The Young Black Stallion (G, 2003)

A prequel to The Black Stallion, this drama is set in 1946 North Africa. Young Neera (Biana Tamimi) gets separated from her family as they ride on camels to her grandfather's farm. Abandoned in the desert, she meets a gorgeous black colt who has also been separated from his mother. After she earns the skittish stallion's trust, they find their way back to Neera's grandfather's house. Unfortunately, Neera finds that her grandfather was forced to sell all of his horses in her absence. The only hope of getting them back is to enter an annual race in which the winner gets to take all of the horses that entered. Despite her grandfather's orders, Neera decides to tame the wild stallion and enter the competition.

Kids who haven't seen The Black Stallion or The Black Stallion Returns are the best audience as this version borrows heavily from these movies (the main difference being that this time the main character is a girl). They are also less likely to be bothered by the wooden acting and clichéd villains.

But both kids and parents will be blown away by the gorgeous landscapes and the sensation that they are the ones riding bareback on a wild stallion. One eight-year-old viewer exclaimed that he "had to wipe his eyes when he watched the racing scene because he felt like there was dust and sand in his eyes." He and his class of squirmy second graders were captivated by the movie--they burst into spontaneous applause at the end. Of course, even they had some criticisms: they wanted to know how Neera and the stallion survived for several days without eating and why the black stallion and his mother ended up with Neera's family at the end instead of being returned to their life of freedom.

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Director: Simon Wincer
Cast: Biana Tamimi, Patrick Elias, Richard Romanus
Genre: Family and Kids
Run time: 51 minutes
Theatrical release: December 25, 2003
DVD release: December 21, 2004
MPAA Rating: G
MPAA explanation: all audiences