Pocahontas is the 33rd full-length animated feature released by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995. Billed by Disney with the tagline of "An American Legend Brought to Life", it is the story of the free-spirited Pocahontas who seeks to convince her father Chief Powhatan to make peace between her Native American tribe and the English settlers of the New World of Jamestown that arrive in search of gold and prosperity. During the production of this film, then Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios Jeffrey Katzenberg regarded Pocahontas as a home run film film for Disney in light of what he thought to be the more mature story in comparison to "The Lion King", which was released a year earlier. However, while it was the 4th highest grossing film world-wide in '95 and did pretty well on the home video market in '96, this film didn't quite live up to the standard set by its predecessors like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. However, while it's my least favorite film of the storied Disney Renaissance era, there were still some things that I actually liked about the film which I will highlight in this review.I'd say that like most of the Disney films that came out before (and especially during) the Renaissance period for Disney, Pocahontas is very strong in the music department! Before I ever saw this movie, I remember being in awe of the song "Colors of the Wind", which is the scene that appeared in the previews for the VHS of The Lion King. In spite of the shallow character development (which I will highlight in this review), Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz did a fantastic job on the songs and the score in this movie. For me, the song "If I Never Knew You" takes the cake for best song in this movie and it's only sung in the credits for the theatrical version of the film. I liked how deep the lyrics are as they highlight the meaning behind John Smith's line "I'd rather die tomorrow than live 100 years without knowing you", which he quotes to Pocahontas right before he is to be executed the next dawn. I do wish that they left the song in the final cut of the film, but it is on the special edition DVD/Blu-Ray version. I also enjoyed the song "Savages" mainly because it highlights the animosity that the settlers have towards the Native Americans for capturing John Smith as well as the animosity that the Native Americans have towards the settlers and John Smith for the death of one of their own (even though it wasn't him that pulled the trigger). The song serves as a reminder to us that we should never justify killing/wanting to kill someone out of hatred just because they might be different than us. Now for the weaknesses of the film. Oh boy, where to start! While the movie is based off of the Native American legend and the Disney animators did the right thing by going to Jamestown to get the inspiration for their animation, they definitely missed the ball in a few areas. Let's touch on some of the historical inaccuracies for a bit. In 1607 (the year that the settlers arrived to Jamestown and which the movie is set), Pocahontas (who was born in 1596) was around 10-11 years old when she met John Smith, who was 26-27 years old at the time. Did that matter to Disney though? No, because they just had to make this a love story in the vein of Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid. However, unlike Pocahontas, those stories are fairy tales. This is key part of American history and now that I'm older I definitely think that Disney did a great disservice to children by taking what could've been an educational introduction to the Native American legend by giving them a love story that didn't happen in real life. Anyways, as far as character development is concerned, while not nearly as dull, wooden, bland, and static as Aurora, Snow White, or Cinderella, Pocahontas (voiced by Irene Bedard) is still a pretty boring and one-dimensional character with very little motive to her, which is a shame with her being the main protagonist and all. While also underdeveloped and one-dimensional, I found her best friend Nakoma to be a much more interesting character than that of Pocahontas. The rest of the Native Americans such as Chief Powhatan (voiced by Russell Means) and Kocoum (who is your basic stereotypical jock placed in colonial times) were pretty flat and boring too. I actually found the settlers to be much more entertaining, mainly the comic screwball Wiggins! As far as John Smith (voiced by Mel Gibson) is concerned, I would've much rather seen him portrayed with the harsh and gruff exterior that he showed to his men in real life. The best characters in this film were Meeko, Flit (voiced by Frank Welker), and Grandmother Willow (voiced by Linda Hunt), who is by far one of the wisest characters that Disney has ever created. Another thing that made the four films which preceded this one (and a few that came after it) was a strong, round, and dynamic Disney antagonist. In this one we get Governor Ratcliffe (voiced by the late great Disney legend David Ogden Stiers). While he did a good job (as he always does) of voicing the character, Ratcliffe still remains a forgettable villain when compared to the likes of Scar, Jafar, Hades, Frollo, and other villains in the Disney catalog as he lacked that despicable, disgusting nature that is trademark of a memorable Disney villain. So, while I think that this movie as a whole is the weakest of this era of Disney magic in regards to story (not being historically factual) and character development (being shallow and one-dimensional), it was still a decently animated film with great songs and music that deserves at least one viewing. Not my favorite (even though I did own it on VHS growing up), but still worth showing to your kids on family movie night! Rating: 7/10.

Pocahontas is not a wildly exciting movie, on the contrary it is quite dull. I have watched it many times and the only memorable things about it was the background artwork and "Colors of the Wind". Those two things were amazing, but I found the most of the characters overly boring and the plot overly predictable. The character designs were also a displeasing expirience.I admit it was nice seeing Disney do more adult themes, but when it is done this way and still trying to maintain traditions of the company it just doesn't get real. Don't get me started on the history aspect of it, it really sucks. And my number one complaint about Pocahontas. Ratcliffe is one of the blandest and most "constructed" villains in any Disney movie, period. He is a greedy white guy who just wants gold, gold, gold! And his characters design has everything unlikable about him and not in a fun or intimidating way like Disney has done before, but more like a parody. And what happened to our main character's design? Is Pocahontas' design the inspiration to the Bratz dolls if anybody remembers? I don't know, it was just too much.I do not get why this movie won the academy award for best music, because aside from Colors... the songs are either stupid (Svages) or forgettable (the rest). In my opinion the songs and the music made for Hunchback deserved an academy award far more than Pocahontas. Pocahontas and Hercules are the weakest movies of the Disney Renaissance, but Hercules at least offered us some fun and a great villain which Pocahontas didn't.

Pocahontas is a charming story about two young people who fall in love despite the fact that the groups they belong to want to kill each other; much like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This one is a classic Disney movie that captures the audience's attention with unrealistically beautiful people, great music, and great animation that is characteristic of Disney. However, I don't think the climax lives up to the tensions in the rest of the plot. Also, after that there are no real negotiations between the Englishmen and the Native Americans about how they will coexist in Virginia. Finally, the whole movie is very historically inaccurate and should not be showed to a history class for educational purposes. The climax is the scene where both sides are ready to fight each other and the chief is about to smash John Smith's head in with a rock. This scene is over within a couple minutes and the movie is over soon after that. The entire movie leads up to the climax, like in any movie, but the scene itself is somewhat disappointing. Pocahontas throws herself on top of John Smith and just like that her father has a change of heart and so do the colonists. There is no internal conflict shown for anyone except Pocahontas about the killing of John Smith, and because of that the climax is lacking. In addition, there are no real negotiations between the Englishmen and the Native Americans after the war is avoided about how they will coexist in Virginia. After the war is avoided, Ratcliffe, the governor, attempts to assassinate the chief and because John Smith throws himself in front of the bullet, the potential repercussions are ignored and everyone suddenly gets along. This is entirely unrealistic because, as everyone knows, getting two different groups of people to get along can be very, very difficult. Also, for the entire movie each respective group tells their people that the other is terrible and out to get them. The colonists are told that the Native Americans are "savages" and to shoot them on sight. Alternatively, the Native Americans are told that the white people are violent and barbaric and call on other tribes to help them in the seemingly inevitable war. This kind of negative sentiment is not just given up in a matter of five minutes. It should have taken them much longer to work out their differences. This film should not be showed to a history class as it is very historically inaccurate and therefore cannot really teach students anything about the way life was when the English arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. In the movie, the character who falls in love with Pocahontas is John Smith. However, the person who really married Pocahontas was John Rolfe. John Smith did initiate friendly relations with the Native Americans, but it was John Rolfe that brought Pocahontas to England where she died of dysentery a few years after she gave birth to their son. Also, while it is not actually known when exactly Pocahontas was born, it is said that she was born around 1595. Assuming this is true, in 1607, when the English arrived at Jamestown, she would have been 12 years old. In the movie she was portrayed to be much older than this and falls in love with 26 year old, John Smith who was more than twice her age. Finally, in the movie, Ratcliffe is depicted as this rich, gold-hungry leader who wants to kill all of the "savages" and forbids John Smith from going to talk with the Native Americans to promote peace. Ratcliffe orders his men to shoot any Native American on sight and, as a result, sparks the beginnings of a war with them. He also refuses to accept the fact that the Native Americans have agreed to put down their weapons and live in peace with the Englishmen and in an attempt to shoot the chief of their tribe, accidentally shoots John Smith. Most of this is historically inaccurate. While it is true that many of the colonists didn't like him, Governor Ratcliffe actually asked John Smith to begin friendly relations with the Native Americans when he was in office and encouraged him to establish trading between them. These three are among the many inaccuracies in this movie that make it uninformative.In conclusion, although I enjoyed the movie very much, it is historically inaccurate and therefore can't really teach anything about history. Pocahontas is a nice story with a great soundtrack, however, the climax doesn't encompass the entire plot efficiently, there are no peace negotiations, and important aspects of the movie are historically inaccurate.

The Native Americans were portrayed inaccurately, but when did anyone care about history and politics in a Disney movie. Something is endearing about the character of Pocahontas, who prefers levity over rules and traditions. She always takes the more challenging and interesting path as opposed to her more old-fashioned parents. This of course leads us to the tree of wisdom which guides Pocahontas and the climax in this movie when she creates a ceasefire is a standout moment. It does heavily follow the formula that The Little Mermaid started and it lacks a memorable villain, but it's a solid entry in the Disney universe nonetheless.