The Hunt for the Real Story of Pocahontas

Rating: 6/10 (23 February 2001)

Pocahontas directed by Michael Gabriel presents a fictionalized chronicle of the arrival of the English settlers in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Led by the greedy, bombastic Governor Ratcliffe (voice of David Ogden Stiers) and Captain John Smith (voice of Mel Gibson), the explorers have come to the New World in search of gold. They promptly begin cutting down trees, digging holes, and preparing to kill Indians. Meanwhile, a young woman, Pocahontas (voice of Irene Bedard), observers the newcomers with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. Her father, Chief Powhatan (Russel Means), is certain that the landing of the white men means war. The only hope to avert a battle between the Indians and English settlers arises out of the romance that develops between John Smith and Pocahontas.
Anyone who expects historical accuracy from a Disney animated film should be ashamed of themselves. In reality, Pocahontas was a 12-year old girl with over 100 siblings from her father's many marriages as chief of the Powhatan Indians. She had a break with her father and moved to another village when she was 14 where she is rumored to have married the Kokwam from the movie. Pocahontas was captured and held in captivity by the English for ransom, which was never paid in full. She was moved to another English settlement where she fell in love with another Englishman, John Rolfe, whom she married in a peacemaking marriage between the Indians and English. Rolfe converted Pocahontas to Christianity and he went with her back to England where she was honored and met the king and queen. Sadly, though she died in England before she could return back to America. Furthermore, John Smith in real life was a bit of a professional adventurer as he had endured many escalades in the Mediterranean where he was captured as a soldier. He was then forced into slavery, which he escaped from and traveled all over Europe to return home to England. He was the only man to come over to America actually on three ships that had any real leadership experience, as the other men on the voyage were noble gentlemen. Smith whose stories were known to be a little sketchy at best alledgedly was scouting the land outside Jamestown when Indians captured him. Smith awed the Indians with a compass he had with him and was depicted in the movie as the spinning arrow in Pocahontas' dream. Nonetheless, Powhattan imprisoned Smith for some time before sentincing him to death. Then according to Smith as he was about to be struck by the ball over the head as shown in the movie Pocahontas jumped on top of him and pled with her father to spare Smith. Yet, there never was any emotional relationship between the two as was falsely depicted in the movie. Smith did go on to become a sort of adopted son to Powhattan after his capture until on another scouting mission his gun powder exploded in his pocket forcing him to return home to England for treatment. In the film, the material culture was fairly well done. The Indian village was recreated fairly accurately with the depiction of the longhouses but a log wall that surrounded the village failed to be portrayed. In the summer the Powhatan would live in wigwams, which were left out of the movie. The clothing of the English was accurate, as were the loincloths and moccasins of the Indian men. However, the Indian women did not wear tops to their dresses as shown in the film. The natives did possess primitive tattooing techiques but not advanced ehough to make patterns like the one seen on Pocahontas' arm and were more likely to paint their bodies. In addition to the bows seen in the film, the Indians possessed spears, tomahawks, and small knives for weapons. As shown in the movie, there were dug out canoes in Indian society but most of the fishing was done with nets not spears. The English at Jamestown had basic shovels, axes, and picks as seen but no wheelbarrels. The ignition system of the matchlock guns used by the English was well portrayed yet the lack of accuracy of these guns was not shown. The Indians were in fact leery of the English when they arrived and did initially skirmish with the white men as shown in the movie. The Indians' concept of property as communal and the white's as personal was depicted as well. Furthermore, lacosse was played by the Indians but not the version shown in the movie as the games were huge spanning several miles at a time.

A recognizable message can be seen in the movie Pocahontas as the need for tolerance between those of different races and cultures is evident throughout the film. The director, Michael Gabriel, shows this by initially having the English and the Indians, who are from very different cultural and ethic backgrounds skirmish and prepare for battle. Yet, he has John Smith and Pocahontas unite these two different cultures together. They show how misconceptions or ignorence about the other culture caused this amnimosity, which once they actually interacted with each other was nowhere to be found. In addition, this film is a reflection of the values of the 1990's when it was produced as it gives a more accurate and politically correct representation of Native Americans in the film. The character of Pocahontas was physically modeled after Irene Bedard, a woman with Indian heritage who also did the speaking voice of Pocahontas. In addition, Native American activist Russel Means did the voice of Chief Powhatan. This was done in part to assure the support of Native Americans who could have protested and made a big to do over the changing of the actual story, which the moviemakers did not want to occur.
Technically the film is very sound. It uses visually creative techniques in its animation that are leading the way for the movie industry. The scenery, which may have been a bit exaggerated in its depiction of Jamestown, Virginia, is beautiful, as are all the characters in this full-length animated color film. The music by Alan Menken throughout the movie is electrifying in greatly adding to the overall experience.

All in all, Pocahontas is an enjoyable viewing experinece that I would recommend to both kids and adults. The question about the movie lingers whether the lack of a happily ever after ending will hurt the movie in the eyes of audiences. Pocahontas is sure to entertain viewers and hopefully by transporting both kids and parents alike to another time and place will inspire children to learn the actual history of this legendary story and their parents to teach them the real account.