as a native american kid, pocahontas was always a very important movie to me. that was one of the only times i saw myself represented in media. now that i’m older i can see that the way they represent us is flawed, but at the time seeing an indigenous character on screen was all that mattered to me. although it’s problematic, it’ll always hold a special place in my heart for those reasons. plus colors of the wind is a BOP
@@lavenderbambi3501*disclaimer not Indigenous * I believe Spirit stallion of the Cimarron does a better job as a kids movie(although not perfect). Also it isn’t based on a racist myth. If you are considering broader Indigenous, Lilo and Stitch is also better. If you haven’t heard before that many Native people have issues with Pocahontas movie or why specifically, Google is your friend
I agree. I actually really love the film, I just wish they named the characters differently and something completely fictional, instead of basing them on real people. The music, characters, and etc. are great, it's just a problem that it's meant to take after a real person.
@@BratzRockAngelsight? Like if you take the Pocahontas aspect out of it and did the feud between the English and the indigenous people. I loved this movie and while I'm not native I resonated so much with Pocahontas so much. Her compassion and kindness as well as her mental strength!
i was raised on this movie and i still love it for what it is but if we’re being real, the big problem is that pocahontas was a real person. it’s just really disturbing to think about disney taking the story of a native american woman who was kidnapped and became a child bride and died very young and making it into a kids story. i love this movie very much but now that i’m older, i can’t help but always think about that.
Not only that, but the movie in the songs "savages" tries to make you feel empathy for both sides, like "no side was right, both of them were blind by rage..." Like, NO???? Bruh, I don't need to explain why this wasn't equivalent, right?
I imagine they changed that since: A). The writer(s) may have thought her being romantically involved with Kocoum represented her going back into a bubble and never being adventurous again. 2. The fear that fans would notice that she ended up choosing the white love interest while the POC love interest died. Altogether, Kocoum's death added even more depth and darkness to the story. Pocahontas being romantically linked to him would make her look bad with how the rest of the film focuses on how she loves John Smith.
Ik this movie has a lot of controversy abt it bc it doesn’t line up with the actual story but for a Disney movie that isn’t made to scare kids away with still some truth incorporated into it, I think they did well, I love this movie and the songs are amazing🤌🏽
I think the issue is that rather than basing it on a Native American myth or a European fairytale like other Disney Princess movies, it is based on a real woman who had a pretty sad life, and the base tale is written by one of the colonizers embellished memoir. And also promotes a few Native American stereotypes and downplaying the nastiness of real events in a way that can influence how kids internalize these things. But it’s typical of the 90’s
@isabelwilliams8072 and? Her life continued beyond 10 years old, and John's stories were clearly a basis for the movie. It's still messed up, and Disney trying to make it a romance when she was ripped away from her family and culture later irl by these people rather than telling a new story or adapting an Indignous fairytale with the relevant nations approval wouldn't have been that hard
The thing about this movie for me: if they had done the same story, with the visuals, music and romance, about fictiinal characters, on a fictional world, it would be considered a MASTERPIECE - it’s gorgeous, the score is THE BEST on Disney history, the stakes are high and romance is actually quite decent. The one problem this movie has is that it is based on real people and completely overlooks the real history, but I still believe it gives a decent view for kids on what was colonialism. All things considered, it is still a 8/ 10 for me, just from the winning points. Love your reaction, as always 💕
Agreed. Had they just CHANGED the names. There would be no real issues. Cause it's not like the movie is really connected to the real person or history in any way outside of the names.
@joshina4497 No, Pocahontas was Matoaka's real nick name, so it's still tied to the real person. Alongside the rest of the human characters except for Nakoma and Thomas I think.
the problematic elements of this story are...endless. that being said I think that it has some of the most beautiful music and visuals of any disney movie of the time and even to this day. I just wish people weren't so quick to dismiss Native voices.
It's too bad Disney wadn't doing original films at this time; they may have fared better with a 100% original story rather than a historical fiction piece.
the real 'pocahontas' was kidnapped from her tribe and then her kidnapper turned around and made the events into a novel where he was the hero. the novel, "pocahontas: my own story" by john smith was very popular when it was published in about 1624 and *just so happens* to be similar to the plot of this movie. in the english legal system she was stolen to, mataoka of the pamunkey people was considered property by marriage. when her first captor died, another man swooped in and started calling her 'mrs. rebecca rolfe." as far as i can tell, she died at 28 years old and was never given back to her people. so disney took her kidnapper's version of events, bragged in media interviews about how movie pocahontas had to be sexy and daring, then made a ton of money on merchandising that image to the people who love to be ignorant on halloween. a lot of the most well-published stories about real native american women happen to be in that same vein: kidnappings re-told as integration with colonial society. is why i don't like this movie in a nutshell.
i loved this movie as a kid and I’m so attached to Pocahontas, but since they quite literally made money off the tragedy of a young native american girl, completely erased her story and made it into “she was in love with a colonizer and the white people weren’t bad, just mislead” is truly evil and nasty - so despite all my love and nostalgia, I let this movie go 💔 may the real Pocahontas rest in peace, what happened to her was horrible and it breaks me that things never got better for her :(
This was my favorite Disney Princess when I was a kid and it made me interested in Indigenous history at an early age...but with that said, according to Mattaponi Oral History: John Smith is a liar - he was not being executed, it was an elaborate adoption ceremony that either he misunderstood or just said it was an execution to feel important because he was known to exaggerate his adventures. She DID marry Kocoum years later before she was eventually kidnapped by the English, SA'd, had a baby, and was THEN married off to one of the Englishmen John Rolfe (it is unknown for sure if Rolfe is the father but the English have recorded that Rolfe married her FIRST and then she had the baby, but the English didn't record the baby's birthdate, soooo doubtful). It's a beautiful movie and I love it, but it's a hard one to separate it from its real history.
I read somewhere that she was r*ped repeatedly during the time she was being held captive. what is likely to have happened was she got pregnant and one of her r*pists married her to cover up to the English government the fact that they had been r*ping her (there's no other way she could've been pregnant). Kocoum actually was killed by the men at Jamestown, and I think their child was too. so it's disgusting that they portrayed her as having no interest in her actual husband IRL and portrayed her as falling in love with a colonizer...the people who abused her IRL and ultimately ended up killing her by bringing diseases she could not fight off. Matoaka deserved better
I recently discovered your channel and girl you are a delight to watch. I feel like I'm watching movies with a good friend, laughing along and you just seem so fun and chill.
Pocahontas was one of my favourite Disney Princess movies while growing up (Mulan and Little Mermaid being the other two) and to this day Pocahontas is one of my favourite of the Disney princesses. I didn't grow up in America so as a kid I knew nothing of Native American history, I was just drawn to this confident and free spirited woman and really looked up to her. When I became a teenager and found out she was based off a real person the reality of what happened to her sunk in and the innocent image of her life/story was shattered for me. I still love Disney's Pocahontas to this day for what she has meant to me my whole life and how she has shaped me growing up, but I acknowledge this is not the real Pocahontas's story and there are aspects of this movie that are frankly disrespectful to the real Pocahontas's memory. On a similar note I also adored Anastasia growing up and her story was destroyed for me as well when I was a teenager and learned what happened to the real Anastasia. I view both instances/movies as an almost 'wish fulfilment' scenario for both tragic stories, as a 'how it should have ended' rather than what actually happened...
I'm American but we're not really taught a whole lot about Indigenous people, colonization, or the actual history of how this country came to be, so I went through a very similar process as you. same with anastasia. I also didn't realize how much red scare propaganda was in that film
I love this movie as a kid! Growing we didn’t know nothing about Native Americans. She was brown I just thought she was black! But more than that it was such a beautiful story (yes I know it’s not the true story)
i had to do a whole analysis my first year of college on the differences between the real story and this movie. my professor wanted us to hate this movie but the soundtrack is still one of my favorites.
I'm a guajajara from Brazil and she was the 'princess' i saw' myself in, growing up i've never liked this movie at all, even the songs and animation bacame kinda creepy to me
"y'all let me know what's historically accurate" none of it.. 7:05 they actually owned floridia at the time! And then they took over mexico which ranged from california, which led to the california gold rush.
el camino real in california started being built just 30 years after her death. I don't know if many people realize how old the history is in california. new mexico has one of the oldest buildings in the entire US. it's also why all the structures in the south west have spanish style, while structures in new england look more like...england
I honestly never thought this movie was boring. It's visually very stunning, the score is fantastic, and the plot would actually be very good if it was just a completely original story. The issue is that it's based on a whitewashed legend of historical figures & events. As you mentioned we know that, even if there were eras of civility between the two groups, the colonization of the Americas only got worse for Indigenous peoples. So it's hard to contend with the way the movie paints an amicable relationship at the end. It's sort of like the First Thanksgiving story, where we're all told that the Colonizers and the Native Americans all got along, and it just sweeps all of the conflict and genocide under the rug. Another thing is that Pocahontas (Matoaka) and John Smith were never in a romantic relationship. They knew each other but a romanticized fiction of their relationship grew over the centuries. It's a polarizing film. I know that Disney attempted to do their research in presenting the Powhatan people correctly (their language, their dress, their villages), and I've heard both negative and positive feedback from Native individuals and groups. I've also seen people say that it's had a positive effect, while others say its had a negative effect. The comments here are probably a good indicator of that. I think both reactions can be valid and its fine to have mixed feelings about it. It's a movie that can be enjoyed for what it's worth, as long as we understand its faults and how representation can grow from it.
Her real name was Matoaka, and she was 10 if I’m not mistaken. I didn’t see a comment that stated her actual name, so I decided to send this into the comment section sea.
7:05 The Spanish did colonize, but Mexico and Central America, that’s where they found the gold and numerous other resources, then the English came to the rest of North America
If disney had of given her a different name, any name, said it was a fictional tale based loosely around North American tribes. That would have been fine! The moment they attached the name of a child to the movie and made it "oh cute romance!" it just changes so much. The movie is so pretty and the messages behind the movie are important, but once you learn she was a real person, a child! It becomes so hard to separate the two.
the fact that theres magic in this could be seen as a "this is not true" hint. but regardless of how inaccurate this is, this movie it does teach some good lessons, mostly its just the songs that do that but kids can definitely learn to treat others nicely and be nice to mother nature
7:00 it was in southern Mexico that the Spanish came and took the gold from the Aztecs and Mayans. So I guess these guys believe that any part of the western world would have gold? I mean they didn’t have Internet they really couldn’t fact check things.
It's a pleasure to see how people from the States are offended by Disney retelling of their own stories. Disney has never respected the message of European stories when they have used them to make money😂. The little mermaid, Pinocchio etc. are very very different!
I partially agree. However, unlike most European fantasy stories, this story is based on real people, a real tribe and real events, as well as sensitive themes. despite not agreeing with the drama that people make since it is not a biography but an inspiration
@user-xf4hn1cc2p What we know about Pocahontas wasn't written by her or her people. It's unreliable and legendary. Although we have no reason to doubt her existence, we can't be certain of how much the tradition shifted from the historical truth. Instead, we know exactly how much Disney betrayed the meaning of European finctional stories.
the Spaniards did colonize, began in the south with the Aztecs. As Spaniards went north, would go on to try and colonize Native Americans, mostly by Catholicism. San Diego tribes were contacted by Spaniards and I’d say out of all in Indian Country, those tribes have the most influence.
Real John Smith aside, and just looking at the movie as a movie, I'm gonna play Devil's advocate with John Smith. He gets labeled as one of the worse Disney princes and that's mostly due to his first encounter with Pocahontas. What people don't realize is that's actually a very believable reaction. Whenever the topic of Native Americans comes up, people only talk about them as victims. The narrative is that they were this peaceful people who were minding their own business and these colonists showed up and started killing and enslaving them and kicking them out for no reason. In actuality, not only were there some NAs who actually didn't mind the colonists being there and formed alliances with them, but a lot of them were in fact very savage and brutal. It wasn't unheard of for them to capture, torture, or kill a colonist if they were alone. Not all of them of course, but it happened. So yeah, I think John Smith's cautious reaction with his gun is a very reasonable reaction if a NA snuck up on him like that.
as a native american, i literally do not give a flip about the controversies. i'm so grateful they made this movie & that i had a disney character to relate to growing up! i love this movie & always will!! 🥲
Srsly pocahantes ate she has beautiful hair and this movie is gorgeous and has beautiful symbolism and morals its just- this movie is just- slaaaaaaaay!
The Princess and the Frog was the last 2D animated movie, but I wish they could find a way to bring back that style. It would sell so well! I can’t remember the intricacies but it’s hard to bring back now because of the resources all being devoted to 3D
Lol when the Spaniards went to the “new world” they went to Florida, the Caribbean, and Mexico (that’s why they still speak Spanish out there) the English went higher up and hit Virginia (where Pocahontas is from + first settlement), Massachusetts (Plymouth Rock) etc, which is why we speak boring ol English
The fact that this comes out after I just learned recently that Christian Bale voices Thomas (John's red-haired friend) and that David Ogden Stiers is the voice behind both Ratcliffe *AND* his assistant Wiggins. 😆😅
Watch the 2nd Pocahontas! Please 🙏 Disney tried to make it more historically accurate. It’s not completely accurate of course lol but it follows how she had traveled to England and about an… important person she met. It follows the 2000s Disney sequel curse, but it’s actually very watchable compared to a lot of the others. Very underrated film. (And it actually has some banger songs) ⭐️Also recommend the live action one from 2006. Its called “The New World”. It touches more on her sadness of her life. Not completely accurate either, but more melancholic feeling. It’s got Christian Bale & Colin Farrell. Underrated movie too.
pocahontas was my favourite of the original disney princesses, i loved this movie so much.. learning as an adult about the real story broke my heart.. i wish they had created their own first nations character rather than take a real character and change her story almost completely.
Girl I do not like this movie however I'm here to watch our reaction and colours of the wind is great. History aside, I was picking the man my father choose for me cuz he foine. Tarzan was the last renaissance movie I think princess and the frog was the last 2D film
The real Pocahantas (her real name Amonute) was 11 year old girl, who was groomed by John Smith 🤷🏽♀️ the story about her saving him, actually indigenous people say he misinterpreted a ceremony they were doing and what actually happened. Your question about if the Spanish left.... no they tried to take over Mexico and ruled the bottom half of US for a long time too... there was war with Spain and Mexico... and shortly after Mexican revolution, the US purchased a huge portion of Mexico- like the entire Left side of the US was Mexico prior to late 1800s. In short, France tried taking over Canada, England tried taking over US and Spain tried taking over Mexico territories. And many wars happened... 😢
I need to correct something : Pocahontas wasn't groomed by John Smith. There are too much people reading comments and watching youtube video without searching by themselves and read some sources. Just fact : John Smith was captured in december 1607 and brought to Powhatan's capital. They met during 1608. She was around eleven. He left Virginia in mid-October 1609 after being shot and never came back in Virginia, she thought he was dead. They never saw each other again until 1617. He wrote about her to the queen of England in 1616 and asked that she was to be treated with respect as a royal visitor. During this time, she was captured between 1609/1612 and she married John Rolfe with who she left to go to England with eleven Powatans trusted by Chief Powatan to "spy". She died in March 1617. I'm not a fan of this guy, but there are some facts. About the fact that he was "save", historians have different theories. One is he misinterpreted a ceremony. But the majority is ok to say that he embelished the story everytime that he wrote about it, especially in 1616 (the first tim he wrote about it) to enhance Pocahontas' image to the Queen.
@@zorasimone7312 Even with Rolfe, it's interesting to understand why they married. Their union was political to end the War between the Powhatan and the english in 1614. She was around 15 years, which it's not a weird age to marry for polical reason. However, she gave birth to their son 8 months later, which is open to interpretation. But it's also important to remember that their union wasn't see as a good thing in England. For them, she was a princesse and Rolfe was a commoner.
6:05 Why would a cat make sense for a villain? Cats are not known for doing what is expected of them. You can give a dog commands and use them for you. Perfect for villains...
Small dogs as an animal sidekick mostly means villain. Big dogs are friends. Little dogs will bring vengeance for their ancestors. Big dogs want belly rubs
The New World refers to the North and South American continents. The Spanish came to what is now Mexico and South America. That’s what Ratcliffe is referring to. The Spanish came to the New World first, but they landed in a different area than where the English did.
I loved this movie growing up. I never knew till recently that it was based off a true story. I remember I would always try and be stealthy etc. like Pocahontas. Honestly only focused on the love part of it bc it made me mad that they were trying to get rid of Pocahontas’s tribe. Also the villain in this movie used to scare the crap out of me. Love the videos! You do an amazing job!
This movie would have aged fine (besides the offensive terminology) If it was just based on a random native american and an english colonizer...but disney is in its "offensive era" these days so a lot of people dont vibe with it. 🤷🏼♀ I still love it personally.
The last 2d animated Disney Movie was the princess and the frog. It was done intentionally because they wanted the first black disney princess to fit in with the classics.
Im putting it into the universe , you would love queen charlotte series ! , i never watched bridgerton , but watched queen charlotte the other day and i loved itt , i think you would too !!!
The song Just around the Riverbend, remind me when I went to Dunn's River Falls, and when I tell you it looks exactly like that scene from the movie when she was bumping on the rocks in the canoe (just wanted to share that)
In this movie it shows that John Smith and Pocahontas loved each other, but in history she DID save him but people say she probably didnt even think of him in a romantic way. At least the 2nd movie is true, where she marries John Rolfe; she did marry Rolfe in England when she was 17.
the movie's visuals are honestly beautiful, but to me the storyline doesn't particularly stand out compared to other movies, probably because it's more historical than fictional lol; A+ for the music and aesthetics though
In a way, the movie is based on a myth that's just as fictional as George Washington and the cherry tree. I think it would have helped if they had put in an intro stating that - like, "This movie is drawn from popular folklore that is is only loosely based on historical events. Enjoy this movie as fiction, but please take time also to learn the real history behind it, and the real tragedies that followed it." And then dedicate the movie to many cultures that we destroyed and were lost forever...and dedicate a decent chunk of the profits to what Native American tribes that still remain - like set up scholarships for children to learn their tribes' surviving languages, customs, and histories. Then Disney could have set up a website about the historical Pocahontas, and breaking it gently to kids that the truth was not pretty. They could have even traced the "pop" version of her story AS folklore, and showed how history gets turned into myth, how the myths serve the culture they're told in, and why real historians have to dig deeper to find out the real facts. But this was the 90s, and the execs at Disney were only _barely_ talked out of treating the Natives as jokes. However, one very good thing _Pocahontas_ did was have the European characters frankly admit they were coming to pillage, rob, and get rich. This was probably the first hint many children got of what colonization was really like.
the kid me being thalassophobic (up 'til now) watching that scene where she jumped and the moment where the boat turned upside down, I'm panicking bro.
I don’t care about what anyone says about this movie, I just love it ❤ it’s really beautiful, but it’s sad to think that the real story wasn’t like that
The issue with the movie is that when Motoaka met John she was ten so the romance is mad weird and she was kidnapped I believe by the English and forced to convert to Christianity only to die at 21 so yeah sorry to kill y’all vibe but this movie gives me the ick🤷🏽♀️
The movie itself is really pretty. As a kid, and even as an adult I felt bad for Kokoum. I really wanted to see more of him, especially more than just him being "serious"
If I remember correctly. They got the wrong land, or they weren't where they were supposed to go. When he said the Spanish found gold. I don't remember all the details, but I remember being told that Radcliff had the wrong map. And they did sail to Pocahontas's land. But there was no gold there at all. It was the wrong new world as they called it. It wasn't the place they thought the Gold was found the first time around.
as a native american kid, pocahontas was always a very important movie to me. that was one of the only times i saw myself represented in media. now that i’m older i can see that the way they represent us is flawed, but at the time seeing an indigenous character on screen was all that mattered to me. although it’s problematic, it’ll always hold a special place in my heart for those reasons. plus colors of the wind is a BOP
What would u say is a better rep ? If there is any
@@lavenderbambi3501*disclaimer not Indigenous * I believe Spirit stallion of the Cimarron does a better job as a kids movie(although not perfect). Also it isn’t based on a racist myth. If you are considering broader Indigenous, Lilo and Stitch is also better.
If you haven’t heard before that many Native people have issues with Pocahontas movie or why specifically, Google is your friend
I think it's a beautiful film and I feel like representation has a long way to go, but I think these Disney films have a soft spot in our hearts ❤
I agree. I actually really love the film, I just wish they named the characters differently and something completely fictional, instead of basing them on real people. The music, characters, and etc. are great, it's just a problem that it's meant to take after a real person.
@@BratzRockAngelsight? Like if you take the Pocahontas aspect out of it and did the feud between the English and the indigenous people. I loved this movie and while I'm not native I resonated so much with Pocahontas so much. Her compassion and kindness as well as her mental strength!
i was raised on this movie and i still love it for what it is but if we’re being real, the big problem is that pocahontas was a real person. it’s just really disturbing to think about disney taking the story of a native american woman who was kidnapped and became a child bride and died very young and making it into a kids story. i love this movie very much but now that i’m older, i can’t help but always think about that.
Same! She was my favorite Disney Princess growing up. But I haven’t watched since learning the true story as an adult.
Me too.
@@BellesViewme too.
Not only that, but the movie in the songs "savages" tries to make you feel empathy for both sides, like "no side was right, both of them were blind by rage..."
Like, NO???? Bruh, I don't need to explain why this wasn't equivalent, right?
@@BellesView same
Here's something you CAN be impressed by:
The voice actress for Pocahontas wasn't just her voice actress. She also served as the model!
Good to know.
I love that!
Who was she?
@@jebVlogs556Why would they have a black woman be the model for Pocahontas?
@@radioactive_babybecause they were lazy and racist
Pocahontas remains one of the best disney cartoons ever. the cartoon style and songs of this era is unmatched
Oh the animation was absolutely gorgeous… luv your videos btw❤️❤️❤️
And it is a true story
@@reverehouston-lf3fe no it isn't?
Excuse me
WHERE IS THE REST OF THE IDOL REACTIONS. COME ON SUFFER FOR US PLEASE
It’s very very loosely based on Pocahontas. They should’ve just created their own native princess here. It would’ve still been bad historically …
Here's some real irony: IRL, Pocahontas actually LIKED Kocoum.
@IndyaaClarkereally?! I hear she always died from smallpox when she came back from England
I imagine they changed that since:
A). The writer(s) may have thought her being romantically involved with Kocoum represented her going back into a bubble and never being adventurous again.
2. The fear that fans would notice that she ended up choosing the white love interest while the POC love interest died.
Altogether, Kocoum's death added even more depth and darkness to the story. Pocahontas being romantically linked to him would make her look bad with how the rest of the film focuses on how she loves John Smith.
@IndyaaClarkethey did!? I read that she married John Rolfe and died in her 20s of smallpox.
@@jazzinikki01Yes she did
That's so good to hear.
Ik this movie has a lot of controversy abt it bc it doesn’t line up with the actual story but for a Disney movie that isn’t made to scare kids away with still some truth incorporated into it, I think they did well, I love this movie and the songs are amazing🤌🏽
Yea I think it’s a solid Disney movie 👌🏾👌🏾
I think the issue is that rather than basing it on a Native American myth or a European fairytale like other Disney Princess movies, it is based on a real woman who had a pretty sad life, and the base tale is written by one of the colonizers embellished memoir. And also promotes a few Native American stereotypes and downplaying the nastiness of real events in a way that can influence how kids internalize these things.
But it’s typical of the 90’s
@mggardiner4066 john discribed meeting her in 1608, and in his own words wrote a child of ten years old, dude was 23
@@mggardiner4066 That's typical of colonizers. Whitewashing history to erase their thieving, raping and murder of native people.
@isabelwilliams8072 and? Her life continued beyond 10 years old, and John's stories were clearly a basis for the movie. It's still messed up, and Disney trying to make it a romance when she was ripped away from her family and culture later irl by these people rather than telling a new story or adapting an Indignous fairytale with the relevant nations approval wouldn't have been that hard
The thing about this movie for me: if they had done the same story, with the visuals, music and romance, about fictiinal characters, on a fictional world, it would be considered a MASTERPIECE - it’s gorgeous, the score is THE BEST on Disney history, the stakes are high and romance is actually quite decent. The one problem this movie has is that it is based on real people and completely overlooks the real history, but I still believe it gives a decent view for kids on what was colonialism. All things considered, it is still a 8/ 10 for me, just from the winning points. Love your reaction, as always 💕
omg yes i’ve always said that if this movie was set in a fantasy/fairytale world, it would be amazing! especially the enemies to lovers trope.
Agreed. Had they just CHANGED the names. There would be no real issues. Cause it's not like the movie is really connected to the real person or history in any way outside of the names.
IVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS
@@BratzRockAngels but they did change her name, didn't they?
@joshina4497 No, Pocahontas was Matoaka's real nick name, so it's still tied to the real person. Alongside the rest of the human characters except for Nakoma and Thomas I think.
the problematic elements of this story are...endless. that being said I think that it has some of the most beautiful music and visuals of any disney movie of the time and even to this day. I just wish people weren't so quick to dismiss Native voices.
It's too bad Disney wadn't doing original films at this time; they may have fared better with a 100% original story rather than a historical fiction piece.
@OpticalSorcerer if they did then it sure wouldn't be for kids
@@isabelwilliams8072 Why's that?
@OpticalSorcerer maybe because her people were slaughtered by the colonizers and she was literally r@pped
The songs were bomb but they rlly shouldn’t have romanticized this story
exactly
Exactly, Pohacontas was literally a child bride
100% it was a terrible thing to do
Fr
Eh
It’s because the Spanish were colonizing Meso-America/South America at the time so they weren’t to preoccupied with North America territory.
also the west coast. the king's highway/el camino real in california started being built not longer after her death
The Spanish already colonized North America, they’d been here since the 16th century. They established the first city in the US.
the real 'pocahontas' was kidnapped from her tribe and then her kidnapper turned around and made the events into a novel where he was the hero. the novel, "pocahontas: my own story" by john smith was very popular when it was published in about 1624 and *just so happens* to be similar to the plot of this movie. in the english legal system she was stolen to, mataoka of the pamunkey people was considered property by marriage. when her first captor died, another man swooped in and started calling her 'mrs. rebecca rolfe." as far as i can tell, she died at 28 years old and was never given back to her people. so disney took her kidnapper's version of events, bragged in media interviews about how movie pocahontas had to be sexy and daring, then made a ton of money on merchandising that image to the people who love to be ignorant on halloween. a lot of the most well-published stories about real native american women happen to be in that same vein: kidnappings re-told as integration with colonial society.
is why i don't like this movie in a nutshell.
i loved this movie as a kid and I’m so attached to Pocahontas, but since they quite literally made money off the tragedy of a young native american girl, completely erased her story and made it into “she was in love with a colonizer and the white people weren’t bad, just mislead” is truly evil and nasty - so despite all my love and nostalgia, I let this movie go 💔 may the real Pocahontas rest in peace, what happened to her was horrible and it breaks me that things never got better for her :(
same, its sad but I can't like a movie with this much disgusting slander of Powhatan history and culture
@saucy are u Powhatan?
@saucy any askers?
@saucy You so pressed to argue. Go watch your child rapist propaganda movie in peace. Ain't nobody stopping you
@saucy actually the Powhatan people would have every right to sue disney and force them to take down the movie, might be something worth considering 🤔
This was my favorite Disney Princess when I was a kid and it made me interested in Indigenous history at an early age...but with that said, according to Mattaponi Oral History: John Smith is a liar - he was not being executed, it was an elaborate adoption ceremony that either he misunderstood or just said it was an execution to feel important because he was known to exaggerate his adventures.
She DID marry Kocoum years later before she was eventually kidnapped by the English, SA'd, had a baby, and was THEN married off to one of the Englishmen John Rolfe (it is unknown for sure if Rolfe is the father but the English have recorded that Rolfe married her FIRST and then she had the baby, but the English didn't record the baby's birthdate, soooo doubtful). It's a beautiful movie and I love it, but it's a hard one to separate it from its real history.
I read somewhere that she was r*ped repeatedly during the time she was being held captive. what is likely to have happened was she got pregnant and one of her r*pists married her to cover up to the English government the fact that they had been r*ping her (there's no other way she could've been pregnant). Kocoum actually was killed by the men at Jamestown, and I think their child was too. so it's disgusting that they portrayed her as having no interest in her actual husband IRL and portrayed her as falling in love with a colonizer...the people who abused her IRL and ultimately ended up killing her by bringing diseases she could not fight off. Matoaka deserved better
I recently discovered your channel and girl you are a delight to watch. I feel like I'm watching movies with a good friend, laughing along and you just seem so fun and chill.
When I was younger I had no idea that Pocahontas was based on a real person and the craziest thing is that she grew up where I live and had no idea 😅😮
eastern Virginia??
I believe the last 2D animation movie from Disney was actually Princess and the Frog. Lol
Correct ✅
I always cry when I see this movie 😭 I love it so much, and Colors Of The Wind is absolutely best disney song ever! 🧡
I AGREEEEE! I love Colors of the Wind SO MUCH
12:52 her disappointment was identical to mine. Like i didn’t know Mel Gibson had such a beautiful voice like lmaoooo.
Pocahontas was one of my favourite Disney Princess movies while growing up (Mulan and Little Mermaid being the other two) and to this day Pocahontas is one of my favourite of the Disney princesses. I didn't grow up in America so as a kid I knew nothing of Native American history, I was just drawn to this confident and free spirited woman and really looked up to her. When I became a teenager and found out she was based off a real person the reality of what happened to her sunk in and the innocent image of her life/story was shattered for me. I still love Disney's Pocahontas to this day for what she has meant to me my whole life and how she has shaped me growing up, but I acknowledge this is not the real Pocahontas's story and there are aspects of this movie that are frankly disrespectful to the real Pocahontas's memory. On a similar note I also adored Anastasia growing up and her story was destroyed for me as well when I was a teenager and learned what happened to the real Anastasia. I view both instances/movies as an almost 'wish fulfilment' scenario for both tragic stories, as a 'how it should have ended' rather than what actually happened...
I'm American but we're not really taught a whole lot about Indigenous people, colonization, or the actual history of how this country came to be, so I went through a very similar process as you. same with anastasia. I also didn't realize how much red scare propaganda was in that film
I love this movie as a kid! Growing we didn’t know nothing about Native Americans. She was brown I just thought she was black! But more than that it was such a beautiful story (yes I know it’s not the true story)
i had to do a whole analysis my first year of college on the differences between the real story and this movie. my professor wanted us to hate this movie but the soundtrack is still one of my favorites.
I'm a guajajara from Brazil and she was the 'princess' i saw' myself in, growing up i've never liked this movie at all, even the songs and animation bacame kinda creepy to me
12:49 this is the most hilarious and correct response to finding out the voice actor is mel gibson lmao
"y'all let me know what's historically accurate"
none of it..
7:05 they actually owned floridia at the time! And then they took over mexico which ranged from california, which led to the california gold rush.
el camino real in california started being built just 30 years after her death. I don't know if many people realize how old the history is in california. new mexico has one of the oldest buildings in the entire US. it's also why all the structures in the south west have spanish style, while structures in new england look more like...england
I honestly never thought this movie was boring. It's visually very stunning, the score is fantastic, and the plot would actually be very good if it was just a completely original story. The issue is that it's based on a whitewashed legend of historical figures & events. As you mentioned we know that, even if there were eras of civility between the two groups, the colonization of the Americas only got worse for Indigenous peoples. So it's hard to contend with the way the movie paints an amicable relationship at the end. It's sort of like the First Thanksgiving story, where we're all told that the Colonizers and the Native Americans all got along, and it just sweeps all of the conflict and genocide under the rug. Another thing is that Pocahontas (Matoaka) and John Smith were never in a romantic relationship. They knew each other but a romanticized fiction of their relationship grew over the centuries.
It's a polarizing film. I know that Disney attempted to do their research in presenting the Powhatan people correctly (their language, their dress, their villages), and I've heard both negative and positive feedback from Native individuals and groups. I've also seen people say that it's had a positive effect, while others say its had a negative effect. The comments here are probably a good indicator of that. I think both reactions can be valid and its fine to have mixed feelings about it. It's a movie that can be enjoyed for what it's worth, as long as we understand its faults and how representation can grow from it.
Her real name was Matoaka, and she was 10 if I’m not mistaken. I didn’t see a comment that stated her actual name, so I decided to send this into the comment section sea.
My grandma ruined the actual story as soon as the credits rolled when I first seen this as a child 😂
hahaha I like your grandma 😂 my best friend ruined it not long after it came out
@@mischr13 Love my Grannie! She’s a huge history buff and owned the Grimms fairy tales.
7:05 The Spanish did colonize, but Mexico and Central America, that’s where they found the gold and numerous other resources, then the English came to the rest of North America
Me reading the title: "How can there me so much that you dont knoooow..? Yooou don't know 🍂🦝"
If disney had of given her a different name, any name, said it was a fictional tale based loosely around North American tribes. That would have been fine! The moment they attached the name of a child to the movie and made it "oh cute romance!" it just changes so much. The movie is so pretty and the messages behind the movie are important, but once you learn she was a real person, a child! It becomes so hard to separate the two.
The one thing about Disney and Pixar movies is that they're going to give you a good color scheme and love your video reaction.
the fact that theres magic in this could be seen as a "this is not true" hint. but regardless of how inaccurate this is, this movie it does teach some good lessons, mostly its just the songs that do that but kids can definitely learn to treat others nicely and be nice to mother nature
2:29 she has like 3 names before her English name. Pocahontas was like a nickname “playful one”.
This whole movie is gorgeous ✨
One of my favorite Disney movies. Beautiful songs, animation, and fun characters. The ending makes me cry every time 😭💕
This used to be one of my favorite Disney movies until I got older and realized I messed up it was plus finding out the actual story of Pocahontas 😅
7:00 it was in southern Mexico that the Spanish came and took the gold from the Aztecs and Mayans. So I guess these guys believe that any part of the western world would have gold? I mean they didn’t have Internet they really couldn’t fact check things.
Disney makes me love John more than ever
It's a pleasure to see how people from the States are offended by Disney retelling of their own stories. Disney has never respected the message of European stories when they have used them to make money😂. The little mermaid, Pinocchio etc. are very very different!
I partially agree. However, unlike most European fantasy stories, this story is based on real people, a real tribe and real events, as well as sensitive themes. despite not agreeing with the drama that people make since it is not a biography but an inspiration
Honestly, I think Disney improved these stories. I have no idea why Europeans would be offended..
@user-xf4hn1cc2p I disagree. I would feel offended of even thinking that they were "improved".
@user-xf4hn1cc2p What we know about Pocahontas wasn't written by her or her people. It's unreliable and legendary. Although we have no reason to doubt her existence, we can't be certain of how much the tradition shifted from the historical truth. Instead, we know exactly how much Disney betrayed the meaning of European finctional stories.
the Spaniards did colonize, began in the south with the Aztecs. As Spaniards went north, would go on to try and colonize Native Americans, mostly by Catholicism. San Diego tribes were contacted by Spaniards and I’d say out of all in Indian Country, those tribes have the most influence.
Real John Smith aside, and just looking at the movie as a movie, I'm gonna play Devil's advocate with John Smith. He gets labeled as one of the worse Disney princes and that's mostly due to his first encounter with Pocahontas. What people don't realize is that's actually a very believable reaction. Whenever the topic of Native Americans comes up, people only talk about them as victims. The narrative is that they were this peaceful people who were minding their own business and these colonists showed up and started killing and enslaving them and kicking them out for no reason. In actuality, not only were there some NAs who actually didn't mind the colonists being there and formed alliances with them, but a lot of them were in fact very savage and brutal. It wasn't unheard of for them to capture, torture, or kill a colonist if they were alone. Not all of them of course, but it happened. So yeah, I think John Smith's cautious reaction with his gun is a very reasonable reaction if a NA snuck up on him like that.
Not to mention that some of them had human sacrifice. These stories don't come from nowhere. That fear doesn't come from nowhere.
@@morningrosie3684 exactly
unpopular opinion but this is prob my fave disney movie 🙈 i know it’s not historically accurate but the songs are sooo gooooood!
actually, The Princess and the Fog is the Disney's last 2D animated film
This was my favorite Disney movie when I was a little kid. I watched our VHS so much that my older sister hid it from me.
When Lakia uploads, it always makes my day
as a native american, i literally do not give a flip about the controversies. i'm so grateful they made this movie & that i had a disney character to relate to growing up! i love this movie & always will!! 🥲
she was literally ten when john rolfe first meet her, he was 23 at the time, her name isn't even pocahontas!
Mad Respect 🔥👍🏼
Srsly pocahantes ate she has beautiful hair and this movie is gorgeous and has beautiful symbolism and morals its just- this movie is just- slaaaaaaaay!
she was ten when she meet john, while he was 23
Pocahontas WAS a nickname for the Chief of the Powhatan tribe's favorite daughter, her real name is something I cannot spell!
I really like the movie Pocahontas, but The first time I watched it, I wasn’t really sure. But I still did like it the second time I watched it.
He put that gun down like "I cant shoot her she's beautiful 🥹"
A wise woman once said “you know nothing John…(Snow) Smith”. 😂😂😂😂
The Princess and the Frog was the last 2D animated movie, but I wish they could find a way to bring back that style. It would sell so well! I can’t remember the intricacies but it’s hard to bring back now because of the resources all being devoted to 3D
Pretty wild that Thomas is the dark knight himself
Lol when the Spaniards went to the “new world” they went to Florida, the Caribbean, and Mexico (that’s why they still speak Spanish out there) the English went higher up and hit Virginia (where Pocahontas is from + first settlement), Massachusetts (Plymouth Rock) etc, which is why we speak boring ol English
The fact that this comes out after I just learned recently that Christian Bale voices Thomas (John's red-haired friend) and that David Ogden Stiers is the voice behind both Ratcliffe *AND* his assistant Wiggins. 😆😅
Watch the 2nd Pocahontas! Please 🙏 Disney tried to make it more historically accurate. It’s not completely accurate of course lol but it follows how she had traveled to England and about an… important person she met.
It follows the 2000s Disney sequel curse, but it’s actually very watchable compared to a lot of the others. Very underrated film.
(And it actually has some banger songs)
⭐️Also recommend the live action one from 2006. Its called “The New World”.
It touches more on her sadness of her life. Not completely accurate either, but more melancholic feeling.
It’s got Christian Bale & Colin Farrell. Underrated movie too.
It's boring as fork. Attempts at mixing entertainment and 'documentary' have proven disastrous, even worse when it's cartoonized.
This one also has Christian Bale
pocahontas was my favourite of the original disney princesses, i loved this movie so much.. learning as an adult about the real story broke my heart.. i wish they had created their own first nations character rather than take a real character and change her story almost completely.
I never cared for the og Pocahontas movie as a kid, but i loved the sequel for some reason😅
No Lakia, they didn't just took the gold and left😔 they did another couple of horrible things and that land is now known as Mexico
Girl I do not like this movie however I'm here to watch our reaction and colours of the wind is great. History aside, I was picking the man my father choose for me cuz he foine.
Tarzan was the last renaissance movie I think princess and the frog was the last 2D film
The real Pocahantas (her real name Amonute) was 11 year old girl, who was groomed by John Smith 🤷🏽♀️ the story about her saving him, actually indigenous people say he misinterpreted a ceremony they were doing and what actually happened. Your question about if the Spanish left.... no they tried to take over Mexico and ruled the bottom half of US for a long time too... there was war with Spain and Mexico... and shortly after Mexican revolution, the US purchased a huge portion of Mexico- like the entire Left side of the US was Mexico prior to late 1800s. In short, France tried taking over Canada, England tried taking over US and Spain tried taking over Mexico territories. And many wars happened... 😢
Wasn’t her name Matoaka?
I need to correct something : Pocahontas wasn't groomed by John Smith. There are too much people reading comments and watching youtube video without searching by themselves and read some sources. Just fact : John Smith was captured in december 1607 and brought to Powhatan's capital. They met during 1608. She was around eleven. He left Virginia in mid-October 1609 after being shot and never came back in Virginia, she thought he was dead. They never saw each other again until 1617. He wrote about her to the queen of England in 1616 and asked that she was to be treated with respect as a royal visitor. During this time, she was captured between 1609/1612 and she married John Rolfe with who she left to go to England with eleven Powatans trusted by Chief Powatan to "spy". She died in March 1617. I'm not a fan of this guy, but there are some facts. About the fact that he was "save", historians have different theories. One is he misinterpreted a ceremony. But the majority is ok to say that he embelished the story everytime that he wrote about it, especially in 1616 (the first tim he wrote about it) to enhance Pocahontas' image to the Queen.
it was john rolfe not smith
@@zorasimone7312 Even with Rolfe, it's interesting to understand why they married. Their union was political to end the War between the Powhatan and the english in 1614. She was around 15 years, which it's not a weird age to marry for polical reason. However, she gave birth to their son 8 months later, which is open to interpretation. But it's also important to remember that their union wasn't see as a good thing in England. For them, she was a princesse and Rolfe was a commoner.
6:05 Why would a cat make sense for a villain? Cats are not known for doing what is expected of them. You can give a dog commands and use them for you. Perfect for villains...
Hiiiiiii iam gad to see you I gain, love your videos they make me smile every time I see them keep going.❤
Ty ❤️
@@LakiaJaiTVyou should wash the second one is pretty good
This movie is so historically inaccurate & problematic but it’s genuinely so beautiful like the colors and the art in general are so gorgeous
Small dogs as an animal sidekick mostly means villain. Big dogs are friends. Little dogs will bring vengeance for their ancestors. Big dogs want belly rubs
The New World refers to the North and South American continents. The Spanish came to what is now Mexico and South America. That’s what Ratcliffe is referring to. The Spanish came to the New World first, but they landed in a different area than where the English did.
it's one of the best and one of my most watched disney cartoons
Actually the last 2D disney movie is Princess & The Frog
Pocahontas is part of Pamunkey Tribe and I saw it on UA-cam Blessings and Hugs 👑💜
I wish they didn't delete If I Never Knew You with Pocahontas and John Smith. I Love That Song
17:52 not lion king 2 taking this scene from Pocahontas lmao
Disney is barely historically or mythologically accurate
I loved this movie growing up. I never knew till recently that it was based off a true story. I remember I would always try and be stealthy etc. like Pocahontas. Honestly only focused on the love part of it bc it made me mad that they were trying to get rid of Pocahontas’s tribe. Also the villain in this movie used to scare the crap out of me. Love the videos! You do an amazing job!
"You don't have dogs be the villain's side kicks." Roscoe and DeSoto would like to have a word.
It was my favorite Disney movie
My favourite Disney movies are Mulan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame
FIRSTTT LOVE UR VIDS AND I KNOW THIS IS GONNA BE GOODDDD. ❤❤❤❤
Thank you 🥰🥰
This movie would have aged fine (besides the offensive terminology) If it was just based on a random native american and an english colonizer...but disney is in its "offensive era" these days so a lot of people dont vibe with it. 🤷🏼♀ I still love it personally.
What's the offensive terminology? I don't know the original story
@@omarvazquez4075 The term Indian and Savage are offensive
Also they changing Pocahontas real story, which is way too different
@@enriquev1271 which is why I said if it was just a random native and a colonizer people wouldn’t be as offended by this fictional Disney movie.
@@lyssalovesityeah, romanticizing one of the well known shows of racism, child kidnapping, and many other horrific things tends to do that.
I love this movie because it's the first time we see a girl choose herself and her people over a man. We don't speak of the 2nd movie.
You just saved me ftom watching the whole film so thanks.
Also her face at 4:48 has me dying 😂
The last 2d animated Disney Movie was the princess and the frog. It was done intentionally because they wanted the first black disney princess to fit in with the classics.
Im putting it into the universe , you would love queen charlotte series ! , i never watched bridgerton , but watched queen charlotte the other day and i loved itt , i think you would too !!!
Princess and the frog was the last 2d movie
2:10 basically because they have a less “developed” society and technology
Anyone ever notice how James Cameron’s Avatar is almost identical to this movie?
yeah
Ooh the dog villains I thought of was from Oliver and company
😂😂😂 🤣😂 the commentary and edits have me in tears😂😂😂
The song Just around the Riverbend, remind me when I went to Dunn's River Falls, and when I tell you it looks exactly like that scene from the movie when she was bumping on the rocks in the canoe (just wanted to share that)
In this movie it shows that John Smith and Pocahontas loved each other, but in history she DID save him but people say she probably didnt even think of him in a romantic way. At least the 2nd movie is true, where she marries John Rolfe; she did marry Rolfe in England when she was 17.
6:08 what about the villian for Oliver and Company and UP? They were the villain sidekick, but they weren’t pugs
I’ve never seen the 1st movie before🤔 but I guess Up works.
@@LakiaJaiTV facts
Pochantas (not sure I spelled it right) name is actually Matoaka which is a type of flower I think while Pochantas means naughty child.
the movie's visuals are honestly beautiful, but to me the storyline doesn't particularly stand out compared to other movies, probably because it's more historical than fictional lol; A+ for the music and aesthetics though
Until you look up the real story and see how fictional this was
In a way, the movie is based on a myth that's just as fictional as George Washington and the cherry tree. I think it would have helped if they had put in an intro stating that - like, "This movie is drawn from popular folklore that is is only loosely based on historical events. Enjoy this movie as fiction, but please take time also to learn the real history behind it, and the real tragedies that followed it."
And then dedicate the movie to many cultures that we destroyed and were lost forever...and dedicate a decent chunk of the profits to what Native American tribes that still remain - like set up scholarships for children to learn their tribes' surviving languages, customs, and histories.
Then Disney could have set up a website about the historical Pocahontas, and breaking it gently to kids that the truth was not pretty. They could have even traced the "pop" version of her story AS folklore, and showed how history gets turned into myth, how the myths serve the culture they're told in, and why real historians have to dig deeper to find out the real facts.
But this was the 90s, and the execs at Disney were only _barely_ talked out of treating the Natives as jokes.
However, one very good thing _Pocahontas_ did was have the European characters frankly admit they were coming to pillage, rob, and get rich. This was probably the first hint many children got of what colonization was really like.
15:55 I also have a character idea similar to him for that alien idea I told you about but I also made him as obsessive as Gaston.
the kid me being thalassophobic (up 'til now) watching that scene where she jumped and the moment where the boat turned upside down, I'm panicking bro.
I don’t care about what anyone says about this movie, I just love it ❤ it’s really beautiful, but it’s sad to think that the real story wasn’t like that
Agreed 👍🏼
The issue with the movie is that when Motoaka met John she was ten so the romance is mad weird and she was kidnapped I believe by the English and forced to convert to Christianity only to die at 21 so yeah sorry to kill y’all vibe but this movie gives me the ick🤷🏽♀️
We love our Environmentalist Queen
"pugs can barely breath bro" 😂
The movie itself is really pretty. As a kid, and even as an adult I felt bad for Kokoum. I really wanted to see more of him, especially more than just him being "serious"
19:54 i cry at the end every time. Then Pocahontas 2 comes aling and gives us a Happy ending.
If I remember correctly. They got the wrong land, or they weren't where they were supposed to go. When he said the Spanish found gold. I don't remember all the details, but I remember being told that Radcliff had the wrong map. And they did sail to Pocahontas's land. But there was no gold there at all. It was the wrong new world as they called it. It wasn't the place they thought the Gold was found the first time around.