Pocahontas (1995 film)

Pocahontas
Promotional poster
Directed by	Mike Gabriel Eric Goldberg
Produced by	James Pentecost
Written by	Carl Binder Susannah Grant Philip LaZebnik
Starring	Irene Bedard Mel Gibson David Ogden Stiers John Kassir Billy Connolly Frank Welker Christian Bale Linda Hunt
Music by	Alan Menken Stephen Schwartz
Studio	Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Feature Animation
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date(s)	June 23, 1995 (1995-06-23)
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$55 million (estimated)
Box office	$346,079,773

Pocahontas is a 1995 American animated musical romance-drama film. The 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to select theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures. It belongs to the era known as the Disney Renaissance from 1989 to 1999.

The film is the first animated feature Disney film to be based on a real historic character, the known history, and the folklore and legend that surrounds the Native American woman Pocahontas, and features a fictionalized account of her encounter with Englishman John Smith and the settlers that arrived from the Virginia Company.

A video game based on the film was released across various platforms shortly after the film's theatrical release, and the film itself was followed by a direct-to-video sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World in 1998.

Plot

In 1607, the Susan Constant sails to the "New World" from England, carrying British settlers of the Virginia Company. On board are Captain John Smith and the voyage's leader Governor Ratcliffe, who seeks large amounts of gold in the New World to assure a strong position at the British court. Along the way, the Susan Constant is caught in a North Atlantic storm, and Smith saves a young, inexperienced Thomas from drowning. In the Powhatan Tribe in the New World, Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, dreads being possibly wed to Kocoum, a brave warrior whom she sees as too "serious" with her spirited personality. Chief Powhatan gives Pocahontas her deceased mother's necklace as a present. Pocahontas, along with her friends, the gluttonous raccoon Meeko and hummingbird Flit, visit Grandmother Willow, a spiritual talking willow tree, and speaks of a possibly prophetic dream involving a spinning arrow, and her confusion regarding what her "path" in life should be. Grandmother Willow then alerts Pocahontas to the arriving Englishmen.

Governor Ratcliffe has the fortress Jamestown built in a wooded clearing and immediately has the crewmen dig for gold. Smith departs to explore the wilderness and encounters Pocahontas. The pair quiickly bonds, fascinated by each other's worlds. The two fall in love, countermanding Chief Powhatan's orders to keep away from the Englishmen after Kocoum and other warriors engage them in a fight. Meanwhile, Meeko meets Percy, Ratcliffe's spoilt dog, and becomes the bane of his existence. Pocahontas introduces Smith to Grandmother Willow and avoids two other crewmen; however, Pocahontas' friend Nakoma discovers her relationship with Smith and warns Kocoum. Later, Thomas and Kocoum witness the two kissing. In a jealous rage, Kocoum attacks and tries to kill Smith but is himself killed by Thomas. An enraged Chief Powhatan declares war on the crewmen, and Smith is to be executed at sunrise.

Thomas warns the crewmen of Smith's capture, and Ratcliffe rallies the men to battle as an excuse to annihilate the tribe and find their non-existent gold. A guilt-ridden Pocahontas visits Grandmother Willow's tree, where Meeko hands her Smith's compass. Pocahontas realizes Smith's compass was the spinning arrow from her prophetic dream, which leads her to her destiny. She successfully stops Smith's execution and convinces her father to cease the hostilities between the two groups. All parties accept gracefully, but Ratcliffe tries to shoot Chief Powhatan in anger with Smith taking the bullet. The governor is captured and arrested by the crewmen. In the end, Smith is forced to return home to receive medical treatment, with Pocahontas and Chief Powhatan's blessing to return in the future.

Voice cast

• Irene Bedard (Judy Kuhn, singing) as Pocahontas, the daughter of the Chief Powhatan who stops an armed conflict between the Powhatans and the British settlers. She is an adventurous woman who violates her father's forbidding of meeting white people and falls in love with Captain John Smith. Glen Keane served as the supervising animator for Pocahontas.
• Mel Gibson as John Smith, the love interest of Pocahontas. He is the only one of the English settlers in the Jamestown Settlement willing to befriend the natives due to his love for Pocahontas and acceptance of other cultures. John Pomeroy served as the supervising animator for John Smith.
• David Ogden Stiers as Governor Ratcliffe, the greedy and ruthlessly ambitious governor who leads an expedition to Virginia to find gold and other riches (which he wants to keep for himself). Unlike other Disney Villains, he is based upon a combination of actual historical figures. Duncan Marjoribanks served as the supervising animator for Ratcliffe.
  • Stiers also provided the voice of Wiggins, Ratcliffe's manservant. Chris Buck served as the supervising animator for Wiggins.
• John Kassir as Meeko, Pocahontas's pet raccoon who is friendly to John Smith and loves eating. Nik Ranieri served as the supervising animator for Meeko.
• Russell Means as Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas's father and chief of the Powhatan. Jim Cummings did the singing parts of the character. Ruben A. Aquino served as the supervising animator for Powhatan.
• Christian Bale as Thomas, a friend of John Smith and one of the British settlers. Ken Duncan served as the supervising animator for Thomas.
• Linda Hunt as Grandmother Willow, a speaking willow tree that acts as Pocahontas's guide. Chris Buck served as the supervising animator for Grandmother Willow
• Danny Mann as Percy, Governor Ratcliffe's pet pug. Chris Buck served as the supervising animator for Percy.
• Billy Connolly and Joe Baker as Ben and Lon, two of the settlers. T. Daniel Hofstedt served as the supervising animator for both characters.
• Frank Welker as Flit, Pocahontas's xenophobic pet hummingbird who prefers Kocoum to John Smith but eventually warms up to him. David Pruiksma served as the supervising animator for Flit.
• Michelle St. John as Nakoma, Pocahontas's best friend who secretly adores Kocoum. Anthony DeRosa served as the supervising animator for Nakoma.
• James Apaumut Fall as Kocoum, a brave and firm Powhatan warrior who was asked to marry Pocahontas (whom he cares for). Michael Cedeno served as the supervising animator for Kocoum.
• Gordon Tootoosis as Kekata, the shaman of the Powhatan. Jim Cummings performed the singing parts of the character.

Three actors in this film have been involved in other Pocahontas-related projects. Gordon Tootoosis, who voiced Kekata the medicine man, acted as Chief Powhatan in Pocahontas: The Legend, released the same year as Pocahontas. Christian Bale, who voiced Thomas, would ten years later portray John Rolfe in The New World. Irene Bedard, the speaking voice of Pocahontas, portrayed Pocahontas' mother in a flashback sequence in The New World.

Production

The crew traveled to Jamestown, Virginia to study and draw the trees and landscapes.^{[citation needed]} Howard Ashman was hired to write songs for this movie as soon as he finished Aladdin, but he died during production of Aladdin, marking this the first Disney movie with Alan Menken's music but without songs by Ashman.

The animals were originally supposed to talk and Pocahontas was to have a third sidekick, a turkey named Redfeather voiced by John Candy, who supplied much voicework. But Candy died in 1994, and Disney cut his character out and decided to drop the animals speaking. Richard White, the voice of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast was supposed to voice Ratcliffe, but the crew was worried he might sound Gaston, so he was replaced by David Ogden Stiers. Rupert Everett, Stephen Fry and Patrick Stewart were other choices to voice Ratcliffe.^{[citation needed]}

Use of artistic license

In addition to elaborations on the factual account of the historic Pocahontas, the film also makes use of artistic license in its historical context:

• Albeit captain of The Discovery, John Ratcliffe was not the first the governor of the Jamestown Settlement, nor was he captain of the ship that John Smith and the rest of the Virginia Company arrived on.
• Grandmother Willow is depicted as a weeping willow, which is native to Asia and would not have been found in Virginia in 1607. Native willows have an upright growth habit.

Soundtrack

Main article: Pocahontas (soundtrack)

Release and response

The film had the largest premiere in history, on June 10. 1995, in New York's Central Park. Disney officials estimated the crowd at 100,000; police officials put the number at about 70,000. The film was a box-office success, earning $141,579,773 in the United States and $346,079,773 worldwide.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 56% based on reviews from 50 critics and reports a rating average of 6 out of 10. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 58 based on 23 reviews. The film was harshly criticized by Chief Roy Crazy Horse as historically inaccurate and offensive for glossing over more negative treatment of Pocahontas and her tribe by the English. He claims that Roy Disney refused the tribe's offers to help create a more culturally and historically accurate film. An editorial in the Los Angeles Times pointed out America's fascination with the Indian princess who was rarely shown as having anything more important in her life than her male relationships.

The musical score by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz received two Academy Awards, including one for the song "Colors of the Wind". The film's soundtrack was also successful, reaching number-one on the Billboard 200 during the week of July 22, 1995. It ended up with a triple platinum certification.

Awards

Ceremony	Recipient	Category	Result
Academy Awards	"Colors of the Wind" (Alan Menken, Composer; Stephen Schwartz, Lyricist)	Best Original Song	Won
	Alan Menken (Composer), Stephen Schwartz (Lyricist)	Best Original Music Score	Won
Annie Awards		Best Animated Feature	Won
	Nik Ranieri (Supervising Animator for "Meeko")	Individual Achievement for Animation	Won
	Chris Buck (Supervising Animator for "Grandmother Willow")		Nominated
	David Pruiksma (Supervising Animator for "Flit")		Nominated
	Alan Menken (Composer) Stephen Schwartz (Lyricist)	Best Individual Achievement for Music in the Field of Animation	Won
	Michael Giamo (Art Director)	Best Individual Achievement for Production Design in Animation	Won
	Rasoul Azadani (Layout Artistic Supervisor)		Nominated
Artios Awards	Best Casting for Animated Voiceover	Brian Chavanne Ruth Lambert	Won
ASCAP Awards	Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures	"Colors of the Wind"	Won
	Top Box Office Films		Won
BMI Film Music Awards		Alan Menken (Composer)	Won
Environmental Media Awards	Best Feature Film		Won
Golden Globe Awards	"Colors of the Wind"	Best Original Song	Won
	Alan Menken (Composer)	Best Original Score	Nominated
Golden Reel Awards	Best Sound Editing - Music Animation		Won
Grammy Awards	Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media	"Colors of the Wind"	Won
Young Artist Awards	Best Family Feature - Musical or Comedy		Nominated

American Film Institute Lists

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
  • Colors of the Wind - Nominated
• AFI's 10 Top 10 - Nominated Animated Film

Home video release

Pocahontas was released on VHS in 1996 as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection. February 20, 1996 prototype copies of the VHS release used the 1989 Walt Disney Classics logo, while copies produced from February 28 onwards used the standard Masterpiece logo.

The film first appeared on DVD in 2000 as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection; Pocahontas II was released on DVD at the same time. In 2005, a 10th Anniversary 2-disc Special Edition DVD set was released, which featured a new extended cut of the film (adding two performances of "If I Never Knew You") and numerous bonus features.

Disney released Pocahontas alongside its sequel Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World on Blu-ray as a 2-Movie Collection in August 21, 2012. In a number of countries, however, both Pocahontas and its sequel were released individually to the format. The Blu-ray was first released in Australia in February 2012, and followed by a May 30 European release and an August 21 American release. The American release is packaged for 2-disc DVD (one film per disc) and 3-disc Blu-ray combo pack, featuring both films on one Blu-ray in addition to the two individual DVDs. The Blu-ray did not retain the inclusion of "If I Never Knew You" through seamless integration, however.

Video game

Cover of the Sega Genesis video game

A video game based on the movie with the same title, Pocahontas, was released on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive on January 1, 1996. The Sega title was developed by Funcom on contract with Disney. It was followed by a later release for the Game Boy and PlayStation on June 10, 1996, nearly a year after the film's premiere. A Super NES version of the game was under development around the same time as the Genesis version, but was canceled due to development being too far behind to coincide with the Genesis release.

In the game, the player plays as Pocahontas and Meeko, switching between the two frequently to overcome various obstacles, with the help of NPC Flit. Along the way, as Pocahontas, the player gains various new abilities from various animal spirits by helping them. The game, like most film-based games, follows the plot of the movie, but with many variations in situations and events.

External links

• Pocahontas at the Internet Movie Database
• Pocahontas (1995 film) at Box Office Mojo
• Pocahontas at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for Pocahontas
• Pocahontas: 10th Anniversary Edition DVD Review and Interview