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 10th 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 3rd 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 31st 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 10th June 1995, two weeks before the regular theatre release, on the Great Lawn in Central Park – that was announced in the press event on 31st 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 16th June 1995, to coincide with Pocahontas’ 400th birthday, before being released to the general public in the US on 23rd 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 20th 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 22nd 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, 27th 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, 27th July 2022.
[8] Credit: Katy Rath, ‘The True Story Of Pocahontas That Disney Doesn’t Tell’, ScreenRant.com, 19th 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, 27th 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), 3rd 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, 27th July 2022.
The Disney Purist 