Pocahontas

Pocahontas (1995)

Directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg

Written by Carl Binder, Susannah Grant, and Phillip LaZebnik

THE ANIMATION

Say what you will about Pocahontas, but this is a beautiful looking film. Disney went with a more mature look when it came to the character designs this time around: the eyes are smaller, the lines aren’t as soft, etc (too bad the narrative didn’t get the same treatment). Given the material tackled in the film, this works, making the film more grounded in presentation despite the inclusion of fantasy elements.

While the valleys, forests, and rivers of Virginia are all great looking, the colors and artwork really pop when it comes to the musical numbers—specifically “Colors of the Wind” and “Savages”. The look of the movie is arguably its greatest attribute.

THE HEROES

Despite having relatively more mature (if historically inaccurate) designs, Pocahontas and John Smith are no more complex characters than any of the Disney princess and prince characters of the past. They both suffer from the similar issue of having their ambitions be too vague. Pocahontas wonders what lies "just around the riverbend", and she longs for the freedom to choose her own path rather than the one set for her by her people; her problem is that she doesn't know what it is she'd rather do instead. That's all well and good, but her just waiting around for others to take the initiative doesn't make for very engaging storytelling. Maybe they could have written in that her mother died in one of the raids from a rival tribe, and consequently Pocahontas wants to be a peacekeeper between the Native peoples, and later between the Natives and the white men? I dunno... it'd be something.

John Smith is courageous, and longs for adventures in new, exciting worlds.  Again, that’s cool and all, but there’s not much to him besides that. An incarnation of Smith more faithful to the real man might have made for a more compelling character, even if it wouldn't make for a star-crossed romance. That being said, the two aren’t a dreadful pair—they serve their purpose without being annoying. They’re just pretty dull as well.

THE SIDE CHARACTERS

The secondary cast manages to leave a better impression. Pocahontas’ sidekicks are Meeko and Flit, a raccoon and hummingbird respectively. They get into comedic hijinks with one another as well as with Radcliffe’s (the film’s antagonist) pampered dog; it’s all fairly entertaining and harmless. Pocahontas is also aided by Grandmother Willow, a sentient talking tree; she’s a charming character as well. I’ve heard people complain about the fact that Willow, a tree, can talk, but the animals can’t (as opposed to other Disney films), but honesty? I think that was a wise creative decision. Maybe it’s just me, but talking trees feels less silly than talking animals. There’s more of a cartoonish, childish connotation to humans talking with animals, so for an attempt at a more grounded (again, relatively speaking) story, it was a good move.

There’s also Pocahontas’ father and her fiancé, Kocoum. The former is your typical father character—reasonably adamant and loving, and doing what he feels is best for the tribe—especially Pocahontas. He’s no Mufasa or Triton, but he’s fine. Kocoum is pretty bland (though he’s admittedly written this way deliberately). And finally there’s Pocahontas’ best friend character… who is your typical best friend character.

On John’s side are a couple of nameless shipmates and Thomas (funny enough voiced by Christian Bale) who can’t seem to catch a break on account of being both a lackluster sailor and soldier. He has a sort of arc of his own in this film, and honestly, it’s more interesting than Pocahontas’ or John Smith’s.

THE VILLAINS

Our antagonist this time is Radcliffe, a power-hungry aristocrat on his last chance to attain glory. There really isn’t much to talk about here: he’s your basic “evil white man” character; obsessed with gold and glory, manipulative, racist, and murderous. He lacks any defining traits to really make him stand out from the hundreds of other villains of his sort, which is probably why he’s often overlooked when people talk about their favorite Disney baddies.

THE MUSIC

This, along with the look of the film, is what saves Pocahontas ever so slightly in my books, managing to rank it among my guilty pleasures. I more or less adore the soundtrack to this movie. “Colors of the Wind” has its detractors for being preachy, but the wordplay induces great imagery, it’s wonderfully catchy and hey, it’s a film about the colonization of the New World—they’re allowed at least one “preachy” song about prejudice. “Just Around the River Bend” is among my favorite “I Want” songs; “The Virginia Company” is a piece that has some clever, subtle satirical lines (for a kids movie) and it gets stuck in your head; and “If I Never Knew You” is a song that I oh so wish hadn’t been cut from the film. It’s such a beautiful song, and unlike some other cut songs (like The Little Mermaid’s “One Dance”) it could have fit perfectly without disturbing anything.

While I am fond of all of those songs, I can’t say the same for the others: “Mine, Mine, Mine” and “Savages”. The former is terribly bland and by far one of the worst “Villain Songs” and the latter is the least subtle song in the whole soundtrack (“They’re not like you and me, which means they must be evil!”). It sounds good and has some pretty good visuals that go along with it, but the lyricism ruins it (though I am pretty fond of “Savages Part 2”).

The Best: "If I Never Knew You"
The Worst: "Mine, Mine, Mine"

THE PLOT

Pocahontas is a young, free-spirited woman who lives in America with her tribe, of which her father is the chief. For many nights she has had the same dream—a dream which she believes is warning her about great changes that will come to her people soon. As it turns out, change is coming to her people in the form of the Virginia Company, who are coming to the New World to stake their claim on the land and mine for gold. On this journey is the villainous Radcliffe who thirsts for glory and the man-among-men John Smith, who longs for the adventure of a lifetime—and they both are willing to kill any “savages” who get in their way. But when Pocahontas and Smith fall for one another, can they stop their respective sides from going to war?

Of course, we all know that in reality the answer is no (that’s disregarding the fact that there was no romance involved in the first place, but I digress). Disney has never been a stranger to deviating from the source material of their adaptations for the sake of a more child-friendly narrative—and there’s nothing wrong with that; some things are bound to be lost in translation. However, their M.O. bit them in the butt this time around.

Now, take what I say with a grain of salt, and forgive me if anything is said here that offends—it’s genuinely not intended.

Giving the historical story of Pocahontas the Disney treatment wasn’t an idea that was doomed from the get-go. Certain changes made I don’t think were necessarily bad moves. Aging up Pocahontas? Fine. Making the characters more classically attractive? Okay. Talking trees and magic? Sure. But there were two major problems here: First, the story wasn’t dark enough; and second, the changes made for lazy storytelling.

On the first issue: the mistreatment of the Native American people was such a dark time in American history, and is so culturally ingrained that it deserved to be treated with more respect than it was. By that I mean, the ending was too happy. Disney had, and would tell darker stories than they did with this film, so there really was no excuse.

Secondly, regarding lazy storytelling: I’m sure one could point out numerous examples of this, but I want to specifically criticize the “Listen with your heart” magic. Now, that idea in itself isn’t inherently a bad one. It’s cheesy, but it’s also Disney. My problem is that it could have made for a more interesting dynamic between our two mains if they had to actually take the time to try and learn one another’s language. Maybe they’d run into a learning block caused by their own cultural biases, at which point the “Listen with your heart” magic could have helped them along the way. But the way they actually did it was just terribly lazy and patronizing. Which is pretty much what you can say about a lot of this movie.

Great music and art, though.

Total Score: 18/30 = 60% = D