DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Irene Bedard as POCAHONTAS Mel Gibson as JOHN SMITH David Ogden Stiers as GOVERNOR RATCLIFFE/WIGGINS Russell Means as POWHATAN Christian Bale as THOMAS Linda Hunt as GRANDMA WILLOW Rated PG Studio: Disney Directed by: Eric Goldberg and Mike Gabriel Back to DVD Review Home |
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I remember a time when Disney’s feature animation department just wanted to make a good film. They weren’t out to teach a message, beyond the learning that can come from watching good role models in films, and that’s okay for a kid’s movie. Before the feature animation division closed its doors, they tried to go back to just telling a fun story with movies like “Home on the Range,” but with skyrocketing costs and lower returns, this didn’t last.
I never saw “Pocahontas” in its initial run. To be honest, I boycotted the film. At the time, I was writing state history books for a major textbook company, so I was very well versed in Native American history. From just seeing the trailers, I assumed that “Pocahontas” would make a roaring mess of history, while preaching at the audience for 90 minutes.
Well, sometimes assumptions are correct.
I don’t want to go into the historical inaccuracies of this film. I shouldn’t have to, but unfortunately there are going to be legions of school kids that grow up thinking that “Pocahontas” is a true account. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the extra features on this double-disc set didn’t have the filmmakers endlessly patting each other on the back for how accurate the film is.
But let’s get some things straight. The whole story of Pocahontas throwing herself on John Smith before he is executed by her father is completely fabricated by Smith. It never showed up in the original accounts of the Jamestown settlers, but rather appeared in later journals when Smith was “retelling” his story. Basically, he made it up to sell books.
And, of course, the film version of Pocahontas is HOT! She’s not just pretty like Ariel or Belle. She’s so smoking that it’s like she stepped right out of a Playboy magazine. Of course, this was part of the inaccuracy, considering that the real Pocahontas was a homely girl of 13. And most likely John Smith wooed her - a girl ten years his junior, for which we jail people today - not out of love but out of politics. Why else would he strike up a relationship with the chief’s daughter and not the medicine man’s daughter?
Again, this wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to hear all the Disney animators on this film talk about how they used humor sparingly because the message was too important or how they needed to do the story justice because this was a real person. I would have had more respect if they would have made the film entirely fictional and called it “Native Princess” - or at least started their commentary by saying, “Hey folks, we know this movie has nothing to with historical fact, but we were interested in making a buck.”
It became clear why the story of Pocahontas is butchered when I watched the credits and saw that literally a dozen people contributed to the story - and that’s not including the actual screenplay writer. This kind of community property works for films like “Blazing Saddles,” but for an overt drama, it’s just a mess.
Sigh... I’ll step off my soap box now.
There are some good things to this film when you get past the revisionist story and the preaching. To its credit, the animation in “Pocahontas” is breathtaking. It’s got it’s own style I haven’t seen duplicated in Disney animation. It’s a much more “adult” form of animation, offering an abstract view rather than a cute view. The music is nothing to write home about, but the real treat is the visuals.
This DVD set contains a new version of the film with the “If I Never Knew You” song reinstated. There is a nice selection of extras, including set-top games, an audio comment, music videos and sing-alongs, and multiple featurettes and production notes. There’s nothing groundbreaking, but fans of the movie will find a lot to watch.
Specifications: Film restored and remastered. Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Widescreen (1.66:1). THX-certified, including optimizer. French and Spanish language tracks. English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.
