Spirit Untamed 2021

Movie · 88 min · English · June 4, 2021

Adventure comedy Animated Western comedy

Directed by Elaine BoganWritten by Aury Wallington, Kristin Hahn

Starring Isabela Merced, Bridget Hoffman, Marsai Martin, Mckenna Grace, Walton Goggins

Spirit Untamed is a 2021 American animated adventure film directed by Elaine Bogan and written by Aury Wallington and Kristin Hahn. This second theatrical entry in the Spirit franchise serves as a soft reboot of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), drawing upon characters from the Netflix spin-off series, Spirit Riding Free.

The story centers on a young girl named Fortuna "Lucky" Prescott, voiced by Isabela Merced, who relocates to the small rural town of Miradero. There, she encounters the titular wild kiger mustang. As the son of Spirit and Rain from the original film, she names the horse "Spirit" in honor of his father, and Lucky quickly forms a strong connection with him. The film's announcement came in October 2019, with production taking place remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal, Marsai Martin, Mckenna Grace, Julianne Moore, Walton Goggins, Andre Braugher, the movie was theatrically released in the United States on June 4, 2021 by Universal Pictures. Critics gave it mixed reviews, finding it inferior to the first film and unnecessary, although they praised its animation, humor, score, and voice acting. At the box office, it underperformed, earning over $42 million worldwide against a $30 million budget, marking DreamWorks Animation's lowest-grossing and cheapest film to date. The production was dedicated to Kelly Asbury, who passed away on June 26, 2020, co-director of the original Spirit film.