Pocahontas (Character)

### Animators

Glen Keane, Mark Henn, Pres Romanillos, Randy Haycock, Michael Show, Tom Bancroft, Robert Bryan, Trey Finney, Aaron Blaise, Doug Krohn, Brad Kuha, Tom Gately, John Ripa, Eric Walls, Emily Jiuliano, Steve Lubin, Daniel A. Gracey, Allison Hollen, Christine Lawrence Finney, Inna Chon, Peggy Tonkonogy, Wendy Muir, Bill Thinnes, Rachel Renee Bibb, Mary-Jean Repchuk, Richard D. Rocha, Eunice (Eun Ok) Yu and Akemi Horiuchi

### Voiced By

Irene Bedard
 Judy Kuhn (Singing)

### Partners

Kocoum (Ex-fiancé)
 John Smith (Ex-lover)
 John Rolfe (Lover)

### Parents

Chief Powhatan (Father)

**Pocahontas** is the titular protagonist of the 1995 film Pocahontas. She is the seventh member of the Disney Princess line-up and the fourth to be developed during the Disney Renaissance.

## Background

Pocahontas' mother had died, and she had inherited her strong will and free spirit. She is the only member of her tribe who is not xenophobic toward the white settlers, instead of forming a relationship with John Smith. By the time of the second film, she is respected enough that she is sent as an ambassador to England on behalf of her people.

### Official Description

Pocahontas loves nature, and she spends her time exploring the land. After she falls in love with a man named John Smith, it's up to her to discover her destiny and bring peace to her people.

### Development

Pocahontas' name means "Little Mischief". She is based on the real historical figure and was born into a highly sophisticated Native American culture that knew about Europeans. Her design was modelled after her voice actress, Irene Bedard, who happens to be Native American herself.

It is important to note that Jean-Jacques Rousseau's notion of the "noble savage" was an important inspiration for this fictionalized story of the important historical persona that is Pocahontas. For as can be seen in other information given below, the story presented in the animated film is not an accurate telling of her life. Rather, it is an examination of the above notion. However, this can be argued against. In her signature song "Colors of the Wind", she sings: "You think I'm an ignorant savage. And you've been so many places, I guess it must be so. But still, I cannot see if the savage one is me. How can there be so much that you don't know? You don't know..." As such, even Disney's depiction of Pocahontas can be seen as someone much more complex and nuanced than Rosseau's "noble savage" archetype.

### Personality

Pocahontas is displayed as a noble, free-spirited, and highly spiritual young woman. She expresses wisdom beyond her years and offers kindness and guidance to those around her. She loves her homeland, adventure, and nature. In the film, she appears to have shamanic powers since she was able to commune with nature, talk to spirits, empathize with animals, and understand unknown languages.

Pocahontas believes that her mother's spirit surrounds her where she enjoys fleeing a breeze as if she feels her deceased mother's presence. Pocahontas also shows a very playful side where she tips her best friend, Nakoma off her boat and proceeds to splash her with water.

In the sequel, Pocahontas seems to have grown after hearing of John Smith's assumed death. She keeps her independent spirit and playfulness but is much more mature and self-assured than she was in the first film. When she meets John Rolfe, she does not appreciate and sometimes bickers with him at first, but as time goes on, she develops romantic feelings for him far greater than those she had with Smith. During her stay in England, she nearly loses herself in the hustle and bustle of this new world and is turned into someone she's not. But in the end, she bravely intends to sacrifice herself for her people's safety and returns to her homeland, finding herself, and romantic love, once again.

### Physical Appearance

Pocahontas is a young woman with tan skin, long raven-black hair, and twinkling, dark brown eyes. She has a tall, slender, statuesque figure with broad shoulders and narrow hips and goes around barefoot in the first film, whereas in the sequel, she wears flat moccasins. Unlike the other "modern" Disney Princesses of the period, such as Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine, as well as the others created after the Disney Renaissance such as Rapunzel, Anna, Elsa, and Moana, Pocahontas is drawn with her eyes and face less rounded and more angular and refined, as well as drawn with a head more similar to an adult's in proportion to her body similar to that of the first three original Disney Princesses, such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora, giving her an appearance of maturity which Pocahontas represented.

She normally wears her iconic turquoise necklace which belonged to her mother. It is removed twice in the two films. The first occasion occurs when a fatally wounded Kocoum grabs at it as he falls, shattering it. In the sequel, she herself removes it and replaces it with a gold chain, stating, "It doesn't belong here."

The animation of her is also different from other Disney Princesses; owing to the flatter, angular, and more geometric art style of her debut film similar to those of Sleeping Beauty and One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

## Film Appearances

### Pocahontas

Pocahontas is first seen atop a waterfall when she is summoned by her best friend, Nakoma, that her beloved father, Chief Powhatan, has returned. It is revealed that she has been having an unusual dream, and she does not understand what it means. Nakoma counsels her to speak with Powhatan, who has recently returned from war. At the village, she meets with him and learns that Kocoum, one of his finest and fiercest warriors, has asked to marry her. As a gift, he gives her her late mother's necklace, which her mother had worn at their wedding. She doesn't feel that this is the right path for her, but Powhatan feels that Kocoum would be a fine husband for her, as he is steady and serious, as well as brave, loyal, strong and protective.

After hearing this, Pocahontas travels to Grandmother Willow in order to gain some advice. After telling Grandmother Willow about her dream and Powhatan's plans for her arranged marriage to Kocoum, Grandmother Willow tells her that her dream is pointing her down her path. When she asks how to find her path, Grandmother Willow teaches her to listen to the spirits of the Earth, by listening with her heart. She does so, and after hearing the wind tell her about the arrival of "strange clouds", is able to spot the ship carrying the Europeans. To her, its sails resemble clouds.

Pocahontas later encounters one of the settlers, John Smith. At first, she can't understand him, but somehow, after possibly listening with her heart, she was able to. Over time, they get to know each other, asking all sorts of questions about each other's people, lives, and different worlds. However, the conversation goes sour when he unintentionally reveals his prejudices toward Native Americans. She explains the beauty and importance of nature and respecting the Earth through the song "Colors of the Wind". This causes him to see the ill of his thoughts and change his ways, and they begin to strongly fall romantically in love with each other. However, after hearing drums, she is forced to return to the village.

Later, while picking corn with Nakoma, Pocahontas meets Smith again. After swearing Nakoma to secrecy, she takes him out to the woods to meet Grandmother Willow. When he reveals that the settlers had come looking for gold, Pocahontas reveals that there is none in the area. When other settlers come looking for him, he is forced to leave, but he and Pocahontas agree to meet that night at Grandmother Willow's glade. After he leaves, she worries about her actions. Grandmother Willow reminds her of her dream, and she begins to suspect that it is pointing her toward Smith.

Upon returning to the village, Pocahontas discovers that warriors from neighbouring villages have arrived and are planning to fight the settlers. That night, despite Nakoma's protests, Pocahontas sneaks off to meet Smith. They reveal that their respective people are planning for war. She asks him to come to her village and speak with Powhatan in an attempt to avoid fighting. He is reluctant at first but agrees after some advice from Grandmother Willow. When Kocoum, who had been warned about Pocahontas by Nakoma, suddenly stumbles upon her and Smith kissing, he becomes enraged and attacks him. Before she can break them up, Thomas, who had been sent to find John, shoots and kills Kocoum to protect him. As Kocoum falls, he grabs hold of Pocahontas' necklace and it shatters into pieces. Enraged, she charges at Thomas, but Smith stops her, saying it won't help. He takes the blame, is taken prisoner by the Powhatan men who were alerted by the shot from Thomas' gun and sentenced to die at sunrise. When Kocoum's corpse is carried back to the village, Powhatan scolds Pocahontas for disobeying his orders not to leave it, shaming him and her foolishness leading to Kocoum being killed. As John is taken away, Nakoma approaches her, and she tells her that Kocoum was only trying to protect himself. Nakoma apologizes to her for her actions, and she was worried, that she was trying to do the right thing by admitting that she sent Kocoum after her. She brings Pocahontas to the tent where Smith is held, she tells the two warriors guarding it that Pocahontas wants to see the eyes of Thomas, and they agree, telling her to be quick and let her in. She apologizes to Smith before leaving, while he vows to "be with her forever".

After Meeko gives Pocahontas Smith's compass, which she recognizes as the spinning arrow from her dream, she realizes that she must stop the execution that will lead to war between the Native Americans and the settlers. She runs to where it will take place, calling out to the forces of nature to help her reach them in time. She reaches Smith just in time to throw herself over him and save him from being killed by Powhatan, who was going to be his executioner and murderer, and also tells off everyone on how they had been led by the path of hatred. She tells her father that this is the path she chooses and what would his be if they choose to fight. Touched by Pocahontas' love and wisdom, Powhatan then comes to his senses, puts a ceasefire on their fight and releases John.

When the enraged Governor Ratcliffe rejects the offer of peace Powhatan offers by sparing and releasing Smith, he shoots at him, only for Smith to push him out of the way and take the bullet himself. Soon after, a wounded John asks Pocahontas to come with him to England, but she explains that her place is in Virginia, with her people. To comfort him, she tells him that "no matter what happens, I'll always be with you, forever." They passionately kiss, and the men carry him onto the ship. As it is leaving, she runs as fast as she can to a cliff overlooking the ocean. Smith waves goodbye in the Powhatan fashion, and she does so the same way, as she showed to him earlier when they first met, as the ship sails away.

### Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World

Several years after the original film, Pocahontas has been mourning Smith's apparent death in England. She eventually decides to move on and buries his compass (which he gave her before going back to England) in the snow. Unknown to her, his death is part of a plot by Ratcliffe to manipulate England into a war with the Indians.

Later on, Pocahontas has a run-in with an English diplomat named John Rolfe, who has recently sailed to Virginia. They do not get along at first, with her disliking his interference in a near-skirmish between the Powhatan and the English, while he dislikes her for rebuking him for said interference. He later overhears of her role in stopping war and mistakenly assumes her to be the Chief rather than the young woman he just met.

Later that night, Rolfe appears at Pocahontas' village with a gift for her but is astonished when he learns her identity. He reveals that Powhatan must come to England to meet with King James; otherwise, he will allow England to go to war with the Indians. When Powhatan refuses to go, Pocahontas volunteers instead.

Pocahontas visits Grandmother Willow the next day, asking for advice for the journey, and is told to "listen to the spirit within." Later, she leaves with Rolfe for England and is nearly arrested for "harbouring stowaways" before he comes to her aid. They come to a truce.

Upon arriving in England, Pocahontas is astounded by this "new world". But at the height of her fun, Ratcliffe appears and grins evilly when he finds out she is the ambassador instead of her father Powhatan. He hands Rolfe a proclamation that King James has signed that says an armada is going to set sail to destroy the Powhatan tribe. Rolfe and Pocahontas set out for his townhouse outside of London, where Mrs. Jenkins happily greets them and puts on tea. Rolfe goes off to meet with King James alone. King James, tricked by Ratcliffe, invites Pocahontas and Rolfe to The Hunt Ball. If Pocahontas can impress King James and Queen Anne, her people will be saved. If she is deemed "uncivilized", however, then the armada will sail.

Rolfe and Mrs. Jenkins teach Pocahontas how to fit into English society, dressing her as an Englishwoman and teaching her how to dance. At first, she impresses King James and Queen Anne, but during dinner, she is horrified by a bear-baiting spectacle. Unknown to her, Ratcliffe had arranged it knowing she would not approve. When she disrupts the bear-baiting and comes to the bear's defence, she angers King James by calling him and his people barbarians, and as a result, she and her bodyguard, Uttamatomakkin, assigned by Powhatan, are arrested and scheduled to be executed.

Later on, Rolfe and a disguised Smith break Pocahontas and Uttamatomakkin out of the Tower of London and escape into the woods to avoid King James' troops. She is shocked when Smith reveals himself and says that the rumours of his death were "greatly exaggerated." They take her and her friends to a cabin in the forest. Smith explains that he had gone into hiding to avoid a treason conviction. While he wants to resume his relationship with Pocahontas, she is more concerned about the armada scheduled to sail to Virginia to attack her people. Rolfe and Smith begin to argue over a course of action. Smith believes Pocahontas should stay in hiding to avoid being hanged or decapitated, while Rolfe believes she should follow her heart. She runs off, upset at the arguing between them, while Smith realizes that Rolfe is in love with her. How Smith feels about this seems rather vague. After spending some time at the edge of a river, remembering what Nakoma said back in Virginia, and reuniting with Meeko, Flit, and Percy, she soon returns, ready to face King James herself and face the consequences, whatever they may be, earning both Smith and Rolfe's respect for her bravery.

The next day, Pocahontas prepares to face King James, willing to sacrifice herself to save her people. While she convinces Queen Anne, King James does not believe her until Smith shows up. Upon seeing that he is alive and well, King James realizes that Ratcliffe has lied about everything. Pocahontas says they need to stop the armada, but Queen Anne reveals that they have already left. Pocahontas counters that they must at least try, and it turns out that the armada had not actually set sail just yet. She, Smith, and Rolfe are able to stop them, and Ratcliffe is arrested by King James when he returns to shore, facing severe punishment for his crimes. Smith is given a ship of his own and a royal pardon, while Rolfe is offered an advisory position to King James.

During the celebratory ball, Pocahontas plans to return home on the next ship and is trying to work up the courage to ask Rolfe (whom she has fallen in love with) to come with her. Smith plans to travel the world and wants her to come with him, but she explains that she feels that they've grown too far apart while assuring him that she does (and will always) still care about him as a friend. After thinking it over, he understands what she's getting at and accepts her decision, wishing her happiness for the future, and she wishes him the same. After he leaves, she goes in search of Rolfe, but as she'll be leaving soon to sail back to Virginia, she's ultimately forced to board the ship by herself. When she becomes saddened that she'll probably never see Rolfe again, he emerges from the shadows, and they embrace. When she asks him, "What about your duty to the King," he responds by saying, "I have a duty to honour what's in my heart." They share a kiss as the ship sails off into the sunset to return to Virginia.

### Ralph Breaks the Internet

In Ralph Breaks the Internet, Pocahontas appears as a netizen in Oh My Disney, where she and the other Disney princesses work as cast members partaking in meet-and-greets with net users. As a nod to her animation in her debut film, her hair is in constant motion, even when indoors. Leaves occasionally circulate around her as well. During their break, Vanellope von Schweetz infiltrates their backstage room; Pocahontas is seen having her hair tended to by Cinderella when Vanellope arrives. Like the other princesses, she believes Vanellope to be a threat and charges at her with Chief Powhatan's club. Vanellope hastily declares that she's a princess as well, and though this is able to ease the princesses a bit, she is still suspicious. She questions what kind of princess Vanellope is, but the latter doesn't have a clear answer. When Cinderella asks if animals talk to Vanellope, Pocahontas is seen snuggling with Meeko on her shoulder. When Jasmine asks if Vanellope has "daddy issues", she notes that she doesn't have a mother, to which Pocahontas relates.

After declaring Vanellope, a true princess, Cinderella becomes inspired by Vanellope's casual modern outfit. She has her mice sew together comfy modern clothes for each of the princesses to match Vanellope. Pocahontas dons an indigo shirt that features a graphic of a wolf howling in front of a blue moon that reads "BLUE CORN MOON" underneath (a nod to "Colors of the Wind"), yellow pants with tan patterns to represent her tribe and light brown flats and seen lounging on the couch while snuggling Meeko. Ariel dreamily expresses her love for the new outfit through song (a parody of "Part of Your World"), but Vanellope cuts her off in confusion. Tiana explains that when a princess wants to express her dreams, she sings a song. Vanellope has never had such an experience, and Pocahontas advises her to find some water and stare at it. The other princesses agree, referring to their respective musical numbers that took place near a body of water. Later, Vanellope takes Pocahontas' advice and sings to a puddle, leading to the song "A Place Called Slaughter Race".

During the climax, Pocahontas and the other princesses set off to rescue Wreck-It Ralph from falling to his doom. After some of the princesses use their gowns as parachutes to catch him, Ariel signals for Pocahontas to summon the wind to gently guide him to safety. Once he regains his consciousness, Pocahontas and the others befriend him.

## Television Appearances

### House of Mouse

Pocahontas makes cameo appearances in numerous episodes.

In "The Stolen Cartoons", Pocahontas' food was being stolen by Meeko as she was applauding Mickey's introduction.

In "Big Bad Wolf Daddy", the Big Bad Wolf (as Big Bad Wolf Daddy) blows Pocahontas, her table, Meeko, Jiminy Cricket, and Alice out of the club with his trumpet.

In "Suddenly Hades", Pocahontas was seen with her hair blowing in the air-conditioned wind. When Pete breaks the air conditioner, she leaves along with the other guests.

In "Ask Von Drake", Pocahontas was seen in a canoe with Meeko, Flit, and Roy E. Disney during the headcount of all the guests.

In "House of Turkey", Pocahontas was seen walking into the club with John Smith and the colors of the wind.

In "Thanks to Minnie", she and Meeko were part of Clarabelle's gossip chain. She passes the gossip to Robin Hood.

## Other Appearances

In Aladdin and the King of Thieves, when Genie tries to capture Aladdin's father, he transforms himself into Pocahontas and jumps off a plane.

Pocahontas made a non-speaking silhouette cameo in the movie theatre at the end of The Lion King 1½.

In the series finale of At Home With Olaf, a short clip of the first film featuring Pocahontas appears during a montage of heart-warming moments from Disney films playing in Olaf's song "I Am with You".

## Disney Princess

### Redesign

In 2012, Disney released images portraying the various official princesses in glamorized, sparkling, and glittering formal princess wear, which has become known as a redesign. Pocahontas received multiple changes in her late 2012 redesign. Feathered earrings with leather cords and turquoise beads at the end frame her face and her dress is now beige and more elaborate with the addition of feathers and turquoise stones. Her late mother's necklace is painted gold and studded with turquoise stones instead of being a solid blue, while the pendant at the end is a bluestone instead of silver. Notably, the traditionally barefoot princess now wears knee-high soft suede boots.

In 2015, the Disney Princess merchandise got a new style for their products. Along with the new style, Pocahontas received some new colours for her redesign.

### Palace Pets

Pocahontas' Palace Pets are Windflower, Pounce, River, and Brook.

## Disney Parks

Pocahontas appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for meet-and-greets on a recurring basis. She is the most common Pocahontas character, next to Meeko. She is dressed in her buckskin dress from both films; instead of her feet being bare, however, she wears matching shoes to protect her feet (though she does say that back at the village, she takes them off and moves around barefoot).

### Disneyland Resort

Pocahontas has an incredibly notable role in the World of Color nighttime spectacular at Disney California Adventure during the nature-focused "Colors of the Earth" segment.

### Walt Disney World Resort

Pocahontas is most prominently featured in the Disney's Hollywood Studios incarnation of Fantasmic!, where she and John Smith work together to end the war between the natives and the settlers.

In Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, Pocahontas serves as the guests' guide in Frontierland and Liberty Square. Ratcliffe is freed from prison by Hades (in the guise of Lord Indigo of the East Underworld Trading Company) and makes a deal to gain control over Frontierland in exchange for the crystal of the Magic Kingdom. Ratcliffe agrees, but soon enough, he begins to panic as the crystal is nowhere in sight, but being that Pocahontas knows the land, he kidnaps Meeko in an attempt to force her into helping him find it. Fortunately, the guests defeat him with magic, making him fall off of his ship.

Pocahontas also has her own spell card known as "Pocahontas' Colors of the Wind".

In Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pocahontas had her own show entitled Pocahontas and her Forest Friends, which ran from 1998 to 2008. In it, she and Grandmother Willow taught park guests about the forest life and how to protect them, with assistance from a new young tree character named Sprig and multiple live animals.

### Tokyo Disney Resort

In Tokyo Disneyland, Pocahontas is a meetable character in Critter Country. She was formerly meetable in American Waterfront at Tokyo DisneySea.

### Hong Kong Disneyland

Since March 10, 2021, Pocahontas has been meetable in The Royal Reception Hall as part of Hong Kong Disneyland's 15th anniversary celebration. She was an events-only meet-and-greet character in 2010, and from 2017 to 2019.

Pocahontas, Meeko, and Flit appear in "It's a Small World" in the Americas room in the North America section.

### Disney Cruise Line

Pocahontas and John Smith appeared in the Disney Cruise Line stage show The Golden Mickeys. She's also known to come out for meet-and-greets on the ship and a "magic maker" in the show Believe.