Anyone who expects historical accuracy from a Disney animated feature should be ashamed of themselves. Those approaching POCAHONTAS in anticipation of seeing a true-to-history account of the early days of Jamestown are in for a rude awakening. In reality, Pocahontas was a 12- year old girl who never had a romance with John Smith (she later married John Rolfe, the man who brought tobacco to England). Writers Binder, Grant, and LaZebnik have changed those details (and more) in an effort to create a story that appeals to both children and adults. Taking advantage of the studio's breathtakingly intricate animation, directors Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg have breathed vitality into this, the fifth "new wave" Disney animated feature.
Despite some obvious similarities -- Menken's music, a heroine who doesn't want her father to choose her husband, and a small legion of animals -- POCAHONTAS is actually something of a departure from the recent batch of releases (A LITTLE MERMAID, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ALADDIN, and THE LION KING). This film isn't quite as cute; deals with some reasonably serious, "adult" issues; and contains an element of poignancy. The cartoonish animal sidekicks, which include a raccoon, a hummingbird, and a pug, are amusing as ever, but this time around, they don't have voices (although Linda Hunt gives speech to the talkative Grandmother Willow).
Considering the less upbeat nature of the story, POCAHONTAS isn't as fun or energetic as its Disney predecessors. The plot moves somewhat slowly, disdaining the frantic pace of THE LION KING. The Menken/Schwartz musical production numbers are lively (and probably better than anything since BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), but their on-screen time represents less than a third of the movie's "action."
POCAHONTAS presents a fictionalized chronicle of the arrival of English settlers in Virginia. Led by a greedy, bombastic governor (voiced by BEAUTY AND THE BEAST alum David Ogden Stiers) and Captain John Smith (voice of Mel Gibson), the explorers come in search of gold. They promptly begin cutting down trees, digging holes, and preparing to kill the Indians. Meanwhile, a young native woman, Pocahontas (speaking voice of Irene Bedard, who was also the physical model for the character; singing voice of Judy Kuhn), observes the newcomers with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. Her father (voice of Native American activist/actor Russell Means), however, is certain that the white mens' landing means war. The only hope to avert a pitched battle comes as a result of the developing romance between Smith and Pocahontas.
Several recognizable themes suffuse POCAHONTAS: the stupidity of wanton destruction, the need for tolerance between those of different races and cultures, and the forks in life's road offered by fate. While none is presented with any special subtlety (after all, children are supposed to get the message), there is surprisingly little preaching. It would have been easy to turn this into a "Native American good/White Man bad" film, but positive and negative traits are shown on both sides. The governor will not go down in history as one of the great Disney villains. He's more of a loud-mouthed boor than anything else -- not an evil-to-the-bone nasty like Jaffar or Ursula.
POCAHONTAS is going to make a ton of money, both on its nationwide opening weekend and in subsequent weeks. Children everywhere will flock to see it, accompanied by adults who rightfully recognize Disney animated films as solid entertainment for the over-ten crowd. The only question about this movie is whether, without the "happily-ever-after" ending, it will attract the repeat business of ALADDIN and THE LION KING. Regardless of what the final box office tally says, however, Disney has come up with another winner.
By : James Berardinelli
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 4
POCAHONTAS is an animated movie of incredible beauty. It is a Disney made fairy tale set in 1607 in Virginia and is loosely based on some famous historical figures.
This movie version of the true story of Pocahontas makes an 11-12 year old girl into an older teen with a body that any fashion model would kill for. She is extremely well endowed by her creator. In Disney's version she falls in love with John Smith and saves his life. In reality, she never did the former, but did do the later. The real Pocahontas did marry an Englishman, but not John Smith, and did go to England to die of Small Pox at the ripe old age of 21. You will have to see the movie to learn Disney's ending.
Although many reviewers have claimed that since Disney was only making a cartoon, they could take whatever liberties they wanted with historical fact, and it was unfair to criticize them for inaccuracies. I find this logic specious. Lets say Disney had made the movie with a homely looking 11 year old Pocahontas, Native Americans who were lazy and murders and Englishmen who were risk taking and hard working entrepreneurs. You think those same critics would then claim, well, it is only a cartoon? But I digress.
Of Disney's recent movies this was the most picturesque - even surpassing THE LION KING which set a benchmark for cartoon beauty. The colors were translucent and luminescent with pastel greens and blues dominating. So many scenes were striking it is hard to pick the best, but I think the image of the chain of leaves was my personal favorite. It seemed a metaphor of the linking of the characters. There were no poor visuals in the show and many were quite innovative like the ones showing the fog or the ones of the reflected fire. The vast vistas as in THE LION KING were even more impressively done in POCAHONTAS.
The music by Alan Menkin and the lyrics by Stephen Schwartz was breathtaking albeit not quite on the same level as the scenic imagery. I hope the lead song wins the Academy Award. It was lovely - upbeat and dreamy at the same time.
The characters were a mixed bag and the script (Carl Binder, Susannah Grant, and Philip LaZebnik) was the worse part of the movie. Pocahontas was played by a fairly new actress to movies, Irene Bedard. Her boyfriend John Smith was done by every woman's heartthrob, Mel Gibson. His sidekick Thomas was performed by Christian Bale from EMPIRE OF THE SUN. Russell Means was Chief Powhatan and David Ogden Stiers was the evil Governor Ratcliffe. Finally, Linda Hunt, whose only good movie was THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY where she was phenomenal, played a tree called Grandmother Willow.
For my taste, I thought the raccoon Meeko and his sidekick the hummingbird Flit stole the show. Meeko was forever playing tricks on Percy, the Governor's pampered bulldog. These three characters were just about the only ones given no dialog which is fine given the poor quality of the words the humans and the tree were forced to utter.
The best line was Smith's "Don't worry I've been in worse scrapes than this, but I don't remember any right now" which sounds like it was lifted verbatim from one of the plethora of LETHAL WEAPON movies. The worse was the way Pocahontas talked. It was so cool that you half expected her to ask her girlfriend if she wanted to go hang out at the mall. The male Native Americans were given more authentic sounding dialog. Other than the sight gags of Meeko, Flit, and Percy, POCAHONTAS was devoid of any real humor. Coming from a studio that produced THE LION KING and ALADDIN, I was surprised. It could have used more humor.
The actors were not much. Gibson's delivery was monotonic and lacking of any real emotion. Only Bedard breathed any life into her role. Pocahontas's melodious singing was by Broadway singer Judy Kuhn who was terrific.
Disney has always been fond of having characters die in its movies. POCAHONTAS was no exception. The way the movie handled it with complete silence afterwards is something I still can not decide if I liked or not. It certainly was different.
Although this was a cartoon, it is a shame that Disney felt compelled to twist, distort, and hide so many key facts and paint their characters in such black and white. Besides the problem mentioned in the beginning of this review, there were many more. We learn that the Native Americans treated the land and other people well whereas white people raped and plundered the land and treated other people poorly.
Granted that the Native Americans were probably better stewards of the land, the good and evil was not quite so tidy as shown in the movie. According to a recent in-depth article in the Wall Street Journal, Pocahontas's tribe, the Powhatans, killed people in other tribes in order to subjugate them and then they extorted eighty percent in taxes from the tribes they controlled through this villainy. They may have been extra sweet to the earth, but to their fellow human beings and neighbors they were not.
Since the MIGHTY MORPHINE POWER RANGERS are getting savaged by the critics because of the toy tie ends, let me point out that POCAHONTAS figures are in all of the toy shops and book stores and in many of the fast food places. Moreover, we had to sit through seven, count 'em seven, previews of upcoming Disney attractions, before we got to see the movie we paid for. That is over ten minutes of advertisements we were forced to watch. Actually, I love seeing previews, but that is another story.
POCAHONTAS runs 1:20, and although it does feel a bit short, I liked the pacing. It is rated G, and it is a soft G at that. There is no sex other than a single kiss and no bad language. Even the bathroom humor of THE LION KING is absent. It has some violence, but it is very low key and should be safe for any aged kid. Jeffrey, my six year old, gives the movie a thumbs up. His favorite character was Pocahontas. He even liked it better than THE LION KING he said because it did not have the blood that THE LION KING did. I recommend the show to everyone regardless of age. Take the whole family and go see it. Given its numerous problem areas (script, actors, and accuracy), I can bring myself only to give it *** although the good parts are spectacular.
