Disney Movie Challenge: Pocahontas (1995)

Disney Movie Challenge

Pocahontas (1995)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

In 1995 you had two choices for historical inaccurate Mel Gibson films. You could go with the violent and bloody Braveheart or the family friendly Pocahontas.  Neither tell a story that is close to what actually happened, but both were big hits.  

When Jeffrey Katzenberg greenlit Pocahontas he saw it as an opportunity for an animated film to score another Best Picture nomination.  He felt The Lion King was some experimental film that wouldn’t be a big hit.  To duplicate Beauty and the Beast’s success at the Oscars Katzenberg decided to try to duplicate the story and wanted a love story.   He also encouraged all his top animators to work on this film instead of The Lion King.  While some of the creators tried to keep the story accurate it became a give and take with what the studio wanted.  

In this retelling of the story of Pocahontas we follow the English as they sail to the New World to find gold and glory.  Meanwhile, in the New World we have Pocahontas and her tribe living in harmony with nature.  Pocahontas is having dreams that make her feel she is called to do more than just marry the strongest guy in the tribe.  She consults a wise willow tree that helps guide her.  When the English finally arrive there is automatic tension in the air.  They begin digging for gold right away.  But John Smith, who is there for the adventure not gold, begins exploring the area.  There he meets Pocahontas and they instantly have a connection.  Pocahontas magically learns English and begins to show Smith that there is more to nature than just conquering it, and just because people don’t act like you doesn’t mean they are savages.  They then go about trying to convince both sides that peace is better than war.  

I don't usually read reviews before I write my own but this movie had me stumped and wanted to see what others thought of it.  It’s a movie that I never really liked but couldn’t really put into words why.    But reading reviews didn't help much since the reviews are mostly about how completely inaccurate the movie is from real history.  Since it’s not a story I know really well the inaccuracies are not what put me off.  For me I think the biggest problem was trying to mix realism with the fantastical. For example a talking tree and the fact that Pocahontas learned English through magic detracts from any realism we were supposed to feel from the love story.   

Since the love story is what is supposed to be the main story if that not doesn’t work then the rest of the movie kind of falls apart.  If we are not invested in the main characters why should we care about anyone else?  The crazy thing is that  Disney films nowadays seem too long; this one probably could have used another 10 - 20 minutes to tell a more engaging story.  

The themes in the movie is what still makes this movie feel different from other Disney animated films.  While Disney’s portrayal of Native Americans in Peter Pan were very stereotypical and derogatory, they really tried to portray Native Americans in Pocahontas as well rounded people.  It also has a pro-environment theme that asks the audience to reflect on nature and what happens if we destroy it.  There is also a controversial song at the end called “Savages”. To me the song is about how people fear other people that are different from them.   It shows how easy it is for one person to lead a group of people to Racism and Xenophobia.  Although some find the song promoting xenophobia with lyrics like “Here's what you get when races are diverse

Their skin's a hellish red, They're only good when dead”.  

Overall:  This is a middle of the road movie.  Not a very compelling story.  The songs are mostly forgettable besides the Oscar winning “Colors of the Wind”.  While the animation received high praise from the critics I didn’t notice it much because I was just bored watching it.  I did think it had some good environmental themes, but I’m sure some find it a bit much.  It also touched on racism which is a lofty goal for a Disney Animated Film aimed at kids.  

Random Facts:

Some random personal facts: 

• My girlfriend at the time loved The Lion King so much that she dragged me to see this opening weekend. 

• This was the last Disney Animated film I saw in theatres till Big Hero Six in 2014

•  Last Disney Animated Film I saw until after my first kid was born and bought Frozen.  

• The only Disney Animated Movies I have seen that came out between Pocahontas (1995) and Frozen (2013) are Lilo and Stitch (2002) and Bolt (2008) I saw both after 2011.  So almost 20 years of film that I have never seen.  

In one of his earliest roles a young Christian Bale villagers.

Jeffrey Katzenberg thought they could get another Best Picture Oscar nomination for Pocahontas but was met with pretty mediocre reviews and only ended up with two nominations and wins.  Won Best Song for “Colors of the Wind” and Best Comedy or Musical Score.  

This was the first year the Oscars had a category for Best Comedy or Musical Score.  It was created because Disney won 4 out of the previous 6 years. (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King).  3 out of the 4 were won by Alan Menken.  He was so dominant they pretty much created a separate category for him. But Pocahontas would be the last time a Disney Animated film would win for Best Score and after a few years they got rid of the Best Comedy or Musical Score and just became Best Score.

There is a scene where one of the villagers kills one of the Native Americans.  It made me think this was the first time a human character died on screen in a Disney Animated Movie. I’m pretty sure it’s at least the first time a non bad guy human character died.  

During test screenings for the film people found a few of the song lyrics in “Savages” racist so Disney went and changed the lyrics for the film.  Oddly the soundtrack that was released had the original lyrics in it.  In the film you hear the settlers sing "Here's what you get when races are diverse!" and  "Dirty, shrieking devils".  On the soundtrack, they say "Their whole disgusting race is like a curse" and "Dirty redskin devils".

Disney Movie Challenge: Aladdin (1992)

Disney Movie Challenge

Aladdin (1992)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

Aladdin was a big deal in my childhood.  I listened to the soundtrack a hundred times and always considered it one of my favorite Disney films.  Oddly enough while rewatching it I realized I didn’t remember half the film so obviously while I know almost all the words to the songs I didn’t actually watch the movie that much.  But the issue when a movie looms that large in your memory is that it tends to not live up to the standards you set for it.  I have always thought that Aladdin was the height of the Disney Renaissance but on rewatch I’m not sure.  

The movie is about the titular character and his journey from a thief to prince.  Two events happen that will change his life. First he meets Princess Jasmine who is pretending to be a regular townsfolk.  They of course fall in love.  Simultaneously Jafar the evil seer for the Sultan is trying to find someone to go into the Cave of Wonders to steal a magic lamp.  The cave said that only a “diamond in the rough” will be allowed to enter and it turns out that diamond is Aladdin.  Jafar kidnaps Aladdin, tells Jasmine that Aladdin was killed, then convinces Aladdin to go into the cave to get the lamp.  In a turn of events Aladdin ends up trapped in the cave with the lamp, his pal Apu the monkey, and new friend in the flying carpet.  He finds out the true power of the lamp when he unleashes a genie that can grant him three wishes.  He tricks the Genie to get him out of the cave then uses his wish to become a Prince to win the love of Princess Jasmine.  Once a prince he must face the fact that he is living a lie and will eventually be found out. Meanwhile Jafar realizes who he is and plots to steal the lamp and use the Genie to make himself all powerful.  

The production of Aladdin has a bit of a tragic start.  The idea for a film based on the Aladdin story from the Arabic folk tale was pitched by Howard Ashman, the award winning lyricist for both The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.  Ashman mentioned the idea after he had worked on The Little Mermaid and had begun writing some songs.  Head of Disney Jeffrey Katzenberg wasn’t that interested in the idea and asked Ashman and Menkin to work on Beauty and the Beast instead.  Ashman died of AIDS related illness prior to the release of Beauty and the Beast. When directors Ron Clements and John Musker were asked what movie they wanted to make next they chose Ashman’s Aladdin.  Still Katzenberg was not happy and forced the script into several rewrites.  Eventually some of Ashman's songs were removed and famed Broadway Lyricist Tim Rice was brought in to work with Menken to write some new songs.  

The movie ended up being something completely different for Disney.  While previous princess movies had the Princess as the main character Aladdin switched it around and had the guy be the main character.  The film also had a bit more progressive attitude towards women.  Not only is she fighting for her choice of love interest, she also isn't a helpless girl that needs saving.   Jasmine fights for what she wants, proves she is just as capable as Aladdin when fleeing the market, and initially sees through Aladdin’s ruse as Prince Ali.  The movie also had lots of action and adventure not normally found in Disney Princess films.  And on rewatch seemed to have a lot more talk of people being killed than other Disney films.  

Of course the biggest standout of the film is Robin WIlliams as the Genie.  He basically steals the show.  In a departure for Disney they let Williams riff and adlib his lines and animated the Genie around his performance.  The animators  were able to capture the kinetic energy that is Robin Williams and put it on screen.  While some of the jokes were modern pop culture references that can take you out of the fantasy world, there is no denying the comic genius of Williams.  Disney realized that Williams and the Genie were going to be their big selling points and used that heavily in the marketing.  This caused a big riff between Williams and Disney.  Williams had made a deal with Katzenberg and Disney that he wouldn’t be featured in commercials and his character wouldn’t be featured more than the other supporting characters on promotional materials.  Some have argued that Williams' success led to other animated films using A-List talent to promote their films.  Here is a bit lengthy but interesting video about that.   https://youtu.be/nyiBdccfNkg 

As a 15 year old boy who pretty much rejected all Disney Princess movies as “girly” this was one I felt I was allowed to like.  It had action, adventure and besides for one mushy song wasn’t much of a love story.  Like I said I must have listened to the soundtrack a bunch of times because I know almost every word to all the songs.  But watching it this time I felt a little disappointed and can’t really put my finger on it.  It could be the state I was in when I watched it or because I had it hyped in my head too much.  That being said it’s still a good film.  

Overall: A fun film that feels more like an action adventure film than a romantic Princess movie.  It has a good message to always be yourself and pretending to be someone else almost always leads to trouble. It also a reminder of the comic genius that was Robin Williams and sad that we will never get anyone quite like him again.  

Random Facts

Was the highest grossing film of 1992 (Beating Home Alone 2, Batman Returns, and Lethal Weapon 3). The first animated film to make over $500 million worldwide.  And the highest grossing animated film until The Lion King came out in 1994.  

Robin Williams was so pissed at Disney he refused to come back for the first sequel Return of Jafar but by the time the next sequel came out Prince of Thieves Jeffrey Katzenberg had left the studio and Williams agreed to do the voice again. 

There was controversy over the song “Arabian Nights” because it continued to stereotype Arabs as barbaric. Initially it had the lyrics “Where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face”. But was changed to “Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense” 

Disney Movie Challenge: Make Mine Music (1946)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Make Mine Music

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

Even though WWII was over by the time Make Mine Music was released Disney was still feeling the effects of the war. Make Mine Music continued the trend of packaging shorts to make a feature film. This film takes more inspiration from “Fantasia” than the previous two package films of “Saludos Amigos” and “The Three Caballaros”.

Similar to “Fantasia” the film uses music as inspiration for each short. Instead of using classical music it used contemporary music of the time. Some of the artists that contributed music to the film are The Benny Goodman Band, Dinah Shore, and The Andrews Sisters. It didn’t have a narrator like “Fantasia” but each short had a title card that introduced the style. For example before “Blue Bayou” there was a title card that said Tone Poem, and before “All the Cats Join in” we are told this is a Jazz Interlude.

I felt like I have actually seen some of these shorts before so some of them must have played on Disney Channel at one point. A few of the more notable ones are “Casey at Bat” and “Peter and the Wolf”. For the most part the shorts in this package film are decent. Only a few I didn’t enjoy at all. The last short "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" is a bit of a downer to end on.  The titular whale is harpooned and killed but does go on to sing in heaven so guess not a total bummer.  

The biggest controversy for this film was the first short in the original release called "The Martins and the Coys".  It's a take on the Hatfield and McCoys which include plenty of gun violence.  The short was removed on from the only DVD release because "graphic gun play not suitable for children". There was also a minor edit in "All the Cats Join In" where a girls bare butt is edited out. Both are now considered no-go for modern Disney films, and it is most likely the reason why the movie is not currently available on Disney+.   I was lucky enough to be able to get the edited DVD from my local library.  If you are so inclined you can watch "The Martins and the Coys" on YouTube. As far as the bare butt goes you can probably find that if you look hard enough but I did not try.  

Overall: As I have mentioned before each package film is going to have its hit and misses.  This one worked for me. I enjoyed "All the Cats Join In", "Casey At Bat", "Peter and the Wolf", and "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met".  I actually like the more modern take on "Fantasia" and wonder why Disney hasn't done something like this recently.  


Random Facts
Entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival

There is an uncut Japanese laserdisc version from 1985 and a Scandinavian uncut version was released in 2006 but they are very rare. In 2013 a U.K. uncut DVD version was finally released. No Blu-Ray was ever released. The uncut version is one of the hardest Disney Films to find and not even the edited version is available on Disney+. 

The U.S.' only DVD release was in 2000 and had the two edits previously mentioned.