POCAHONTAS
A film review by William Loguidice
Copyright 1995 William Loguidice
Starting with THE LITTLE MERMAID and most recently THE LION KING, the Walt Disney company once again proved that they could not only consistently make modern day animated classics, but were particularly in touch with what the general viewing public--particularly kids-- wanted to see. Therefore, it's with some surprise that as a big fan of the above mentioned movies I was so disappointed with POCAHONTAS.
Despite some innovation and risk taking, the story is surprisingly straightforward and dramatized in broad strokes, as are its characters. A group of Englishmen lead by the evil Governor Ratcliffe come to the New World in search of gold with no regard for the "savages" that live there. The natives look upon the English with just as much fear and distrust. Only the love between the beautifully structured Pocahontas and the dashing Captain John Smith can prevent a terrible clash. The ending, as it turns out, is not entirely a happy one and is one of the film's finer moments.
The characters are mixtures of stereotypes and lack any real depth. Governor Ratcliffe, for instance, is a snobbish, single-minded bore whose mere appearance is supposed to bring about hisses. Captain John Smith is a blond hunk who, while "slightly" misguided, is good at heart. Pocahontas herself is the typical Disney heroine who is practically being forced to marry a man who everyone but her likes and finds the man of her dreams just in time. She even comes complete with insignificant best friend.
Again, against tradition, talking animals aren't used, but a lusty, wizened, talking tree is. This is an odd compromise, but it's one of the few elements that really work. The animals are a delight, and what brief time their interactions take place brings the only humor and fun to a rather bland presentation. Maybe it would have been a better film if we saw the story unfold through their eyes. The talking tree, who seems to have a thing for John Smith, is the only other character that can hold our interest and is perhaps the best developed of the bunch.
The music, a welcome delight in the later Disney films, is mostly a let down here, with the exception of the catchy and motivational, "Colors of the Wind." Mel Gibson, as the voice of John Smith, has a solid singing voice and should have been used more. The opposite holds true for the Governor Ratcliffe led songs; the singing is even more grating than his simplistic character.
I was rather bored through what turned out to be a shorter than expected running time. Even the children in the audience seemed restless. While there's no stopping a kid from seeing something that they want--or Disney wants them to--most I believe will be disappointed.
Perhaps the biggest problem is that Disney has strayed from their familiar fable and fairy tale themes to history. It's all right to change or embellish fantasy to suit a movie's entertainment value, but doing so to historical facts doesn't work nearly as well as creating nagging questions in the viewer's minds and plot holes that are never filled. Even the artwork, another Disney strong point, varies greatly in quality, making any story problems even more obvious.
As mentioned above, there were many questions that stayed with me while viewing the film. For instance, if John Smith was truly such a world traveler and had so much experience with "savages," why did he so quickly change his previous "kill as many Indians as I can" attitude. If he was such a nice guy after all, he should have changed his ways long before this. Or how about Pocahontas' amazing English speaking ability when this had supposedly been the first time she had seen white men? I can understand making the Native Americans speak English for the benefit of the audience, but simply saying that they had met a missionary years earlier would have cleared up a lot; history was modified in the film anyway. As it is, I wonder if it doesn't give kids the wrong impression.
In short, the film is too simplistic for adults and contains too much romance and not enough action or humor for the younger set. While Disney tried valiantly in many ways to break with some of their firmest traditions, they end up failing on too many levels.
** (2 out of 5 stars)
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