Pocahontas (1995, G)

In the grand scheme of Disney Renaissance movies, I’d say this is one of the lesser ones (though that’s in part because I love so many of them so much!)  The story has some definite issues, and the score isn’t as strong as some of its contemporaries’.  Still, it’s not without its qualities.

Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhattan, struggles with the conflict between duty and dreams.  Her father wants her to be a good wife to one of the tribe’s warriors, but she feels she’s meant for something more.  When English settlers arrive, seeking the fabled gold of the New World and fearing the “savage” natives, it is Pocahontas’s connection with Englishman John Smith that bridges the gap between the two cultures.

Obviously, any Disney movie is going to play fast and loose with its source material, smoothing out some of the more troubling elements and ensuring a happy ending.  But while the story of Pocahontas has become a legend, it’s based on real people and events, which makes the fictionalization and the romanticization a bigger problem.  Also, although the film is truer to history in showing the racism of the English settlers, I’m uncomfortable with its use of slurs.  A kids’ movie that has characters using words like “savage” and “dirty red-skin devils”(!), even as Pocahontas points out how wrong those attitudes are, clearly isn’t thinking about Native American children who might want to watch it, or the white kids who might use these words against them.

The score is sort of middle-of-the-pack.  “The Colors of the Wind,” the film’s best-known song, is terrific, but there’s a pretty big gap between it and the others.  “Just Around the River Bend” is a nice “I want” song, and “Savages” has a strong melody, but again, the lyrics are troubling.  Other than that, though, there’s not really anything noteworthy.  When you compare that to a score like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, or The Lion King, Pocahontas doesn’t really measure up.

All that said, the film does have some good points.  The animation is really wonderful, and I like Pocahontas as a character, a young woman looking for how she fits into the grand scheme of things.  Also, the movie’s animal-sidekick game is pretty on point.  Pocahontas’s friends Meeko and Flip are adorable, and I enjoy the mini-sideplot between Meeko and Percy, the pampered British dog.

Warnings

Cartoon violence, scary moments for kids, racial slurs, and thematic elements.