Great music enhances a story refusing to exit Disney's rules for safe film-making

Rating: 5/10 (24 July 2007)

I hate to admit, but Disney's Pocahontas, a film near and dear to my heart, is indeed severely flawed. Aside from the film's wonderful beautiful imaginative score, the true core of the film, the character relationships, and the depiction of another culture are frighteningly one-note. Pocahontas can be considered a true children's film. There isn't really anything of substance to engage a mature viewer outside of the die hard Disney/children's entertainment addicts, and admittedly without the film's inspired songs, it would be pretty banal. The film truly aims for a satisfactory portrayal of Native American Indians. Nothing objectable, nothing indecorous from what we expect from Disney. Unfortunately, the story and characterization fall along the same guidelines. The film establishes the Native American society as very close to nature, and that the invading colonies basically aren't. The cultural gaps between the protagonists are hastily filled with several occurrences of Disney 'magic' and the like. The film is missing a true human core. Most of the criticism seems to come from the fact that the film is grossly inaccurate on the real story of the pubescent Indian and the fully grown settler. I find such criticism unfair and irrational. The film doesn't aim to please devout historians, but more importantly, Disney has no intention of creating their first PG-13 animated cartoon. And here the film succeeds in that children can watch a film with the name "Pocahontas" that hints to the familiar story taking place in Virgina, a noticeably 'flat' Virigina. Which brings me to a not very often mentioned criticism. The 'Virgina" in the film resembles some place in Colarado. I admire the film's stylization, but I have a slight qualm on not being able to appreciate flat Virgina in it's own beauty. It seems even more problematic in a film who's major theme seems to be nature and the often overlooked wonders of it amidst rapid industrialization and economical corruption. That minor criticism seems to personify the bigger picture in why the film 'fails'. It settles for a shallow look into culture and prejudice that's easily accessible to children but leaves adults unmoved, aside again from the amazing music that the Disney Co. does finest. And really, the music makes the film, not-really-profound dialouge aside.