Pocahontas

Pocahontas (1995)

Timing: 1:21 (81 min)

6.911/10
6036

7.763/10
97587

6.7/10
217000

All about film

Video 6

Photo 101

Actors and characters

Release date

1995-06-16

Country

United States

Production

Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Feature Animation

Genre

Adventure, Animation, Family, Romance

Budget

$55 000 000

Revenue

$346 079 773

Website

https://movies.disney.com/pocahontas

Director

Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg

Actors

Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson, David Ogden Stiers, John Kassir, Christian Bale, Judy Kuhn, Billy Connolly, Frank Welker, Russell Means, Linda Hunt
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Susannah Grant, Philip LaZebnik

Producer

James Pentecost, Jeffrey Katzenberg

Operator

Andreas Deja

Composer

Alan Menken

Artist

Audition

Editing

H. Lee Peterson
All team (80)

• Pocahontas was a nickname given to the Native American princess Matoaka by her father, the chief of the Native American tribe who lived in the territory of modern-day Virginia. The nickname translates to 'little mischief-maker'.
• In England, Pocahontas became a celebrity and was even presented at court. She soon contracted smallpox and died on March 21, 1617, at the age of 22.
• To give the picture a unique flavor and the spirit of the time of the colonization of America, specialists in Native American culture were involved in the work. A real Native American, Russell Means, voiced the role of the chief, while Captain Smith is voiced by Mel Gibson.
• Christian Bale, who voiced Thomas, later starred in the film "The New World" (2005), also based on the story of Pocahontas.
• In the first version of the script, the character "Grandmother Willow" was written as a man, a spirit of the river. A song, "Just Around the Riverbend," was even written for this character. The role was offered to Gregory Peck (1916-2003), but he declined, believing that the main character needed a mentor to turn to for advice. The actor explained this to the filmmakers, who agreed with him, and changes were made to the script.
• At the direction of the leadership of the "Disney" studio, all secondary animal characters were deprived of dialogue in order to make the narrative more serious.
• The animators working on the project considered this film to be one of the most challenging in the history of the studio. Complex color solutions, angular shapes, facial expressions – working on all of this took a lot of time, and it took five years to create the film. The difficulties and hardships paid off handsomely. Pocahontas is considered one of the most beautiful and realistically depicted Disney characters, and her fluid movements were created using rotoscoping.
• In 1607, Pocahontas saved English adventurer Captain John Smith from death (he had been captured by Native Americans while searching for food sources for the Jamestown colony in the Chesapeake Bay), and later, by marrying another settler, she ensured peaceful coexistence between the Native Americans and the colonists.
• After the hero of David Ogden Stiers (1942-2018) wounds the character of Mel Gibson, Pocahontas offers him willow bark to "ease the pain." Native Americans did indeed chew willow bark to relieve pain, as the bark contains salicylic acid, the basis for the production of aspirin.
• Christian Bale, who voiced Thomas, later starred in “The New World” (2005), also based on the story of Pocahontas.
• In the first version of the script, the character 'Grandmother Willow' was written as a male, a spirit of the river. A song, “Just Around the Riverbend,” was even written for this character. The role was offered to Gregory Peck (1916-2003), but he declined, believing that the heroine needed a mentor to turn to for advice. The actor explained this to the filmmakers, who agreed with him, and changes were made to the script.
• At the direction of the studio's management, all minor animal characters in the film were stripped of dialogue to make the narrative more serious.