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    Movie Review

    Spirit Untamed tries to run roughshod over unsuspecting parents

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 3, 2021 | 11:25 am
    Girls and horses in Spirit Untamedplay icon
    Girls and horses make for big adventures in Spirit Untamed.
    Photo courtesy of DreamWorks Animation LLC

    Animated properties in the 21st century often blur the lines between movies and TV. There are numerable examples of an animated movie being spun off into a TV show, sometimes making the journey back into theaters. The trail the Spirit franchise has followed is unusual, as the 2002 Oscar-nominated Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron stood on its own for 15 years until it was revived as a Netflix show, Spirit Riding Free, in 2017, a show that has now yielded its own movie, Spirit Untamed.

     

    What purpose the movie serves, however, is unclear. It centers on Fortuna “Lucky” Prescott (Isabela Merced), a young girl in the 1800s who has lived most of her life in the city after her mother died when Lucky was a baby and her father, Jim (Jake Gyllenhaal), was unable to look after her properly. A trip back west with her Aunt Cora (Julianne Moore) to visit him upends her life, as she bonds with a wild mustang she names Spirit.

     

    The film quickly splits into the good — Lucky and her two friends, Pru Granger (Marsai Martin) and Abigail Stone (McKenna Grace) – and the bad – a horse wrangler (Walton Goggins) intent on stealing Spirit and other horses. The story only has one direction it can go, and it follows that blueprint exactly.

     

    What’s curious, though, is that it’s also the exact story put forth in the animated show, which has had 12 mini-seasons and two specials since its debut. The filmmakers, led by co-directors Elaine Bogan and Ennio Toresan, might be trying to re-introduce the main plot for anyone who hasn’t watched the show, but in so doing they forego the opportunity to take the characters in any new or interesting directions.

     

    And if you haven’t watched the TV episodes, you might be surprised that this version has only one thing in common with the original 2002 film – the horse, Spirit. And even that’s changed greatly, as the first film was focused on the horse and had him speak with the voice of Matt Damon. Now, he doesn’t talk at all, with the story more interested in the spunkiness and adventurousness of Lucky and her friends.

     

    It’s obvious that young children are the one and only audience for the film, but that aim raises multiple other questions. Why continue to propagate the idea that a parent dying is the only way for a child to face adversity in an animated film? Why cast well-known actors like Gyllenhaal, Moore, Goggins, and Andre Braugher over the original cast from the TV show? It’s not like kids are going to know the difference, and the actors don’t provide any extra attraction for parents bringing their kids to the movie.

     

    Anyone who’s gotten used to animation continuing to make leaps and bounds in movies will find themselves wanting here, as it’s relatively unsophisticated. It looks and feels as if they just used the same method employed on the TV show, adding to the idea that there was no real reason to turn it into a feature film.

     

     Spirit Untamed has a good message about being fearless and believing in yourself, but it comes in a package that is uninspiring. The intended kid audience may have a good time, but anyone else is better off waiting for the next Pixar movie to come out.

     

    ---

     

    Spirit Untamed opens in theaters on June 4.

     
    movies
    news/entertainment

    Books News

    Indie Bird's Bookstore to open store & cafe at Preston Royal Dallas

    Alex Gonzalez
    Jul 9, 2025 | 3:55 pm
    Stack of books and coffee cup.
    Getty Images
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    Brick-and-mortar bookstores continue their thrilling comeback, with a new one coming to a prominent North Dallas corner: Called Bird’s Bookstore, it's an independently-owned store opening in the Preston Royal shopping center at 6025 Royal Ln. #207, in a former massage place next to Eatzi's, where it will debut in August.

    Bird's Bookstore promises to be a unique retail destination incorporating elements of Scandinavian, Japanese, and mid-century modern design with books, magazines, and artisanal products.

    Owners Drew and Emily Dawson are a young couple inspired by design, history, and travel. Drew previously worked in the nonprofit sector to private equity before pursuing this decade-long dream. Emily is a former graphic designer who founded Emily by Design, a wardrobe consultation company in 2022.

    The couple first conceptualized the idea when they began dating 11 years ago while students at the University of Texas at Austin.

    “Initially, it was an idea that we wanted to execute towards retirement age,” Drew says. "But as I saw Emily follow her passion and open her own vintage clothing styling business a year and a half ago, I said, 'It's time for me too. I want to follow my passion and open this bookstore.' There's really no time like the present."

    Drew estimates that the shop will carry about 3500 adult fiction and nonfiction books at at time, along with 2500 kids and young adult books.

    “I like everything,” Drew says. “I like incredibly thick history books, memoirs, biographies, horror — all of it. We’ll be selling everything, including self-help and kids' books, since the area has a ton of families, and Emily and I have our own little one on the way."

     Emily and Drew Dawson Emily and Drew DawsonCourtesy

    While Drew handles the bulk of the book selection, Emily will oversee coffee table books, design books, and magazines.

    “We're going to have a strong selection of about 20 magazines covering the design and creative fashion industries, like Neptune, The Gentlewoman, and L’Etiquette," Emily says. "I'm anticipating there will be a draw for that because — other than certain shops in New York — there's not a place where you can buy these titles in person."

    Bird’s will also sell stationery and paper goods from European and Japanese vendors, as well as plates and bowls from Marcello Ortega of Marcello Andres Ceramics.

    The store will also house a small cafe serving coffee from Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters and baked goods from acclaimed Bresnan Bread and Pastry in McKinney.

    The couple keep their eyes on current reading trends, using sites like TikTok’s “BookTok” community, as well as literary social media outlets like Goodreads. Emily credits these platforms — as well as book clubs by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Jenna Bush Hager — for keeping bookstores alive.

    Dallas-Fort Worth is witnessing a small independent bookstore revival with Interabang Books nearby, plus Wild Detectives and Poets Bookshop, which just opened a second outpost in Deep Ellum.

    With the opening of Bird’s Bookstore, they hope to not only cultivate a space for those passionate about books, but also eliminate the burnout that comes from being attached to screens all day.

    “I think there's a fatigue of everything being online,” says Emily. “And I think there's a yearning for a community space that is beautiful, and feels like a second home — a place where you can get amazing customer service. We're excited to hopefully be that place for some people.”

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