Day 33: Pocahontas

Pocahontas (1995)

Starring: Irene Bedard, Judy Kuhn, Mel Gibson, David Ogden Stiers, John Kassir, Russell Means, Christian Bale, Linda Hunt, Danny Mann, Billy Connolly, Frank Welker, Michelle St. John, James Apaumut Fall, David Tootoosis

Songs: "The Virginia Company," "Steady as the Beating Drum," "Just Around the River Bend," "Listen with Your Heart," "Mine Mine Mine," "Colors of the Wind," "Savages"

Pocahontas is the thirty-third Disney animated feature, loosely based on (or inspired by) the story of Pocahontas and John Smith at Jamestown in 1607 and was the first Disney animated movie to be based on historical events and actual people.  It tells of  Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan, who meets and falls in love with English scout John Smith as their respective people try to keep the two apart.

The idea to make this movie came up in 1990, during the production of The Rescuers Down Under.  Disney wanted to do a Romeo & Juliet type love story and also an early American musical adventure, so the two ideas somehow became this one movie.  It went into production in 1991, at the same time as The Lion King, and was said to be a difficult production.  Of the two films, most of the artists initially wanted to work on Pocahontas, because it was felt to be the more prestigious project, but it unfortunately eventually turned out to be less financially successful than The Lion King and receive much more mixed reviews (though it was still successful). 

An interesting fact is that Pocahontas was going to have a third animal sidekick -- a turkey named Redfeather.  The animals were all going to talk, and the turkey was going to be voiced by John Candy.  But that character, and the idea of the animals speaking, was dropped when Candy died in 1994.

This movie is beautiful to look at and to listen to.  I feel like I've been repeating myself in my praise of the animation and music for all these Renaissance movies, but honestly, it's true -- they're both perfectly done here.  This is such a good movie... I liked it as a kid, though I didn't exactly like to watch it because it made me sad.  Nowadays I like it just as much but appreciate it more.

What I Liked: The song "Just Around the River Bend," which is one of my favorite Disney songs.  And the backgrounds, which remind me of the backgrounds in Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty, 1959

Pocahontas, 1995

What I Disliked: The fact that this movie bears about a 0.5 to 1% resemblance to what actually happened with the real Pocahontas, whose actual name was Matoaka and was only about eleven years old when John Smith arrived in Jamestown, and his account of her saving his life is thought by some to be invented after the fact.  As a person with a degree in U.S. History and a person who is a huge Disney fan, I have mixed feelings about this film.  This article by David Morenus about some of the differences between real life and the movie is a good read and gives an intro to some of the inaccuracies (or artistic liberties, rather) of the movie.  This, however, is a letter by Chief Roy Crazy Horse, one of the most vocal opponents of the distortion of fact in the movie, and is even more telling and more matter of fact.  Read them for yourselves if you don't know the real story.

But all that aside, I'd be remiss if I didn't include at least one picture of the real Matoaka, who died when she was only twenty-one years old, after marrying John Rolfe and being christened Rebecca Rolfe.

Should You Watch This Movie: Honestly, historical inaccuracies aside, it's a really beautiful, entertaining film.  So I say yes, with the caveat that if you're bothered by that sort of thing when you watch historical pieces, it will bother you a lot here.