Written by Karlamon :
A full 15 years after the release of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, DreamWorks Animation has decided to do the unthinkable. Revive it as a Netflix series called Spirit Riding Free. A trailer of the series has been released, but be warned: This isn't Spirit as we know it...
From what we see here, this series takes on a completely different turn from the Oscar-nominated movie. It is presented in cheap CGI instead than the beautiful 2D "tradigital" animation, there is no Matt Damon narration, and Spirit himself isn't even the focus of the show. Instead, we look into the life of new-to-country girl Lucky who makes new friends, and they go riding on Spirit and other horses.
My big problem with this series is the portrayal of Spirit himself. Not only is he shoved aside to make the girls the main stars, but it seems they have stripped all of his non-verbal personality. Everything that made him memorable and developed in the movie has been removed to the point that he's just any ordinary horse. Any other house could have been used, and the series wouldn't be any different.
As for the animation, DreamWorks prove they can deliver decent TV-quality computer animation in shows like Dragons, Trollhunters, and even The Penguins of Madagascar. But in the case of Spirit Riding Free, the rendering appears more on the cheap side, and doesn't capture the tone or spirit (no pun intended) of the movie.
While Spirit Riding Free may find an audience with young girls, those expecting a proper Spirit TV series will probably be disappointed. If you're still somewhat curious to see it, six 22-minute episodes will be released onto Netflix on May 5.
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| June 25, 2017 | ||
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I watched the whole thing while recovering from surgery. I was dead
set against this from what I saw in the trailer but decided to give it
a shot and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Just kind
of pathetic that they're calling six episodes a whole season and the
girls are wearing clothing that looks way too modern for the 1800s but
other than that, turned out to be a decent show. |
| April 29, 2017 | ||
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That's disappointing... I'd watch if they kept it to the original
source even if it was a minimal percentage.. It's just sad knowing
that this is dreamworks and this is where they decided to go with the
series. |
| April 27, 2017 | ||
 DW just wanna consume the original fame to earn notice from
present human little girls, but this is a complete mimic of the
primary movie and far worse. |
| April 24, 2017 | ||
Site Builder (Content), Site Builder (Co...  | ||
| Big Bad Mod |
In my opinion the animation is not that bad (actually better than
stiffy TLG flash animation), but judging from the trailer and
description - it's a generic girl stable show that has nothing to do
with the original movie. Show Spirit is not even the same character as
Spirit from the movie. |
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