Disney Princess Review: Pocahontas
Pocahontas
All right, well here we are with one of my
least favorite movies of all time: Pocahontas. It’s not that I hate this
movie; it just never really piqued my full interest over all. It has a lot of
great points. While “Colors of the Wind” is not that good a song in my opinion,
its visuals and colors give it a lot of presence and power to it. Looking at
the film, I think that is mostly what many people like about the film. The
story is not that interesting let alone inaccurate and overdone. Just about
everyone who had seen this movie when it came out had already learned about it
mostly at school. Going back to the artwork it does have a somewhat more
realistic look to it, other than the talking tree (which I never got but she
was funny at times) the film is more real than most Disney films up to this
point, like Sleepy Hollow or 101 Dalmatians. I think this would
have been better if it was treated as small piece: white man arrives on new
land, meets Native American girl, they fall in love, etc. but more as an
orchestration.
The villain is not that interesting; Ratcliff
never seemed to have the drive or energy that other great villains had. He was
made a bit more real like a lot of the film but he never seemed to wow me
within either of the films. John Smith is somewhat bland and serves as the avatar
for the audience who learns what we are supposed to. He is also the only Disney
male to get the girl and then be dumped for another though Disney doesn’t
really acknowledge that. The music is not that great in my opinion, “Colors of
the Wind” is the best song but I often think it can be a bit too heavy
emotionally. “Mine, Mine, Mine,” has to be the worst song for a villain as
while catchy and a little funny it does not really do anything. “Savages” is
GREAT, but it is not a villain song, it’s somewhat like the last part of the “Kill
the Beast” from Beauty and the Beast.
Now one of the best elements of this movie is
the comedy between Meeko, Percy, and Flit. It is a bit weird that despite this
film being about communicating with nature, the animals do NOT talk. That isn’t
really a problem because the comedy between the three relies on them just being
animals and the realism this film brings is one of it’s greatest strengths. The
chief was a really strong part of the movie, he was very stoic but also cared a
lot about his daughter.
I enjoy looking at this film more than I do
watching it, I don’t mind the historical inaccuracies and I do like the
direction it went but it just can’t keep my attention. The music doesn’t do
much for me, the villain isn’t that great, but the work put into the animation
and music do make it worth at least one watch.
The sequel (though I do not think this film
warranted one) is not much better, the music is forgettable and the great
visuals are GONE and John Smith gets dumped though in her defense he was
believed to be dead. It even brings Ratcliff back just for him to fail AGAIN!
At least when Jafar came back you still felt like he was a threat, Ratcliff now
works the political scene where he tries to be the great manipulator like Jafar
and Grima Wormtongue which I think works but again nothing to do. John Rolfe,
who became the second love interest of Pocahontas, is not even considered to be
her love interest in the eyes of Disney (so you have to wonder which John gets
screwed over more). This is another piece of evidence to prove that Disney has
trouble with sequels.
Now on to Pocahontas. While the movies did not
really make her that interesting at first glance if we take a step back she is actually
pretty interesting. Her refusal s to marry the man her father picks out for he
because he is too serious, makes her somewhat similar to Belle and Jasmine. She
deals with a lot: imperialism, racism, losing the man she loved and being stuck
in a strange land, while trying to save her people. Because of how much the
film tried to be culturally accurate she is very spiritual and I think if the
movie were more popular she would have made a great party member in Kingdom
Hearts. She likes to play around and have fun but knows when to put it
aside by the second film. In the first film well . . . . . . . let’s just say a
woman who jumps off of a waterfall is not exactly what I would consider fun but
then again I’m weird. I think she would
have been better if she was not treated as an inaccurate history lesson. The
first film has her showing limited interest in John Smith’s culture because she
spends most of her time teaching him. If this incarnation of her was real I
think she would have something to with the Tribal Police or even a teacher
because that is pretty much all the movie really shows us about her. I would
say she warrants a C- to a B and that B is because I think if the movie were
done better she would be more interesting in my opinion.
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