Movies - Pocahontas

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Pocahontas is the thirty-third animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to theaters on June 16, 1995 by Buena Vista Pictures. The film is based loosely on the encounter between the colonists of Jamestown, Virginia and the native Powhatan tribe, and in particular presents a highly emotionally charged and dramatic account of the meeting between Pocahontas and John Smith. A musical with music by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, the film's anthem, Colors of the Wind won the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Song. It was followed by a direct-to-video sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
in 1998.

Pocahontas features the voices of Mel Gibson as John Smith, Irene Bedard and Judy Kuhn as Pocahontas (speaking voice and singing voice, respectively), and David Ogden Stiers as both John Ratcliffe and his footman Wiggins.

Voice cast

Singing voices

Production

The movie "Pocahontas" was designed as Disney's first real dramatic animated picture. Screenwriters gave the story of "Pocahontas" a new treatment, based off of Romeo and Juliet. Disney began to experience with a new, more emotional tone with the film, and hence several unconventional decisions were made during production.

Of note, "Pocahontas" is the only full-length Disney animated feature that does not have a traditional happy ending. There are various parts in the film were dialogue is void, and the emotional score propels the picture and characters forward. Another decision made by Disney executives involved cutting all the dialogue from the secondary animal characters, such as Meeko and Flit, in order to make the film more serious.

During production, the film earned the reputation for being that hardest film for animators to work on ever at Disney. The complex color schemes, angular shapes, and facial expressions caused "Pocahontas" to be in production for over half a decade.

Before his death, comedian John Candy had recorded a large amount of material for a turkey character named Redfeather, who was to be Pocahontas's sidekick. Executives perceived the character to lighten the tone of the film excessively, and the turkey was replaced with the characters Meeko the raccoon and Flit the hummingbird.

A controversial last minute decision involved the cutting of the song "If I Never Knew You" from the film. In hindsight, Disney would later regret the decision, and added it back into the film as part of the DVD.

Release

Many at Disney had high hopes for the movie upon intial release. Then-studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg regarded Pocahontas as a more prestigious project than The Lion King
, and even believed that it had a chance of earning an Academy Award nomination for "Best Picture", as Beauty and the Beast
had. However, the movie was less successful commercially than had been hoped. As the film dealt with more adult themes and tones, the film did not appeal as well to younger children, and the hoped-for box office performance that The Lion King
had never materialized for Pocahontas. Nevertheless, the film was still a box-office hit, as it earned $141,600,000 domestically and well over $340,000,000 worldwide.

Since the release, the film has received a cult status. Many fans of the film consider "Pocahontas" to be perhaps the greatest Disney film, and the high point of the Disney Annimation Renaissance in the early 1990s.

Criticisms & Praise

Upon release, however, Pocahontas was criticized by many for presenting stereotypical images of Native Americans. Some felt, for example, that Pocahontas looked more like the black model Naomi Campbell than a Native American (although Disney claims she was modelled on the voice actor Irene Bedard, who is of Native ethnicity). The film was also criticized for its distortion of history. Among many changes are the fanciful topography of Jamestown, which is located in flat terrain but in the film possesses massive cliffs and high ridges, and the love affair between Pocahontas and John Smith. Another criticism came in the form of Kocoum's mistreatment of his wife-to-be, Pocahontas; her father wanted her to marry him.

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Movies - Pocahontas

Voice cast

Production

Release

Criticisms & Praise

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