Ben and Lon

*"Lon is a big, lovable, cowardly oaf who tries to be a hero... He tries to be a tough guy, but he's really a softy."* -Joe Baker's comment on Lon from an interview for Disney Adventures.

**Ben and Lon** are two settlers, supporting characters, and a comedic duo in *Pocahontas*.

## Background

Ben and Lon are two of the settlers that travel to the New World with the Virginia Company. The two appear to be close friends (despite Ben occasionally insulting Lon) and are usually never seen without the other when they're often at their most comedic. Both are familiar with the reputation of John Smith and are fairly loyal to him. Ben has long black hair tied back on the end and a shaven face, while Lon has long red hair and a beard.

Both are pleasant and cheerful men, although Lon is notably more enthusiastic and fun-loving and often tries to see things through rose-colored glasses, whereas Ben will not suffer fools gladly and is short-tempered.

Lon also shows that he's not always very sure of himself as he doesn't often speak in confidence. Such as when he simply asks Ratcliffe how long they were going to keep digging, unlike Ben who confronts Ratcliffe momentarily to tell him that they're "slaving away" and not getting anywhere. Lon also demonstrates this when, after Ben kicks him while Lon is playing around and Ben tells him to get back to work, Lon timidly says, "Come on, Ben. It's just a little fun."

## Appearances

Ben and Lon first appear as two of the crew members on the ship that is headed towards the New World. The two meet Thomas, a young man who is going to the New World to seek his fortune, seem to take a liking to him, and discuss the fact that the legendary John Smith would be on the voyage. Ben notes John's reputation for fighting savages; in his view, he cannot fight Indians without him.

During the voyage, Ben and Lon are seen tying off cannons during a storm. When Thomas falls overboard, Smith rescues him in a daring move. Ben openly calls Smith crazy, but he and Lon assist in the rescue by pulling Smith and Thomas back to the ship with a rope with help from a consistent but unnamed settler.

Back on the ship, Lon drapes a dry towel over Thomas, tells him he's a "lucky lad", gently pats Thomas' back, keeps his hand there, and he and Ben compliment Smith for his heroic act. John Smith replies that they would surely do the same for him as he wrings out Thomas' hat and places it back on Thomas; Ben and Lon hesitate for a moment but quickly and a bit awkwardly answer in the affirmative. After Ratcliffe's speech, Lon assists John and Thomas while asking aloud, "You think they'll give us much trouble?" In reply, Ben takes a mop and attaches a feather off a fellow settler's hat saying, "Not as much trouble as Smith'll give them." and they both join in The Virginia Company Reprise.

At the New World, Ben and Lon are some of the first settlers to go onshore. Lon, along with Thomas, is amazed by the New World, while Ben is happy just to get off the boat proven when he says "It can look like Ratcliffe's knickers for all I care. Just as long as we're off this stinking boat!" Onshore, Ben and Lon are tasked with digging for gold. When they fail to find anything, Ben and Lon begin to complain, with Ben becoming mildly confrontational. However, they are interrupted when Governor Ratcliffe's dog, Percy, discovers some Indians to which they mistakenly believe are ambushing them and rush to grab muskets and fight. Ratcliffe shoots an Indian named Namontack in the leg; Ben tries to kill the wounded Namontack with his gun but is stopped from finishing the job by Kocoum who pushes and kicks Ben away.

Later on, Thomas notes that John Smith is acting differently and being unusually quiet. Lon attributes Smith's behavior to the fact that he missed the fight and was upset about it. While pulling up his pants, he points out that they can take care of the Indians just like they did the last time and picks up a pickaxe. Using it to impersonate a musket, he begins singing, "We shot ourselves an injun, or maybe two or three." while pretending to shoot. At this, John Smith appears pained while Thomas seems to be the only one who finds the performance amusing. Ben, who is in a very bad mood, kicks Lon from behind and tells him, "Alright ya howlin' nutter, get to work." Lon complains to Ben that he was just trying to have fun. Ben sarcastically agrees to point out that they've been searching for gold for hours without any food while Ratcliffe is in his tent, "happy as a clam." Later, Ben and Lon are found napping when Ratcliffe comes looking for Smith. Ben and Lon realize that he has disappeared, Ben telling Lon, "Aye, your singing must have scared him off." Ratcliffe replies, "Well then, go get him for heaven's sake!" Lon then asks, "What if we run into the Indians?" Ratcliffe, not even trying to hide his annoyance, tells him, "That's what guns are for. Now arm yourselves and get moving." Ben and Lon eventually arrive at the glade of Grandmother Willow, who is helping to hide Smith, as well as Pocahontas. Grandmother Willow is able to spook the two men, and the two quickly flee, with Ben insisting, "He's a big lad, he can take care of himself!"

When Smith returns to camp, Lon and Ben reveal that they were looking for him, but before Smith can answer them, Ratcliffe appears asking Smith about his whereabouts. John Smith gives the excuse that he was scouting the terrain. When Ratcliffe reveals that he plans to fight the Indians, Smith protests, much to the surprise of Ben and Lon. Smith reveals that he met an Indian (Pocahontas), that he had food, and that there was no gold in Virginia. When Ben and Lon hear that there is no gold, they start to question Ratcliffe, but Ratcliffe insists that the Indians have the gold.

Later as Smith sneaks out of the camp Ben, Lon, and the other settlers are wondering if Ratcliffe has lied to them and there is no gold or if the Indians have the gold and they'll have to fight them. Ben and Lon later hear Thomas calling for help, Lon tells Thomas to settle down and asks what's wrong. When Thomas tells them that John has been captured, Ben tells the others, "Thomas is right. We've got to do something." The other men agree as Ratcliffe comes out, takes advantage of the situation, and prepares for an all-out war against the Indians.

The next morning, Ben and Lon are among the soldiers preparing to fight. They are surprised when John is released thanks to Pocahontas. Though Ratcliffe wishes to start the war anyway, both Ben and Lon join Thomas in standing up to Ratcliffe starting with Ben who tells Ratcliffe, "They don't want to fight." When Ratcliffe tells them it's a trick, Lon joins them as they begin to suspect that John was right about him. They witness Ratcliffe (who was aiming for Chief Powhatan (Disney Character)) shoot Smith, and believe that it was intentional, now realizing that Smith was right after all and they shouldn't have listened to Ratcliffe in the first place. He played them like puppets. They assist the other settlers in apprehending Ratcliffe. Thomas then orders them and the rest to chain him up and gag him.

After this, Thomas is seen taking supplies to them. Ben asks Thomas if John will be okay, to which Thomas tells him, "Sooner he gets back to England, the better." Lon puts a hand on Thomas' shoulder and tells him, "Well, let's hope the wind is with him." Thomas then questions on the ship's readiness to sail back to England. Ben answers in the affirmative that it was almost ready, they just had to load "the last bit of cargo". He then smiles as the scene changes to show the men taking a chained and gagged Ratcliffe back to the ship.

At the end of the film, it is revealed that Lon plans to stay behind in Jamestown with Thomas to carry out the settlement, as he is heard wishing good luck to Smith, who must return to England for medical treatment. Presumably, Ben decides to return to London to get Smith to get cured, as he is seen rowing the wounded Smith back to the ship which leaves for London.

Neither Ben nor Lon are seen or mentioned in the sequel, *Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World*. Thus, it is unknown what happened to them. Presumably, Lon is still carrying out the settlement with Thomas, while Ben is either still in London or has come back to Jamestown after John Smith was treated and is now helping to carry out the settlement.

## Video Games

### Disney Animated Storybook: Pocahontas

When the player is on the seventh page, if they scroll to the right, Ben and Lon can be found digging for gold. If the player clicks on them, they will start to dig. Ben will accidentally shovel dirt on Lon's head. Lon and Ben then turn to face each other. Lon shakes his fist at Ben while saying, "You watch where you're shoveling?" The two then turn back around and resume their original positions.

### Disney Emoji Blitz

Both Ben and Lon are part of Ratcliffe's power-up, Ratcliffe's Men. When the power-up is activated, they, along with Thomas, will dig for special points and emojis on the board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeM6lu2ejC8

### Pocahontas Video Game

Ben makes a cameo in the image for the goal instructions of the game's third segment that reads, "Find out what the settlers are up to. Be careful, they are not as friendly as John Smith." with a shovel over his shoulder walking towards something while Pocahontas watches him from a tree.

## Pocahontas: Six New Adventures

Ben and Lon only appear in *On The High Seas*.

In the book, Lon starts out with John Smith, Thomas, and the cabin boy, Will, on the half deck playing his hornpipe. After Thomas begins his complaints on the state of the food, Lon pitches in that there were worms in the barley gruel, "I counted three different kinds this morning." As John tries to cheer them up by reminding them what a beautiful day it is, Ben wanders on to deck saying it's about time it was better weather, "It's been nothing but rain for the past eleven days. And it's so crowded below, there's no place to move around." After he says this, Ratcliffe comes up accompanied by Percy and Wiggins asking what all the talking is about. When Ratcliffe decides to have Thomas stand to the helm that night, Ben joins the others in trying to dissuade this decision asking Ratcliffe, "But sir! You want Thomas to learn to man the tiller on the night watch?" But Ratcliffe is insistent. When Percy begins prancing past the settlers and he growls at both Ben and Thomas, Ben says under his breath, "Same to you, pup." When Ratcliffe asks in a snarly way if there's a problem, Ben catches himself and says no, "Forty-two days at sea and we're still happy as clams."

That night, during the storm, John takes Ben with him to the helm where they find Thomas struggling with it. Finally, when it becomes clear that Thomas can't keep it still, Ben takes over and relieves Thomas of it. Thomas thanks him as he angrily wonders why Ratcliffe has it in for him. Lon is later revealed to be hauling up the sails. To a nervous Thomas who was ordered by Ratcliffe to help furl them, he looks as though he's hanging on for dear life. After Thomas falls from the main mast and goes unconscious, Lon assists John in furling the mainsail.

The next morning, Ben is sitting next to Lon, who begins playing his hornpipe again, resting. While some of the other men are heating salt beef, Ben calls over to ask, "Think that meat's going to taste any better now?" One of the seamen, George Martin, replies saying, "At least it won't be full of worms." After Ratcliffe storms at Thomas, both Ben and Lon quickly notice Ratcliffe feeding Percy better food but are forced to look away after Ratcliffe angrily demands, "What is everyone staring at?" Once Ratcliffe leaves, Ben angrily takes a stale biscuit from his pocket and throws it down. As it shatters on the deck, he wonders, "Why should a dog be treated better than a man?" Lon sarcastically reminds Ben, "Because he's not just any dog, he's the governor's dog." Ben then disgustedly states that they'd be better off without both Ratcliffe and Percy. After Thomas asks Ben in shock, "Ben! How can you say that? Ratcliffe is the leader of this expedition." Lon reminds them that, "Things will be different in Virginia." stating to Thomas the fact that there won't be differences in rank, "Just because you're a farmer, Thomas, that won't make you less than a nobleman like Ratcliffe." Ben scoffs at this and tells Lon that's only a dream, "There'll always be men like Ratcliffe to push us around. We should take a stand." Thomas tries to remind Ben that, "Lon is right. Where we're going, there'll be a new way of life." When John comes on deck and sits down next to Thomas, Lon tells Thomas not to listen to Ben, "He doesn't know what he's talking about." But Thomas begins to wonder if they should as John gently puts a hand on his shoulder. Ben agrees as he slams his hand into his fist, "We've had enough of Ratcliffe's cruelty. It's time for a new leader." Lon replies by darkly whispering, "Mutiny." John tries to discourage this saying they're making a big mistake, but Ben keeps on saying, "No, I'm not. A new world call for a new leader. Why should we listen to him?"

That night, Ben and Lon are gathered in the hold with a few of the others they and Thomas managed to recruit for the planned mutiny. After Thomas reminds them that the meeting must be kept secret, "The punishment for mutiny is death." they begin discussing Ratcliffe's treatment of them. After discussion of Ratcliffe giving Percy and Wiggins better food, Ben concludes, "He's hoarding all the best food." Lon then adds, "And besides that, he knows nothing about sailing. He should never have stood Thomas at the helm." while another adds, "Or made him climb the mainmast." Ben follows with, "Right, I say it's time for us to choose a new leader." Lon adds, "I've been thinking about what Ben and Thomas said this morning. Ratcliffe has to go." When Wiggins crashes down into the hold, Ben is quick to accuse him of spying on them. When Wiggins escapes after it's revealed he was, everyone takes off after him. Finally, Ben and Thomas manage to catch Wiggins until Percy nips Thomas' hand again and he and Wiggins go in separate directions. Ben manages to catch Percy and instructs Lon, "Get Wiggins before he reaches Ratcliffe." Just as Wiggins is about to knock on Ratcliffe's door, Ben calls him, "Oh, Wig-gins," holds Percy over his head, "Missing someone?" When Ratcliffe comes to the door, Ben puts a hand over Percy's muzzle and hides him under his shirt.

When they manage to slip Ratcliffe's suspicion, Ben takes Percy back out demanding they make a deal to keep Wiggins from telling on them. Just as they're about to talk, John puts a hand on Ben's shoulder saying they all better talk first. Ben tells John to stay out of it; but John puts out his hand demanding Ben give Percy over to him. Ben replies that he can't, when John asks why not, Ben tells him, "It's between me and Wiggins." Wiggins desperately tries to tell them that he won't say anything, "Cross my heart. Just don't do anything to Percy, please?" Ben says he doesn't believe him, "The minute I let him go, you're heading straight for Ratcliffe to tell him what you heard in the hold." As John begins trying to talk them out of it, Lon points out how, "Ratcliffe's been making our lives miserable for too long." John points out how, while that's true, they should think about what's ahead for them, "Lon, I thought you wanted to open a blacksmith shop. In England, you would never have been allowed to do that. Your family are all farmers." To which Lon replies that he hates farming, "I never did like cows." When Wiggins reminds how they'll be rich, Ben snorts back, "You're already rich enough, you and this fat pug live like princes while the rest of us starve." John tells him to forget about that for a minute and asks what Ben is hoping to find in the New World, to which Ben says gold and adventure. When John goes on, Ben says that he doesn't see how this pertained to their plans, "I still say we get rid of Ratcliffe." Lon agrees, "He's gone too far." Thomas then intervenes to say he thinks John has a point and goes on despite Ben telling Thomas, "Don't listen to him." When Thomas points out what wrong could go with a mutiny, Ben accuses Thomas of backing out. Thomas assures him that he's only thinking it over and, while he can't find it in himself to forgive Ratcliffe, he was willing to put it behind him. When asked by Thomas, Lon agrees to let it go, too, but Ben insists, "I don't like it. I still say we mutiny." John asks if anyone agrees and is met with silence. John sends them off to bed and gently takes Percy from Ben and gives him back to Wiggins.

## Gallery

After driving the Indians away, Ben, Lon and the settlers are ordered by Ratcliffe to return back to camp.Ben and Lon are woken up by Ratcliffe who demands to know where Smith is.Ben and Lon searching for John."Let's get out of here."Ben and Lon getting their butts whipped.Ben and Lon witnessing John return.Ben, Lon and others listen to John Smith's new opinions of the Indians.Ben, Lon, and Thomas being introduced to corn.Ben, Lon, and Thomas watching Ratcliffe stubbornly insisting the Indians want to kill them."No… gold?"-Ben and Lon shocked when John says there is no gold in Virginia.Ben and Lon sit by the fire with Thomas and two other men and talk about Smith and Ratcliffe's claims.Later that night, Ben and Lon see Thomas return to the campsite in a hurry.Ben shocked to hear that John Smith has been captured by the Indians.Ben and Lon hearing Thomas insist that they must rescue John Smith."Thomas is right! We've got to do something."On The High Seas Ch. 6Ratcliffe: "And so we shall!"Ben's Cameo in the Video GameOn The High Seas Ch. 4On The High Seas Ch. 3Ben and Lon's page in The Art of Pocahontas
## Trivia

* Ben was originally supposed to be English, however, attempting a London accent hurt Billy Connolly's throat so the actor chose to use his native accent instead and Ben became Scottish.
* Connolly's other Disney animated film character King Fergus in Pixar's 2012 film *Brave* is entirely Scottish.
* Both Lon and Ben observe John Smith's execution with other English colonists in this animated film. In real life, there were no Englishmen observing the incident when Pocahontas rescued Smith. Smith was the only Englishman in Chief Powhatan's village.
* While Ben is native Scottish, Lon on the other hand, is purely English.
* In 1996, Billy Connolly went on to play the Narrator and Billy Bones in Muppet's Treasure Island.
* It's possible that Ben was named for either Benjamin Best who was one of the actual Jamestown settlers or Ben Jonson who wrote Pocahontas' story in his comedy The Staple of News.
* Despite being English, Lon's name is actually of Spanish Origin and means "noble, ready"; his full first name would've been Alonso. Because of that, it's possible that Lon was named for a Spanish conquistador.
* After his part in Pocahontas, Mel Gibson invited Billy Connolly to play King Robert of Scotland in *Braveheart* the same year.
* In 1994, Joe Baker played Barnard in *Dumb and Dumber* and Ben Weatherstaff in *The Secret Garden*.
* *On The High Seas* reveals that Lon was once a farmer and plays the hornpipe.
* *On The High Seas* also reveals that Ben didn't trust Ratcliffe as much as he appeared to in the film since he was first to suggest mutiny against him.
* Lon was said to have made a cameo in *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* during the Topsy-Turvy number drinking beer.
* In *The Art of Pocahontas*, lead animator, T. Daniel Hofstedt, claimed that Ben and Lon's personalities and designs were based on the voices of their actors, Billy Connolly and Joe Baker.
* *The Art of Pocahontas* also reveals that Lon is older than Ben.