DreamWorks Pictures' "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" is an ambitious animated film that seamlessly mixes hand-drawings with CGI technology. The film centers around the story of a wild horse who won't be tamed, transporting audiences back through time to the Wild West through the use of visually stunning backgrounds and using only minimal spoken dialogue.
"Spirit" follows the adventures of a rambunctious mustang stallion as he journeys through the untamed American frontier. Directed by first-time directors Lorna Cook and Kelly Asbury, "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" tells the story without the traditional animated license of allowing the animals to talk.
Producer Mireille Soria at the Premiere of "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron."
Photo ©Rebecca Murray. All Rights Reserved.
Could you talk about your involvement in this film?
I became involved just a little bit over four years ago. Jeffrey and I had worked together doing live action and this is my first animated movie. He called and told me the idea, which was his idea to do this movie about horses and a wild horse in the mythic West who was taken from his homeland, and I thought it had great potential so I got involved in the very beginning.
Unlike other animated films, the animals in this movie don't talk. How did you feel about that aspect of the film?
It was risky because it put a lot of pressure on the animators as actors and also on Hans Zimmer and Bryan Adams for the music. It became a musical once we decided the animals weren't going to talk.
Why was it decided to have them not talk?
We thought that if we had them talk, it be would become very hard to do a movie about horses that talk and not think about “Mr. Ed.”
Given the non-talking aspect of the film, who do you think this movie's main audience will be? Will it attract young kids?
I hope so. I have 3 kids, and I think a teenage boy would be the hardest. It's a very difficult movie to market and I think our marketing guys have done a great job. It's hard because consistently, what we find, is that when people get in there they go, “Wow, I didn't know it was going to be so emotional.” Hopefully they'll give it a chance.
People don't expect that from horses - they usually connect more with dogs and cats. Why a horse film?
Jeffrey wanted to do a horse because it had never been done. It's the hardest animal to animate because of their anatomy, because of their eyes. We had to cheat a little. We wanted to anthropomorphize them without making them a cartoon. We wanted to stay with the romantic realism and that was really hard to do.
And your team studied real horses?
Oh yeah, we went to school together (laughing).
Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg at the Premiere of "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron."
Photo ©Rebecca Murray. All Rights Reserved.
What do you want audiences to know about this film?
I think “Shrek” was a movie that was meant to make an audience laugh, with this we tried to make a great adventure and make the audience care. Horses are beautiful, beautiful creatures and I hope we've done them justice.
"Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" is really a musical. There are 8 songs in it and they really tell the essence of the film.
How does it feel now that, after four years, "Spirit" is opening?
I'm excited. You work four years and this is what it's all about - to be able to get it in front of an audience. You make films for the audience.
Directors Lorna Cook and Kelly Asbury at the Premiere of "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron."
Photo ©Rebecca Murray. All Rights Reserved.
What was it like working on your first directorial project?
KELLY: It was a joy, it really was.
LORNA: It took a long time but it was all worth it - working with so many wonderful and talented people.
KELLY: You don't know going in what you are going to face. We were very proud to have this great ensemble of people, not only with the actors like Matt Damon, but Bryan Adams, Hans Zimmer, and all the artists who worked on the film. Almost 500 people worked on this movie and we're very proud to be here to watch it finally, as an audience member.
Have you worked together before?
LORNA: We worked on the storyboards for “The Prince of Egypt” - that was for DreamWorks. We're friends.
KELLY: We're friends and colleagues (laughing).
