‘Spirit Riding Free’: DreamWorks Announces Theatrical Film Based On Netflix Spin-Off Of ‘Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron’
It didn’t take us long to get to this point, when streaming and theatrical transformed into a metaphorical ouroboros eating its own tail.DreamWorkshas achieved that feat with its announcement of aSpirit Riding Freemovie, based on the successful Netflix series of the same name,itselfbased on the 2002 DreamWorks theatrical movieSpirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Yes, you read that right.
Varietyreports that DreamWorks has set the release dates for two animated movies in 2021, includingSpirit Riding Freeon July 13, 2025 and heist movieThe Bad Guysbased on Aaron Blabey’s best-selling book series on July 29, 2025. But it’s the news about aSpirit Riding Freemovie that is so peculiar, considering it’s a sequel based on a Netflix TV series spun-off from a DreamWorks film.
The 2002Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarronwas a critical and commercial hit, earning an Oscar nod for best animated feature and raking in $122 million at the global box office. It was one of DreamWorks' last hand-drawn animated hits, and featured a beautiful blend of 2D and CG animation. The film, which followed a wild horse in the American West who is captured by the United States Cavalry during the American Indian Wars, was a surprisingly moving and gorgeously animated epic whose score was a strange blend of Hans Zimmer at his best and Bryan Adams pop songs. (Though I still know the words to half the Bryan Adams tracks in this movie, don’t judge me.)
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarronremains one of DreamWorks most underrated animated films, but it fell by the wayside as the studio shifted into exclusively CG-animated family hits. That is, until DreamWorks saw profit by turning one of its most lauded animated films into…a Netflix series.Spirit Riding Freehas been running for eight (!) seasons on Netflix since it debuted in 2017, and though I’d never heard of it before despite owning my own beat-up VHS copy ofSpirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,it has apparently become enough of a success for DreamWorks' theatrical wing to take notice. NowSpirit Riding Freeis becoming what I can only assume to be a diluted sequel of the magnificent 2002 epic that inspired it. While it hasHow to Train Your Dragonco-producerKaren Fosterproducing it andTrollhunters: Tales of ArcadiadirectorElaine Boganhelming, I can’t say I have much faith in DreamWorks to deliver more than hollow copies of its greatest hits in the near future. Which is a shame, becauseI was hopingthatHow to Train Your Dragonwould signal a brighter, more creative future for the animation studio. But it seems like they have a long way to go.
