Pocahontas

1995 saw the first animated Disney film to be based on a real character from history. Telling the story of the Native American woman of the same name, Pocahontas was released June 16. Starring Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson, Billy Connolly, Christian Bale, David Ogden Stiers, and Linda Hunt, the film earned over $300 million worldwide. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (Colors of the Wind) and Best Original Score, it also won four Annie Awards, an Artios Award, an ASCAP Award, a Film Music Awards, an Environmental Media Award, a Golden Globe, a Golden Reel and a Grammy. The Soundtrack also went Platinum six times. And, like most Disney Renaissance films, this got a direct to vide sequel.

The rebellious princess, Pocahontas (Bedard/Judy Kuhn), has been promised to the best warrior of the tribe by her father, Chief Powhatan (Russell Means). But she senses her life has greater purpose. When English settlers arrive to form Jamestown, she meets the idealistic John Smith (Gibson), who is interested in adventure and the beauty of the land. But the Governor Ratcliffe (Stiers) has the other settlers dig up the land in search of gold.

The Native Americans fear the English, who regard themselves as superior. A rendezvous between them leads to the death of her betrothed and John Smith is sentenced to die, which Ratcliffe uses as the perfect excuse to exterminate the natives.

Pocahontas doesn’t go through any development in the film. That’s because she’s the catalyst for the development of everybody else. Her involvement caused John Smith to go from understanding cultural differences (through the power of song no less), her people to not fear the colonists and the colonists to realize the only reason the natives didn’t like them is because of what they were doing. But the way the development happens is intriguing. Smith is convinced and does his best to get the other colonists to understand as well. But when they almost do, Ratcliffe convinces them Smith is being lied to. And Powhatan, understandably, is too preoccupied to listen to her. The standoff at the end shows that neither side really wants to do battle. They just believe they have to. Actually, the only one that really wants bloodshed is Ratcliffe.

He’s a good villain. Like many of the others, he wants fame, fortune, and glory. But he is willing to commit genocide to do it. Actually, he isn’t the one willing. He wants to be the instigator, sit back, let everyone else kill each other and reap the rewards. Plus, his lust for power is so strong, he convinces himself that if anyone says different than what he’s after, he must have been lied to. Ratcliff is the worst type of person. A bureaucrat. He’s also got a great foil by the way of Wiggins (also voiced by Stiers). Wiggins actually understands why the natives don’t like them, and tries to be a voice of reason to Ratcliffe, but is constantly ignored.

The music here is also some of the best from the Renaissance, though it’s a shame the ACLU or some such organization made them change one of the lyrics to what is now a completely forced rhyme. (“Their whole disgusting race is like a curse” to “this is what you get when races are diverse”) The soundtrack actually went platinum six times.

On the other hand, this film is rife with historical inaccuracies.

Pocahontas was a nickname, meaning “the naughty one.” Her real name was Matoaka. In reality, she was 10 or 11 when the Virginia Company arrived. She also wasn’t Powhatan’s only child. John Smith was not well-liked by his fellow colonists and the two never had a romantic relationship. After she was captured by the colonists she converted to Christianity and married John Rolfe. Also, while he was captain of The Discovery, Ratclife was not the first governor of Jamestown. He also wasn’t chained up and taken back to England. He was tied to a tree and skinned alive.

But then again, this story features a sentient weeping willow and a compass that points to one’s destiny. I shouldn’t really be upset about historical inaccuracies in a movie where the target audience is children. #16