Pocahontas

Voices of: Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt, Christian Bale, Billy Connolly, Judy Kuhn, Frank Welker
Directed by Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Drama
1995

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: John Smith (Mel Gibson) visits the New World, and befriends Indian princess Pocahontas (Irene Bedard). The two work together to stop their people from going to war against each other.

Review:

Tim: Disney was on a massive roll in the early 1990s. They released Beauty and the Beast in 1991, Aladdin in 1992, and The Lion King in 1994. And then, in 1995, came Pocahontas. This film was a creative disappointment for me when I saw the film in theaters as a newly minted "teenager", and it's still a disappointment for me today. This is one of my least favorite Disney animated films. It's even more glaring because it followed so many brilliant ones.

I find this film incredibly dull. There's just nothing compelling about the story or the characters. Some of this comes from the fact that this is loosely based on a true story. We all know the Indians are eventually going to disappear, due to the greed and "progress" of the white man. That makes the whole story a bit predictable. There's no real suspense or intrigue, and the characters were too one-dimensional for me. I never cared about any of them.

The whole film feels like a half-effort. The storytelling was rote. The characters never felt like flesh-and-blood, and there's far too many cliches throughout the film. The movie feels like it doesn't really appeal to anyone. It's far more serious than many Disney films, so it doesn't exactly appeal to little kids, but besides the mature themes, has nothing for anyone older than the age of ten. There's no real emotion in the story or reason to care about what happens on screen.

I admit the music is fairly good. While many of the songs are completely forgettable, there's a couple of good ones. The film won two Academy Awards, for Best Original Music, and Best Song for "Colors of the Wind". I feel like that is the film's best moment and its most lasting legacy. The song "Colors of the Wind" is beautiful and quite remarkable. That was my favorite part of the entire film by far. Unfortunately, one song doesn't make for a very good film.

The animation is quite good as well. The colors, the look and feel of the entire film is quite impressive. This is a beautiful film to look at, but strangely hollow once you get into it. I have a hard time sitting through this film, even though it's only 81 minutes long. The story never grabs hold of you or gives you a reason to care. By the end of the film, I was barely paying attention. Speaking of the end, it seems far too Hollywood for my taste. It appears like the Indians and the Englishmen all got along and lived happily ever after, when we know the truth of the situation is far more dark. For that reason, this story just seems like an odd choice for Disney to make.

Maybe there's people out there who love Pocahontas, but I really dislike this movie. If the film didn't have "Colors of the Wind", it would be a train wreck. As is, this is still a very, very disappointing, forgettable, bland story. This is not up to the Disney standards of the 1990s.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame