Spirit Riding Free

Found the show first on YouTube as 5 minute shorts, and my youngest daughter (4 yr old) seemed to like it. Then not long after we got Netflix and found it on there, she's got really into it, even my eldest daughter (13) has said she likes it (in fact they are watching happily together right now in a fort in the living room). Although the writing can sometimes be a bit simple or contrived with not too much depth there is still enough going on to keep them entertained. the characters are likeable and strong willed are good role models for young girls.

I'm not going to deny that this is a great series for children. It teaches young girls that they can solve their own problems without being too dependent on other people; aside from friends. That's something to be admired.

The low rating comes from the title. This animated series has nothing to do with Spirit, the horse. The title of the series is meant for leeching off the success that was of Spirit, the movie. Honestly, if they changed the name of the series to something else - you couldn't even tell that this had anything to do with Spirit. The low rating is due to the disgust of clickbait.

If you're an adult looking for nostalgia - skip this. If you're an adult with children - watch it with them and silently scoff and roll your eyes.

If you want your generic girls riding and bonding horses show, its cute and funny, and it is 100% what you would expect from this kind of show. I came as a a fan of the original but this was enjoyable on its own and doesn't require seeing the original movie.

If you were looking for something like the namesake, a movie about a wild horse stumbling through the taming of the wild west and the struggle of Native Americans, who also bonds with a human through their trials, there is nothing for you here. The only thing this has in common with the movie is the name. The only real nods to the movie within the show itself is where they show that this Spirit is the original's son in the pony tails shorts, and they occasionally use Spirit not liking rope as a plotpoint. They basically used the name as a marketing tool, they could replace Spirit with any wild horse and nothing would change.

I was gonna go for 5 stars since it was a good show but completely lied for the title, but I think other fans of the original keep giving it a terrible score just out of revenge for the title so I'll help bump it up a bit.

It should be noted while some sources said that the horse is actually Spirit's son, I believe that's far from the case as I don't think we'll ever see the characters from the original film appear on this show. This is definitely meant to be a complete rewrite of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. I can see fans of the film won't be happy about this.

On the other hand, it's a kids show so of course things will be watered down. In this show, Spirit becomes semi-tamed (not completely tamed thankfully). He starts out as a wild horse but forms a connection with the girl Lucky, who still allows Spirit the freedom to go to and from as he pleases. And they never put a saddle or bridle on him.

As someone who loved the original film, you better believe I'm disappointed with the changes made. As far as the show goes though, it's okay. It's about as much as you would expect without getting cringey. Season 1 has a mix of good, meh, and bad episodes. If you're a horse lover, you might like the show good enough. If the writers are willing to take more chances with future seasons, it does have the potential of being a decent kids show.

Perhaps if you've not seen the movie, you would enjoy the Spirit series as much as we do. We like how girls are empowered to be problem solvers even if situations are improbable and often dangerous. Watching the same episodes multiple times does not diminish the excellent characterization. We are thankful the series is continuing.