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| Magic and earthy colors attract on this fine poster for Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg's Pocahontas |
In 1607, explorer John Smith ventures out on an adventurous trip with the Susan Constant from London to the 'New World' of North America, where natural wealth is conquered and natives slaughtered, - but instead of this, he personally falls in love with native American Pocahontas.
Pocahontas is written by Carl Binder (War of the Worlds (1990, TV-series)), Susannah Grant (28 Days (2000)) and Philip LaZebnik (Hindenburg (2013, miniseries)), with 24 (!) more individuals contributing story elements, and directed by Mike Gabriel (The Rescuers Down Under (1990)) and debuting Eric Goldberg (Aladdin (1992, character designer)). It is based on the real life Powhatan Indian American Pocahontas.
The fabled, good and fascinating story is told with vigor and formidable songs here: Colors of the Wind is simply eminent, but also The Virginia Company is a roaring hit. The score (by Alan Menken (Sausage Party (2016)) with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996))) for Pocahontas is outstanding and the strongest element in the film overall.
On the other hand the film doesn't feature Disney's most fantastical inventions in terms of characters, and one could have wished for more insight into the real-life story behind the film. The ending may give the erroneous assumption that the relationship between the white settlers and the native Americans then became harmonious, - after the removal of one evil colonial leader. As we all know, that wasn't the case. Then again this is mainly a film for children.
Pocahontas is in any case a very lovely film due to its musicality, spirituality, - which is closely connected to the natural life that the native Americans are shown to live in the film, - and the good values about love and respect and sharing of knowledge among people, which it spreads.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 55 mil. $
Box office: 346 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 6.29 times its cost)
[Pocahontas premiered 15 June (New York) and runs 81 minutes. The filmmakers took enormous creative license in altering the real-life story to fit their narrative wants and needs. Shooting took place from January 1994 - May 1995 in California. The film opened first limited to 6 theaters for its first anticipation-building weekend and then wide to #1 and a 29.5 mil. $ weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 3 weekends (#2-#4-#5), grossing 141.5 mil. $ (40.9 % of the total gross). It was the 4th highest-grossing film in North America of the year, behind Apollo 13, Toy Story and Batman Forever. Some of the native Americans involved as consultants for the filmmakers later expressed regret at the historical inaccuracy of the film. It won 2 Oscars: Best Original Song (Colors of the Wind) and Best Musical/Comedy Score. It also won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. By mid-1998 the film had garnered a further 250 mil. $ in worldwide VHS sales. A direct-to-video sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World was released in 1998. Gabriel returned with Lorenzo (2004, short) but has not returned with a feature as director since; Goldberg returned with segment and short directing work but also no feature return for him. Irene Bedard (Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994)), who voices Pocahontas, returned in 3 TV credits prior to her theatrical return in Navajo Blues (1996); Mel Gibson (Signs (2002)) in Ransom (1996). Pocahontas is rotten at 55 % with a 6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Pocahontas?
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