Disney's Pocahontas Is Loyal

FILM

Pocahontas

directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg

produced by James Pentecost

Despite the controversy surrounding its opening and the protests over its depiction of history, Disney's 33rd full-length animated feature "Pocahontas" remains true to its original goal.

In addition to Disney's trademark soundtrack and profusion of animal sidekicks, "Pocahontas" features an unwavering devotion to the spirit of this legendary story.

Such an approach could have meant a box office disaster for Disney, and indeed, the result is a wholly un-Disney film. But "Pocahontas" succeeds in taking Disney's animation to a higher level of complexity and storytelling approach.

"Pocahontas" is the first historically inspired animated musical that Disney has ever released. And while it remains true to the spirit of the legend, it departs from several historical realities of the Native American princess's life. This is the film's greatest strength, but also its greatest flaw.

Loyalty to the spirit of the legend is a strength in the picture because the film chooses to portray a magical, mystical America. In doing so, it brings to life Native American supernatural beliefs. What is clearly most important in the film is creating a vision of America that is symbolized by unpolluted purity.

This vision at once encompasses symbols as simple as a 400-year-old talking willow tree, and as complex as two people from different cultures overcoming seemingly insurmountable barriers to fall in love.

But staying true to the spirit of the story required that Disney's writers change several historical facts. The result is that some viewers will end up focusing all their attention on the historical flaws rather than appreciating the spirit of the story.

Historical inaccuracies included the age at which Captain John Smith and Pocahontas met (in real life, Pocahontas was around 12, while in the movie she was closer to 18); the reality of the romance (historical records are vague as to whether the two were seriously involved); and the princess's body image (she has a modern "aerobicized" look in the film as opposed to the shaven-head, solid body frame that her tribe's women actually favored).

All the criticism of this movie has occurred on a very mature level, far above the level that fairy tales would normally be debated.

In many ways, in fact, this is no ordinary Disney creation. It is not a children's movie. It does not feature talking animals, slapstick humor or a signature happy ending.

It succeeds by taking Disney away from its tried-and-true cartooning techniques. In "Pocahontas," "good" and "bad" begin to merge. And while both sides have their benefits, both also have savage aspects, and Disney uses its animation of fiery weapons and pounding drums to illustrate this.

On one level, the film can be viewed as historically inaccurate, but perfectly politically correct, expounding the silliness of racism and overflowing with gratuitous hug-a-tree scenes.

But at its core, "Pocahontas" remains what its creators set out to portray: a beautiful love story.