90s Movie Review - Pocahontas

Director: Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg
Genre: Animation/ Family/ Drama/ Adventure/ Musical/ Romance
Runtime: 81 minutes
Year: 1995
Starring: Iren Bedard, Mel Gibson, Christian Bale, Judy Kuhn, Jim Cummings, Billy Connolly, Linda Hunt, John Kassir, Russell Means

Description: An English soldier and the daughter of an Algonquin chief share a romance when English colonists invade seventeenth century Virginia.

Review: “Pocahontas” is loosely based on the life of the young Indian princess Matoaka, the daughter of the chief of the Powhatan, an Indian tribe that lived in what is now called Virginia. Among her tribesmen, Matoaka was known as Pocahontas, which means something like “playful”.
At the beginning of the 17^th century, a British ship made the crossing to the New World with the plan to search for gold on the American mainland. John Smith, a young and enterprising sailor, makes the acquaintance of a young Indian woman who introduces herself as Pocahontas. Her father has promised her to Kocoum, a young warrior of the tribe, but Pocahontas falls in love with John Smith. The two meet each other in secret, but when Kocoum finds out, a fight ensues. John Smith is captured. Will Pocahontas manage to sav John?
The film’s story is based partly on fact and partly on fantasy. In real-life, Pocahontas was only 10 or 11 when she met John Smith. She ended up marrying another British settler, named John Rolfe, a few years later and traveled to Britain with him. Where she eventually died at the age of 20, due to tuberculosis. This is a less magical story, so Disney made it more family-friendly.
I believe “Pocahontas” is one of those underrated and overlooked Disney animations that most people don’t even talk about anymore. Which is a shame, because it’s a beautifully animated film with amazing songs. With “Colors of the Wind” being the absolute showstopper of course. “Pocahontas” has a short runtime, and that little length ensures that the film does not get bored for a moment.

Rating: 3,5 / 5