Pocahontas (1995)

And now we look at one last film from the Disney Renaissance, Pocahontas.

The Movie:

Pocahontas is the 33rd movie in the Disney Animated Canon and the 6th movie of the Disney Renaissance.  The film was in development at the same time as The Lion King and was seen by many at the studio to be the more prestigious product, with then studio head Jeffery Katenzberg envisioning a movie that could even do what Beauty and the Beast couldn't, win the Oscar for Best Picture.  However the resulting movie was one that met with mixed reviews and much criticism from historians and many Native American groups.  Although the film did fairly well at the box-office, Disney considered it a disappointment coming off the heels of The Lion King.

Pocahontas is very loosely based on the historical figure, deriving more from the legend as later told by John Smith.  In Disney's version, Pocahontas is a young woman (rather than the 10-12 year-old she was in real life at the time) who is the daughter of the chief of the Powhatan tribe, which lived in the coastal region of what is modern Virginia.  A group of men from England arrive on a boat, led by the greedy Governor Radcliffe, who is convinced that there is gold in the area.  Among the English settlers is John Smith, who sets out to explore the area.  He comes across Pocahontas, and the two soon discover they have much to learn from each other.

So I just rewatched Pocahontas for probably the first time since I saw it in theaters 23 years ago.  That should tell you that its not really one of my favorites.  Historical inaccuracies aside, the story is fairly basic, and although it has a good message, it gets rather heavy-handed.  The voice acting isn't as strong as many Disney films.  It's nice that the animal sidekicks don't talk, but it is rather contrived how they allow Pocahontas and John Smith to understand one another through some sort of forest "magic."  The movie has two saving graces.  One is that is a beautiful film to watch with wonderful animation.  Two is the music.

Alan Menken's music is by far the most memorable things from this movie.  There's a reason he won two Oscars, one for the score and one for "Colors of the Wind" with Stephen Schwartz.  The score is one of the grandest and lushest of any of Menken's Disney scores, and his melodies are beautiful and memorable.  Besides "Colors of the Wind," the other highlight is "Just Around the Riverbend."  "Savages" also has a tendency to get stuck in your head.

Presence in the Parks:

Given that Disney thought Pocahontas was going to be their next big thing, it makes since that they had a show ready for the parks when the movie came out in 1995.  The show was called the Spirit of Pocahontas.  At Disneyland, it ran for two years at the Fantasyland Theater until Animazment bumped it in 1997.  At MGM Studios, the show ran for one year at the Backlot Theater before The Hunchback of Notre Dame came along in 1996.

Pocahontas got a second show when Animal Kingdom opened in 1998.  This show was called Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends, and notably it used live animals.  This show was part of the Camp Minnie-Mickey area that was originally intended as a holdover until Beastly Kingdomme could be built.  The show closed in 2008, and the location is now part of Pandora (in a bit of an irony, since Avatar is seen as having elements of Pocahontas).

Given her association with nature, Animal Kingdom is still the place where Pocahontas is a meetable character.  Her current meet location is the Discovery Island area.

Back at the Studios, another place where Pocahontas used to get a lot of love was the Backlot Tour, with artists showing how the characters were done.  (Or maybe I just remember this because one of our visits was in the summer of 1995 when the movie was new.)

Meeko Character Meet, WDW, June 1995

Also, the Hollywood Studios version of Fantasmic! has Pocahontas one of the big scenes.  (This is in contrast to the original version at Disneyland, which had Peter Pan instead.)  Music from the movie, including "Savages" is used, and the final confrontation is depicted.  Pocahontas, John Smith, and Meeko also appear on the steamboat at the end.

Fantasmic! Hollywood Studios, May 2015

(Meeko, Pocahontas, and John Smith are on the top in the middle)

In the Magic Kingdom, Pocahontas does get a window display in the Emporium and a card in Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.