Spirit: Riding Free

Spirit Riding Free is a computer-animated series produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and distributed by Netflix, based on the 2002 Oscar-nominated traditionally-animated film, mh:greatestmovies:Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The series was first released on Netflix on May 5, 2017.

Plot
Set during the 19th century in the small frontier town of Miradero, a 12-year-old girl named Lucky, who had recently relocated from the city, encounters a wild Kiger mustang named Spirit. Offspring of Spirit and Rain from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, the horse is caught by wranglers and brought to be "broken" in Miradero. Lucky gradually bonds with the stallion and frees him. Lucky also meets two other girls, Pru and Abigail, who both own horses, Chica Linda, a palomino, and Boomerang, a pinto horse, respectively. They embark on everyday adventures across the land.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The main problem with the show is that it focuses too much on the human characters and not enough on the horse characters, which makes it feel rather detached from the film it's based on.
 * 2) It dumbs down the original Spirit.
 * 3) The CGI animation with cel-shading is extremely mediocre, that looks more like a Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or a Wii video game.
 * 4) Abysmal and awful writing.
 * 5) It has almost nothing to do with the original movie.
 * 6) The voice acting ranges from average at best to bad at worst.
 * 7) Some of the character designs are rather mediocre. For example, Spirit's son is just a clone of his father, but with a white blaze.
 * 8) The main character, Lucky Prescott is a unlikeable Karma Houdini
 * 9) *Her friends are no better as they are Mary-Sues.
 * 10) Neither any of the characters from the 2002 movie itself have appeared in this show, which makes it feel even more separate from the movie and making it feels like more of a standalone show.
 * 11) Eight (or four) of the seasons are extremely rushed since they only last 6 & 7 episodes each.
 * 12) Its feature theatrical movie released in June of 2021, Spirit Untamed, is pointless and very mediocre, as it does not solve any of the problems that were in this show.

Good Qualities

 * 1) At least it's nice to see Spirit back after 15 years since the original movie was released.
 * 2) It Has a catchy intro.
 * 3) At times, it does stays true to the source of material of the movie.
 * 4) The original Spirit and Rain finally make an appearance in one of the YouTube shorts.
 * 5) There are some good/decent episodes such as "Spirit of Christmas"
 * 6) A few likeable characters.
 * 7) Some of the character designs are passable
 * 8) *Some of the the voice acting is decent.

Reception
Despite being well-received by critics and audiences, the series was received mixed-to-negative reception from fans of the 2002 film. It has a 6.4/10 on IMDB.

Trivia

 * A movie based on this show, which in turn, is based on the 2002 movie was released in theaters on June 4, 2021.
 * According to one of the YouTube shorts, the Spirit seen in this show is actually the original Spirit's son.