#166: Pocahontas

Release Date: June 23rd, 1995

Format: Streaming (Disney+)

Written by: Carl Binder, Susannah Grant, Philip LaZebnik

Directed by: Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg

3 Stars

Disney’s 1995 film Pocahontas did its damndest to bring out the cynic in me. 

Could I gripe about its historical inaccuracies, most notably the romantic spin placed upon the real (and much more complicated) relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith? Yes, yes I could.

Could I roll my eyes at the lazy storytelling and exhausted character archetypes, which are faded carbon copies from the previous four Disney releases (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King)? Yup, I could do that too.

But what bugged me the most about Pocahontas is the audacity Disney has to assume any sort of moral high ground in a movie like this. It seems to me that the subtext of the film is that Disney, by that I mean the corporation, sees itself as Pocahontas, the aspirational underdog and protector of nature.

What balls. 

Disney is not Pocahontas. They’re not even John Smith. They are a thirsty, multinational behemoth that churns up and uses more resources than some entire countries. If they are any character from the film, they are the antagonist, Governor Ratcliffe, greedily digging up the earth for gold.

But somewhere at the midway point of the movie I took a deep breath. 

This is a movie for children, especially young girls. It features a strong, independent female protagonist who at the end of the film chooses her independence and personal dreams over her charming prince. The animation looks pretty, it has a couple great songs, and the movie emphasizes the importance of kindness and the strength in diversity.

These are nice things. Chill, Chad.