Good But Not a Classic

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2012)

Pocahontas (1995)
*** (out of 4)
Disney's version of the relationship between Englishman John Smith (voice of Mel Gibson) and Pocahontas (voice of). This here was the studio's 33rd film and while it's far from a classic, overall the animation is good enough to make it worth sitting through. It should go without saying but history buffs might want to stay away from this but then again, this here is a Disney movie so I'm not sure why people should come into this wanting a documentary. I remember when the film was released there was a lot of promotional material about how respectful the film was going to be towards Native Americans and for the most part I think this is very true. I thought the film did a pretty good job at showing the good quality of both sides and the film managed to give enough of the history to where young kids should be able to enjoy the film as entertainment as well as get a fair idea of what happened during this period. I think what works best about the film is the animation, which shows the studio at the top of their game. I really loved the dim blue colors that highlight the majority of the film and especially the scenes inside the woods. The beautiful red skies is another major plus and there's no question that the characters all look extremely good and well-drawn. I thought Gibson did a very good job with his vocal work but the rest of the actors are fine as well. The animal creatures are another plus with the raccoon certainly being the standout. I think there are some major flaws here including every single song. There really wasn't a single one that impressed me and this is somewhat of a shock considering the hot streak that the studio was on. POCAHONTAS isn't classic Disney but fans of the company should at least be entertained by it.