It has its songs, its attempted humour and its out of this world ideas but it fails to be anything too fantastic.

Rating: 6/10 (3 June 2007)

Pocahontas was the first Disney film that I'd seen in quite a while and I had forgotten the enjoyment and magic that Disney films can often give you. Although I've probably seen most Disney films over the years, it was interesting to revisit this particular title after so long and view it with a more adult mind.
One thing that you notice right away is that Pocahontas is not as epic as previous Disney films. There isn't a lot of animation and that cliché 'every effort is put into every drawing and thus; every frame' seems to have fallen through the net this time round. Because of this; the animation looks not only dated but it makes some of the characters (namely the lead heroine Pocahontas herself) "kinda' funny lookin'." That feeling that this is not as epic as previous instalments is also present. I don't know if Disney were going for the whole neo-realistic look or something since this is based on a true story (something Disney rarely do) but the actual drawings do fall a little flat. Hey, maybe they were putting all their animation effort into Toy Story from the same year; you never know.
The film is clever and at the same time interesting at the start. We spend enough time with the sailors across their voyage and the protagonist is pretty obviously presented to us as John Smith since not only is he the one that saves a fellow sailor from drowning (Voiced by Christian Bale, no-less) but he's also voiced by Mel Gibson  more than enough evidence to suggest this is the leading man. Also, we get a peek at the native American's way of life which, unless you've studied pre-colonial America, is going to look pretty alien to you. This is the film giving us an even amount of time with either 'side' and is dangling a proverbial carrot in front of our faces, tempting us to make a link with either the sailors or the natives.
The film is, overall, a very sophisticated story about friendship, trust and ultimately: love and the fact it's between two people from very different backgrounds and ways of life is all the more pleasurable. Even though it is a true story, Disney takes the material and makes good with it. What I didn't like though, was the fact that the animals whom are supposed to act as the films comic relief are actually more annoying than funny. I appreciate that it's 'just for kids' but where a proper love story is unfolding, two bumbling animals in the shape of Meeko (Pocahontas' racoon) and Percy (The English governor's dog whom he doesn't even realise is missing towards the end) attempt to ruin what it is that's going on around them. The fact they don't talk means that their actions have to make up for any amusing dialogue they might have had and when you have to rely on actions to make you laugh, you have to rely on slapstick and that really misses the mark in this film.
The songs are impressive in their own right; like I said before, they're not as epic as previous films and consist of characters running through forests or boating down rivers with not much happening around them and with the same shades of colours and shapes used consistently. This is not like The Lion King (I Just Can't Wait to be King) or Aladdin (Never Had A Friend Like Me) where lots was going on and, arguably, better songs were presented to us. The willow tree was also something I had a bit of a problem with. Although acting as the mentor for Pocahontas, I felt that it broke too far from reality and wasn't even used that much anyway. I feel the film would've worked better had this character been a really elderly native American whom Pocahontas could've trusted but again, the prospect of a talking tree in a Disney film gets the kids in.
Even if I was a little let down by the climatic battle scene since I didn't really 'feel' anything (when I felt I was supposed to have many emotions raging at once), the film sticks to its roots and has the ending that many of us probably wouldn't have liked to have happened. This is a strong Disney addition and shouldn't be overlooked.
On a side note, if you liked this then check out 'A New World' (2005). It's another Pocahontas film and funnily enough, stars Christian Bale as well.