Pocahontas (1995)

Genres

Adventure, Animation, Drama, Musical, Romance

Directors

Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Irene Bedard, Judy Kuhn, Mel Gibson, David Odgen Stiers, John Kassir, Russell Means, Jim Cummings, Christian Bale, Linda Hunt, Danny Mann, Billy Connolly, Frank Welker, Michelle St. John, James Apaumut Fall, Gordon Tootoosis

Storyline

Pocahontas (Irene Bedard), the daughter of an Algonquin chief, falls in love with Captain John Smith (Mel Gibson), an English soldier who journeyed to the New World to begin a fresh life.

Opinion

I used to watch Disney movies all the time when I was a kid, but I'm not sure I've ever seen "Pocahontas" from start to finish. I'm an adult now and I've still struggled to get to the end. Sure, this is a quite magical film that has a lot to teach, but I found it a bit boring. Kinda like Malick's "The New World".

The reason why this doesn't and won't ever work for me is the story. It's a story we all know, the love story between a Native American princess and an English soldier, and I've probably heard of it too many times. Unlike Disney's other movies, this one is based on a true story, but it's far from being accurate. Also, it isn't very compelling, it proceeds slowly yet at times it is incredibly rushed - just think about Pocahontas not understanding a word of English in one scene and talking with John, in English, in the very next scene. But since it's a kids movie I guess it's not supposed to be logical.

Anyway, in spite of the boring plot and some distracting characters - I usually love the animal sidekick but this time they are all over the place -, "Pocahontas" still manages to be quite charming and the credits go to the animation made of simple yet detailed backgrounds and characters that are so expressive they are able to convey all their feelings. 

The songs also help to enjoy the film a bit more, especially the beautiful "Colors of the Wind", the perfect song to deliver one of the film's themes, the love of nature and the need to reconnect with it and give it more value. I feel like this is a very important teaching for kids, especially nowadays.