First things first, the themes we found. 

a. Throughout the movie there is an overwhelming theme of freedom, starting with the movie's introduction. When the movie opens, we follow a bald eagle, an American symbol for freedom.

We also see freedom MANY times through Spirit's own story. Before the halfway point of the movie Spirit has ventured off and involuntarily gains freedom from the herd, has to give up his freedom to protect the herd and his mother, is captured by white soldiers and brought to a military compound, and then escapes said compound with a Lakota Native by the name of Little Creek.

b. There are reoccurring themes of the unsettled West and the oppression of minorities, such as the Native Americans, by white men.

c. Another major theme is man versus nature. This one is portrayed very literally in the sense that Spirit, a horse, is fighting against a Colonel, a man.

Our comments and observations that are our opinions. 

a. One of the first things we noticed is that the horses have eyebrows. The best reasoning we could come up with for this is that it was the animator's way of adding human characteristics to the horses because the story is told through narration, not conversation.

Due to lack of conversation, the added eyebrows add another dynamic to facial expression and body language to let the audience in on emotions portrayed at key plot points.

b. With the backgrounds, a plot that is carried through music, and very little narration from Matt Damon- yes, Matt Damon provides the narration as told from Spirit's perspective- the beginning of the movie comes off as a very long music video.

At this point, the story has barely started because Spirit has just been captured and taken from the life he has always known.

c. The eagle, who does not have a name, shows up something important either is going to happen or has just happened. At the beginning of the movie, viewers follow the eagle to the birth of Spirit.

Which as a child does not seem like a big deal but when we watched it again, making people watch a horse give birth is more shocking than the introduction leads people to believe how the plot of the movie will go. The eagle is also there through Spirit's childhood and eventual leadership of the herd. It shows back up again when Spirit is captured and then again when he is being led to the compound.

d. Spirit is a good movie to go back and watch for the nostalgia. Also, "Get Off of My Back" is the movie's equivalent to Mulan's "Make A Man Out Of You".

e. There is a positive representation of Native Americans in the movie. The Natives are not depicted as storming the white military men, they are seen as peaceful. It can also be argued that the horses with the tribe and in Spirit's herd are Natives themselves. Which brings me to the next point.

f. There is not a white hero figure. Spirit breaks free and gains his independence with Little Creek from the Colonel. If anyone can be seen as the hero figure in the movie, it's Spirit or possibly Little Creek. Both of which are not white, if we view Spirit as being a Native.

g. There are only two female figures in the movie. One being Spirit's mother who has to be strong and independent to leave her son to keep the herd safe and to keep the herd healthy and alive during the time Spirit is gone, which is most likely more than a year.

The other is Little Creek's horse, Rain, who he eventually frees so she can go with Spirit back to his herd. Rain can also be seen as a strong female character because she goes to enormous lengths to integrate Spirit into the tribe and protect Little Creek, almost dying in the process.

The only thing is that for these two to be able to do what is needed, they have to get permission from a patriarchal figure. Spirit's mother has to refer to Spirit before leaving and Little Creek has to be the one that Spirit has to approach for Rain to go with him to the herd.

I promise this is the last section, the analysis of certain elements. 

a. The eagle plays off of Spirit's emotions and ties to the herd. The eagle always leaves and rejoins Spirit at certain times to remind him where his home is. This is extremely important in the railroad scene where the eagle can be seen flying over the horizon before Spirit realizes where they are headed.

b. The parallels between Spirit and Little Creek's stories. They both refuse to enter into a white society where they will be manipulated into doing things that go against their views. Both also go through the same "breaking" process and fight against the military. Also the Colonel and Spirit become foils in the sense that they are both powerful leaders that have the possibility f becoming very similar to each other as long as one lets their ideals drop to become the other.

c. There is a sense of "old" America versus "new" America between the Natives and white men.

d. There is a sense that intimidation and force is needed for Native cooperation. There is also the line spoken by the Colonel "any horse can be broken" , which can also mean any Native can be conquered. By the end of the movie, the Colonel realizes that Spirit is the exception to the rule, meaning Spirit's freedom is an isolated incident and the Colonel will most likely not change his ways.

e. The symbolism through the movie, especially with it being made in 2002, allows for references in history that had not happened in the time period of the film. One of the friends watching the movie noted that in the railroad work scene, there was a sense of Asian erasure. We see people working on the railroad as well as the horses, who can be seen or referenced to as slaves.

None of the people we see are depicted as being of Asian descent when in reality, there were many Asian workers. The other friend noted that the scene where the horses are being led into train cars and are being transported is very similar to how we see Jews being separated and transported in movies and pictures of the Holocaust.

f. On a much lighter note, the differences in background from the beginning of the movie and the end are phenomenal. The backgrounds get more exciting and less static which lets the viewer fall deeper into the movie.