'Spirit Riding Free' Comes to Netflix May 5th

The relationship between Netflix and DreamWorks Animation's TV arm has proved to be rather fruitful. Series such as Voltron Legendary Defender and Dragons Race To The Edge have found both commercial and critical success. Even more impressively, Guillermo del Toro's Trollhunters recently dominated the Daytime Emmys animation categories. Next to come out of the deal is a TV series based on DWA's 2002 film Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron.

The original film hails from the studio's early days, when they were still making 2D animation. Although their TV output does feature 2D animated shows (not only Voltron, but movie spin-offs such as The Mr Peabody & Sherman Show and Home) the TV series version will be all-CGI. However, Spirit Riding Free does not look quite like any of the studio's other shows (or any of their films).


In an effort to make it look closer to the original film, the series employs CG with a cel-shaded style. This is used to create a kind of hybrid between 2D and 3D animation.  It makes for a pretty striking look, and certainly helps to distinguish it from their other shows.

It also differs from the film that inspired it in terms of plot. While the movie concentrated on the horse himself, the series is told from the perspective of a human girl called Lucky. Moving to the country from her city home, she befriends the titular horse. And while in the movie Sprit was voiced by Matt Damon, if the trailer is anything to go on, this doesn't appear to feature a version of the character who can speak at all.

The changes may not please some fans of the original (who even started a petition to try and stop it happening) but this looks to be a well-made series perfect for younger audiences.

Spirit Riding Free season one comes to Netflix everywhere May 5, 2017. You can check out the trailer below. Yay or neigh? Let us know what you think in the comments on via social media!