Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron 2002

Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News: At its most basic, this cartoon adventure is that wind-in-the-hair exhilarating. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Spirit combines the hand-drawn artfulness of 2-D with computer-generated 3-D backdrops and effects so seamlessly that it's hard to tell what was done by man, what by mouse. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: A beautifully rendered but unimaginatively plotted cartoon about settlers, Native Americans and the horses caught in between. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: As a good old-fashioned adventure for kids, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a winner. Read more

Loren King, Chicago Tribune: A welcome family film that extols noble values and offers first-class animation. Read more

Dave Kehr, New York Times: As it stands, Spirit provides neither the profound human touch of the great Disney animation of the past, nor the dazzling, high-tech fun of present-day digital cartooning. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: Not quite as miraculous as its DreamWorks makers would have you believe, but it more than adequately fills the eyes and stirs the emotions. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Adams' hoarse anthems become a betrayal of this horse opera's true potential; fortunately, there is enough fine achievement here to make the film worth seeing. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: An exciting and exquisitely rendered film in which the horse goes through as many adventures and perils as Indiana Jones on a good day. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Whenever it threatens to get bogged down in earnest dramaturgy, a stirring visual sequence like a surge through swirling rapids or a leap from pinnacle to pinnacle rouses us. If horses could fly, this is surely what they'd look like. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: For decades we've marveled at Disney's rendering of water, snow, flames and shadows in a hand-drawn animated world. Prepare to marvel again. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: Spirit is smarter than your average cartoon because it doesn't try to joke around with a host of annoying talking animals. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: A solemn neo-Bambi that dares to enchant kids without comic relief, Spirit is an animated fairy tale made with simple, elegant conviction. Read more

Ray Conlogue, Globe and Mail: A strange, often intriguing animated film for children and young adults that takes a lot of chances and only occasionally stumbles. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: One of the season's most human films. Read more

Hazel-Dawn Dumpert, L.A. Weekly: Rather exciting, rendered in a bright sunset palette and a mixture of expressive, boldly drawn traditional animation and fluid computer-generated imagery. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: As a 'kids' movie', Spirit is a resounding success. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Uncluttered by comic supporting characters and cute sidekicks, Spirit is more pure and direct than most of the stories we see in animation -- a fable I suspect younger viewers will strongly identify with. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A mishmash that is sometimes moving, sometimes absurd and most of the time just oddly off balance. Read more

Daphne Gordon, Toronto Star: It is perhaps Spirit's greatest achievement that the horses upstage the human actors, but it's also its greatest weakness. The human characters have no depth or personality, but are rather completely forgettable, stiff stereotypes. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: There's not much of a story, the whole thing's a bit superficial, and there's little to laugh at, but it's still a refreshing change from the norm. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A movie that will touch the hearts of both children and adults, as well as bring audiences to the edge of their seats. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: There's nothing thrilling or new about the work here, but accomplished it is. Read more

Dennis Lim, Village Voice: Offers a morose, pallid account of how the West was lost, straight from the horse's mouth. Read more