Pocahontas : Une légende indienne

As with all Disney films, this was a warm and charming movie with some fun set piece sing songs, and your stereotypical big baffoon baddies and your clean cut and heroic good guys!

It's a family film and it doesn't get too hung up on being historically accurate. It does romanticise the tale of Pocahontas, and she is tied very much to the land and her people, and has a heroine's role at the end, as supposed to just being a Princess looking for Mr Right.

She does of course meet a man at the end, but it's not your typical Disney ending. Much like Mulan, this was a period when the role of Disney Princess was changing.

It's worth mentioning the animation, it is fantastic with the shape and movements of the key human characters, absolutely flawless.

Though not entirely surpassing the Lion King this was some of the best music ever experienced in an animated musical. Pocahontas is the daughter of a chief who wishes to find her path in life. She feels it her duty to keep peace between her own people and the intruding British who are hoping to find gold as did the early Spanish explorers. She finds herself falling in love with one of these new visitors and uses this relationship in attempting to prevent a potential war. But can she stop the greedy settlers from their determination to find Gold, and can she convince her Father that they should try to live in peace with their new neighbors? You may be pleasantly surprised. Between the music and the animation Pocahontas is a classic Disney film that should be included in every video collection. Just don't expect to learn any hidden truths about American history. Take it for what it is.

I read the poster's comments (the one from Paris) and had to laugh, because I completely understand him. I went away for school in Europe in '95 when the film came out, and when I came back Pocahontas was the rage. You know, the way all Disney films were back then-there were commercials, songs on the radio, stuffed animals, etc....until the NEXT Disney movie came to dwarf it until a lame sequel or TV series came out. So let me tell you, I was skeptical about Pocahontas.

I saw this a year after it came out and instantly fell in love with it. It's a mature Disney animated feature- (in my opinion) even more mature than Japanime films I have seen. The love story seems very real-there is a sort of chemistry between the leads that you can feel.

The soundtrack is one of my favourite parts about the movie. Every song matches perfectly with the spirit of the time and place..a new world in the 1600's.

Finally..whoever had the idea to cast Mel Gibson(and Christian Bale) is a genius. Love those voices!

One aspect of this movie often overlooked is its dreamy editing. It is so consistent throughout and rivals many critically acclaimed films with great editing.

See it again, and remember: "You can own the earth and still, all you'll own is Earth until you can paint with all the colors of the wind."

We must start with the foundation statement that this is not an historical retelling of the story of early America. We don't know what went on at that time, so we are off the mark at the beginning. Can you imagine the dark times that were involved in this era, with a group of settlers trying to establish some kind of community, and a Native American presence confused and afraid what was going on. So what Disney did was turn this into a folk tale which oral traditions have been doing forever (e.g. Paul Bunyan or John Henry or, more appropriately, Davey Crockett). I mean they sing and talk to trees. The romance had to be very strained. Throw in the search for gold and the greed, and you have a classic love in the face of barriers story. Also, there are a couple of terrific songs in this film. No, it's not "The Lion King" but many very good films are not "The Godfather" either. It doesn't mean they can't stand on their own.

For as much bad press as Pocahontas got, I must say I really disagree with the people who call it flat and lifeless. I thought that after the exclusively tan Lion King, the fresh blues and greens of the foggy Virginia woods were quite beautiful to behold. No one can deny that this is a very beautiful movie, almost exquisite in its animation. Although John Smith is nowhere near as handsome as he thinks he is and peoples' eyes have a strange tendency to all but disappear at times (Look at Smith, Nakoma and Kokoum to see what I mean), it is very very pretty.

Unfortunately, if they'd just waited a year or so after The Lion King, I think it would have gotten much better ratings. As I see it, it is a very interesting story, if a bit tired at times. Pocahontas is a fine heroine, she's very courageous and likeable, and unlike Jasmine and Nala from the previous two Disney films, she's much more than just a pretty face. The love story with Captain Smith is actually done rather well despite the fact that I really disliked the Smith character. I'm not sure why they made him so flat and one-dimensional in contrast to Pocahontas' rich personality, but I didn't find him at all interesting.

The cute animal mascots were allright, if totally out of place in the otherwise dark world. They would be funny to little kids, but they're pretty annoying to a mature viewer.

I didn't really care for Chief Powhatan, he was a little too dense considering the circumstances. I'd say my favorite characters were Nakoma, Pocahontas' best friend and Kokoum, the personality-less warrior. At least those two had some decent tension. I also really enjoyed David Ogden Stiers' duel performance as Governor Ratcliffe and his cute little yes-man, Wiggins. Those two characters truthfully provided the best entertainment of the film, and it might have been a better movie if they'd replaced some of the preachiness with more entertaining scenes of those two plotting.

All in all, it doesn't really take much intelligence to watch it, but it does have elements to appeal to a mature viewer, and besides, the songs are very pretty and of course, it's a splendid piece of animation.