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Post Office Box 67 Fulham Gardens SA
Phone: 0412 208 011 |
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| The latest
animated release from Dreamworks (whose earlier movies include Shrek and Chicken Run) is
Spirit: The Stallion of the Cimarron. This is a movie for horse lovers of all ages due for
release in time for the upcoming school holidays on June 27 (June 20 Qld).
The soundtrack is a key part of this film with Han Zimmer composing the music and Bryan Adams writing and performing the songs. Previously Hans Zimmer has worked on the animated features The Lion King (for which he won an Academy Award), The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado plus the feature films Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Mission Impossible 2, The Rock, Backdraft, Days of Thunder, Green Card, Cool
The first song to appear is ‘Here I Am’ which accompanies Spirit as a foal as he revels in his freedom and his homeland. ‘You Can’t Take Me’ encompasses Spirit’s resolve to fight his captors and then ‘Get Off My Back’ is his response to the soldiers trying to break him in. ‘Sound the Bugle’ involves one of the saddest parts of the movie when it appears all hope is gone while ‘I Will Always Return’ serves as the main theme of the movie. Apart from the voice of Bryan Adams the only human ‘cast’ members are Matt Damon who narrates the movie as the voice or more the thoughts of Spirit with James Cromwell as the Colonel and Daniel Studi as Little Creek.
James Cromwell is best known for his Academy Award nominated roll in Babe but has also appeared in Star Trek: First Contact, Babe 2, Space Cowboys and will be seen next as the President of the United States in The Sum of All Fears. Daniel Studi is the son of the famous Native Indian actor Wes Studi and has appeared alongside his father in the TV movie Crazy Horse. Well known as a stage actor this is one of Daniel Studi’s first forays into motion pictures Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is the first
animated feature movie to have a horse as the main character. One of the main reasons why
is put down to the fact that horses are extremely difficult for animators to draw. The
animators spent months learning about the movement, anatomy and behaviour of horses. They
worked with Dr Deb Bennett and Dr Stuart Sumida plus the Los Angeles Equestrian Centre
learning by working with skeletons and observing real life horses. Producers acquired a
buckskin Kiger mustang stallion to serve as the real life Spirit for the main character to
be based on. The Kiger mustang dates back to the early Spanish breeds brought with
settlers to the US from Europe. Due to the limitations of horses animators
This is also the first animated feature to be done in a widescreen format Cinemascope which allowed animators an extra 40% of screen space to add in more imagery with a greater resolution. The backgrounds are based on numerous US national parks that the animators visited in a whirlwind 8 days. The three minute opening montage shows many of the landscapes seen at various times later in the film. The techniques to animate this movie are also new combining the traditional hand drawn images with those created via computers. Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg said “There is nothing that takes the place of what happens when an animator gives life to a character with a paper onto a piece of paper” however the difference where the action changes between the two techniques is seamless throughout and produces a superior end product. Overall this movie is for anyone who enjoys a good story and horse people of all ages should enjoy the tale. The soundtrack is brilliant and compliments the on screen action perfectly in assisting to tell the story. The animators have done a fantastic job and have got the movements, actions and horse emotions as close as could be done in an animated film. Make the time to see this movie it is well worth the effort.
For older fans who collect Breyer horse models there is an extensive range of Spirit products in this years releases. These can be purchased from the US based online retailers http://www.handhwc.com and http://www.walkaboutfarm.com/ plus the UK based online retailer http://www.utterlyhorses.co.uk/. Cyberhorse in conjunction with United
International Pictures is giving away five in season family passes for Spirit: Stallion of
the Cimarron. |
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The movie opens following an eagle as it
glides through the canyons of Spirit’s homeland then zooms in on a mare in the long
grass. Soon the audience is introduced to a colt foal who see the world as his playground
and spends his early days frolicking with the herd. As Spirit becomes older he becomes the
leader of the herd protecting them from all dangers but one evening there is a glow in the
distance. Spirit chooses to investigate this strange light and happens upon the campsite
of a small group of travellers. Spirit races off to escape but is eventually captured and
taken away from his picturesque homeland to the barren plains of the army fort. Here he
meets the Cavalry Colonel who is intent on breaking the wild mustang something Spirit
attempts to fight. While Spirit is at the fort a young brave named Little Creek is also
captured and the two form a friendship through necessity as both struggle to escape their
captors. Through Little Creek Spirit meets Rain a beautiful paint mare and his heart is
divided on his future until circumstances make decisions for him as he must continue to
fight for his freedom.
Bryan Adams has been producing chart
topping hits since the early 80s with songs such as Summer of 69, Heaven, Run to You, etc
and has sold over 60 million albums worldwide. He has been involved in movie soundtracks
since the early 1990s when he produced (Everything I Do) I Do It For You from the Robin
Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack. This song earned an Academy Award and Golden Globe
nominations plus a Grammy Award and is the record holder for the longest running No. 1
single in British history. Bryan Adams then received Academy Award nominations for Have
You Ever Really Loved a Woman (from the Don Juan De Marco starring Johnny Depp) and
I’ve Finally Someone a duet with Barbara Streisand (from The Mirror Has Two Faces).
Other songs include All For Love (with Rod Stewart and Sting) from the Three Musketeers
and the main theme song from the Robin Williams movie Jack. 
Matt Damon came to prominence with his work
with Ben Affleck writing the screenplay and the main lead characters in the movie Good
Will Hunting which won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Matt Damon then went
on to star in The Talented Mr Ripley, Courage Under Fire, The Rainmaker, Saving Private
Ryan, Ocean’s Eleven and will be seen in the upcoming spy feature The Bourne
Identity.
The decision not to have the characters
talk was made early in production as it was thought that the story wouldn’t be taken
seriously. The horses do neigh, whinny and make other horse sounds (which were recorded in
stables) throughout the movie where appropriate and great care was taken to make sure the
‘right’ sounds were used.
For those interested in merchandise there
will be a variety of products distributed nationally through Target stores while books
will be available through Penguin and additional figurines will be available through Red
Rooster. The soundtrack is available now in music stores and Here I Am is scheduled to be
released as a single on June 20.