Review of Pocahontas (1995) by Firstevil87 — 29 Jul 2012

Pocahontas is the 33 rd movie in the disney animated canon. It had the burden of being the successor of the highly successful the lion king. Because of that, this movie is vastly under appreciated, I have the feeling that people wanted more talking animals with wacky sidekicks, instead Pocahontas has a definit shift in tone.

Humans are main characters, there are no talking animals, no magic ( sort of). White men sail to the new world looking for gold, destroying the environment. Indians of course try to defend their land.

Here the chief's daughter Pocahontas is looking to find her way in order to be a wise leader, her path brings her to meet the english John Smith. It's the story of how different worlds can come together in peace.

Disney was accued of being racist and historically inaccurate, but I think that's not the point, the point is the message: respect the environment and don't getting scared by different cultures are good moral values.

The musical score is a masterpiece, every song is catchy and meaningful, lyrics are powerful. If you were a kid in the 90's you knew every word of colours of the wind! The music fails, sort of, because people expected happyness and cuteness, instead they got a more mature setting, in fact the comic relief characters feel forced and out of place, ruining the pace of the movie.

In the end I think this is a must-watch, don't expect the second coming of Lion King but a movie that stands on its own.