While no longer the narrator, singer/songwriter Bryan Adams is definitely the voice of Spirit through the soundtrack.

"We are usually given a list of names, of possibilities of whom might work with that particular role," Cook discloses. "And we just go ahead and listen one by one to each one of those voices to see who can best facilitate that character."

Asbury agrees, "Really, it's a matter of holding that character design up and listening to what voice should be coming out of that character. It takes a lot of trial and error and a lot of listening to takes from other characters in other films to finally reach that point."

While Robert Redford was mentioned at one point as being in line for narration, the team chose Damon because, "When we met him and talked to him he is Spirit," Cook says. "He's got so much vitality and youthful quality to his voice. It was that voice quality we were going for."

"We spent four years trying to find the perfect voice that could capture a spirited, heroic character," said Katzenberg. "Matt had everything we hoped for, a genuine enthusiasm for life that comes through melodically in his voice."

But don't feel sorry for Bryan Adams. He was chosen to write the lyrics and perform the soundtrack album over names like Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon. He is teamed with veteran scorer Hans Zimmer, who did the score for The Lion King and The Prince of Egypt among a host of other features. It is very possible that the album may draw an even older audience to the feature and enhance subsequent video sales, not to mention grabbing some gold or platinum on its own.

A Different Point of View
The other point of contention is the political correctness of the story, where Native Americans are nearly deified while the cavalry, railroads and westward expansion in general are vilified. But in the early versions of the story, the differences were not so pronounced.

According to Fusco, "This colonel is really Custer and was called Custer in my early drafts, and we portrayed the Washington River massacre. So, I wasn't trying to portray the Seventh Cavalry as good guys. Let's portray Custer and the Seventh as they were, and the Native American stuff I portrayed not so lily white. I spent a lot of time in the Lakota world. I speak the language and was adopted into a family there. So, I showed other characters [Native American] who were more brutal with the horses because that existed too. It was a real survival world, and I wanted to get all that stuff. There were more gray areas in the original. But as it found its way, it became what it wanted to be, and I'm not going to argue animation with Jeffrey [Katzenberg]. It's ultimately going to reach young people, and maybe light a fuse for them and get them interested in the West."

Sweeping Seemless Scope
On the technical side, this was the first animated feature for DreamWorks in Cinemascope. Making the most of the larger aspect ratio, the artists quickly adapted and took full advantage of the format.

"You know, very quickly into it, we realized it's all about picture making," Kelly Asbury notes, "and we have such a team of artists that we knew we wanted to take advantage of the big horizontal scope and thrust of it. Horses are natural for that, trains are natural for that, and the vast vistas are natural for that. So, what we thought to be a challenge in the beginning actually turned out to be an asset."

Another technical note, the animators used Maya software with a Linux platform. Why Linux and not Microsoft? "To dramatically reduce costs was one of the big motivating factors in moving animators to Linux," says head of technology Ed Leonard. "But, it is our animators' productivity that really counts. Telling the story well, not the underlying technology, is what matters to us. Microsoft software continues to play a key role in our overall business, but Linux is particularly well suited to animation production pipelines.''

Again DreamWorks' has pooled together the right formula. Just try to identify the points where 2D transitions into 3D and vice versa. You may be hard pressed, the blending is that good.

So, now all of the challenges have been met except one. Will Spirit's run to the box office make it all worthwhile? While the risks seem great, Jeffrey Katzenberg has proved time and time again that what counts is the story and emotional tie that the audience feels with the characters. After all the revisions and creative wrangling, the filmmakers have definitely brought Spirit to life.

J. Paul Peszko is a freelance writer and screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He writes feature articles, interviews and reviews for regional publications. He currently has two scripts under option and is working on a feature comedy, in addition to just completing his first novel. When he isn't writing, he teaches communications courses.