mountains in the background and moving characters in 2D and 3D forms blends so beautifully that you would want to be part of this world. In many animated features, you have to be an artist or second time viewer to pick the nitty gritty colors and backgrounds. However, in Spirit, despite the infinite depth of animation, you will be able to see little things. Although, every animated scene in the film is breathtaking, my favorite involves all the leading character in a dramatic scene with heart pounding music by Hans Zimmer. I won't say much other than the fact that it involves Spirit jumping into the water to rescue someone.

I have nothing but great respect for my favorite composer Hans Zimmer. This guy has proven to be one of the most outstanding composer in Hollywood. Whether it is a live-action film or animated feature, Zimmer has delivered whenever there is a need. His animated features include The Lion King and The Prince of Egypt, both with moving musical notes that helped the story to be told. In Spirit, he has created a theme for every character and situation. My personal favorite is what I believe is Little Creek theme where we hear beautiful notes in the form of a flute. The original soundtrack only features 4 tracks featuring Hans Zimmer score; one can only hope to see a full score soundtrack later on this year as DreamWorks did with Shrek.

Lorna Cook and Kelly Asbury who were the storyboard supervisors for DreamWorks' The Prince of Egypt directed this epic tale of a beautiful stallion. You might tell yourself that unlike other animated features, the dual didn't have a whole lot to do because of less dialogue in Spirit. If anyt hing, they had to do more than any other director on an animated feature. Since, expressions and music were the key tool to tell the story, Cook and Asbury put hours of their time on daily basis giving specific directions to the animators and music composers. I am not saying other animated features directors don't but not as much. A day in their life would be convincing or discussing the specific mood and expression of Spirit or Rain in a scene. To be quite honest, if the leading directors were both males, I doubt this film would have turned out the way it did. Don't get me wrong, I am not getting sexist here but strongly feel that since directors male and female there was an evident women's touch and manlihood in the storytelling and emotions.

On a scale of 1-10, I will give Spirit a solid 10. I didn't find any flawless performance, musical note and animation. The story and characters are presented in an unconventional manner. With hardly any comical scenes, this film is full of emotional moments which will leave your eyes watered. It is a beautiful tale of love, friendship, courage, hope and faith.