<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $80 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $122.6 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a 2002 American animated western - drama film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures . The film was written by John Fusco and directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook, the latter in her directional debut, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature . In contrast to the way animals are portrayed in an anthropomorphic style in other animated features, Spirit and his fellow horses communicate with each other through sounds and body language . Spirit's thoughts are narrated by his voice actor Matt Damon, but otherwise, he has no dialogue . Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was released in theaters on May 24, 2002, and earned $122.6 million on a $80 million budget . </P> <P> In the 19th - century American West, a young Kiger Mustang colt, Spirit, is born to a herd of horses . Spirit soon grows into a stallion and assumes the role of leader of the herd, whose duty is to keep the herd safe . Spirit is a courageous leader but has great curiosity . Spotting a strange light one night not far from his herd, the stallion is intrigued and investigates . He finds restrained, docile horses and their human wranglers sleeping around a campfire . They wake up, and seeing him as a magnificent specimen, chase and capture him, taking him to a US cavalry post . </P>

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