It wasn't the hit that Disney was looking for, but I think this was still a decent movie

Rating: 7/10 (19 January 2004)

Disney studios had hit the jackpot during the "renaissance" with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to ever receive a best picture nomination during the Oscar season. They wanted to hit it out of the ball park again with Pocahontas. This is where Disney was starting to slide down a little bit again. Not to put this film down because it was wonderful, but there wasn't that special little spice that made the film a huge success like it's predecessors. The animation was just spectacular, the story(despite not being at all true to the story) was very good and the songs were beautiful. But why wasn't this the major hit Disney was looking forward too? I have several theories that I'll explain in just a moment.
British settlers of the Virginia Company sets sail to the "New World". Onboard the ship are Captain John Smith and the voyage's leader Governor Ratcliffe, who believes the local Native Americans are hiding a vast collection of gold and seeks to gain it for his own. In the local tribe in the New World, Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, dreads being possibly wed to Kocoum, a brave warrior whom she sees as too "serious" when conflicting with her spirited personality. Pocahontas, along with her friends, the raccoon Meeko and hummingbird Flit, visit Grandmother Willow, a spiritual talking willow tree who alerts her to the presence of the Englishmen. She meets John Smith and shows him the "New World" as he realizes the peace and love the tribe brings, they both try to bring a bond between their groups, but it might be more difficult than they realize.
Why this film wasn't as big a smash as the studios wanted I think was due to the way the story was told. First off, I know that for Hollywood to keep the audience's interest they do need to have their own little twist on history, but why not keep more true to the story of Pocahontas? I suppose because her story wasn't enough to keep the kid's interest just like how they "sexified" her up. Although why does her nose look like Lord Voldemort? Seriously, can she breathe out of that thing? There is a massive stare fest between her and John Smith that felt more awkward than beautiful and romantic. There's also a lot of standing majestically which I thought made the characters look more like mannequins.
However, I still like Pocahontas a lot. It's not the Disney movie I watch more than a few times, but the animation is just absolutely stunning, some of Disney's best. The songs like "Colors of the wind" and "Drums of War" were great. Even the side animal characters were really funny and cute. I would still recommend Pocahontas, not just for die hard fans of Disney, but it's a terrific family film that I'm sure anyone could enjoy as long as you don't take it seriously like some other crazy people have, it's a movie! People need to check the size of their underwear, it may be time for a bigger size.
7/10