Hot on the heels of Shrek comes the latest animated blockbuster from Hollywood which follows the adventures of Spirit, a wild mustang stallion in the untamed American frontier
The film company, Dreamworks, is gearing up for the release of its latest animated film which promises to be this summer’s big movie blockbuster.
The film, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, is the story of the American West, told from the point of view of the horse. Movie experts say the film will be the “most technologically complex animated film of any kind to date”.
It’s also the first animated film to feature a horse as its central character and one in which the horses don’t talk.
Producer Jerry Katzenberg says: “We wanted to break all the rules, beginning with the fact that the movie is told through the eyes of a horse and the horses don’t talk.”
The decision was taken early in the production. Director Kelly Asbury explains: “We realised the minute you get a horse speak, it’s comedy. You just can’t take a talking horse seriously.
“So the choice was made to make the animals more natural and allow them to act through the animation.”
But the production team faced an even more daunting challenge – reproducing a true-to-life horse.
The entire animation team began an intensive crash course in equine anatomy, movement locomotion and behaviour. Much of the time was spent observing a seven-year-old mustang stallion which served as the real-life model for Spirit.
“Horses are among the most beloved and beautiful creatures on the planet and I think there isa connection that we as human beings have had with horses, going back thousands of years,” says Kelly Asbury.
“But I know there is no animal more difficult to animate.”
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