It was 12 years before the studio would base another full-length picture on a heroine with the release of Cinderella in Beauty and the Beast came more than half a century after Snow White scored Disney seven miniature honorary Oscars at the Academy Awards, but it was only the sixth Disney film out of 32 to focus primarily on the story of a female character.
The result was Pocahontas , a dramatic retelling of one of the earliest American stories about a Native American woman and her encounter with an English sailor named John Smith.
It was also the first time the studio had produced a film about a real person. The film also seemed to embrace an environmentalist message, with Pocahontas showing Smith the absurdity of relentlessly taking things from the Earth instead of seeing its potential. But 20 years later, its impact can be seen in the new wave of animated Disney films like Brave and Frozen , while Pocahontas remains a well-intentioned entry in the Disney canon.
The Press Pool. About Us. Donate Today. This story was originally published on July 3, Indian Country Today is a nonprofit news organization. Will you support our work? By The Associated Press. By ICT Classifieds. By Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The reason why the indigenous communities are unhappy about the film and this article is because they are fed up that Western culture only wants to interact with our narratives if they are heavily romanticized and fictitious.
Both Pocahontas and Sacagawea are often held up as heroines in the Western perspective, their stories reduced to kinder details rather than serving the interest of the dominant culture. Nobody wants to feel like a settler. The idea for the piece came about because I was rewatching the movie after many, many years and I was struck by how original it was in a number of ways.
The Disney character of Pocahontas seemed to be different from many other cartoon heroines of the time, and it made me want to explore her place in the canon, and how it might have influenced Disney heroines to come.
Then, after doing some research, I learned that Pocahontas was only the seventh animated Disney film based on a female heroine in more than half a century, and the first film based on a character of color, which I thought was intriguing.
My piece was intended primarily to look at how that came about. I did research into how the film was received at the time, and found two critiques of it from a Native American perspective—the statement from Powhatan Nation, and the op-ed in The Los Angeles Times, both of which I quoted in the piece.
The purpose of great fiction is to tell great truths. Upon returning to the village, Pocahontas discovers that warriors from neighboring 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. 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.
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. 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. 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 defense, 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 rumors of his death were "greatly exaggerated.
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