Some may find this a little over the top and clichéd, but I revel in extremes and it was a treat for me for a film like Spirit to be released only a few years after my other all-time favourite animation, Tarzan. Everytime I watch Spirit I can’t help but notice how much it resembles Tarzan in places, and, if you believe the stories, it’s easy to explain away these coincidences by imagining Jeffrey Katzenberg slipping hints in about his disdain for his ex-employer. Whatever the truth, I love Spirit all the same, from Hans Zimmer’s super-Hans-Zimmer-ish score, to Bryan Adams’ songs, to the sweeping animation, and finally, even Matt Damon’s narration (though I’d still love the option on the DVD of removing it).

This is another of those movies that you know that you’re going to at least like or at worst hate. You already know what your worst reaction to this movie is going to be. The trailer says it all. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is among my top ten movies. I think I love horses. I think this movie proved my point. Because too much of it is boring. Yet, I couldn’t help love it when it was good. And it was all about the score. By Randy Newman, whose scores usually annoy the piss out of me. The cinematography brings out all the colour in the grass and the sand and the costumes which are equally beautiful. Visually, it is everything you’d expect. The scenes that are actually on horseback really put you there and there’s a shot towards the beginning which is literally Spirit made live-action, it brought a tear to my eye to see it, it’s beautiful. This is no masterpiece, but it brought many a tear to my eye, ‘cos I love horses, and I love underdogs, am an underdog, so an underdog horse is my thing.