Spirit Untamed

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Spirit Untamed
Directed by	Steven Spielberg Elaine Bogan
Produced by	Karen Foster
Screenplay by	Aury Wallington Kristin Hahn
Based on	Spirit Riding Free  by Aury Wallington Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron  by John Fusco
Starring	Isabela Merced Marsai Martin Mckenna Grace Walton Goggins Julianne Moore Jake Gyllenhaal
Music by	Tom Holkenborg
Edited by	R. Orlando Duenas
Cinematography	Robert Edward Crawford
Production company	DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	June 4, 2021 (2021-06-04) (United States)
Running time	87 minutes
Language	English
Country	United States
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$1 million

Spirit Untamed is a 2021 American computer-animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is directed by Elaine Bogan and co-directed by Steven Spielberg, in their feature directorial debuts, from a screenplay written by Aury Wallington and Kristin Hahn. The second theatrical film release of the Spirit franchise, the film is a spin-off of the traditionally animated Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and based on its Netflix animated spin-off television series Spirit Riding Free, developed by Wallington.

It stars Isabela Merced, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marsai Martin, Mckenna Grace, Julianne Moore, Walton Goggins, and Eiza González, and follows a young girl named Lucky Prescott who moved to Miradero, a small frontier town, where she meets a wild kiger mustang named Spirit and immediately bonds with him. The film was announced to be in development in October 2019, and production was done remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The film was dedicated to the memory of Kelly Asbury, the director of the original Spirit film, who passed away in 2020. Spirit Untamed was theatrically released in the United States on June 4, 2021, and received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Lucky Prescott was never aware that her late mother, Milagro Navarro, was a fearless horse-riding stunt performer (who died in a performance accident) from Miradero, a small rural town on the edge of the wide-open frontier. Like her mother, Lucky does not enjoy rules and restrictions, which has caused her Aunt Cora to worry for her. Lucky had grown up in an East Coast city under Cora’s watchful eye, but when Lucky presses her own luck with one too many risky escapades, Cora picks up stakes and moves them both back with Lucky’s father, Jim, in Miradero. Lucky is decidedly unimpressed with the sleepy little town. However, she has a change of heart when she meets Spirit, a wild Kiger Mustang who shares her independent ideology, and befriends two local horseback riders, Abigail Stone and Pru Granger. The latter's father, stable owner Al Granger, is the best friend of Lucky’s father. When an evil horse wrangler and his team plan to capture Spirit and his herd and auction them off to a life of captivity and hard labor, Lucky enlists her new friends and bravely embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to rescue the horse who has given her freedom and a sense of purpose and has helped Lucky discover a connection to her mother’s legacy that she never expected.

Cast

• Isabela Merced as Fortuna Esperanza "Lucky" Prescott, Milagro and Jim’s daughter, Cora’s niece, and Pru and Abigail’s friend.
• Jake Gyllenhaal as James "Jim" Prescott, Lucky's widowed father and Cora’s younger brother.
• Marsai Martin as Prudence "Pru" Granger, one of Abigail and Lucky’s friends and Al’s daughter.
• Mckenna Grace as Abigail Stone, one of Pru and Lucky’s friends.
• Julianne Moore as Cora Prescott, Lucky's aunt and Jim’s older sister.
• Walton Goggins as Hendricks, the leader of a gang of horse wranglers and the main antagonist.
• Eiza González as Milagro Navarro-Prescott, a famous horse rider and Lucky's late mother.
• Andre Braugher as Al Granger, Pru's father.
• Lucian Perez as Snips Stone, Abigail's younger brother.

Production

On October 7, 2019, DreamWorks Animation announced that a spin-off film of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron as well as an adaptation of its spin-off TV series Spirit Riding Free was in development, with Elaine Bogan serving as director and Ennio Torresan Jr. serving as co-director from a script by series developer Aury Wallington, and produced by Karen Foster. The film will be produced on a lower budget and be made by a different animation studio outside of DreamWorks, similar to Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. Following the first trailer, it was confirmed that Jellyfish Pictures, who worked on How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming, will be providing the animation for the film.

Production of the film was done and shifted to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Music

On May 6, 2021, Amie Doherty was confirmed to be composing the music for the film. On the same day, a single titled "Fearless (Valiente Duet)", performed by Isabela Merced and Eiza González, was released by Back Lot Music. A second single, titled "You Belong", performed by Becky G, was released on May 20, 2021. A soundtrack of the film was released on May 28, 2021, and additionally, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes is featured on several tracks contributing vocal harmonies along with Eiza González.

Soundtrack

Spirit Untamed (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Artist	Tom Holkenborg
Recorded and/or Mixed at	DreamWorks Animation
Released	May 28, 2021
Studio	DreamWorks Animation
Genre	Score
Label	Back Lot Music
Preceded by	The Croods: A New Age
Preceded year	2020
Followed by	The Boss Baby: Family Business
Followed by year number	2021

All music composed by Amie Dothery, except as noted.

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"You Belong"	Becky G	3:16
2.	"Fearless"	Isabela Merced	4:15
3.	"Better With You"	Isabela Merced	2:57
4.	"Be Fearless, Fortuna! (feat. Robin Pecknold & Eiza González)"		1:52
5.	"Squirrel Chase"		1:01
6.	"Meeting Spirit & Main Title (feat. Robin Pecknold)"		2:46
7.	"Welcome to Miradero"		2:02
8.	"Everybody Knew Milagro"		1:27
9.	"Snips & Abigail"		1:46
10.	"You Look Just Like Your Mom (feat. Robin Pecknold)"		3:07
11.	"Hendricks Tries to Break Spirit"		2:10
12.	"Getting Familiar"		2:09
13.	"Takes Two To Tango"		2:36
14.	"Wild Ride"		3:16
15.	"Fireflies (feat. Robin Pecknold & Eiza González)"		2:50
16.	"Spirit’s Herd (feat. Robin Pecknold)"		2:45
17.	"Wranglers (feat. Robin Pecknold)"		2:40
18.	"Ridge of Regret"		1:14
19.	"I Am The Train"		1:48
20.	"The Two-Hand Pickup"		1:53
21.	"Rescue Mission"		2:10
22.	"Leap of Faith"		3:40
23.	"Hero Dads"		2:34
24.	"Stay Wild, Brave One (feat. Robin Pecknold)"		3:20
25.	"Fearless (Valiente Duet)"	Isabela Merced & Eiza González	4:14
26.	"You Belong (Tu Lugar)"	Becky G	3:16
27.	"Join Up"	McKenna Grace, Marsai Martin & Isabela Merced	1:05

Release

The film was theatrically released on June 4, 2021. It was previously scheduled for May 14, 2021.

Reception

Box office

In the United States, Spirit Untamed will be released alongside The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and is projected to gross around $5 million from 3,200 theaters in its opening weekend.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 45% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "While it might be a passable diversion for younger viewers, Spirit Untamed is a middling sequel that lacks the essential energy suggested by its title." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as its predecessor.

In other media

Main article(s): Spirit (franchise)

Video game

A video game adaptation, titled Spirit: Lucky's Big Adventure, was released on June 1, 2021 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. The game is developed by aheartfulofgames and published by Outright Games.

External links

• Official website
• Spirit Untamed at the Internet Movie Database

Template:Spirit (franchise)