30th Jun 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#33 Pocahontas (1995)

BACKGROUND

Pocahontas was supposed to be the big blockbuster hit to follow the smashing success of Disney’s 1992 release, Aladdin.

This did not end up being the case because of that “little-known” film, The Lion King (1994), which not only dwarfed the achievement of the film that would follow it, Pocahontas, but the rest of the Disney “Renaissance Era” releases as well.

The two movies were in production at the same time, and everyone at Disney, including then-Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, thought Pocahontas would be the one to do well, because it told a romantic love story, like that of Romeo and Juliet or West Side Story, whereas The Lion King was more experimental and different to what Disney Animation had been doing. Nobody even really wanted to be working on the “B” movie of The Lion King, instead of the “A” movie of Pocahontas[1]. So, it was a surprise to everyone when The Lion King was released in 1994 and was so successful that its Disney Animation box-office record would not be beaten for almost two decades, by Frozen in 2013. Still, Pocahontas did not do badly at the box-office, despite receiving mixed reviews, and it has its fans of which I am one.

I have always liked Pocahontas because I like the romance of it. It looks stunning and has the best score of any Disney animated movie in my opinion. Pocahontas sits comfortably within my Top 5 of Disney animated features so it was not a chore whatsoever to re-watch it this week, and I generally watch it at least once a year.

PLOT

Disney’s Pocahontas begins with a group of voyagers, those of “The Virginia Company” sailing off from London in 1607 to conquer the New World. These voyagers are looking for their fortune, with the prospect of gold a key factor in their mission, with their leader, Governor Ratcliffe, hoping to come back from this journey a hero, so he can climb the social standings at His Majesty’s Court. Their journey is rocked by a storm partway through, where their youngest sailor, Thomas, falls overboard. He is rescued by John Smith, a celebrated explorer who has been selected for this mission to deal with “the Indians”. The voyage continues, with the sailors hoping that the New World will meet all their expectations.

We then move over to the original Virginia which is inhabited by the Powhatan tribe, who live in harmony with the land. Many of the men of the village, including Chief Powhatan, have just returned from defeating the Massawomecks, with Kocoum being celebrated for his bravery. Pocahontas, the Chief’s daughter, is late to greet her father, having just been found by her best friend, Nakoma, standing on a cliff, with her raccoon friend, Meeko, and hummingbird, Flit! Her father tells her that Kocoum has asked to marry her. Pocahontas is not sure that is the path for her life, but her father tells her she must be “steady like the river” and settle down. He gives Pocahontas her mother’s necklace as an engagement present, ready to wear on her wedding day. Pocahontas goes to visit Grandmother Willow, a talking willow tree who acts as her guide, and tells her about a dream she’s been having, involving a spinning arrow. She is told to “listen with her heart”, at which point Pocahontas sees “strange clouds” and follows them. These are actually the sails of the Susan Constant, the ship that the English have arrived to Virginia on. Most are uncertain of this new land, but John Smith is fascinated and goes out to explore, and to look for the Natives, as instructed by Governor Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe officially names this settlement “Jamestown”, after King James I and tells the others to start digging for gold and building their camp.

Pocahontas, curious by these strange visitors, follows John Smith. At one point, Meeko rushes up to John, curious about food he has in his bag. John is about to spot Pocahontas, when Flit flies out at John at speed, and scares him off. But John seems to know he is being followed by someone and eventually spots who, holding a gun up to them. It’s Pocahontas and he is immediately entranced. She runs away, but John quickly follows her. He persuades her to stay and the two talk about their different lands. Meanwhile, the English have not found any gold, despite digging for hours, and spot some of the Natives watching them. A fight ensues, with one of the Powhatans being shot; he is taken back to the village, where Chief Powhatan warns everyone to stay away from them, as they do not understand their weapons or their intentions here, but hope they do not intend to stay.

Pocahontas and John Smith, unaware of this latest development, continue talking, with John telling Pocahontas all about the buildings in London, before telling her that they’ll be building those things here, so the Natives can “use the land properly”. This upsets Pocahontas, and she tries to leave again, but John stops her. She climbs up a tree instead, and he follows, continuing to dig himself into a hole, by calling her people “savages” and “uncivilised”. John loses his footing and falls down to the ground. Pocahontas comes down from the tree and tells him that even though her people may be different, the English could learn a lot from them, and how they live alongside nature.

John returns to his camp, where many of the English are already unhappy with their time in the New World. Ratcliffe believes that the Natives must have the gold and sets about a plan to take it from them, with two of the settlers, Ben and Lon, being sent to find it. John Smith has snuck out to see Pocahontas again, where she asks Nakoma to keep their friendship a secret. The two go to Grandmother Willow, where Pocahontas tells John there is no gold around here, and introduces him to Grandmother Willow. Though he is freaked out at first, he comes to like her, after she says he’s handsome! Ben and Lon come by the tree, where Grandmother Willow lifts her roots and snaps her vines against them to scare them off. John returns to camp.

Chief Powhatan has asked for warriors from the neighbouring villages to help with the invasion of the settlers. Pocahontas is disturbed by this development, and asks her father to consider speaking with one of them; he says he would but does not seem convinced. Back at the English camp, John tells the others there is no gold here, which Ratcliffe rebuffs as a lie from his “little Indian friend”. He goes out again to meet with Pocahontas, but is seen by Thomas, who has been ordered by Ratcliffe to follow him and given a gun to shoot any Indian he sees. Nakoma has also informed Kocoum of Pocahontas’ secret meetings and he goes to follow her. Pocahontas and John Smith meet by Grandmother Willow’s tree again, where they make a plan for him to talk with Chief Powhatan, so they can be together. They kiss, and are seen by both Thomas and Kocoum, with Thomas being shocked and Kocoum flying into a jealous rage, rushing to attack John. Thomas then shoots Kocoum in defence of John, but Kocoum is killed, breaking Pocahontas’ mother’s necklace in the process. John orders Thomas to leave, and John is captured. Chief Powhatan sentences him to death the next morning, and he is tied up in a tent. Pocahontas is allowed to speak to him for a few short moments, where she apologies for what’s happened to him, all because of her, though John tells her “he’d rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing [her]”.

Thomas tells the camp the news of John’s capture, with Ratcliffe using this as the perfect excuse to finally attack the Indians. They prepare for battle, with the Powhatans doing the same. Pocahontas runs to Grandmother Willow, feeling lost about what to do. Meeko retrieves a compass he stole from John Smith and gives it to Pocahontas; it is the spinning arrow from her dream. The wind pushes the arrow, until it stops, pointing her in the direction of where John’s execution is taking place.

Pocahontas runs to him, and arrives just in time, throwing herself on top of John Smith, preventing her father from carrying out the death sentence. She tells her father this is where “the path of hatred” has brought them, that she loves John Smith, and that if he wants to kill John, he’ll have to kill her too. Chief Powhatan is shocked by this turn of events, but understands what his daughter is saying, convincing him not to fight the English. The English have witnessed this scene too, and they stand down as well. John is released, but this is not enough for Ratcliffe, who order his men to shoot. They refuse, so Ratcliffe takes a gun for himself and aims it at Chief Powhatan. John Smith notices just in time and jumps in front of the gunshot, saving the Chief but injuring himself. The English rise up and detain Ratcliffe, tying him up and sending him back to London.

John must also return as well, to get medical treatment back in London for his wound. Pocahontas and the villagers arrive with food for their journey back. John wants Pocahontas to go with him, but she says she is needed here with her tribe, to keep the peace between the two sides. John says he’ll stay with her, but she tells him he must return and that she’ll always be with him, no matter where they are. The Chief is grateful for John’s sacrifice for him, and tells him he will always be welcomed back. John is rowed back to the ship, where it departs. Pocahontas runs up to the top of the cliff and watches as the ship departs, waving goodbye to John Smith as he leaves Virginia.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Disney’s character of Pocahontas was created to be more sincere, wiser, stronger, independent, and with more depth of thoughts and feelings than some of Disney’s previous female protagonists, such as Belle or Ariel. Because Disney did make Pocahontas older than the real person actually was, they could give their Pocahontas these attributes. Pocahontas is also a spiritual person, connected to nature, but with a playful side, as we see at the start of the movie when she tips over Nakoma’s canoe when she comes to find her to bring her back to the village. The design of Pocahontas was created by animator Glen Kleane, who knew she needed to be beautiful, strong, and athletic. Because there was a real girl behind this character, it made the animation process more difficult, partly as one of the actual drawings of Pocahontas as a person did not fit into the Disney aesthetic, and because Disney knew that their version of the character would become the established version in society. Keane did go against the rather unflattering drawing of Pocahontas, admitting it was not a historically accurate representation of the person, but that he had spent much time ensuring that the design of Pocahontas matched her Native American ethnicity, especially as Keane had primarily only animated Caucasian characters before[2].

Pocahontas’ speaking voice was provided by American actress Irene Bedard, who is of Native American descent. She loved her role as Pocahontas, and the beautiful love story that the movie created. Bedard noticed how some of her facial expressions and hand movements had been incorporated into the character, based on the filmed recording sessions. This included her pushing her hair behind her ear, which is something Pocahontas does multiple times in the movie[3]. Bedard continues to reprise her voice role for other Disney projects. American singer Judy Kuhn provides Pocahontas’ singing voice.

John Smith is one of the English explorers; he has been brought on this voyage mostly for his experience in “dealing with the Natives” from past expeditions to other New Worlds. He is more of an adventurer than a conqueror, not really caring about claiming the land, but wanting to explore these new areas. John Smith is relatively kind-hearted in Disney’s Pocahontas, wanting peace between the English and the native tribe, and he seems to want to learn about Pocahontas’ culture and customs. John Smith’s character, as in the real person’s, is still being debated by historians; it is unsure how much he believed in peace, and how much of a good person he really was, so Disney’s character is likely a kind interpretation of the real human! I like John Smith and Pocahontas together; I think they are a couple genuinely in love but torn between their two different worlds. Their decisions to go back to their respective homelands did seem to be the best choice for both of them though.

John Smith was primarily animated by John Pomeroy who was influenced by John Smith’s own personal diaries, along with the actor Errol Flynn and his movie performances. He was, of course, also inspired by John Smith’s voice actor, who also sang in the movie: actor Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson is most known for his performances in the Mad Max franchise (1979-85), playing the title role of Max Rockatansky, as well as William Wallace in Braveheart (1995), which came out in the same year as Pocahontas. Gibson would later go back into voice work for the role as Rocky in Aardman’s movie, Chicken Run (2000).

The villain of Pocahontas is Governor Ratcliffe, who is, more or less, a social climber, wanting to be more known to King James I back in England, and to raise his status at court. This is his primary motivation for going on the voyage to the New World, because, by doing this and bringing back untold riches to England, Ratcliffe hopes that he might be seen as such a hero that he’ll be given a title, like a lordship. He is greedy and arrogant, unfeeling towards those whose land he has claimed in the name of the King of England. Ratcliffe is also openly racist, calling the native tribe “savages” and wanting to shoot any that might get in his way. Ratcliffe is evil, corrupt, and nasty; he is one of the worst Disney villains, because he is human, with no magic or powers, yet has power and uses that power for himself, instead of trying to better the world for others. And because of this, I think Ratcliffe is one of Disney’s best villains, although underappreciated by many.

Ratcliffe was animated by Duncan Marjoribanks, who was originally going to make the character pear-shaped, but when the character became nastier, the weight was moved from his waist up to his chest to make him larger and therefore more menacing. Governor Ratcliffe is voiced by David Ogden Stiers, who performed many other roles for Disney, such as Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast (1991), the Archdeacon in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and Dr. Jumba in Lilo & Stitch (2002). Outside of Disney, he played Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, M.D. on the television series M*A*S*H (1977-83), where he was nominated for two Emmy Awards. David Ogden Stiers passed away in March 2018.

Ratcliffe also has a manservant, called Wiggins, who is overly optimistic and carries on as though nothing has happened, like angering the Natives of the area and not being able to find gold. Wiggins’ primary duty seems to be caring for Ratcliffe’s pampered pug, Percy, and very little else. Ratcliffe is unamused by Wiggins, especially as he was “highly recommended”. I like Wiggins a lot though, and he has some of the funniest lines, such as when Ratcliffe says they’ll be sure to give the Natives a proper English greeting, with Wiggins replying: “Oh, gift baskets!”. That single line sums up Wiggins as a character perfectly, though Wiggins was going to be quite snotty and pompous originally. Wiggins is also voiced by David Ogden Stiers, which is a surprise as Wiggins’ high-pitched posh voice is a complete contrast to the deep, menacing tone of Ratcliffe!

Then there is Pocahontas’ spiritual guide, Grandmother Willow, a literal willow tree who can talk! Although Grandmother Willow had to be serious and wise, leading Pocahontas to the right decisions and teaching her to listen to what her heart is telling her, Disney knew she had to have some humour to her character, like a real grandmother. This was captured perfectly by Academy Award-winning actress Linda Hunt. Disney couldn’t think of anyone else to play this 400-year-old tree and they said Hunt was dead on with the personality of Grandmother Willow every time! Hunt won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the movie The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). More recently, she voiced Lady Proxima in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Grandmother Willow was animated by Chris Buck; her face was traditionally hand-drawn and then layered on top of the CGI tree[4].

Within the Powhatan tribe, we have Chief Powhatan. He is clearly a well-respected leader, beloved by the villagers, although as a father to Pocahontas, he is quite strict, sometimes becoming annoyed by Pocahontas’ free-spirited nature, which ultimately gets them all into trouble when Kocoum is killed. Chief Powhatan wants to defeat these trespassers to his land to protect his people and that is completely understandable. Despite this, Chief Powhatan does eventually listen to Pocahontas, telling him that destroying each other is not the path that either side should be wanting to go down, and he is the one to set down weapons first and try to find peace. Native American activist Russell Means was chosen to voice the role of Chief Powhatan, a role he stated he was proud to play. He looked at Powhatan as one of his own ancestors, so was able to identify with the character, bringing the power and depth to the Chief[5]. I think he did a brilliant job with the character. Means unfortunately passed away in 2012.

Then we have Pocahontas’ best friend, Nakoma. She doesn’t get enough screen time, in my opinion, because the two of them are so funny together at the start of the film. Nakoma is not free-spirited like Pocahontas, so although she tries to keep Pocahontas’ friendship with John Smith a secret at the beginning, she begins to worry about her friend’s safety and has to tell Kocoum about it, something that she clearly feels guilty about when she tells Pocahontas of this. Kocoum is the brave warrior of the village; he’s the dependable, strong one who is a hero to the other villagers. He wants to marry Pocahontas, and gets permission from Chief Powhatan, but Pocahontas does not want to be married to him because he is quite serious. I can understand that, but he would have been a steady figure for her. Again, he doesn’t receive much screen time and I would’ve liked his relationship with Pocahontas to be explored further, but in the interests of time and pacing, I guess it wasn’t possible. Nakoma and Kocoum are voiced by Michelle St. John and James Apaumut Fall, respectively, both of which are also of Native American descent. Kekata, the medicine man of the Powhatan tribe, is voiced by Gordon Tootoosis, another actor of Native American descent, who died in 2011.

For the English settlers, there are only really three main ones. Ben, the cynical, grumpy one, who quickly grows to dislike his time in Jamestown, as well as the amount of time they had to be on that “stinking boat”. He is voiced by the much-loved Scottish comedian and actor Billy Connolly. Then, there is Thomas, who is probably the youngest of the settlers. He is new to being a sailor and a soldier, and therefore is not particularly skilled, as we see when he gets thrown overboard at the start and almost shoots Ratcliffe at one point… Thomas is one of the first to stand up to Ratcliffe at the end though, when they are told to fight. Thomas is voiced by Christian Bale in one of his earlier film roles. Bale would obviously go on to star as Batman in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), amongst other things. The third main English settler is Lon, who is friends with Ben. They both seem to have known John Smith previously as well. Lon is more positive than Ben, trying to make the best of things. Lon is voiced by Joe Baker.

Finally, we have the animal sidekicks. Percy is the pug of Governor Ratcliffe, who is very spoilt and doesn’t like this strange, muddy area he’s been brought to, where raccoons steal all your food. Yes, him and Meeko have an ongoing battle throughout the movie, before deciding to be friends at the end, and Percy ends up staying in Jamestown. Danny Mann “voiced” Percy. The two characters are clearly the comic relief in Pocahontas, because otherwise, there wouldn’t be much to laugh about or to keep the kids entertained! Meeko is Pocahontas’ mischievous raccoon, who is always hungry and therefore stealing food from others. But he doesn’t mean any harm by it! It was decided that a raccoon was a good sidekick to Pocahontas as they have dexterity, so he would be able to keep up with Pocahontas and be able to handle objects, such as food and John Smith’s compass. Meeko is “voiced” by John Kassir, who has had many roles within animation, providing additional voices to movies such as Planes (2013) and the Minions movies (2015-22). Flit is the last sidekick, a hummingbird, who is quite stubborn and easily panicked. This was to match the nervous, staccato movement of hummingbirds. Flit is “voiced” by Frank Welker, known for providing many noises for animal characters in film, such as Abu in Aladdin (1992).

One final character to mention, who was cut from the movie, was Redfeather, a funny turkey sidekick for Pocahontas, who would’ve been voiced by John Candy. With Candy’s death in 1994, the whole character was cut, and the other animals, including Percy, who were meant to have voices, were then silenced[6]. It was probably for the best, but it would’ve been interesting to hear John Candy as a turkey in Pocahontas.

PRODUCTION

The first mention of Disney making a movie based on Pocahontas, came from co-director Mike Gabriel, who, as part of his pitch, used one small illustration: a drawing of Tiger Lily from Peter Pan (1953), with some forest creatures around her. He stated that he wanted this to be a film about the Chief’s daughter being caught between her love of her people and her love for one of their “enemies”. This was enough for the idea to be greenlit, and for the movie to be put into production[7]. Eric Goldberg was added as co-director.

From this point, the team at Disney looked into the real history of Pocahontas and the Powhatan tribe. They went to the original settlement of Jamestown and its museum for inspiration, where a replica of the Susan Constant ship exists, which I’m sure was useful for the scenes that included that ship! They learned about Native American culture, and the legends and folklore that surround Pocahontas and her experiences with the Virginia Company settlers. Though Disney’s story is based in real history, such as the arrival of the Virginia Company in 1607, and them looking for riches in the area, and the Powhatan tribe and its customs, some parts of the story were embellished, or were altered completely.

As a large proportion of the negative comments around Pocahontas come from the lack of historical accuracy, it’s important to note that Pocahontas was the first Disney animated movie to be based on the life of a real person, not just characters in a fairy-tale, a novel or a children’s book, so it was difficult territory to navigate.

Pocahontas, also called Amonute or Matoaka, with Pocahontas being a nickname, meaning “playful one”, was actually somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12 when she first met John Smith and the English colonisers settled in Virginia. This was stated in two different personal accounts by John Smith, where he stated that they met around 1608 and she seemed to be about 10 years old, though in a letter about eight years later, he would say she was 12 or 13, so that is why there is some debate, but it is clear she was younger than Disney’s Pocahontas. Due to this age difference, there was no romantic relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith, though, as per his own personal accounts, Smith was taken prisoner and Pocahontas did save his life by throwing herself over his body. This event has been debated by historians, but Disney felt they could use this scene in their movie, as there is some evidence to suggest it did happen.

Pocahontas was actually married to Kocoum and had a son with him, however, the English colonisers killed Kocoum and forced her to give up her child, before capturing her and eventually marrying her off to John Rolfe. She was forced to convert to Christianity, with her name being changed to Rebecca. It is not clear whether she was forced to marry John Rolfe, or not. Pocahontas also went to England, where she was shown to be a product of the peaceful unity between the Native Americans and the English settlers. We now know this was not a harmonious relationship between the two sides. Pocahontas died at the age of 21 on the voyage back to Virginia, of potentially smallpox, tuberculosis, or something similar[8].

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Disney did not want to adapt Pocahontas’ history in full, because who wants children to see the violence and abuse that came with colonialism in America? It’s not a nice life story to be presented on screen, so why would Disney make their Pocahontas historically accurate, given this information? Disney have always made loose adaptations of whatever story they’ve chosen. Just look at The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). That movie is absolutely nothing like the book; trust me, I’ve read it a few times, yet I still love both. Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Little Mermaid (1989) are also not close to their original stories, because some of those retellings are quite gruesome in places.

But the problem is that Pocahontas is based on a real person, so people were upset. The fact is some of her history is still being largely debated by historians, so Disney felt they had some degree of artistic license with their adaptation. I personally love the story they came up with, and although I may have seemed incredibly naïve at school, thinking I knew everything about Pocahontas from the Disney film, I did eventually learn the true history, once I was able to understand it. Some of Pocahontas’ history with John Rolfe would be explored in the direct-to-video sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998).

Disney openly admit that they took liberties with Pocahontas’ real-life story, but by aging Pocahontas and giving them a focal point of a complicated love story, it makes the characters’ choices and decisions more important, with more being at stake. Let’s be honest: if Disney had made Pocahontas 10 years old and taken out the love story, but included all the elements of the story where she is fighting injustice and trying to bring peace, the audience may not have found it believable. She would have been a child and we would’ve just found her naïve, not understanding what’s actually going on. It clearly was not the case in the 1600s, Pocahontas was taken seriously, but if you think about it in terms of modern culture, a child standing up for what is wrong in the world is not something we are used to seeing. At least, it wasn’t in the 1990s.

Disney did consult with historians and Native American leaders when making this film, and that included Russell Means, the voice actor for Chief Powhatan. He made suggestions on how the Native American culture should be portrayed in Pocahontas, with two examples of this being the fact that all the dwellings face in one direction, and that the characters refer to each other generally by their relationship to each other, rather than by their first name: Chief Powhatan refers to Pocahontas as “my daughter” for much of the movie. Means stated that he was pleased and proud to have been a part of Pocahontas, with the opening scene of the tribe being a particular highlight of the film for him. Means also said that it was the finest work on Native Americans by Hollywood ever[9].

However, others who were consulted did not approve of the changes that Disney made to the movie, and would not participate further in the project. One such person was Shirley “Little Dove” Custalow McGowan, a descent of Powhatan Indians. She felt that the production was getting further away from historical accuracy, and would not consult with Disney from this point. She asked for her name to be removed from the film, but it was not[10].

Elements of the movie that were changed that would’ve been closer to the true history include a whole scene of the village preparing for Pocahontas’ upcoming wedding to Kocoum, with a song titled “Dancing to the Wedding Drum”, an early version of “Steady as the Beating Drum”. There was much research into the specifics of what a Native American wedding would’ve looked like, but it was removed as it felt burdensome to the plot.

Another scene that was almost included in the film was a love song between John Smith and Pocahontas called “In the Middle of the River”, which would’ve included them declaring their love for each other, as well as hope that their two cultures could come together. At least three songs of this type, as in a big production number involving the whole forest, similar to “Under the Sea” in The Little Mermaid (1989), were written but this was the favoured one. It was supposed to take place at the point of Pocahontas and John Smith’s kiss in the released version of the film, as the war is brewing between the two groups. It was even based on a Native American saying, but it was rejected, due to the fact it felt like there were already so many songs by this point in the movie, that it would’ve felt overcrowded and like the action had to keep moving[11].

After this song was rejected, a new love ballad was written, called “If I Never Knew You”, to be sung the night before John Smith is to be executed. The whole scene was completed and put into the movie, however, during a preview of the film, they noticed that the audience was restlessness during this song. It was decided that the song should be cut, since the film worked without it, and the theme of the song was still prominent within the score, so it’s not like it had been cut completely, though it was still a disappointment to both the songwriting team and to the animators. It was a huge love scene, a big declaration of love and emotion between the two main characters. It was something that Disney had not done before in any of their movies, and the team felt it was a shame to lose it, especially as it gave even more depth and reason to the scene of Pocahontas throwing herself over John Smith to protect him at the end.

And that is why, for the 10^th anniversary of the release of Pocahontas, the scene was put back into the movie on the newest DVD release, with Mel Gibson and Judy Kuhn singing[12]. I personally love this “deleted” song, and I think it fits very well, unlike some other “deleted” songs that Disney put into new releases, such as “Human Again” in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and “The Morning Report” in The Lion King (1994). If you go back and watch the original cut of the movie, it seems such a waste of a scene; the two don’t say all that much and it’s so short. With this song, it makes their relationship feel so much more believable and it’s very heartfelt. A couple of lines from “If I Never Knew You” also appear right at the end of the movie on this release, as John Smith and Pocahontas say goodbye.

MUSIC

The music on Pocahontas is one of my favourites from Disney and I actually like every single song, and even prefer some of the instrumentals from the score to the songs! The soundtrack consists of fourteen songs, which includes four reprises, plus two songs being performed by other artists for the End Credits. “If I Never Knew You” is one of those, being performed by Jon Secada and Shanice in the credits. The music was written by longtime Disney collaborator Alan Menken, with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, writer of big musical hits such as Godspell (1971) and Wicked (2003), as well as other Disney films, such as Enchanted (2007) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), also with Menken.

“Colors of the Wind” was the first song to be written for the movie, and is the one Menken and Schwartz were most proud of, as it defined the overall message of the story and helped the team move forward with the plot of the film at the start of production. This song was the biggest hit of the soundtrack, where it won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe and the Grammy for Best Song, with many labelling this song and its scene as one of the highlights of the film. It is sung by Judy Kuhn, who sang all of Pocahontas’ songs. Menken and Schwartz called Kuhn a great talent, as she had great instinct and got the meaning of the lyrics across to the listener just as they wanted. This song also features on the End Credits sung by Vanessa Williams.

Pocahontas begins with the song “The Virginia Company”, which gives the audience some historical context to the movie and where these sailors are going, whilst also sounding like a sea shanty. There is a reprise to this song, just a few minutes later. After this, “Steady as the Beating Drum” plays during the introduction to Powhatan tribe. This style of music is in complete contrast to “The Virginia Company”, showing the differences between the two groups who are about to meet in Virginia. There is a reprise to this song too, sung by Chief Powhatan, as he is telling Pocahontas to settle down her high-spirited nature.

This is soon followed by “Just Around the Riverbend”, a high-energy song, sung by Pocahontas, as she is literally going down the river on a canoe, showing that rivers are not steady and that it depends which path you choose, referencing the fact that she doesn’t want to marry Kocoum and just wants adventure. I really like this song; it’s good fun, and is the typical princess “want” song, telling us how Pocahontas feels about her life.

Then, we have Grandmother Willow’s song, “Listen With Your Heart”, which also has a reprise fairly soon after. She tells Pocahontas that she needs to listen to herself and what’s around her to get the answers to the questions she has, and that by following your heart, you can’t go wrong. These are quite sweet songs, but not particularly long or memorable.

We also get a traditional villain song, sung by Ratcliffe, called “Mine, Mine, Mine”, which takes place as the English are digging up Virginia looking for gold, whilst Ratcliffe talks about how popular he’ll be at court when he returns a hero, dripping in riches. Obviously, this is not the fate he will ultimately have, but it’s good to dream! This is a great villain’s song, and one of my favourites across Disney Animation. I also like how John Smith gets some lines during this song too, and how they contrast with Ratcliffe’s overall feelings.

Lastly, there are “Savages (Part 1)” and “Savages (Part 2)”. Some of the lyrics of “Savages (Part 1)” are actually different in the movie to the soundtrack. The soundtrack lyrics are quite harsh, talking about killing the savages and being incredibly racist, more so than the characters are in the movie, so I can only assume that is why. I was a bit surprised when I first heard the soundtrack version to be honest… I like both Part 1 and Part 2 of “Savages” because you can feel the tension and hatred between the two groups, and when Pocahontas comes in as the peace-bringing third voice in “Savages (Part 2)”, it brings the whole thing full circle and leads in very nicely to the big moment of her saving John Smith and stopping this war.

As much as I like the songs, of which there are many and they come thick and fast during the film, I love some specific instrumentals within the score even more; three in particular. They are “Execution”, pretty obvious where that one features; “Skirmish”, which plays at the point that John Smith and Pocahontas kiss; and “Farewell”, which is the very end scene. I play these often; I love the softness of the music and how melodic it is, with instruments like flutes and strings being more prominent to create that romantic atmosphere. It’s a beautiful score, and my absolute favourite from any Disney animated movie. The soundtrack won the Academy Award for Best Musical or Comedy Score, and reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

RECEPTION

Although the movie was not released until June 1995, Pocahontas was being promoted heavily from the start of 1995. In some ways, it was a bigger marketing push than that of The Lion King (1994) a year earlier. A 24-city mall display began in San Diego on 3^rd February 1995, which included a kiosk allowing guests to electronically colour a scene from the movie, as well as recreations of set pieces. There were also tie-ins with brands such as Mattel and Burger King. Sneak peeks were being added to video releases of other Disney movies, and there was a whole press presentation to build excitement for the movie on 31^st January in New York’s Central Park. Despite this, there were still concerns that Pocahontas would not be able to outdo The Lion King, as it was a movie based in real history, with much controversy expected to come from it[13].

A special premiere was held on 10^th June 1995, two weeks before the regular theatre release, on the Great Lawn in Central Park – that was announced in the press event on 31^st January 1995. It took nine months to plan, and included enough audio wattage to power five rock concerts, eight-storey tall screens, and a sound system specifically engineered to transmit across the 13-acre area. A random lottery draw was run across the US to distribute the 100,000 tickets to be there. Fireworks were set off at the end to close the event[14].

Pocahontas was released in select theatres on 16^th June 1995, to coincide with Pocahontas’ 400^th birthday, before being released to the general public in the US on 23^rd June 1995. Though the box-office results were decent, they were nowhere close to those of The Lion King, which was disappointing for Disney. It was, however, the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year. On 20^th June 1995, a thirty-minute ABC television special was aired titled Disney’s Pocahontas: The Musical Tradition Continues, exploring the music of some of the latest Disney animated features with Alan Menken. Seemingly, this would have been to promote the upcoming general release of Pocahontas as well.

Bad things were to come when the reviews came in, as they were mixed. Some were upset by the lack of historical accuracy, finding that the characters were too simplistic and that the love story was too forced. Others liked the animation and music of the film, but felt it was lacking in humour and comedy, whilst some did appreciate the message of environmentalism and the progressive stance Disney took by showing how colonialisation should not be widely celebrated. Disney had made it clear, though, that Pocahontas was meant to be entertainment and never a documentary.

In terms of how the movie looked, it was universally accepted that Pocahontas was a beautiful movie to watch. Art Director Michael Giaimo said that although they took influence from the real area of Virginia, they did heighten the experience of being there, by making the trees even taller and the horizons even larger. They allowed for the characters to be bright and vivid against calm backgrounds, with cooler, more muted colours being chosen. The scene of John Smith seeing Pocahontas for the first time is a great example of this, as the background of the waterfall is blue, with mist being included to add to the romance of the sequence. There is no dialogue, so the music and the faces can speak for themselves[15].

LEGACY

Despite this backlash, Pocahontas did receive a direct-to-video sequel, titled Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, released in 1998. In a way, this movie ties up some of the historical inaccuracies from the first movie, as it introduces John Rolfe, with Pocahontas going to England to try and broker peace between her people and the King. Things get sticky when Ratcliffe and John Smith arrive, but it works out for the best, with Pocahontas choosing to be with John Rolfe instead of Smith. The movie ends with the two sailing back to Virginia. Although it doesn’t suggest that Pocahontas died on the way back to her home, if it makes people feel better to believe that Disney followed Pocahontas’ correct history, then you can always pretend she did!

Within the Disney theme parks, Pocahontas has been featured in many ways. Currently, there is a “Colors of the Earth” segment within Disneyland’s nighttime show World of Color, which features the iconic song, “Colors of the Wind”. In terms of character meet-and-greets, Pocahontas is the most common character to be found at the Disney Parks, but seems to be more easily spotted at the US Disney Parks. Meeko used to be easily found at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but is now less frequently spotted. The same can be said for Governor Ratcliffe, who is more likely to be seen at the Halloween events. John Smith is quite a rare character too, but may be seen at special events, or just appear randomly!

Pocahontas used to be featured prominently at both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. There was a whole section within the nighttime show, Fantasmic! from 1998 until 2020. It featured an onstage battle between the Powhatans and the English settlers, with John Smith and Pocahontas appearing on either side to stop the fighting. It was a good scene, at least for me; I loved Fantasmic! as it was, and am less enamoured with the change to this scene, which now features a “heroes’ montage” with characters such as Moana and Elsa singing their iconic songs from their respective movies.

At Animal Kingdom, between 1998 and 2008, Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends stage show existed at Camp Minnie-Mickey. It was a 12-minute show that opened with the park on 22^nd April 1998 and was performed in the 350-seat Grandmother Willow’s Grove Theater. It featured trainers bringing out animals, with Pocahontas explaining their natural behaviours and their purpose within the environment, as Pocahontas tried to work out which creature has a special gift to protect the forest – it turns out we as humans are those special creatures! It was a very popular show, and was only meant to be a placeholder until the Beastly Kingdom land was built. Spoiler alert: it never was! It featured a live character performer as Pocahontas and two puppeteers to operate the character of Sprig, a talking tree sapling, and Grandmother Willow, who came from Disneyland’s Spirit of Pocahontas show[16]. I saw Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends many times during my visits to Walt Disney World when I was younger. I thought it was great, and my animal-loving family loved it even more! The show and the Camp Minnie-Mickey area closed to make way for Pandora: World of Avatar.

The Spirit of Pocahontas was a shortened version of the film, roughly half an hour, which featured at Disneyland’s Fantasyland Theater from 1995 to 1997, and at the Backlot Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios from 1995 to 1996. Disneyland Paris also had a special parade to celebrate the release of the film in 1996, which had a very cool float of the ship, and a stage show titled Pocahontas le Spectacle from 1996 to 1999[17].

This shows how much the film was heavily promoted around the time of its release, but also that the characters were clearly quite popular. Music from Pocahontas as well as some clips of the movies can be seen within various fireworks shows and parades. Let’s also not forget that Pocahontas is the seventh official Disney Princess, and the first princess to be based on an actual person. She is also the first Disney protagonist to be of Native American descent. She is a good role model for young girls, and was the catalyst to Disney creating stronger, independent, free-thinking women such as like Mulan or Tiana.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think Disney’s Pocahontas did plenty of things right, and those seem to have been forgotten. On doing research into the movie and the discussions around it, I was disappointed to see a lot of talk about what is “wrong” with the movie, and very little about what is “right” with the movie, such as the environmental message and the fact that, for once, colonialism was not portrayed as something that was great and wonderful when in fact, it was all to do with greed and selfishness, and a decision that one way of living was the “right way” and that every other way should be disregarded and changed, with land primarily being taken by force from the Native Americans who already lived there.

Plenty of Native American voices were involved in the production process of Disney’s Pocahontas, and although not all of them were happy with the final result, some actually were, and were proud to see their heritage finally being represented more truthfully on screen. Pocahontas will not get a live-action remake due to its troubled nature; I’m pleased about that for many reasons, mostly that I don’t want the animated movie to be tainted.

It was hard for me to read some of the criticism around Pocahontas, a movie that I have always loved, because I was not aware of this negative backlash until now, despite the fact it has existed ever since the movie was release. Although I understand the lack of historical accuracy within the movie may be disappointing for some, I just don’t know how anyone could have expected Disney to have follow Pocahontas’ true story; Disney make family-friendly films that children want to see, not historical films, full of the violence and horrors of the real world. Other film production companies could have decided to make a film about Pocahontas as she really was, but frankly, it’s a difficult, complicated story to adapt, so in a way, you have to applaud Disney for their bravery here.

Yes, they got some things wrong, but no project is ever perfect; they could only do their best, and I think Disney did just that.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).

[2] Credit: Disney, “Creating the Characters”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

[4] Credit: Disney, “Creating the Characters”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[5] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Pocahontas”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[6] Credit: Disney, “Creating the Characters”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[7] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

[8] Credit: Katy Rath, ‘The True Story Of Pocahontas That Disney Doesn’t Tell’, ScreenRant.com, 19^th June 2023.

[9] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Pocahontas”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Abandoned Concepts”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[12] Credit: Disney, “The Making of If I Never Knew You”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[13] Credit: Pat H. Broeske, ‘”Pocohantas” massive marketing scheme’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 3^rd February 1995.

[14] Credit: Disney, “Premiere in Central Park”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[15] Credit: Disney, “Creating Art Design, Layout & Backgrounds”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[16] Credit: Dave Shute & Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[17] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

23rd Jun 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#45 Home on the Range (2004)

BACKGROUND

I’ve been waiting weeks to be able to talk about Home on the Range.

Not because it’s good, but because it has been dubbed one of the worst Disney animated features of all time.

For a period of around five years, my family stopped going to watch the latest Disney animated film release both at the cinema and on DVD. This began with Home on the Range. Most members of my family still have not seen this movie – but I have. I watched it for the first time around 2016, when the UK-released Disney Life app was in existence and I found I had access to the Disney movies that we had missed between 2004 and 2008. I didn’t like it then, and barely paid attention to it, so I was curious to know what I’d think of it now.

After re-watching Home on the Range, I found that it was alright. Parts of it are not particularly interesting, some are just plain strange, and others are good. It’s an odd mixture, but the biggest thing is that it just doesn’t feel like a Disney movie, despite the traditional hand-drawn animation. Home on the Range would be the last of this kind, until a brief revival with The Princess and the Frog in 2009 and Winnie the Pooh in 2011.

The fact that it is a Western-style movie doesn’t help with my opinion on it, because I’ve never been a big fan of anything set up as a “Western”. I don’t like Back to the Future Part III (1990), even though I like the other two, for this very reason! It also has some very “un-Disney” jokes, which can be awkward to sit through. But on the whole, it’s not unwatchable, which is helped by its 75-minute runtime. Though I would re-watch it at some point, it sits towards the bottom of any personal rankings of Disney Animated movies – I dislike others a whole lot more, like some of the earlier “package films”, and definitely Pinocchio (1940) but it is nowhere near good enough to be classed as a “favourite”.

PLOT

As the movie is called Home on the Range and as I mentioned that it is Western-themed, with the name of the film coming from the traditional cowboy song of the same name, it should come as no surprise that the opening of this film features typical cowboys, cacti, deserts, canyons, and snakes, to really set the scene, with an unfortunate rabbit being bounced around between bulls, a coyote and birds. We see the Sheriff pin a “Wanted” poster on a tree, of a cattle rustler called Alameda Slim. There is a $750 reward for his capture.

After this, we see a cow being moved to a farm. She, Maggie, narrates her story, telling us that her owner’s, Abner, Dixon Ranch had to be sold after his whole cattle herd – apart from her – was stolen by Alameda Slim. She is being moved to a dairy farm, called Patch of Heaven. Everything seems rosy over there, with the owner, Pearl, keeping everything harmonious with all the animals: chickens, goats, pigs, and cows. Maggie introduces herself to the group, where she is found to be brash, loud, and a tad bit vulgar, much to the annoyance of the long-standing Mrs. Calloway, who is oh-so-posh and dislikes Maggie instantly for her lack of class. The other cow at the farm, Grace, is quite happy to have Maggie with them, though she is a bit ditzy.

Soon, Buck, the Sheriff’s horse, arrives with Sheriff Sam, who has come to deliver a bank notice to Pearl. With cattle missing all across the state, the banks are calling in their debts. Pearl has three days to pay $750 or the farm will be going to auction. Sam suggests Pearl sell off some livestock to pay off the debt, but she angrily refuses, telling Sam these animals are her family. Maggie suggests to the other animals that they can earn the money by going to the County Fair to be “show animals”; Maggie was a prolific “show cow” at her previous home. As the County Fair is not for another two weeks, Maggie and Grace set off to town to ask for more time on the bank notice; Mrs. Calloway reluctantly joins them. They find Buck, fantasising about being a bounty hunter’s horse so he can fight bad guys, and ask for an extension on the notice. He refuses.

Their conversation is abruptly ended by the arrival of Rico, a successful bounty hunter, who has come to get money for his latest capture. Sheriff Sam tells him the last wanted person is Alameda Slim, so Rico goes to find him, using Buck as his horse for the journey. The cows overhear this and notice that the reward for Slim is $750, exactly what Pearl needs to save Patch of Heaven, so they want to find him first.

Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway plan to follow a nearby wagon to a cattle drive, hoping that they’ll find Slim there, but as Maggie and Mrs. Calloway are clashing over their plans, the wagon owner ends up taking them with him, tying them to his wagon, so they have no choice but to follow it! On the journey, they see Maggie’s former ranch being auctioned off. Once stopped, the cows try to free themselves from the wagon, hiding amongst a group of bulls, who awkwardly flirt with them. Sure enough, Slim arrives, but as Maggie is about to attack, Slim starts to yodel, which has a hypnotising effect on all the cows, this being Slim’s method for stealing them. The only one unaffected is Grace, due to her being “tone-deaf”. She pulls on the wagon, pushing it down a hill, hitting into Maggie and Mrs. Calloway, snapping them out of their trance. Unfortunately, Slim escapes, blocking his entrance to a cave with a rock. This stops Rico and Buck from capturing him too. Rico decides that Buck is too skittish around cows, and leaves with a different horse. Buck and the trio of cows decide to race to see who can get to Slim first.

Within Slim’s lair, he says that his plan is to buy every patch of land in the area. By stealing cows from the ranches, it forces them to be auctioned off. At this point, he goes in disguise to buy up the land under the name “Yancy O’Dell”. This is his revenge for all his underappreciated work on other people’s ranches. He spots one patch of land he has missed – Patch of Heaven – as it has been blocked by one of his nephew’s, the Willie Brothers, who always sits in the same spot in front of the map. He plans to go to its auction.

As the cows seem to be on the trail of Slim, Buck, who is ahead, makes multiple tracks to confuse them before running ahead, pleased with himself. Then, there is a storm, which starts a flash flood. Maggie tries to continue on, almost getting all three of them killed. Mrs. Calloway angrily forces them all to stay on a safe bit of high ground until it passes. She tells Maggie she should go on alone, as she just wants revenge on Slim, and not to help them save Patch of Heaven. The next day, as Maggie is about to set off, a Shaman Rabbit, the one from the film’s opening, introduces himself as Lucky Jack and tries to encourage the cows to stay with him as he makes them a fire and food to eat. He was flushed out of his home by Slim, and tells them that Slim’s base is in Echo Mine, his old home. Jack takes all three of them there.

At the mine, Slim’s black-market cattle seller, Wesley, arrives to take the cows away, paying Slim for the batch of 5,000 cows, which Slim will use to buy land. As the cows and Jack approach the entrance, they see the mine is blocked by a buffalo, who is guarding the entrance. Buck is trying to negotiate his way inside, but only cows may pass, so Maggie and the others are allowed to go in, much to Buck’s annoyance. Knowing that if Slim sees them, he will start to yodel, Grace puts rabbit fluff in Maggie and Mrs. Calloway’s ears so they’ll be immune to it. Slim does see them and starts to yodel. They pretend to be hypnotised to trick Slim into a mine cart, where they tie him up and hit him to knock him out, as per their plan. On exiting the mine, they run into Buck, who steals Slim and delivers him to Rico, only for the cows to steal him back. The Willie Brothers, Wesley and Junior the Buffalo all try to retrieve Slim, as they go down an old mine track. Fireworks are set off within the mine, pushing them all out of it with the force of the explosion. Wesley starts his train, which he’ll use to transport the cattle, to head the others off. There’s a crash as the two groups collide but everyone is somehow ok!

Slim is freed, and drags the cows on to the train. It turns out that Rico was actually working for Slim, with Slim telling Rico to go with Wesley to the border to see there are no further problems. Slim heads off to the auction at Patch of Heaven. Buck, horrified to see that his hero has been working for the villain all along, punches Rico and Wesley, and tells the cows to run. Mrs. Calloway manages to free them from the train, before going back and starting up the train as it’s the quickest way to get to their farm. Despite a near miss with the Morning Express, which Buck and Lucky Jack manage to avoid by switching the tracks, they arrive at the farm, just as Slim seems to have won Patch of Heaven. They come to stop him, and Slim pulls a gun on them. The other Patch of Heaven animals start to fight him, where he ends up in the top of the train. Mrs. Calloway pulls the whistle, which blows off Slim’s disguise. Despite his attempts to yodel his way out of trouble, Grace karate-kicks a cowbell into his mouth. Slim is promptly arrested by the Sheriff, who gives the reward money to Pearl, allowing her to pay off her debt and save Patch of Heaven.

A few weeks later, we see that the story of three cows defeating Alameda Slim has reached the papers, and that Lucky Jack has joined the Patch of Heaven clan. Many of the animals return from the County Fair with prizes. Soon, Junior and two of the flirty bulls from earlier in the movie, come to live at Patch of Heaven. Everything ends happily.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Maggie is one of the three main characters in Home on the Range. She comes to Patch of Heaven from Dixon Ranch, after her owner has to sell up when his cattle, all except Maggie, are stolen. You’d think that backstory would make Maggie a bit shy and timid, but far from it! Maggie is incredibly brash, loud, and a bit of a know-it-all; it probably doesn’t help that she is a winning show cow, so she believes she’s something special! She is not afraid to speak her mind or share her views, and doesn’t spare anyone’s feelings; she’s also quite happy to talk over everybody else. Her humour is a bit crude and a bit much for a Disney movie, in my opinion! For example, one of the first things Maggie says in the movie is: “Yeah, they’re real. Quit staring”, referring to her udders…This line, in part, earnt the film its PG rating[1]! Although she clashes with Mrs. Calloway at the start of the movie, by the end of it, they have looked past their differences and become friends – though I think this is more to do with the animals of Patch of Heaven getting used to Maggie than about her changing her behaviour! Originally, Maggie was going to already be part of the Patch of Heaven farm, but it was decided that it would be more dynamic for her to come in as an outsider. It certainly gave more options for where the character would go and how she would interact with others.

Maggie was not going to be as brash and abrasive originally either. The voice casting had a lot to do with how Maggie’s character changed and that voice actor choice was American comedian and actress Roseanne Barr. For anyone familiar with her work, this would explain a lot in terms of the “comedy”! Disney knew Barr would have some good one-liners and they fitted the movie around those so they would not be overshadowed[2]. I don’t think this was a good choice for Home on the Range because it really does take over, and Barr’s humour is not universally liked. For this reason, I do not like Maggie as character and didn’t care about her journey or whether anyone grew to like her at Patch of Heaven. Roseanne Barr is most known for her stand-up comedy career before starring in her own sitcom Roseanne from 1988 to 1997, with a brief revival in 2018, which was cut short after Barr wrote and posted offensive tweets. Barr was then removed from the show.

Mrs. Calloway is basically the leader of Patch of Heaven’s animals, with her having seniority and wisdom on her side. She is chosen to deal with any disputes, such as those between Jeb, a grumpy goat, and the overenthusiastic piglets on the farm. She also likes to wear a purple hat with a flower in it; it seems to be her most prized possession and she gets very angry with Maggie when she drops it in the mud at one point. It’s a strange character quirk… Mrs. Calloway is very set in her ways and she is disgusted by Maggie when she arrives, with her crude jokes and burping, saying she is low-class. It takes a lot for her to be persuaded to come on this journey with Maggie and Grace, but she wants to save Patch of Heaven from closure so that is what motivates her to continue, unlike Maggie, whose ultimate motivation is revenge on Alameda Slim, something which Mrs. Calloway does not appreciate, telling Maggie not to return to their farm if she doesn’t want to be there anyway. By the end of the movie though, the two have come to be friends.

The weirdest thing is that Judi Dench is the voice of Mrs. Calloway. It’s a shame for an actress of her calibre to be attached to such a lacklustre Disney movie; could Disney not find her a better film to be a part of? Dame Judi Dench, as she should be addressed, is considered to be one of the greatest British actresses. She has had quite the career, winning multiple awards, including an Oscar, and has starred in various productions on stage and screen. Dame Judi does have a sense of humour, I believe, so I bet she had a good time working on Home on the Range, despite the mediocre reception to it!

The final cow to make up the trio is Grace. She comes across as quite ditzy, though she is clearly kind-hearted and not judgemental, as she is willing to give Maggie a chance, unlike Mrs. Calloway. Grace doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing most of the time, spending most of the first half of the movie just singing really badly, but this is shown to be very important. Her bad singing shows that Grace is tone-deaf, and because she is tone-deaf, she is immune to Slim’s yodelling and therefore does not become hypnotised unlike the other two. Grace has to save both of them from Slim, and this makes Grace very important in the rest of the movie, because if this weren’t the case, then the three protagonists would have ended up being unconscious for most of the movie[3]!

Grace is voiced by American-Canadian actress Jennifer Tilly. Tilly has appeared in many film and television roles, and is particularly known for her distinctive nasally voice. For Disney, Tilly has voiced the part of Celia in Monsters, Inc. (2001) and its spin-off Monsters at Work (2021), as well as playing the role of Madame Leota in The Haunted Mansion (2003).

Then there’s Buck. He is the Sheriff’s horse, but thinks a lot of himself, wanting to be the hero and defeat bad guys, having dreams of being a bounty hunter. He particularly idolises the bounty hunter, Rico, despite Rico’s lack of personality and utter indifference to anyone but himself. It turns out Rico just wants money, and doesn’t care about justice, unlike Buck. Because Rico turns out to be working for Alameda Slim, Buck turns on him and realises that he doesn’t need to be a sidekick to a bounty hunter, he can be the hero all on his own, and he does just that. Buck has a complicated relationship with the cows at the start of the movie, making life difficult for them by refusing to extend the bank notice and by racing them to find Slim first, but by the end of it, they’ve learnt to get along together. Buck is also humbled during this journey as he is not the one to find Slim first, and finds that the trio of cows have much better ideas than he does! Buck is voiced by American actor Cuba Gooding Jr., best known for his roles in Jerry Maguire (1996), for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, As Good as It Gets (1997) and The Butler (2013). He portrayed O.J. Simpson in the series The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016).

Then we come to the villain of the movie, Alameda Slim. The character was named after Montana Slim, real name Wilf Carter, who was a Canadian country singer and yodeller[4]. The surname “Slim” is also an ironic reference to Alameda Slim’s size as he is in fact quite a big guy! Alameda Slim is the villainous cattle rustler, stealing cattle to make ranches and farms go bust so he can buy them and “takeover” the area, as revenge on all the previous ranch owners he used to work for. It’s not the strongest villain backstory and it’s not clear what he plans to do after that! Slim has a good talent for yodelling, which he uses to steal cattle, as they become hypnotised by him; he’s very much like the Pied Piper, leading them away from their homes. Slim can be funny at times, though he mostly just shouts a lot, particularly at his nephews, the three Willie Brothers, who are quite dim and don’t seem to know what’s going on! The Willie Brothers are voiced by Sam J. Levine, an animator, story writer and producer for Disney. They irritate Slim and constantly say or do the wrong thing. Slim isn’t a great Disney villain for me; he doesn’t have many powers, his backstory is weak, and apart from pulling a gun on the cows at the end, he’s not particularly evil. Originally, Slim’s big plan was that he was going to use an army of cows to storm the White House to become President. This was changed as Disney decided that this dream was too outlandish[5]!

Randy Quaid voices Alameda Slim. Quaid has acted in both serious drama and comedic roles. He had a recurring role as Cousin Eddie in most of the National Lampoon’s Vacation films (1983-2003). Quaid also starred as Harold ‘Mitch’ Mitchell in the television film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire (1984). Even though I don’t like Slim as a character much, I do think Quaid’s voice work here is good.

The last “major” character to mention is Lucky Jack, the rabbit with a peg leg, who isn’t very lucky at all. He appears in the opening sequence of Home on the Range being hit by cattle, and attacked by snakes and bears, having to make a quick getaway. He then shows up after the flash-flood, where he decides to try and help the cows by building them a fire and making them some food. This is when we discover that Lucky Jack lost his home of Echo Mine to Alameda Slim, who ended up using it as his “villain’s lair”. Jack helps the cows find their way to Echo Mine and defeat Slim. Though he isn’t at the final battle at Patch of Heaven, Jack does find a new home at the farm with the others. This backstory for Lucky Jack was added in to give him a connection with the cows and a motivation for him to help them find Slim. Originally, he was just going to be a bit of a crazy rabbit who assumed the cows were from Echo Mine, and liked to play records of yodelling[6]! American actor and director Charles Haid voices Lucky Jack. Haid’s most well-known role was in the police drama Hill Street Blues (1981-1987), where he played Officer Andy Renko.

There are a few other characters, or voice actors, to mention too. Another strangely big name within this voice cast is Steve Buscemi. He voices the part of Wesley, the black-market businessman who takes all of Slim’s stolen cattle to be sold. Wesley is not on screen for long, but you can tell its Steve Buscemi! Apparently, Disney wrote this cameo specifically for him[7]. Buscemi has had a varied acting career, starring in more serious roles such as “Mr Pink” in Reservoir Dogs (1992), Carl Showalter in Fargo (1996) and as Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire (2010-14), as well as in comedy, popping up in many of Adam Sandler’s films, and within the anthology television series Miracle Workers (2019-present). For Pixar, Buscemi voiced Randall Boggs in Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Monsters University (2013).

Patrick Warburton also has a cameo as the easily-scared horse that Rico uses to get to Slim’s lair after ditching Buck. Warburton has voiced many roles for Disney such as Kronk in The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) and its sequel Kronk’s New Groove (2005), as well in Disney television series such as Kim Possible (2002-07) and Buzz Lightyear in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-01). For any Disney Parks fans, you will also see Patrick Warburton giving the “pre-flight” video before the attraction Soarin’ at Disney’s California Adventure, Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort, Shanghai Disneyland, and Tokyo DisneySea.

PRODUCTION

The original idea for Home on the Range was conceived by Mike Gabriel, who had planned to make a film with a supernatural Western theme. Gabriel was told he could proceed with the idea once he’d finished directing Pocahontas (1995). After Pocahontas was released, he started on the concept art for this idea, which at the time was called “Sweating Bullets”. The story would have followed a timid character who arrived at a ghost town and came face-to-face with ghostly cattle rustlers. This character went through many iterations of being a young cowboy, an older cowboy and even a bull.

Gabriel left the film in 2000, and it was handed over to Will Finn, who had worked at the Disney Studios during the 1980s and 1990s, before going over to DreamWorks where he had worked on The Road to El Dorado (2000). John Sanford was brought in to co-direct. After some re-working of the story, it was decided that the film would follow three dairy cows; it was conceived as Charlie’s Angels but with cows[8]! It was also decided that the movie would be traditionally hand-drawn, despite the use of computer animation in other studios such as Pixar and DreamWorks. Disney had used elements of CG in their previous movies but had yet to go into that medium fully. After the failure of 2D animated Treasure Planet (2002), Disney planned to stop making hand-drawn animated films and move into fully CG movies. As Brother Bear (2003) and Home on the Range were in production at the time this decision was made, they could continue with their 2D animation as planned, with Home on the Range being the last one – until 2009, when it would have a brief revival[9]. Home on the Range was also the last Disney film to use the CAPS system to colour its artwork. It was dismantled after the movie was completed[10].

As part of research for the project, around twelve members of the Disney team went to a cattle drive in Wyoming at the start of production on Home on the Range. To create the correct mood and to reflect the story, they had to research the landscapes of the West for their background art. Alongside finding lots of dust, the team at Disney found many colours in the landscapes, other than the typically used browns, like pinks, green, oranges, and purples. They went a bit further with their colours and landscapes choices than what is actually there, but it is still based in reality. As well as this real-world research, the team went into the Animation Research Library to look at backgrounds from Western-themed Disney films and shorts, such as those of Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed to get inspiration[11].

MUSIC

For the music, Disney brought in composer Alan Menken. Menken was a major factor in the Disney “Renaissance Era” success, having worked on the majority of those movies, including The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). Although looking at Menken’s credits for Disney there would appear to be a long gap between 1997’s Hercules and 2004’s Home on the Range, with Menken doing nothing else in the middle, Menken had been attached to the project from the outset when the film was originally titled “Sweating Bullets”. Menken brought in lyricist Glenn Slater to work alongside. Slater would go on to write the lyrics for multiple stage productions, such as Sister Act the Musical (2006) and Love Never Dies (2010). For Disney, Slater would also write the lyrics for Tangled (2010), as well as for the stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid (2008).

The songwriting duo wrote all six of the movie’s original songs, with Menken also composing the score. Though these songs feature in the movie, the majority of them are not sung by any characters – the exception to this is Alameda Slim’s villain song which he sings himself. The others feature famous performers, most from the country-and-western genre, singing the song over the top of an animated scene.

The first song features in the opening sequence, and is titled “(You Ain’t) Home on the Range”. It certainly sets the scene of this being a Western-set movie! It also contains some relatively funny lyrics, such as “Out in the land of the desperado; If yer as soft as an avocado; Yee-ha! Yer guacamole, son!” There’s also a section about having a nervous bladder, but that’s going too far into silly territory for me. This song is ok, but it’s not the best and I didn’t remember much of it after seeing the film.

To introduce the farm that Maggie the cow will be going to, there is a whole song showing the idyllic life of those there. The song is named after the farm, “A Little Patch of Heaven”. It’s the perfect set up to the area. Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter k.d. lang was chosen to perform the song. Menken and Slater loved her rendition of the song, saying that it was sung from a place of joy and that Lang has a very American voice which suits the movie well. I remembered parts of this song after watching, and I quite liked it.

This is followed by Alameda Slim’s villain’s song, titled “Yodel-adle-eedle-idle-ooo” – that’s easier to read if you’ve heard the song! It’s a good introduction song for Slim, especially as he sings it himself. The scene itself has similarities to “Pink Elephants on Parade”, with its strong use of bright colours, and its psychedelic imagery! It’s a bit of a weird scene, and song, but it is funny. Some of the yodelling section riffs off some traditional pieces of music. I do like the song; it’s fun to try and yodel anyway! Randy Quaid was not used to singing but Menken and Slater said he was a good sport when recording the song! Two other performers did the yodelling for him though – Randy Erwin and Kerry Christianson, world champions in yodelling.

The most emotional song in the movie comes at the point after the flash-flood, when Maggie and Mrs Calloway have argued and everything looks bleak for them, not being able to find Slim and save their farm. At the point of watching the movie, I thought it was a fitting song for the sombre mood of the scene, but I didn’t think much more of it. I then found out that during production, Alan Menken was given the brief for the song, about these cows being lost and struggling to go on; he called it a “Where do we go from here?” song. Menken was not looking forward to writing it and was struggling to find motivation. That is until the tragic events of 9/11, which happened during production on the movie. This gave the song “Will the Sun Ever Shine Again” more meaning to it, and I can see why it was important to them. Deservedly, they got a lot of praise for this song. It is sung by American singer Bonnie Raitt, who manages to get across the despair, but also the hope in the music[12].

These four songs are the main ones to feature in the movie, with a reprise of the opening song playing as the cows and Lucky Jack set off for Echo Mine, and a section of “A Little Patch of Heaven” being used for the happy ending. But there are two other songs, “Where the Trail May Lead”, performed by American country singer Tim McGraw, and “Anytime You Need A Friend”, performed by pop-rock girl group The Beu Sisters. These both feature in the End Credits. Fittingly for their performers, the first song sounds more country, with the second being more pop. I don’t think much of either song, but “Wherever the Trail May Lead” does fit the style of the movie better than “Anytime You Need A Friend”, which is more about the friendship between the cows, I suppose.

The score incorporates many country-and-western music elements to it, such as the use of harmonicas and fiddles, whilst also sounding like a Disney score; parts of it almost sound like Aladdin (1992) to me. Unfortunately, I did not pick out any instrumental within the score that I really liked; it mostly faded into the background for me, but it set the scene.

RECEPTION

Home on the Range was released in theatres on 2^nd April 2004 in the US. Unlike many other Disney animated features, it was released outside of the usual seasons of Summer or Christmas. It did not make back its budget at the box office, only bringing in $104 million against a $110 million budget. The unusual release time of the movie may have had something to do with this, however, Zootopia (2016) would be released at the same time of year twelve years later and do exceptionally well at the box office[13].

The reception to the movie was lukewarm from the majority of critics and viewers. Though many stated that it was entertaining enough for children, the comedy and plot (or lack of) divided audiences. I will admit that some of the comedy did not impress me, with some jokes being quite tasteless and almost crude in places, and that the plot is quite basic, however, it is at least easy to follow!

The problem is that, apart from Lilo & Stitch (2002), which itself was a fairly unique concept, Disney Animation had been struggling against incredibly tough competition, like Pixar, and even DreamWorks, not managing to meet the expectations of those who had been watching Disney during its hugely successful “Renaissance Era”. Home on the Range pales in comparison to those, and for some reason, does not feel like a Disney film.

LEGACY

Unsurprisingly, due to the lack of financial and critical success, Home on the Range and its characters have not spanned any spin-offs or sequels and have not appeared much at the Disney Parks.

Though it was being marketed via a Home on the Range “pre-parade” at Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. It ran daily between 5^th March and 16^th April 2004, so over the Easter period, before the Share A Dream Come True Parade. It included two floats, horses, dancers and character puppets, with Patch of Heaven owner Pearl inviting guests to join in with a square dance. It used the “A Little Patch of Heaven” song as its soundtrack. I cannot find any footage of this, but I did find one photo proving that it was real, since very few people remember it! My family was at the Walt Disney World Resort during this time so we do remember the pre-parade, or at least we remember the main float, which was a barn float, with each of the three cows, as puppet heads, poking out of one of the top three windows, with their name on a sign beneath. It did not make us want to watch the movie; I think we even specifically said to each other we didn’t want to see it at all! The barn float has apparently been part of the Disney float stock since the 1980s. It is currently being used in the Walt Disney World Easter Parade, as well as the annual Boo To You Halloween Parade. Clara Cluck, the operatic chicken from the 1934 Mickey Mouse short Orphan’s Benefit in 1934, appears within the float. The cow puppets were the only opportunity for guests to see any of the Home on the Range characters, as they never had personal meet-and-greets. This may be partly to do with difficulty in figuring out how to make costumes for these cow characters, but I’m sure the movie’s failure had more to do with it.

There was one “attraction” that was themed to Home on the Range, though it was short-lived. The Big Thunder Ranch at Disneyland opened on 22^nd June 1986, best known for Mickey Moo, a cow with a “Hidden Mickey” on its back, and its log cabin. The ranch had been rethemed to tie in with movie releases before, but on 2^nd April 2004, its petting zoo was relaunched as “Patch of Heaven” from the movie. It featured “missing” posters of Buck, Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway, perhaps reiterating that no meet-and-greets with these characters were available, but you could meet real horses and cows. They even had a “Maggie”, a jersey cow bought from a farm in Tulare, California. There was a sign for “Pearl’s Cottage”, with the cottage not being based on Pearl’s actual home from at Patch of Heaven, but just using the log cabin already present at Big Thunder Ranch. The walls of the cabin featured Slim’s “Wanted” poster, stills from the movie, and colouring stations.

This retheme was meant to be permanent, however it did not stick around long. In 2005, Big Thunder Ranch became Santa’s Reindeer Roundup for the Holiday Season. Once that was over in 2006, the Home on the Range overlay was left to fade away. Big Thunder Ranch opened seasonally, with some seasonal overlays, until 10^th January 2016, when it was closed for good to make way for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge[14].

FINAL THOUGHTS

I don’t believe it is a big stretch for me to assume that many of Disney’s even most loyal fans have not seen Home on the Range. Whether that is because reviews from 2004, and even reviews from today, have not been kind to it so they decided to skip it, or whether it is simply because over time it has been forgotten about, I’m not sure. As Home on the Range has been branded the “worst Disney animated feature of all time”, I wouldn’t be surprised either way.

Frankly, Home on the Range is not, and will never be, one of my favourite Disney movies, animated or otherwise. But there were parts of it I did quite like, so I am glad that I have seen it for those reasons. Yes, the plot is not particularly interesting, some of the humour is childish, and the overall Western feel to the movie is not for me, but I did like the music, and some of the characters. I didn’t laugh out loud much during the movie, but it was amusing in places.

If you want to call yourself a hardcore Disney fan, then you must see Home on the Range, even if that’s just to say you’ve watched every Disney animated movie. If you’re not a hardcore fan and only want to watch the best of the best, then Home on the Range is probably not for you – unless you’re a big fan of Westerns!

However, I don’t declare Home on the Range the worst animated film to come out of Disney, just not one of the best. It fits nicely within the unenthusiastically titled “Post-Renaissance Era” for Disney and that’s fine. They can’t all be winners, but a lot of hard work went into this movie, so someone might as well appreciate it!

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Home on the Range, pp. 133-135.

[2] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[3] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Home on the Range, pp. 133-135.

[5] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes: Slim for President” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[6] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes: Meet Lucky Jack” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[7] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[8] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[9] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘Udderly Awful Yodeling: Disney’s Home on the Range’, Tor.com, 10^th November 2016.

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Home on the Range, pp. 133-135.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[12] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.

[13] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘Udderly Awful Yodeling: Disney’s Home on the Range’, Tor.com, 10^th November 2016.

[14] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Little Patch of Heaven at Big Thunder Ranch’, Yesterland.com, 17^th February 2023.

9th Jun 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#21 Robin Hood (1973)

BACKGROUND

I’m sure for many people, Disney’s Robin Hood was their first introduction to the stories and legend of Robin Hood, the English outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor.

It may not be Disney’s best animated feature, in fact, criticisms have been harsh towards the movie, most notably for its reuse of previous animation, but it has a special place in the hearts of many.

I love this version of Robin Hood. It probably helps that I like the overall legend, though I have only watched a couple of other adaptations of the stories, with BBC’s television series Robin Hood (2006-09) being my personal favourite. But I still enjoy Disney’s Robin Hood. I’m not wowed by the animation or by the story, but it has charm and heart, with some good action sequences, funny characters, and catchy music. Who hasn’t spent their time whistling the opening tune at times, or singing “Oo-de-Lally”? I know I have!

The legend of Robin Hood has been told in many ways, with the consensus being that he was a skilled archer, loyal to King Richard, and had his love Maid Marian and his band of “merry men” around him. When the Sheriff of Nottingham, loyal to Prince John, started to harshly tax the people, Robin became an outlaw, fighting against this new rule and trying to help those who were suffering at the hands of it. The reign of Richard I is the usual time setting for the legend, so from 1189 to 1199, with the Crusades, the religious wars that took place around the 1100-1200s in and around the Holy Land, being another time-specific marker, with some adaptations stating that Robin fought in the Crusades, with others saying Robin was of noble birth.

As Robin Hood was only the second animated release after Walt Disney’s death in 1966, and within the Disney’s “Bronze Age”, it was likely that the quality may have suffered since many of the animators knew Walt personally and were incredibly affected by his death, not to mention the fact that Walt Disney was generally quite involved in the production of his animated movies.

PLOT

Disney’s Robin Hood starts off with a singing rooster, Allan-A-Dale, very different to most other adaptations! He sings during the opening credits, where each character is introduced briefly during the sequence, after a typical “storybook opening”. After this, we are led into Sherwood Forest, and see that there is a reward for the capture of Robin Hood. Robin and his friend, Little John, are being targeted by the Sheriff of Nottingham’s men whilst out in the forest, going about their day, but, as usual, they successfully escape. Soon, they see a golden carriage going through the woods, and follow it, hoping to find a rich person whose riches they can take to give to the poor, Robin’s noble mantra in life.

But this isn’t just any carriage, this is Prince John’s royal carriage. Prince John, it turns out, is the current ruler of England as his brother, King Richard, is fighting in the Crusades. Something that Sir Hiss, Prince John’s advisor, hypnotised him to do so Prince John could take the throne. Prince John is sat merrily in his carriage, counting all the taxes that he’s collected over England. They are on their way to Nottingham, when Robin Hood and Little John, dressed as female fortune-tellers, get the carriage to stop so Prince John can have his fortune read. Sir Hiss warns him they could be bandits, but Prince John doesn’t believe women can be bandits! Yet, they certainly rob him – of his money, his carriage’s golden hub caps, his jewels, and even his robe! The two get away with Prince John falling out of his carriage, into the mud, where he comforts himself, as he will do throughout the movie, by sucking his thumb!

After this, we see the Sheriff of Nottingham taxing all the people there, finding coins that are hidden, taking children’s birthday farthings, and stealing from a “blind beggar”. But it’s ok, because the beggar is Robin Hood and he’s come to give the villagers a bag of coins each to help them survive. Robin even gives a child, little Skippy, a bow and arrow as a birthday present, along with his hat. Skippy excitedly goes out to play with it, along with his friends, but he shoots the arrow into Prince John’s castle grounds. Luckily, Maid Marian and her lady-in-waiting Lady Kluck are playing badminton and tell Skippy not to be frightened as he sneaks in to retrieve the arrow. It turns out they are very nice and happy to speak to all the children, even the girls who are trying to get Marian to admit she’s in love with Robin Hood. The two were sweethearts, but Marian went off to London and Robin stayed behind, so each is sure the other has forgotten all about them.

This is not true, as Marian keeps Robin’s reward poster in her wardrobe, and Robin spends so much of his time daydreaming about her that he can’t focus on anything else. Friar Tuck comes by their camp in Sherwood Forest to tell them about an upcoming archery tournament, where one of the prizes is a kiss from Maid Marian; the other is a golden arrow, much less important! Robin Hood decides he must enter, and goes in disguise as a stork, with Little John disguising himself as “Sir Reginald, Duke of Chutney”, sitting himself beside Prince John. Sir Hiss is told to go off and search for Robin Hood. He finds that Robin is the Stork, who is winning the contest, with the only other serious competition being the Sheriff of Nottingham. As Sir Hiss is about to tell Prince John, luckily, he is stopped by Friar Tuck and Allan-A-Dale and put into an ale barrel. The tournament continues and the Stork, or Robin Hood, wins easily despite the Sheriff’s attempts to cheat. Prince John assumes that the Stork is Robin Hood and when dubbing him the winner, reveals his true identity. He is captured by the guards and about to be sentenced to “sudden, instant, and even immediate death”. However, Little John threatens Prince John with a dagger, pressing it against his back, until he releases Robin Hood. Confused, he is let go, but the Sheriff has seen that Robin Hood was only released under threat, and fights Little John, with Prince John, now not at risk of death, ordering the re-capture of Robin Hood. A chase ensues, involving pretty much the whole of Nottingham! Maid Marian and Robin Hood manage to get away together, with Little John and Lady Kluck distracting many of the guards. They all get away and escape into the forest.

Here, Robin Hood and Maid Marian say that they still love each other, and get engaged with a little flower ring, in a romantic scene with a waterfall and lots of fireflies. The schmaltzy stuff is quickly ended by a surprise party, to celebrate Robin Hood’s freedom, where everyone dances, has a laugh, and sings an entire song, purely at the expense of Prince John, dubbing him “The Phony King of England”. The next day, even the Sheriff and Sir Hiss are singing it at the castle. This doesn’t end well, and Prince John, furious, decides to triple the taxes, with anyone not being able to pay being thrown in jail. It’s a sad day for Nottingham as many of the people lose their houses and are thrown in prison, even Allan-A-Dale, the singing rooster, who can’t come up with anything hopeful to sing about…

Friar Tuck, nevertheless, as a member of the church tries to remain positive. The sexton and his wife have saved a farthing and offer it to go in “the poor box”. Friar Tuck takes it gratefully and deposits it there. Soon, the Sheriff arrives, saying that even the church is behind on its taxes, and removes the farthing from the box. Friar Tuck is furious and insults him and Prince John. The Sheriff warns him that if he continues, he’ll be hanged. Friar Tuck gets even more angry and starts to battle the Sheriff – he’s a surprisingly good swordsman! But it’s not enough, and Friar Tuck is arrested on the grounds of high treason.

Though Prince John is surrounded with piles of money, he’s angry that Robin Hood has still not be found. He states that Friar Tuck will be hanged at dawn, hoping that will bring Robin Hood out of hiding. It works, and him and Little John set about planning a jail break. Robin Hood disguises himself as Nutsy, one of the Sheriff’s vulture henchmen, and sings the Sheriff to sleep, before stealing the keys and passing them over to Little John, who goes in and frees everyone. At the same time, Robin goes into Prince John’s room and sets up a conveyor belt with ropes between there and the jail, passing bags of coins along it, over to Little John, who collects them, and gets everyone to head for the castle exit. However, Sir Hiss has woken up to see what’s going on, and grabs hold of a bag, but the makeshift conveyor is too strong, and Prince John is pulled out of bed, landing in the castle forecourt. He sees everyone escaping prison with his gold and calls the guards. Another chase ensues, with them all getting away – except Robin, who stops to save one of the young rabbits. Robin climbs up the castle towers, making it inside, but the Sheriff sets the whole place on fire. Robin climbs right to the top of the highest tower, but the fire consumes everything. He has no choice – he jumps down into the moat. Prince John’s archers continue to shoot at him. Robin does not reappear, with just his hat bobbing in the water. Little John and Skippy wait for him at the water’s edge, but lose hope.

As they are about to leave, they see a reed swimming towards them – it’s Robin Hood; he’s alive! The movie then skips forward to find that Robin Hood and Maid Marian are getting married, and that King Richard has returned, putting his brother, Prince John, Sir Hiss, the Sheriff, and Trigger and Nutsy, the vulture henchmen, in prison. All is well in Sherwood Forest and Nottingham, with King Richard now having “an outlaw for an in-law”.

This wasn’t the first time that Disney had tackled the same source material. The Disney Studios made a live-action retelling of Robin Hood titled The Story of Robin Hood (1952), which was filmed in Buckinghamshire in the UK. It is a slighter darker story, as it is the murder of Robin’s father by King John’s men that leads him to become an outlaw, however, it does include the same story elements of the archery tournament, his love interest Maid Marian, and helping the people who are being taxed harshly by King John – which feature in the animated version, as well as in pretty much every other Robin Hood adaptation, so it’s not much different to any other version of the legend!

CHARACTERS & CAST

Robin Hood is a fox in Disney’s animated film. He is an outlaw, though not particularly roguish. Robin is very clear of his purpose: to take from the rich and give to the poor. He doesn’t use the term “steal”; he likes to say they borrow from those who can afford it. All the people of Nottingham love him and are grateful for all the help he gives them, whether that is giving them money, or breaking them out of jail. Robin is generally quite relaxed; though he knows he is constantly under threat of capture by Prince John or the Sheriff’s men, he believes he can escape them the majority of the time. He’s an optimistic character, with him saying that “there will be happiness again in Nottingham”, even when things look dire. Because of this, Robin is able to continue on his mission to defeat the evil forces at play, and sure enough, his hopefulness turns out to be well-founded as King Richard does return and resolves everything, leaving him to marry his true love, Maid Marian. Robin is also helped by his best friend, Little John, who manages to get Robin out of a few scrapes all on his own, such as at the archery tournament!

Robin Hood was originally going to be voiced by singer Tommy Steele, but it was decided that his voice was too exuberant and lacked the leadership quality that Robin has as a character. Other actors who were considered were Davy Jones from The Monkees, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Rob Reiner. Eventually, some of the team saw Brian Bedford on stage in Los Angeles and brought him in for a test in 1971. He gave the part charm, heroism and some self-mocking humour, which was perfect for Robin[1]. Brian Bedford was an English actor who was nominated for seven Tony Awards during his theatre career, and featured in many performances of Shakespeare plays.

Little John is Robin Hood’s “right-hand bear”, as that is the animal he is portrayed as! Little John tends to voice the more practical issues with Robin’s plans, being a bit more risk-averse, not wanting to barrel in to places without a plan so they don’t end up captured! He’s very funny as a character, and is confident in his abilities, especially when it comes to disguises. When he walks right up to Prince John as “Sir Reginald” during the archery tournament, he is not afraid of Prince John discovering who he is, and keeps up the pretence without hesitation. Little John would do anything to help Robin, and is genuinely concerned for his safety at times, like at the end of the movie when he believes Robin has been shot and drowned in the castle moat; he’s a good friend to Robin, and loyal to him.

Little John is voiced by Phil Harris, who voiced Baloo in The Jungle Book (1967), which makes sense as the design of Baloo is basically the exact same design for Little John! He also voiced Thomas O’Malley in The Aristocats (1970), the Disney release between these two movies.

Then, there is Maid Marian. She is a fox, like Robin. The two were childhood sweethearts, until Marian went to London, leaving Robin behind. Each of them believes they have been forgotten by the other, only to find that is not the case and they both still love each other as much as they did back in the day. Marian is sweet and caring to others, despite being part of the “royal circle” with Prince John. This is because Marian is King Richard’s niece, though the family connections are not clear, as she is not referred to as Prince John’s niece. Unfortunately, Marian doesn’t have much of a role in the movie, just being Robin Hood’s love interest and eventually his wife. She doesn’t have much to do with the story, although she has a good aim when she’s throwing pies! She gets one of the vultures good with one of those when they’re all trying to escape the guards after the archery tournament! Still, Marian has had a stronger role in other non-Disney Robin Hood adaptations, especially in more modern ones.

Maid Marian is voiced by English actress Monica Evans, who played the role of Cecily Pigeon in The Odd Couple on screen and on stage. She also voiced Abigail Gabble, one of the geese, in The Aristocats (1970).

Lady Kluck is Marian’s lady-in-waiting, who is portrayed as a hen, naturally, and a Scottish one at that! Lady Kluck is not prim and proper as many ladies-in-waiting are presented on screen; she is prepared to fight if she needs to, which seems to impress Little John. This is particularly apparent during the post-archery tournament chase where she shows off her American football moves. In this scene, song arrangements including “Fight On” and “On, Wisconsin”, the fight songs of University of Southern California and University of Wisconsin, are even used to reinforce this[2]. She is loyal to Marian, like Little John is to Robin Hood, but again, does not feature too much in the movie.

Actress Carole Shelley voices the role of Lady Kluck. She portrayed the role of Gwendolyn Pigeon, Cecily’s sister, in the original production of The Odd Couple, as well as in the 1968 film movie and 1970s television series, alongside Monica Evans. Also, alongside Evans, she voiced Amelia Gabble, Abigail’s sister, in The Aristocats (1970). More recently, Shelley originated the role of Madame Morrible in the original Broadway cast of Wicked.

Prince John is potentially the funniest Disney animated villain. He’s meant to be a menacing “king”, he is a lion after all, yet most of the time, he just sounds whiny and whimpering! I think this is why he is a popular Disney villain then, because he’s just hilarious to watch. The fact he clearly has “mummy issues”, leading to him sucking his thumb at random intervals, is a great detail to have included in the character! Prince John is clearly a very greedy individual, not wanting to prove he can be a good king, but just to say he’s been one. It turns out that, with the help of his snake advisor, Sir Hiss, the two tricked King Richard I into going to fight in the Crusades, purely so Prince John could take the thrown. Nobody likes Prince John, not even Sir Hiss, I don’t think, but he has a prominent role in the movie, wanting to tax the people as punishment for not loving him, and desperately trying to capture Robin Hood at any cost, because, without Robin Hood, he can be free to rule as he wishes without anyone trying to stop him. Of course, it doesn’t turn out like that and his brother, King Richard I, also known as Richard the Lionheart, returns and straightens the whole mess out, ultimately placing his brother and his comrades in prison for their disgraceful behaviour.

British actor Peter Ustinov voices the roles of Prince John and King Richard. He had a prolific acting career, winning two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in Spartacus (1960) and Topkapi (1964). He also starred as Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile (1978). For Disney, Ustinov played the part of Captain Blackbeard in the live-action film Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968). A few months before Robin Hood was due to be released, the team needed Ustinov to come back to re-record some lines. They searched all over the world for him, only to find that he was working at the NBC Studios in Burbank just half a mile away[3]!

As I mentioned, Sir Hiss is Prince John’s loyal snake advisor, though he is always doing or saying the wrong thing and annoying him! I feel sorry for Sir Hiss at times, because he just wants to do a good job, and get some praise from Prince John, but sadly, it never comes, no matter how hard he tries! Sir Hiss is voiced by English actor and comedian Terry-Thomas, who had performed on radio, stage and screen numerous times during his career. He was considered for the role of George Banks in Disney’s Mary Poppins (1964); he was particularly known for portraying upper-class characters.

The other “bad guy” is the Sheriff of Nottingham. He’s the one who has to carry out Prince John’s wishes, like collecting the taxes and arresting anyone who cannot pay. The Sheriff even steals money from children and beggars, as well as hunting for any hidden coins that he can collect. He is portrayed as a big wolf, though he can fight if he needs to. Him and Friar Tuck certainly have a good duel between the two of them! The Sheriff is wicked and hated by the people of Nottingham, who refer to him as “Bushel-Britches” quite a lot of the time! He gets his comeuppance in the end though, by ending up in jail with the other villains! Pat Buttram voices the Sheriff of Nottingham, who, in contrast to many of the other characters, has a strong Southern American accent. Buttram featured in other Disney animations, such as Napoleon in The Aristocats (1970) and Luke in The Rescuers (1977).

The Sheriff also has two vulture “henchmen”, Nutsy and Trigger, who aren’t particularly smart, with Trigger accidentally releasing his crossbow multiple times, sending it ricocheting about the place with everyone ducking for cover! They try their best, but it’s just not good enough for the Sheriff, who is quite dismissive and rude to them. They are voiced by Ken Curtis and George Lindsey, respectively, with Curtis having roles in many westerns such as Gunsmoke (1955-75), and Lindsey being known for his role as Goober Pyle on shows like The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68). They also have American accents in the film.

Finally, we have Friar Tuck, a badger, and Allan-A-Dale, a rooster. Friar Tuck is a part of the church, so naturally, he tries to help out all the people of Nottingham alongside Robin Hood. He even tries to keep their spirits up when many are in jail by ringing the church bells, and sacrifices himself to the Sheriff when money is stolen from the “poor box”. Friar Tuck fights for what is right. He puts up a surprisingly good fight with the Sheriff, but unfortunately almost gets himself hanged for it! Luckily, he is freed by Little John and goes on to help free the others. Friar Tuck was originally planned to be a pig, however, as he is part of the church, it was thought this may be offensive, which is why he ended up as a badger[4].Allan-A-Dale is the singing narrator, telling us what we are seeing at times, as well as telling us how the town is feeling. He generally remains hopefully, up until the point he is thrown in jail for not being able to pay his taxes. Allan-A-Dale doesn’t feature much in the action of Robin Hood, though he does team up with Friar Tuck at the archery tournament, by putting Sir Hiss in a barrel of ale so he cannot tell Prince John that Robin Hood is there, disguised as a stork.

Friar Tuck is voiced by American actor Andy Devine, who performed in many Western films, such as Stagecoach (1939) and How the West Was Won (1962). Country singer-songwriter Roger Miller voices, and sings, the role of Allan-A-Dale.

Some other interesting voice parts in smaller roles are: J. Pat O’Malley as Otto the blacksmith, who voices Colonel Hathi in The Jungle Book (1967); Candy Candido as the crocodile Captain of the Royal Guard, who voices Fidget in The Great Mouse Detective (1986), and John Fiedler, original voice of Piglet, and Barbara Luddy, Lady in Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Merryweather in Sleeping Beauty (1959), voice the mouse church sexton and his wife. Luddy also voices Mrs. Rabbit in Robin Hood.

PRODUCTION

Choosing to make an animated film around the legend of Robin Hood would seem like a no-brainer for the Disney Studios, seeing as so many of their films are based around stories such as this. It’s a similar concept to The Sword in the Stone (1963) after all. Yet that was not the original idea.

The original plan was for Disney to make an animated movie around foxes, with a concept based on the stories of Reynard the Fox, a trickster fox, being heavily considered around 1937. These fables were popular in areas such as the Netherlands, France and Germany. Since these stories were in the public domain, no discussions around purchasing the rights to adapt them would’ve been necessary, however, the stories were incredibly bleak, especially by Disney standards.

Dorothy Blank, who had worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Al Perkins were assigned by Walt Disney to come up with a script based around Reynard. The sequences would’ve been around scenes of various disguises and escaping danger. The final plot point would have seen Reynard captured, to be executed by hanging. Reynard would say in prison that his father had hidden his wealth in a volcano, with the King and others going to look for it. All would die when the volcano erupted – except for the King, who would challenge the Wolf, Reynard’s uncle, and Reynard to duel. Reynard would win through trickery, stealing the royal treasures, during a party thrown in his honour. Again, Reynard would be captured, this time being exiled to the volcano, where he finds his father’s treasure, happy to have tricked everyone into completing his ultimate goal. Walt Disney thought the story was perhaps too sophisticated and that with Reynard being just a crook, with very few redeeming features, that he was not the best protagonist for a Disney movie, not befitting of their “family brand” image[5]. The idea was shelved.

After this, Reynard the Fox was considered as part of a new idea based on Chantecler, a story about a rooster who thinks his crowing makes the sun rise; Reynard was going to be the villain. However, though many animators were working on this concept in the 1960s, Walt Disney decided to go with The Sword in the Stone (1963) instead, leaving Chantecler as another unfulfilled story idea.

Whilst The Aristocats (1970) was in development, the idea of basing the next animated feature on the legend of Robin Hood, but with animals, was discussed. Ken Anderson wanted to “Americanise” the story of Robin Hood, with a plan to set the movie in the Deep South, using Song of the South (1946) as a model, but the reputation towards that movie was not good, even in the 1970s, so it was decided to go all in on Robin Hood with its traditional English setting. Woolie Reitherman greenlit the story idea, with Robin Hood being the first animated film to not have been approved by Walt Disney himself[6].

The final story for Robin Hood was written by Larry Clemmons, who started his career at Disney as Ward Kimball’s assistant and went into the story department as he accepted that he was not going to be one of the best animators there! Clemmons was let go from the studio in 1941 due to the strikes at the time, but returned in 1954 to write for the Mickey Mouse Club and Disneyland television series. In the late 1960s and 1970s, Clemmons became the principal writer for Disney animation, contributing to other movies such as The Jungle Book (1967) and The Aristocats (1970), along with Robin Hood.

Ken Anderson was responsible for the character designs, and it is believed he was influenced by early work on Reynard the Fox. Anderson created characters whose bodies were basically human bodies, moving and looking the same, but being covered in animal fur, feathers etc., with an animal head on top. Anderson did have plans to create a whole band of characters, to fit in with the traditional idea of Robin’s band of “merry men”, however Woolie Reitherman wanted the picture to be a “buddy picture”, with just two main characters. This did annoy Anderson somewhat as many of his interesting character plans had to be tossed aside[7]. Still, the story came together eventually, and, though it may not be the strongest story within Disney Animation’s history, it does a good job of telling a simple, family-friendly retelling of the legend of Robin Hood.

However, many people criticise the movie for its quick cuts, and loose connecting material between scenes. Though I can see this critique, it doesn’t bother me at all. Another factor that seems to annoy people is the recycling of animation from previous movies and repeats of scenes within Robin Hood. An example of a repeated scene here is where one of Skippy the Rabbit’s siblings is laughing. She does this after Marian kisses Skippy on the cheek, and then again, during “The Phony King of England”. Little John and Sir Hiss also bear quite the resemblance to two characters from The Jungle Book (1967), with Little John being Baloo with brown fur instead of grey, and even Phil Harris returning to Disney to voice Little John, and Sir Hiss being similar to Kaa. Nutsy and Trigger also look like two of the vultures in The Jungle Book.

But the biggest, most obvious, recycling of animation appears within “The Phony King of England” scene. Yes, many of the dance moves come from other Disney animated films. Maid Marian’s dancing sequences are “copied” from Snow White, and Duchess in The Aristocats. Some of the other cats from The Aristocats also feature in this scene, as well as Lady Kluck and Little John dancing in the exact same fashion as Baloo and King Louie during “I Wanna Be Like You” in The Jungle Book.

The need to reuse animation came from a need to fit within a tight budget and tight production schedule. It’s just one of those things that businesses have to do to make as much profit as they can. It’s not like Robin Hood was the first and only Disney film to do this either, you can spot this in many others. For example, something I noticed is that some of Maid Marian’s poses and expressions reminded me of Madame Medusa in The Rescuers (1977). Perhaps Robin Hood is just the most obvious example of this, but again, this does not bother me in the slightest or take away my enjoyment of the film.

MUSIC

Probably my favourite part of Robin Hood is the soundtrack. It’s super catchy, with both children and adults alike, with everyone knowing at least the first two songs if nothing else! The soundtrack consists of many country and western elements, which separates the film from other traditional Disney animated features, and even between other Robin Hood adaptations[8]. This probably has a lot to do with Roger Miller, who wrote and performs three of the five songs: “Whistle Stop”, “Oo-De-Lally”, and “Not in Nottingham”. Miller was one of the most popular country-western singers of the 1960s. “Oo-De-Lally” is played during the opening scene of Robin Hood and Little John in the forest, dodging the Sheriff’s archers. It literally narrates what you are seeing before you, yet it’s still a popular song and sets the right feeling up for the rest of the film. “Whistle Stop” is probably the catchiest song, as it has absolutely no dialogue, but it’s so easy to remember. This is the song that plays during the opening credits and is easily recognisable as coming from Disney’s Robin Hood. Both songs have been used in commercials and advertising, such as “Oo-De-Lally” for Android in 2015, and “Whistle Stop” for the T-Mobile commercial within the 2014 Super Bowl. A sped-up version of “Whistle Stop” was also used in the Hampster Dance, one of the earliest Internet memes, created in 1998 by Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte. “Not in Nottingham” is sung during the scene where most of Nottingham is being arrested for not paying their taxes. It’s melancholy, fitting the scene well, and being different to the rest of the music, which are generally cheery and positive.

For the other songs, my personal favourite is “The Phony King of England”, written by Johnny Mercer and performed by Phil Harris as Little John. It’s just such a silly song, but the lyrics are memorable: “Too late to be known as John the First, he’s sure to be known as John the Worst”. This is true; King John has gone down in history as one of the worst Kings of England, ruling from 1199 until 1216. There has been no other King John since! I like the scene too, even though it does feature so much re-used animation! It also fits in with that country and western feel of the soundtrack. “The Phony King of England” is similar to a folk song called “The Bastard King of England”, which first appeared around 1927 in England, but obviously has more family-friendly lyrics!

Then there is “Love”, obviously sung whilst Maid Marian and Robin Hood walk through the forest together at night-time. It was written by Floyd Huddleston (lyrics) and George Bruns (music), being performed by Nancy Adams. To be honest, this is my least favourite song of the whole soundtrack, because it’s got that whispery choir sound that I don’t like much which has featured in other Disney animations, such as Lady and the Tramp (1955), and it’s a bit of a random lovey-dovey scene, which doesn’t fit most of the movie! It was nominated for “Best Song” at the 46^th Academy Awards in 1974, losing out to “The Way We Were”, from the movie of the same name. “Love” also features in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).

I particularly like the score too, which is composed by George Bruns. It sounds similar to Sleeping Beauty (1959) in places, such as my favourite piece called “Lower the Bridge”, where Robin is trying to escape Prince John’s castle, which sounds like when Prince Phillip is battling Maleficent, but that’s fine because Bruns also composed Sleeping Beauty! The “Main Title” sounds similar to The Sword in the Stone (1963) soundtrack, that Medieval kind of sound, but again, Bruns composed the score for that film! George Bruns composed for many Disney films from the 1950s to 1970s. His Oscar nomination for “Love” would be his fourth and final nomination. The soundtrack as a whole was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Recording for Children”, losing to Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974).

RECEPTION

Robin Hood premiered in November 1973 and was successful financially, making around $9.5 million, the biggest box office total for Disney at the time[9]. But critically, it received mixed reviews. Some felt that the film was entertaining and that the characters were charming, with a lot of personality and a good voice cast. Others commented saying that the animation quality was subpar and that the movie was not memorable enough or did not connect with the audience. It still continues to be either forgettable or a favourite, dividing audiences, however amongst all the other Robin Hood film adaptations, it comes out as being one of the better ones. In a 2022 ranking by Entertainment Weekly, Disney’s animated Robin Hood came third on this type of list, with it being considered charming, with great songs and thrilling action sequences, though admittedly not one of Disney’s best. Disney’s live-action film The Story of Robin Hood (1952) only came second from bottom in the list, stating that it was bland and was a rip-off of the 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood, which topped the list, and starred Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland[10].

Robin Hood has been released onto VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray over the years, with extra production details being added in recent years. An alternate ending was released on the 2007 Special Edition DVD. This ending would’ve featured a darker, more vicious Prince John, who would threaten to kill the already-wounded Robin Hood within Friar Tuck’s church before being stopped by the sudden return of King Richard[11]. For the 40^th anniversary of Robin Hood in 2013, the Blu-Ray release featured a deleted storyline titled “Love Letters”, where Prince John had a plan to write letters to Maid Marian and Robin Hood, pretending to be from each other, to get them in one place so that he can capture them[12].

LEGACY

Unfortunately, as Robin Hood is not considered one of the “good” Disney Animated Features, the characters and the movie are not generally mentioned within the Disney Theme Parks. There is a quick-service food location at Fantasyland within Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom called “Friar’s Nook”, but it is not overly themed to Robin Hood, with only a picture of Friar Tuck appearing on the signage. The characters used to be present around the 1970s and 1980s, but nowadays are considered to be very rare finds. I believe I have met Prince John and Friar Tuck previously, at a character breakfast in Disneyland Paris, but that was way back in the early-2000s! I’m not sure if I’ve ever met Robin Hood and Little John before but these four characters appeared as part of the “Long Lost Friends” weeks in 2013 at Walt Disney World Resort. They did also appear for meet-and-greets as part of “Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Celebration” for Mickey’s 90^th birthday in 2019. The most recent appearance I could find was that Robin Hood was spotted at Disneyland in February 2023. You may also see the Sheriff of Nottingham or Prince John at one of the US Parks’ Halloween parties or parades, as the Sheriff was part of the Frightfully Fun Parade in 2022 for the Oogie Boogie Bash at Disneyland, and Prince John made an appearance there in 2021. But generally, these characters seem to only pop up for special events and parades within the US and Paris Disney Theme Parks; they seem much less likely to appear in Tokyo, Hong Kong or Shanghai. You may be lucky and find some Robin Hood-themed merchandise, but this is more likely around an anniversary of the movie.

Back in April 2020, a live-action remake of Robin Hood was announced, to be directed by Carlos López Estrada, director of Blindspotting (2018), with the script to be adapted by Kari Granlund, who worked on the live-action Lady and the Tramp (2019)[13]. There has been no further news since this date so it may not even happen. Many live-action remakes were announced around this time and have not moved any further forward, simply being added to an ever-growing list. Fingers crossed this is one of those that will not progress; it’ll look really freaky if it does!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think Robin Hood has a lot going for it, with its delightful characters and brilliant music. It was one of the first movies to be released after the Disney Studios had suffered the loss of their great leader. It was always going to be difficult for them to move forward after that, but I think this was one step forward for the company, and I believe over the years, it has gained more fans. Byron Howard, co-director of Zootopia (2016) has said that his love of Robin Hood was a major inspiration for that movie.

It is a shame that more people don’t love Robin Hood, but I can understand that it is not Disney animation at its finest. Yet I find plenty that I love about this film, and have watched it many times throughout my life; it really makes me smile.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Fox Carney, ‘Must See Rare Robin Hood Artwork from Disney’s ARL’, D23.com, 9^th November 2018.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Films (2015), ‘Robin Hood (1973)’, pp. 61-63.

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Films (2015), ‘Robin Hood (1973)’, pp. 61-63.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In His Own Words: Ken Anderson on Disney’s “Robin Hood” (1973)’, CartoonResearch.com, 24^th January 2020.

[5] Credit: BJ Colangelo, ‘Disney’s Robin Hood Started As A Different, Darker Movie’, SlashFilm.com, 9^th February 2022.

[6] Credit: William Fischer, ‘Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’ Was the Last Gasp For a Generation of Animators’, Collider.com, 12^th January 2023.

[7] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In His Own Words: Ken Anderson on Disney’s “Robin Hood” (1973)’, CartoonResearch.com, 24^th January 2020.

[8] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘Cache of Classics’, p. 73.

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In His Own Words: Ken Anderson on Disney’s “Robin Hood” (1973)’, CartoonResearch.com, 24^th January 2020.

[10] Credit: Mary Sollosi, ’11 big-screen Robin Hoods, ranked’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 18^th June 2022.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Alternate Ending”, from Robin Hood (1973) DVD Special Edition (2007).

[12] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Storyline “Love Letters””, from Robin Hood (1973) Blu-Ray 40^th Anniversary Edition (2013).

[13] Credit: Will Richards, ‘A ‘Robin Hood’ live-action remake is set to come to Disney+’, NME.com, 11^th April 2020.

2nd Jun 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#56 Moana (2016)

BACKGROUND

Moana was the second Disney movie to have been set around the Pacific islands, after Lilo & Stitch (2002), which was located in Hawaii. Unlike Lilo & Stitch, Moana is another “princess musical” film from Disney Animation, yet it is different even to other fairy-tale stories made by Disney in the 2010s.

Moana has absolutely no focus on any romantic connections in Moana’s life throughout the movie. If we look at Tangled (2010) and even Frozen (2013), romantic interests may take a backseat to the strong heroines of the movie, but they are still there.

They do all have something in common and that is that they parody their fairy-tale format which became rooted in Disney history, thanks to the Disney Renaissance Era from 1989 to 2000: just think of the line “Anna, you can’t marry a man you just met”. Within Moana, Moana is teased by demi-god Maui for being a “princess”, because she wears a dress and has an animal sidekick, Heihei, the dumb rooster. He also expects her to spontaneously burst into song at times, which she does, but not in front of him!

I really like Moana. I first watched it in the cinema when it was released at the end of 2016. I loved it then, especially the soundtrack which I would constantly play, and then saw it many more times, either on Blu-Ray or on television. I even went to see it in a drive-in movie setting! However, I hadn’t watched Moana for a few years until this week, but I was pleased to say that I did still enjoy it as much as I remembered.

PLOT

Moana follows the story of a young girl, torn between her duty to her village, being the next in line to be chief, and her love of the ocean. Moana lives on an island called Motunui, an island within the Pacific. She was chosen by the ocean from a very young age to fulfil a task, but has been kept away from it by her father, Chief Tui. The task comes as a result of a poor decision by demi-god Maui. Many years ago, he stole “the Heart of Te Fiti”, a stone which allowed Te Fiti to create lands and make them prosperous. Maui was then hunted by Te Kā, a volcanic demon, shortly afterwards. He lost the heart as well as his magical fish-hook and disappeared, though many still hunt for the heart. Moana was given the heart by the ocean one day, though she dropped it when her father came to find her.

Chief Tui wants Moana to focus on becoming a great chief and taking over some of his responsibilities. Though Moana spends much of her childhood trying to get in the ocean and sail out beyond the reef, it is forbidden and she gradually comes to accept her lot in life. One day, Moana is being told that the villagers are struggling to find food: fish aren’t coming to their nets, and the coconut trees have become diseased. Moana decides that they must sail out beyond the reef to find food, but Chief Tui angrily refuses to allow it.

Moana is angry with her father, though her mother, Sina, tells her he is just scared as his friend drowned out at sea after him and her father went out there one day as children. Moana decides to prove she can sail out there, even if Tui cannot, but she finds that the ocean is not her friend today and her canoe is consumed by a large wave. Moana’s leg becomes trapped in coral, but she manages to free herself and makes it back to shore. Her grandmother, Tala, finds her and promises not to tell her father. Instead, Tala leads Moana to a cave and is told to bang the drum to find out about their ancestors. Moana learns that their ancestors were voyagers and that the cave is full of canoes, so they could sail again. Tala gives Moana the Heart of Te Fiti, which she picked up that day after seeing the ocean choose her. She tells her to find Maui and get him to restore the heart; he is said to be found under the “fish hook” in the stars. She excitedly goes to tell her father, interrupting a village meeting. Tui does not listen and threatens to burn all the canoes; however, Tala is taken ill and the two rush to her side. Tala tells Moana to go and complete her mission. She gives Moana her locket and places the heart within it. Moana tearfully leaves, with her mother’s approval. As Moana is about to cross the reef, the spirit of a ray, Tala’s spirit animal, crosses under her, showing that her grandmother’s spirit is still with her, despite her death.

After some struggles with the canoe, as Moana doesn’t know how to sail or navigate, plus she has the added distraction of Heihei, the rooster, stowing away with her, they end up crash-landing on an island after a storm. This is where they meet Maui. Moana has unknowingly made it to his island; the ocean must have helped her. Maui is pleased to have found a boat so he can sail away to find his fish-hook, but has no intention of returning the Heart of Te Fiti. He traps Moana in a cave, hoping to never see her again, but Moana frees herself and the ocean carries her over to the canoe. No matter how hard Maui tries, Moana keeps being returned to the canoe. Maui warns Moana to not talk about the heart, but Moana doesn’t listen and soon they are surrounded by “Kakamora”, a group of vicious coconut-pirates. They steal Heihei, as he has eaten the Heart, with Maui wanting just to escape. Moana doesn’t allow him to, and retrieves Heihei and the heart. The two then make a deal to find his fish hook and then go to Te Fiti together.

The fish hook lies within the Realm of Monsters, or Lalotai. They travel to the entry point and jump down into a huge hole. Moana bounces down further than expected, and Maui looks for his hook, not bothered by Moana’s fate. Moana manages to free herself from the monsters and meets up with Maui at the lair of Tamatoa. The hook is on the back of his shell. Moana is used to distract Tamatoa, by getting him to talk about himself and his love of all things shiny. Maui steals back his hook and tries to use its shape-shifting powers, but it does not work properly and he is caught by Tamatoa. Moana saves him by covering a barnacle in algae, making it look like the Heart of Te Fiti. Tamatoa runs to get it, but soon realises he was duped. Moana and Maui manage to escape via a well-timed geyser.

Maui is sad that his hook doesn’t seem to be working properly but Moana encourages him to practise with it, and sure enough, he can use it again. At the same time, Maui teaches Moana about sailing and navigating. They soon reach Te Fiti, where Maui takes the heart, and starts to attack Te Kā. Him and his fish hook are hit, and it looks like they will lose the battle if they continue. Maui wants to turn back but Moana believes they can make it through a gap in the rocks. It doesn’t work and they are pushed far back into the ocean again. Maui is so angry with Moana that he transforms into a hawk and flies away, leaving her alone. Moana tells the ocean it chose the wrong person, and the ocean takes the Heart back sadly. Soon, Moana is joined by the spirit of her grandmother, who tells her it’s alright to go back if she wants, but Moana hesitates, knowing that she must complete the mission. Emboldened, she swims down and retrieves the heart, repairs the canoe and heads back to Te Fiti alone. She tries to get past the Barrier Islands, knowing that Te Kā cannot touch the water on the other side. Moana gets through but the canoe is thrown over by a shot of lava from Te Kā. Maui arrives to help, having changed his mind, and goes to attack Te Kā, using a variety of shape-shifting animals to distract it. Maui uses his final chance with the hook to overpower Te Kā, and sure enough, the hook is destroyed. Moana has found the site of Te Fiti, but the island is not there. She then realises that Te Kā is actually Te Fiti. She calls Te Kā to her, and returns her heart.

Te Kā transforms into Te Fiti, very thankful to Moana for restoring her heart. She reverts the darkness that had been taking over other islands, and even gets Maui a new fish hook, despite her initial disappointment that he stole her heart in the first place! They are also given a new boat, and Moana returns to Motunui a hero, where she becomes a great chief and leads the others in voyaging again, as their ancestors did.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Obviously, Moana is the lead character; her name is the title of the movie after all! Moana is a very likable character. She is strong, brave, and independent, yet is also very caring and has a sense of duty and family. Moana may want to go out into the ocean, but she accepts that it has been forbidden by her father eventually. She becomes very helpful to her village during this time; she fixes roofs, teaches the children to dance, and comes up with solutions for problems, though Moana is aware that there is no escaping the darkness that is threatening their island and destroying their food sources. This is when she decides things must change and that they have no option but to go out to another island to save themselves. This is when she finds out from her grandmother that by restoring “the Heart of Te Fiti”, she can defeat the darkness once and for all. Her grandmother encourages her to go and complete the mission that the ocean chose her for when she was just a baby. Though it upsets Moana to leave her family, she knows she must go on. Throughout her journey, Moana overcomes obstacles and difficulties, always seeming optimistic, even when Maui is being the complete opposite, not wanting anything to do with her. Even though Moana loses her courage for a brief moment, her grandmother again guides her to the right decision, which shows how much Moana loves her family and knows what is ultimately the right thing to do. Moana succeeds as we all knew she would from the start, and is a hero for it, not only fixing the ultimate problem affect the islands, but also encouraging her village to go back to voyaging as they used to, being able to move forward in life. Moana may be a princess-type role, but she is certainly one of the good role models to have.

Moana is voiced by Auli’i Cravalho. Cravalho was born and grew up in Hawaii. She never expected to make her acting debut in something as big as Moana. The Disney team had an open call for the character, and on their last day in Hawaii, they said she stood out, with her singing being a particular highlight of her voice performance. Cravalho felt good being involved in a film about her culture and reprised her role for the film’s Hawaiian-language version. She has since gone on to star in the drama series Rise (2018), performed the part of Ariel in the TV special The Little Mermaid Live! (2019), and acted in the Hulu comedy film Crush (2022). She played the role of Janis in the new version of Mean Girls (2024).

Maui is the supporting character to Moana. He comes across as very braggy and arrogant at the start, although quite lovable at the same time. Maui’s whole life story is tattooed over his body, detailing the accomplishments that the demi-god has fulfilled during his lifetime to help people, such as pulling islands up from the sea. His “Mini-Maui” tattoo is like his very own Jiminy Cricket, a conscience that pulls him back from making poor decisions or being too confident. We get some backstory to Maui during the movie, after he has retrieved his fish hook. It turns out that Maui was born mortal and was thrown into the ocean by his parents who did not want him. He was found by the gods, who gave him the magical fish-hook. It then turns out that Maui making all these amazing things happen was just to try and win approval from people as he doesn’t believe he is worthy of anything. Maui also thinks that the fish-hook is the only reason he has any meaning whatsoever and that without it, he is nothing. This is clearly why he struggles after finding that his shape-shifting powers aren’t working right when he gets the hook back, and why he won’t sacrifice it to help Moana the first time they fight Te Kā. He soon realises, with Moana’s help, that he is a good person and that he is more than just whatever power the gods gave him. If nothing else, this experience helps him and Moana become true friends.

Maui is voiced by wrestler-turned-actor, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. I’m pretty sure the whole world knows who he is, but Johnson has starred in multiple movies and franchises such as the Fast and Furious franchise from 2011 as the character Luke Hobbs, as well as Spencer in the new Jumanji movies (2017-present). For Disney, Johnson made multiple guest appearances in Disney Channel series in the mid-2000s, such as Hannah Montana (2007), and starred in the movie Jungle Cruise (2021). Johnson also created, produced and starred in the partly-autobiographical television series Young Rock (2021-present). Johnson was the only person Disney had in mind for the character of Maui, partly because, as Maui says so many things that could come across as narcissistic, they needed someone so lovable as a person that it wouldn’t matter what he was saying! Johnson was happy to voice the role as an opportunity to showcase his culture as he is Samoan[1].

Tala is probably the next most important character in the movie, as she is the one to guide Moana to her destiny. Tala and Moana have a very close relationship, partly because they are quite similar; both of them don’t follow the crowd and have their own opinions. Tala is known as “the village crazy lady”; she tells legends of the lands, and stories of their ancestors despite Chief Tui’s, her son, insistence that she stop as she scares the children – all except Moana, anyway. Moana wants to follow her love of the ocean, which she shares with Tala. Tala is both a fun figure and a caring one for Moana. She encourages Moana to be whatever she wants to be – and to take what her father tells her to do with a pinch of salt!

Tala is voiced by New Zealand actress and director Rachel House. She has starred in films such as Boy (2010) and White Lies (2013), as well as in TV series such as Heartbreak High (2022-present). For Disney and Pixar, House has performed the voice roles of Terry in Soul (2020) and Mama Binturong in The Lion Guard (2019), and reprised her role of Tala in the Māori-language version of Moana.

Then there are Moana’s parents, Tui and Sina. Tui is Chief of the village. He is overprotective, wanting Moana to keep out of the ocean so she will stay safe. He does it because he cares about her, though it is a bit awkward hearing him say “and no-one leaves”, within the song “Where You Are” because why shouldn’t someone leave the island if they want to? Sina is Moana’s mother, who feels a bit stuck in the middle of the two of them, as she wants to be supportive of both of them. Though Sina does not feature too much in the film, when we see her watching Moana pack up to leave, you almost think that she’s going to convince Moana to stay – but Sina does the opposite, and helps her pack everything she needs. Sina obviously knows that Moana is not happy on the island, and most follow her heart in doing what she thinks is right for her and them.

Tui is voiced by New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison, who is currently playing the role of Tom Curry in the DC Extended Universe, and portrays and voices Boba Fett in Star Wars projects such as The Mandalorian (2020-23) and The Book of Boba Fett (2021-22). Tui’s singing voice is provided by Christopher Jackson, who originated the role of George Washington in the musical Hamilton (2015-16). Sina is voiced by singer and actress Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls fame. Scherzinger also reprised the role of Sina in the Hawaiian-language version of Moana. She was born in Hawaii.

Tamatoa is the shiny-thing loving coconut crab who resides within the Realm of Monsters. He loves to talk about himself and collects new items to store on his shell so he can be fabulous and beautiful. But don’t be fooled by his appearance, because he is still the villain of this piece. As well as being huge, he has no problems with attacking anyone who comes into his lair, and threatening to kill Moana is just one of those times, I’m sure!. New Zealand actor and comedian Jemaine Clement voices the role of Tamatoa. He is one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Concords, alongside Bret McKenzie, founded in 1998. They have released multiple albums and had a comedy series of the same name from 2007 to 2009. Clement has also starred in numerous films and TV series including as Boris the Animal in Men in Black 3 (2012) and as Dr. Ian Garvin in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). Tamatoa has a small “End Credits” scene, where he is still lying on his back, asking the audience if they could help him, saying that if his name was Sebastian and he had a cool Jamaican accent, then we would, clearly referencing Sebastian from The Little Mermaid (1989), another famous Disney crab! Although a villain in Moana, Tamatoa is still incredibly funny as a villain, and he is very different to many other Disney villains

On to the non-speaking characters in Moana, the ocean is a character of its own in Moana; it can gesture, so we can tell what it is trying to communicate, and becomes a good friend to Moana, helping her on her journey in many ways. We also have Heihei and Pua, Moana’s animal sidekicks. Pua is Moana’s loyal pet pig, who, unfortunately, misses out on this great adventure, only appearing in the first part of the movie in Motunui, though he does get to go out on the canoe for Moana’s first voyage attempt, which does not end well! The lack of appearances by Pua was one of the biggest complaints that came out of Moana. In early stages of the movie, Pua was going to go out on the trip, but this was changed to him being left on the beach, partly for his own safety and so that Moana could be isolated without the comfort of him, so she’d have to stand on her own two feet[2]. But Moana still did have a pet sidekick to keep her company, Heihei. Heihei is a silly rooster, who stowed away on Moana’s voyage, and he does not enjoy being out on the water. Moana has to rescue him multiple times, as he keeps falling in the ocean. He’s not a smart rooster by any means, but he is the comedic relief of the movie. Heihei is “voiced” by Disney veteran and lucky charm, Alan Tudyk, who has had roles in every Disney movie release since Wreck-It Ralph (2012). Tudyk is the only member of the voice cast to not have any heritage within the Pacific islands. Originally, Heihei and Pua were going to be modelled after directors John Musker and Ron Clements, as they have “appeared” in many of the previous films they have directed for Disney, such as Aladdin (1992) and Hercules (1997). This was then changed after Pua was kept on the beach and when Heihei was made to be more stupid[3]! Instead, the two directors feature printed on a cloth (tapa) during the song “Where You Are”.

The final characters, or should that just be character, to mention is Te Kā and Te Fiti. Te Kā seems to be the main villain of the movie, the lava demon, but in actual fact Te Kā is just Te Fiti, wanting her heart back. It’s a surprise villain twist, I suppose, and one that I was surprised by when I first watched, though it does make sense! Of course, she’d be angry that someone stole her heart. But all is well in the end, with Te Fiti reversing all the damage that has been caused by the unfortunate event. She is a benevolent goddess, forgiving Maui quite quickly for all the problems he caused! I think she understands why he did it – to try and win further approval from the humans – so I’m sure that helped.

PRODUCTION

The idea for Moana came about from a discussion with John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation at the time, who suggested that Clements and Musker make a film based in the Pacific Islands. The two directors were happy to look into this idea further and went on a three-week research trip with some other members of the team. They went to Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, as well as some of the smaller islands around those areas, before ending the trip in New Zealand. Whilst on this trip, they experienced many things, such as being taken out on a traditional canoe. Their guide, Angel, told them about the ocean not being a barrier to each other on the islands but something that connects them, showing how big a role the ocean plays in their culture. Angel told them to speak gently and calmly to the ocean. This was a driving force in ensuring that the ocean was a character within Moana.

Moana was originally not going to be the main character of the movie; Maui was going to be. They moved over to the idea fairly early on, with Moana (which means “ocean” in Polynesian) having dreams of being a navigator, since that was such an important part of the ancestry of the area. 3000 years ago, navigators migrated from Taiwan and moved eastward. They went to the islands of Fiji and Samoa, before the migrations suddenly stopped. 1,000 years later they suddenly began again, going eastward once more to areas such as New Zealand. This gap in the timeline, called “The Long Pause” was used as the setting of the film, with Moana being the driving force for the migrations happening again. For the act of navigation, the team at Disney learnt the correct hand positing, whilst also detailing the importance of star and cloud patterns, getting as much information as they could into the film.

Disney also learnt how spiritual music and singing, along with dancing, is to the people of the Pacific islands. They listened to the communities singing, especially in church, and how they interacted whilst doing so. They learnt about the origins of the Haka which is featured in a couple of scenes with Maui. Tattoos are a rite of passage in the area, taking days to complete, and being quite painful, but they are incredibly important to the culture. As Maui is covered in tattoos, they had to be respectful of the traditions of tattooing whilst also letting them show Maui’s life story in a way that was easy for the audience to understand.

Another important aspect to include was the respect for nature. It is a vital message in the Pacific islands that you do not own the land and that it must be nurtured. No materials are wasted, with the coconut tree being a great example of that, with uses such as food, drink, fire and building materials. This is detailed within the song and scene of “Where You Are”. Family is also of great importance in the movie, as the team at Disney saw how close the communities are, by sharing meals together, welcoming in others with such warmth, always being kind and sincere, telling stories and legends.

Through this research trip, Disney established the Oceanic Story Trust, where field experts and groups of individuals from the Pacific areas were brought in to discuss their local culture as research for the film. The locals felt respected and were glad to see that Disney cared enough about their culture to involve them multiple times, with changes even being made based on their input. For example, Maui was going to be bald, however the Oceanic Story Trust said that he has long hair and that it is part of his power, so the character was changed to have long, flowing hair. Another point was that after Moana argues with Chief Tui, she was going to smash coconuts out of anger, but it was quickly pointed out that no-one from that area would ever do that, so instead, she throws sticks into the sand.

The Disney team came back changed and wanted to ensure that the audience felt some of the things they had done, like being connected to nature and having a strong sense of community, whilst watching the movie. They also hoped that those of the area would see themselves in the movie and that they would see that it was done respectfully[4].

Many scenes were storyboarded and then deleted from the final release. One idea was that Moana was going to have six brothers, with her father not seeing that she could do just as much as they could, as well as having her already be a great navigator and sailor in Motunui. These were ultimately changed to make her an only child and to give her the opportunity to use this new adventure as a chance to learn navigation skills; it made her journey more interesting to have her overcome obstacles. Grandmother Tala and Chief Tui would also have featured more, discussing Moana’s future and what was right for her. A song was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and deleted, titled “Warrior Face”, which had some basis in the Haka, and would have had Maui teaching Moana how to look strong before they faced the Realm of Monsters. It was written whilst Miranda was performing Hamilton; the demo even used some of the cast of the musical such as Christopher Jackson (George Washington) and Phillipa Soo (Eliza)[5].

As there are no photo references from 3,000 years ago, when Moana is set, the team had to guess what kind of pieces may have been worn then when deciding on the costumes for the characters. They spent time looking at the fashions of the Polynesian and Pacific islands, coming up with concepts of different pieces, before putting them together to make full costumes. Moana had to wear something functional, not just pretty, as she spends much of the movie sailing. They found that tree bark was softened and made into textiles, so a top based on that methodology was used for Moana, with the skirts being made from dried material as well. Flowers were used to accessorise, especially in the case of Moana’s mother. The team ensured that time was taken in choosing these pieces, and that they were careful to treat the culture with respect, with meaning placed into every detail[6].

For specific elements in Moana, much time was taken with those of water, lava, and hair. For the water, they had to develop software to be able to have the ocean interact with Moana. This was called “Splash”. The scene of baby Moana interacting with the ocean was actually an internal demonstration for the system, but as it was such a great scene, the movie was rewritten to include it! Making the ocean a character took a lot of work but made a huge difference to the movie. For the lava of Te Kā, the character was created as a mannequin to get the basic shape, before the effects of smoke and lava were layered onto it. It was difficult recreating the natural phenomena correctly, to make Te Kā a living, imposing volcano, but they succeeded. Hair was another big, but fun, challenge for Disney. Hair had been an important part of other Disney characters such as Ariel and Pocahontas, but hair is harder to deal with correctly in CG than in 2D animation. To begin with, many of the characters are animated bald or with a stiff basic hair shape. An unwritten rule in animation is also for hair not to be touched, however, as Moana is a teenager, they wanted her to be realistically playing with her hair, as teenagers tend to do. A new hair system was developed to make the hair realistic and dynamic, whilst reacting to natural elements. This new technology helped with the underwater sequences too. Disney also relied on previous software that had been designed in-house for previous films, such as the fur tooling, developed for Zootopia (2016) and the Hyperion renderer from Big Hero 6 (2014).

Another animation complexity is that at times 2D is mixed with CGI. This is most obvious with Maui’s “mini-Maui” tattoo. Mini-Maui was animated by veteran Disney animator Eric Goldberg, who had animated the Genie in Aladdin (1992). Lots of the team wanted to help him with these scenes so they could work with him! Mini-Maui was meant to be like Jiminy Cricket but with more attitude, and had to move around Maui’s body to get him to notice and listen to him. The tattoos were designed to be as similar to the Pacific traditions as possible, whilst also detailing Maui’s backstory. The body was split into different areas, with sequences of Mini-Maui moving between them being created. At one point, Maui pokes Mini-Maui so a reaction had to be drawn there. Disney managed to integrate 2D and 3D animation unlike anything before in these scenes[7].

MUSIC

The music for Moana is probably my favourite part of the movie, as I like every song on the soundtrack which is quite rare for me, even in Disney movies! Disney went for a similar set-up to that of The Lion King (1994) with their song-writing team: they had another trio, with a veteran composer (Mark Mancina vs Hans Zimmer), the star song-writer (Lin-Manuel Miranda vs Elton John) and a song-writer from the real-world setting (Opetaia Foa’i vs Lebo M)[8]. Mark Mancina was brought in to compose the score, as well as help with the songs. He had composed the score for other Disney movies such as Tarzan (1999) and Brother Bear (2003), and arranged the music for The Lion King Broadway musical for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Lin-Manuel Miranda was not yet known for his Hamilton fame when he was brought on to the Moana project, though he was known on Broadway for his musical In the Heights (2005) at this time. He has gone on to work with Disney again, for Encanto (2021) and the live-action The Little Mermaid (2023). Samoan song-writer Opetaia Foa’i founded the group, Te Vaka in 1995, with the group having had much success over the years. The band also contributed to the Moana soundtrack. He was very happy to collaborate with Disney on this soundtrack as he had spent years promoting his culture through music anyway. Originally, the trio were unsure how they would work together, all having different tastes and ways of working, as well as coming from different musical backgrounds, however, on the New Zealand leg of the Moana research trip, the music came together for “We Know the Way”, with that being the first song to be written.

They soon followed that good start with the rest of the music, such as “Where You Are”, where they capitalised on their love of the Pacific cultures on their return from the areas. “How Far I’ll Go” pushed the musical story-telling further and Miranda loved how Cravalho’s beautiful singing pushed it further. Miranda stated his favourite song was “You’re Welcome”, which he wrote specifically for Dwayne Johnson, using inspiration from his wrestling days when he could say anything and still captivate people! For “Shiny”, Miranda has said that he was inspired by the music of David Bowie, making a real rock ‘n’ roll piece, full of exuberance and fun, but also menace.

The score is heavily based in percussion and vocals, to suit the style of traditional Pacific music. Mancina wanted the music to match the incredible action, whilst also feeling like the audience is on the sea, or part of the island community. For the vocals, Opetaia Foa’i and Iglese Ete with the Pacific Voices Choir helped to do the arrangements. It was a spiritual time for him and the vocalists when they recorded their tracks[9]. The soundtrack certainly succeeds in being memorable outside of the movie itself, including those not in the English language. I personally love the opening song “Tulou Tagaloa” and “Logo Te Pate”, but, like I said, I really like all the music, especially “I Am Moana”, which is a very powerful song set within a very emotional scene.

RECEPTION

Moana was originally planned to be released in 2018, however, it was bumped up by two years, being released in theatres in November 2016. In August 2015, at the D23 Expo, expo-goers were treated to some footage and models of the characters that they would be seeing in the movie the following year. They showed the clip of Moana being chosen by the ocean, as well as one of Maui explaining his tattoos to an unimpressed Moana and Pua. This second clip must have been cut in the year or 18 months between the preview and actual release, as the D23 expo mentioned that Pua came along for the ride, and we know that this was an idea that was ultimately changed. The original concept for Te Kā also looked incredibly monstrous, so I’m glad it was toned down a bit in the final cut[10]. Regardless of how much the movie changed between these two dates, there was a very positive reaction to what was shown at D23 in 2015 and no doubt helped promote the movie.

The movie was released alongside a typical Disney short, titled Inner Workings, directed and written by Leo Matsuda. He was inspired by his joint Japanese and Brazilian heritage, and the idea of two different sides fighting against each other, a more focused, risk-averse approach battling against the opportunity to be fun and carefree. This short is a similar idea to the now-defunct Epcot attraction Cranium Command, in that it follows the main character’s, Paul, primary organs and how they deal with a normal day. Paul in the end leaves his boring office to have fun during his lunch-break, coming back with a whole new outlook on life, even encouraging his office to have a dance party! When Moana was released on DVD and Blu-Ray, a new mini movie was added to the bonus features, titled Maui Mini Movie: Gone Fishing (2017). This short film shows Maui trying to fish in Moana’s home island of Motunui, after the events of the movie, with the ocean and Moana stopping him from being successful in his attempts[11]!

Moana did incredibly well both financially and critically, making around $680 million at the box office in total, with many reviews stating that Moana featured a good message of embracing your family and community, and that Moana was a great heroine. Many also liked the catchy soundtrack and the amazing visual imagery.

However, Moana did not avoid all criticism. From some in the Pacific community, they felt that Maui had been depicted in an insulting way, by him being represented as narcissistic as well as coming across as a bit of a buffoon. Some also did not think that the cultures of the Pacific were represented correctly or deeply enough. This is similar criticism to that received by Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), despite Disney’s desire and dedication to including the local communities in their ongoing production and development of the story and its characters. I do feel like some of this criticism is unfair. Disney also did have to pull a children’s costume for Maui which featured a brown body suit with all of Maui’s tattoos printed onto it. This was blasted for cultural misappropriation; yhat is a fair critique. Another fair critique is that the “Kakamora” are in reality a legendary, short-statured people of the Solomon Islands, and that by having them be cute but vicious coconuts in the movie was considered to be in very bad taste, though I’m sure it was unintentional[12]. Having said that, like Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney goes a long way in representing cultures that had previously been ignored or misrepresented.

Moana was nominated for numerous awards, such as Best Animated Film at the BAFTAs, the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, and the Annie Awards, unfortunately losing out to Zootopia (2016), Disney Animation’s spring release of that year, in many cases. Having said that, Moana did win many other awards in other categories such as for Outstanding Achievement in Animated Effects and for Voice Acting for Auli’i Cravalho at the Annie Awards; a Grammy for Lin-Manuel Miranda for the song “How Far I’ll Go”, which was also nominated for Best Song at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes; and two Teen Choice Awards for Dwayne Johnson as Choice Fantasy Movie Actor and Auli’i Cravalho as Choice Breakout Movie Star. The Moana soundtrack as a whole won Top Soundtrack Album at the American Music Awards in 2017 and at the Billboard Music Awards in 2018. Moana continued its fame way beyond its 2016 release, and the 2017 award season, by becoming one of the Top 15 movies to be streamed in the US in 2022, as well as the soundtrack breaking the Billboard Soundtrack chart record for number of weeks spent at No. 1. The record was won in 2021, after 52 weeks at No.1.

LEGACY

Though Moana was only released in 2016, the movie has already made a big impact in the 2020s, probably due to these incredibly viewing figures that continued way after the initial release. The biggest development, which was announced in April 2023, is a live-action Moana film. Dwayne Johnson recorded a message in Hawaii making the announcement, with him planning to return as Maui, however, a new actress will be found to play Moana. Auli’i Cravalho has been named as one of the executive producers. Johnson is very grateful to be able to bring this story into a live-action setting as he is so proud of the story and how it features his culture. Thomas Kail, director of Hamilton, has recently been named as director[13]. I can only assume that the song writing team will return as well. I already dislike live-action adaptations of Disney animated movies, so I am probably biased, but I don’t think this is necessary, especially as the film was only released seven years ago. It just seems way too early, I think. Another announcement came in 2020, stating that a Disney+ series based on the film would be released in 2023. That date was then moved to 2024.

However, in February 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that this Disney+ series would actually be re-worked into a full-length feature film to be theatrically released in November 2024. Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson have been announced as returning to voice Moana and Maui. Given the success of the original film, and the buzz around the live-action remake, this makes good business sense as I’m assuming Disney are hoping Moana 2 will encourage more people into cinemas and movies theatres. I just hope the story is good enough because when I heard this, I thought of Atlantis 2: Milo’s Return (2003) and how that direct-to-video sequel is simply three episodes of the cancelled television series packaged together after Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) failed at the box-office. It is blatantly obvious when watching Atlantis 2 that this was just episodes of a series put together because it did not flow well at all. I don’t want Moana 2 to feel like that.

Within the Disney theme parks, Moana started a full-time residency at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, on 22nd April 2023, as part of the park’s 25th anniversary celebrations and as part of the Disney100. Concept art was also released in 2022 by Disney Parks chairman Josh D’Amaro for a whole Moana-themed land at Animal Kingdom. This is only a theoretical idea, but the concept would appear to be a revamp of the entire DinoLand U.S.A area. This did not go down well with many Disney Parks fans, who feel that DinoLand U.S.A is a big part of the park’s history so should not be replaced with another IP. To be clear, this idea has never been confirmed[14].

Also at Walt Disney World, but this time within Epcot, a whole new attraction opened on 16th October 2023, called Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, which is a self-guided interactive outdoor trail where guests can play and interact with water, as well as learn about its importance and its playful personality, as Moana did. There was much hype around this attraction when it was first announced in 2019. It was delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but now it has opened, you can see the impressively tall Te Fiti topiary, as well as numerous beautiful waterfalls and streams[15].

Further appearances by Moana within the Walt Disney World Resort include her own scene with the heroes’ montage of Fantasmic! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as well as being part of the night-time fireworks show Happily Ever After and on top of the Adventure Friends Cavalcade float at the Magic Kingdom. Furthermore, the rooms within Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort were updated in July 2021 to be themed to Moana, though this is done tastefully via Moana-inspired artworks and themed patterns on pillows, carpets and furnishings.

Outside of the Walt Disney World Resort, Moana can be found at meet-and-greets, and within shows and parades. At Disneyland, Moana has a meet-and-greet location in Adventureland and appears during the Magic Happens parade. In Shanghai Disneyland, Moana is a part of Mickey’s Storybook Adventure live theatre show, and she even has her own stage show at Hong Kong Disneyland called Moana: A Homecoming Celebration, along with a meet-and-greet location in Adventureland. At Tokyo Disneyland, Moana appears as part of the Harmony in Color parade which began in 2023 to celebrate the park’s 40th anniversary, and is also featured within the Believe! Sea of Dreams night-time show at Tokyo DisneySea. Moana used to have a meet-and-greet location at Disneyland Paris, but does not seem to appear anymore. Moana can also be found at Disney’s Hawaii resort, Aulani.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This shows just how quickly Moana, the movie and the character, have gained in popularity and proves the success of the movie. It is a great movie from Disney: the songs and music are amazing; the characters are lovable, funny, and relatable; the story is easy to follow, yet full of excitement and adventure, and, to top it off, it showcases cultures that have previously been misrepresented. It may not have been perfect but the good intentions are clear. Moana tells us to always follow what we believe is right, and that family and protecting our natural resources are two of the most important things in life.

Moana is a princess film with a difference, and clearly, I’m not the only one who believes it to be one of the best Disney animated films to have come out of the 2010s. Its reputation and following speaks for itself.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, “Voice of the Islands”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[2] Credit: Marc Snetiker, ’10 fun facts about Moana that will make you say ‘Wow, what a fun Moana fact’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 15^th June 2022.

[3] Credit: Marc Snetiker, ’10 fun facts about Moana that will make you say ‘Wow, what a fun Moana fact’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 15^th June 2022.

[4] Credit: Disney, “Voice of the Islands”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[5] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[6] Credit: Disney, “Island Fashion” from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray (2017).

[7] Credit: Disney, “The Elements Of…” from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[8] Credit: Marc Snetiker, ’10 fun facts about Moana that will make you say ‘Wow, what a fun Moana fact’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 15^th June 2022.

[9] Credit: Disney, “They Know the Way: Making the Music of Moana”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[10] Credit: Ethan Anderton, ‘Disney Animation’s ‘Moana’ Looks and Sounds Absolutely Gorgeous [D23 Expo 2015]’, SlashFilm.com, 14^th August 2015.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Inner Workings” and “Maui Mini Movie: Gone Fishing”, from Moana (2016) Blu-Ray Release (2017).

[12] Credit: Doug Herman, ‘How the Story of “Moana” and Maui Holds Up Against Cultural Truths’, Smithsonian Magazine (online), 2^nd December 2016.

[13] Credit: Disney, ‘Dwayne Johnson Reveals Plans for Live-Action Reimagining of Disney’s ‘Moana’, The Walt Disney Company (online). 3^rd April 2023.

[14] Credit: Chloe James, ‘”Who Wants This?” Fans Criticize Plans for ‘Moana’ Land at Disney World’, InsidetheMagic.net, 4^th April 2023.

[15] Credit: Emmanuel Detres, ‘Moana-Inspired EPCOT Attraction Revealed in New Video’, InsidetheMagic.net, 7^th April 2023.