Pocahontas (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Pocahontas |
| Original title | Pocahontas |
 | |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1995 |
| length | 81 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK o. A. |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Mike Gabriel , Eric Goldberg |
| script |
Carl Binder , Susannah Grant , Philip Lazebnik |
| production | James Pentecost |
| music | Alan Menken |
| camera | Andreas Deja |
| cut | H. Lee Petersen |
| chronology | |
|
Successor → |
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Pocahontas is the 33rd full-length animated film from the Walt Disney Studios and was released in 1995. It is based on the story of the Indian woman Pocahontas and is therefore the first Disney film based on a real person. It premiered on June 15, 1995 in Central Park, New York City, in front of an estimated 100,000 people. This means that Pocahontas still holds the record for the biggest film premiere ever. On June 23, 1995, Pocahontas finally opened in cinemas across the US and grossed around $ 30 million on the opening weekend. The film was released in Germany and Austria on November 16, 1995, and one day later in Switzerland.
The film was financially successful and made about five times its production costs, but contrary to the expectations of the makers, it fell far short of the box office results of its predecessor The Lion King , which were about twice as high. In 1998 Disney produced the sequel Pocahontas 2 - Journey to a New World for video sales.
action
England, in 1607. A group of men, including the famous English adventurer John Smith , are assigned to the Virginia Company to explore young America. John Ratcliffe, leader of the expedition and self-proclaimed governor of the newly formed Jamestown , is particularly self-centered and tries to exploit the country. The rest of the crew also see the new world as a backward place that needs to be improved.
In this supposedly backward world, the Indian chief Powhatan promises his daughter Pocahontas the greatest warrior of the people, Kokoum, who, however, does not correspond to her personal wishes. Instead, she falls in love with the Englishman Smith while exploring with her friends Meeko (a raccoon) and Flit (a hummingbird). Although they do not understand each other at first, Pocahontas listens to the advice of her mentor , an old, speaking weeping willow, that she should listen to her heart, and gets involved with Smith. In the course of their acquaintance, which developed into a friendship and soon into a love affair, she gave him an understanding of nature and its culture, which made the colonialist Englishman doubt his narrow-minded and intolerant views for the first time.
A little later, the Native Americans and Europeans, whose ideologies of life could not be more different, clash in hostility. Governor Ratcliffe believes that the indigenous people are hiding the gold they are about to get, while Powhatan legitimately believes that the newcomers have come to destroy his land. The dispute between the two sides leads to Kokoum's first human sacrifice, which is to be avenged. Pocahontas now confidently acts as a mediator and, thanks to her affection for John, can build a connecting bridge between the two parties and resolve the impending dispute. Ratcliffe is not impressed by the peaceful outcome of the conflict and tries to shoot Powhatan. John throws himself into the line of fire with presence of mind and saves the chief's life, seriously injured. Now Ratcliffe's men also see that their leader can no longer exercise his office and lead him away, rendered harmless. John Smith, however, has to return to London seriously wounded and Pocahontas makes the difficult decision to let him go.
Production history and background
Historical background
As the first and so far only Disney film , Pocahontas is based on a real person. Jeffrey Katzenberg , then head of the Walt Disney Company, saw the story of the American legendary figure as the potential for a serious, adult-oriented film. The chief daughter Pocahontas was born around 1595 in what is now the US state of Virginia as the daughter of Indian chief Powhatan. According to historical sources, the name "Pocahontas" was just her nickname and means "the playful one", while she is said to have generally been called "Amonute" or "Matoaka".
The film shows some parallels to the life of the real Pocahontas, even if a large part of their life events is only present in the film as a reference to them. In reality and in history, Pocahontas maintained a close relationship with her father, on whom she is said to have had a notable influence as one of his favorite daughters. The real John Smith , in fact around fifteen years older than Pocahontas, reported in his memoir that Pocahontas fell in love with him and saved him from death in captivity in their tribe in 1607. Furthermore, she was one of the few Indian women of the opinion that a peaceful coexistence of the indigenous peoples and the English settlers must be possible, and therefore advocated mediation between the groups. She also taught John Smith the language of her tribe. The accuracy of these descriptions cannot be proven. Smith does not portray a romance between her and Smith, portrayed in the film as a relationship like that between Romeo and Juliet .
Pocahontas' life after meeting John Smith is covered in the film's sequel . In 1614 she married John Rolfe , with whom she went to England and was received there as a member of the aristocratic society and ambassador of her tribe even at the royal court. She died three years later, shortly before returning to Virginia.
Sources of inspiration
A first production by the Walt Disney Company that had to do with Indian themes was the short film "Little Eagle Eye", originally Little Hiawatha, produced as part of the Silly Symphonies cartoon series in 1937 . This was a kind of parody of the 1855 poem Hiawatha by the American writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , which had been one of his most important works. Walt Disney even wanted to produce its own full-length film based on the story of Ojibwa chief Hiawatha and in the late 1940s commissioned the writer Dick Kelsey to draft scripts and images for this idea. A number of pictures and storyboards were created, but these were archived in 1949 and not followed up. In addition to the ongoing production of Cinderella , the reasons for this were the difficult overall financial situation of the Disney studios, which had to cope with heavy economic losses due to the Second World War in the 1940s. Nevertheless, the images of the Hiawatha story later served the producers and artistic directors of Pocahontas as enormously important inspiration, for example the use of abstract colors for the representation of emotions or the graphic styles for the representation of nature, which has a very spiritual effect.
Parallels between Hiawatha and Pocahontas are only vague, but they do exist. For example, the war between several peoples is also a topic of the Hiawatha story, even if it does not take place between indigenous people and colonialists, but between different Indian tribes. The latter, however, is hinted at at the beginning of Pocahontas , when the warriors of their tribe return from a combative argument with the fictional "Massawomecks". Hiawatha's endeavor to be the only member of the tribe to achieve peace is also reflected in the figure of Pocahontas. Differences can be found again in the fact that the figure of Hiawatha has fighting skills, e.g. B. archery, and this is also used in the designs in the fight against monsters, while Pocahontas has no such properties and does not have to fight against any supernatural beings. In addition, the cause of the dispute in the Hiawatha story is a food shortage, which does not occur in Pocahontas . This is purely about material interests on the part of the English colonialists.
Pre-production
The director Mike Gabriel came up with the first ideas for Pocahontas around Thanksgiving 1990, after he had finished his work on the film Bernard and Bianca in Kangaroo Land , which had just been produced , as he later told in an interview. According to him, he was “looking for a love story with a heart and a sense of humor”. At the same time, Peter Schneider, then President of Disney Feature Animation, and his team were also thinking about a possible cartoon love story based on the model of Romeo and Juliet , which had been in the room for years. According to Schneider, it was also about the topic of “two worlds clashing” and dealing with tolerance and other cultures that should be linked to the love motif. Jeffrey Katzenberg, then President of Disney Studios, also welcomed such a concept in the early 1990s, spurred above all by the success of the film Beauty and the Beast and the Oscar nomination for Best Picture in 1992 . The success of romantic cartoons should be further developed through new films of this kind.
After Gabriel presented the draft to the team, Carl Binder , Susannah Grant and Philip LaZebnik were commissioned to write a script and Tom Sito was responsible for the storyboards . Afterwards, a group of participants took a trip to Jamestown, Virginia to get an idea of the nature and surroundings there. Among them was the artistic director Michael Giaimo, who later influenced Pocahontas with his color palettes in blue and pink . The impressions of the pine forests on long, horizontal surfaces, which are used throughout the film, were also collected there.
Especially with the character of the Pocahontas, it initially turned out to be difficult for the draftsman to find a suitable approach. Around 55 artists were busy with the main character alone. For the first time, the Disney animators produced a film in which a real person is the focus and therefore did not want to portray them in a falsified or distorted manner. They therefore sought extensive advice from historians, experts and members of Indian tribes who were familiar with the life of the indigenous people in order to convey the most authentic impressions possible. In order to meet the initial requirements, the plot was revised several times and finally received a basic plot from the scriptwriters that is very reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet . In addition, it was decided not to let the animals talk during production , as it would not have suited the desired “more mature” style. Furthermore, the character Redfeather, a turkey who was voiced by John Candy , was removed , among other things because the role was no longer relevant without her text.
Main production
A storyboard version, which was accompanied by a demo recording of the song Das Farbenspiel des Winds , represented the first scene and the actual production start of the film. Around 600 draftsmen, animators and technicians were employed on Pocahontas . During the production, Pocahontas received an extraordinary amount of respect from the artists. It was said to be the heaviest film Disney's cartoonists had ever made. The complex color scheme and realistic facial expressions of Pocahontas and John Smith in particular created tension during production. Parallel to this film, The Lion King was produced in 1994 , with Pocahontas being the film that was predicted to be more successful. Numerous animators even switched from working the former to producing the latter. In the end, both the level of box office and the popularity of The Lion King exceeded that of Pocahontas many times over. Much of the animation was produced by Children's Film Production April 26th .
Film analysis
dramaturgy
In Pocahontas the typical "clash of two different worlds" is thematized, on the one hand the technically advanced, materially interested colonialists, and on the other hand the Indians who live in harmony with nature, are faithful to their spiritual principles and whose everyday life is "steadily as the Drum sound ”takes place. Both of these worlds have a character through Pocahontas and John Smith who on the one hand want to follow the line of their people, but on the other hand constantly long for something new and want to discover the world. Pocahontas is primarily concerned with finding their own way, while John Smith is more interested in “improving new worlds” and thereby gaining fame and reputation.
The storyline is both classic and instructive. From the beginning to the end, the behavior of the characters goes through a change, from “irrationality and prejudice” to “insight and understanding”. The group of English settlers comes to the "new world" with a lot of prejudices against other cultures and plans, how they want to use the land and "drive out the wild" and immediately begin to exploit the local nature and wage war against the indigenous people . Even John Smith is of the opinion at the beginning that only his culture and views are correct and that other peoples should be brought to achieve this standard. At the point where he meets Pocahontas, and this shows him that both nature and other cultures have a right to exist, his worldview changes and he tries to convince his followers of it. However, this is far too much influenced by their commander Ratcliffe, who is constantly inciting against the Indians. This almost leads to a violent confrontation, which Pocahontas can prevent, but which demands the health of John Smith. Now both peoples also see that hatred only causes bad things and is therefore not a solution.
In addition to these different topics, spirituality is also a core theme of Pocahontas . In particular, the main character himself is always “guided by the spirits of the earth” and goes “wherever the wind takes them”. Grandmother Weide, a hundred years old, speaking and wise tree, who also advises her to "listen with the heart" in order to understand, acts as mentor of Pocahontas. In general, Pocahontas is shown in the film as very thoughtful and connected to nature, which is the only one who tries to prevent war with words.
Visual design
Pocahontas differs from other Disney films mainly in the angular and angular representation of the characters. While in films like Ariel, the Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, for example, the protagonists tend to have rounded lines and thus appear younger and more childlike, the characters in Pocahontas have striking straight facial features in order to give the characters a certain degree of maturity interpret. The plants, animals and grandmother willow also appear quite angular and thus create a style of their own that is adapted to the figures.
While the film does not come close to the quality of earlier Disney films in terms of animation technology, especially due to the detailed depiction of the scenes and characters, on the other hand it contains extremely realistic movements of the latter. Physical details such as fingernails are completely absent, hair does not appear individually, but rather as a combined unit. Camera movements are, however, characterized by shifting the image levels, which u. a. notices when Pocahontas can be seen for the first time on the rock and the shot approaches her. This procedure creates an effect of depth in the images that is usual for this film medium, which was already used in earlier Disney films.
The inspiration for the locations in the film was the historic Jamestown near Richmond in the USA, which was the first English colony in North America at the time and which is based on the location of Pocahontas . The idyllic portrayal of nature in the film is characterized by extensive landscapes, rivers and river banks, as well as waterfalls and different forests. What is striking about the style of the landscape are the numerous inclines and slopes, e.g. B. the hills and mountains or the path downhill to the river banks. This property is used dramaturgically. a. in the scene where the two warring parties approach each other uphill, crossing bare horizons and finally meeting at the "mountain top".
Color dramaturgy
Pocahontas has a multitude of color dramaturgical features that appear again and again throughout the film. For example, the recurring wind that blows around the figures with leaves of different colors is one of the most striking style elements for which Pocahontas is known. This effect is mostly used in scenes where people are thinking, or as the subject of the main character and John Smith. Also in the most important song of the film "The Color Play of the Wind" the colorful leaves come into their own several times, probably to u. a. to represent the "play of colors" of the wind that is created by it. But especially in emotional scenes, such as those in which Pocahontas and John Smith get to know each other and shake hands, or those in which Pocahontas' father comes to his senses after attempting to execute John Smith, the "play of colors in the wind" is an important one , stylistic device supporting the plot. However, the leaf-tinged wind experiences the climax of his mission in the final scene, in which Pocahontas wistfully watches the ship on which John Smith is returning to England on the rock.
The most important color schemes of the film are different red, green and blue tones, which are used depending on the dramatic mood. Scenes in the dark are mostly in dark blue, for example. B. almost all at grandmother's willow. The color red is mostly used in emotionally upsetting settings. A good example of this is the fight scene between Kokoum and John Smith, in which the color suddenly changes from a subtle dark blue to an aggressive red in order to accentuate the anger. Also in the recapitulation of “Wilde sind's!” (“Savages”) the settings are characterized by striking red and orange-red tones, which thus well underline the anger and hatred of the two parties for each other.
In addition, the color green is often used, mostly mixed with blue for forests or tree leaves, grasses or corn fields. However, green is rarely used to represent emotions; here red and blue are still used, often together. The different and changing colors can be seen particularly well in “The Play of Colors in the Wind”, where color dynamics in the most varied of combinations come into play to represent the diversity in nature. The scene around this song is therefore a core of the film in terms of color dramaturg.
Soundtrack
Pocahontas contains a total of seven songs, some of which are used again as recapitulations and all of which were composed by Alan Menken and written by Stephen Schwartz. The soundtrack by Pocahontas is after Ariel, the Mermaid , Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin Menkens, fourth musical work for a film of the Disney masterpieces . The texts were translated into German by Frank Lenart and Lutz Riedel. The following list gives an overview of the songs sung in the film, their German and original titles, as well as the film characters who sing the respective song.
- Virginia Company (Original: The Virginia Company ) with recapitulation - sung by the characters John Smith and the crew of the "Virginia Company"
- Steady as the drum sound (original: Steady as the Beating Drum ) with recapitulation - sung by the characters of the Indian tribe
- What the next bank brings (Original: Just Around the Riverbend ) - Sung by Pocahontas
- Listen with your heart (Original: Listen With Your Heart ) with recapitulation - sung by grandmother Weide
- Mein, Mein, Mein (Original: Mine, Mine, Mine ) - Sung by Governor Ratcliffe, John Smith, Wiggins and the crew of the "Virginia Company"
- The play of colors of the wind (Original: Colors of the Wind ) - sung by Pocahontas
- Wilde are (Original: Savages ) with recapitulation - sung by Governor Ratcliffe, Chief Powhatan and their respective supporters
In the credits, the song Colors of the Wind (in German Das Farbenspiel des Winds ) can be heard as a soundtrack version. It is sung in the German version by Jennifer Rush , in the English original by Vanessa Lynn Williams . In addition, the song If I Never Knew You is often used as a theme by Pocahontas and John Smith throughout the course of the film, but purely instrumental. In the credits it is also played as a soundtrack version after Colors of the Wind , with Jon Secada and the singer Shanice as interpreters .
synchronization
The film was set to music at Berliner Synchron . Lutz Riedel wrote the dialogue book and directed the dialogue. The lyrics were also translated into German by Riedel, with the exception of Das Farbenspiel des Winds , which Frank Lenart translated. Andreas Hommelsheim directed the musical recordings.
| role | Original speaker | Voice actor |
| Pocahontas (voice) | Irene Bedard | Alexandra Wilcke |
| Pocahontas (vocals) | Judy Kuhn | |
| John Smith | Mel Gibson | Sigmar Solbach |
| Grandmother Willow | Linda Hunt | Hildegard Knef |
| Governor Ratcliffe | David Ogden Stiers | Joachim Kemmer |
| Wiggins | Wilfried Herbst | |
| Thomas | Christian Bale | Gunnar Helm |
| Chief Powhatan | Russell Means | Gerd Holtenau |
| Ben | Billy Connolly | Stefan Fredrich |
| Lon | Joe Baker | Karl Schulz |
| Kekata | Gordon Tootoosis | Helmut Heyne |
| Kokoum | James Apaumut case | Bernd Vollbrecht |
| Nakoma | Michelle St. John | Irina von Bentheim |
| Voice of the wind | Bobbi Page | Constanze Knapp |
criticism
| source | rating |
|---|---|
| Rotten tomatoes | |
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| audience |
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| Metacritic | |
| critic |
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| audience |
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| IMDb |
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The film received mostly positive reviews, with negative voices mostly criticizing the historical inaccuracies in the film. Pocahontas was actually much younger and Jamestown , the setting in the film, had a less enchanting geographic location. James Berardinelli commented that “anyone who expects historical accuracy from a Disney cartoon should be ashamed”. Ed Gonzales of Slant Magazine saw the film as "a neglect of history in the spirit of the idealized spirit of the film." Christopher Null even considered the film to be “the worst cartoon in Disney's history”, in his opinion “a picture book better communicates an authentic story”.
Another point of criticism was the film's spiritual closeness to nature. The lexicon of international films judged the “unimaginative visual design” to be even worse than this “questionable mysticism of nature” , which means that “children in particular hardly get their money's worth”. Ernst Corinth has just confirmed that the film is something for children: “In Pocahontas , an - admittedly - badly idealized fairy tale is told in the style of a perfectly staged musical. A love story that touches us, and above all our children, and doesn't let go for 80 minutes. ”Like most Disney films, other voices attributed educational potential to the film. Martin Szymanski from Word Magazine speaks of“ a good film to attract the little ones Explaining family tolerance and diversity ”.
Christiane Peitz described Disney's Pocahontas as an “eco-princess” and “ambassador for multicultural affairs”: “[S] he symbolically reconciles every nation with its minorities and, secondly, America with its history” of the decimation of the indigenous people.
The animations and complex color scheme of the film were also highlighted, with Jeremy Gerard praising the animation department for a “vivid palette”. The cinema magazine Cinema certified the film as a “love story with an eco-message, wit and unforgettable, elegant pictures.” Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times also believes that the film is optically successful: “The film looks great, the songs are beautifully visualized and the characters are very engaging. Pocahontas is just lovely family entertainment. On a list with Ariel, the Mermaid , Beauty and the Beast , Aladdin and The Lion King , I would put him in 5th place. ”However, he criticized the film for lacking a distinctive villain.
Overall, the film won over the majority of the critics with its “lovingly animated supporting characters” (VideoWoche), a well thought-out storyline with surprising twists and turns and a family suitability, as one is used to from Disney films. Representing this summary, the film combines z. B. for the German cinema magazine Blickpunkt: Film "political correctness with family entertainment on a broad level" and Jeffrey M. Anderson rates the film as "one of the most versatile animated films of Disney". Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle described the film as "a mind-boggling film with clever twists, lively characters, empathetic songs, and a surprising harvest of revised history that functions here as entertainment."
The love story between John and Pocahontas is also largely perceived as successful. Michael Dequin speaks of a "toned down, but surprising, thought-out and romantic drama", Richard Corliss of the American news magazine TIME of a "perfect film romance", the film "deserves a place of honor among Disney's recent cartoons". In this regard, at least Rory L. Aronsky disagrees. He sees the film "miles away from its energetic predecessors".
With a budget of around US $ 55 million (estimated according to IMDB), the film grossed around US $ 346 million, which is way behind The Lion King , which grossed US $ 772 million.
Awards
The Wiesbaden film evaluation agency awarded the production the title valuable .
- 1996: Oscar for Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz in the category Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score
- 1996: Oscar for Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for Best Song *
- 1996: BMI Film Music Award for Alan Menken
- 1996: Golden Globe Award for Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for the best song *
- 1996: Grammy for Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for Best Song *
* for " Colors of the Wind ", sung by Vanessa Williams
literature
- 1995: Gina Ingoglia : Pocahontas (Junior Novelization) , Disney Press, ISBN 978-0-7868-4036-6
Publications on DVD / BD
- Pocahontas - An Indian legend , Walt Disney masterpieces, German DVD first edition 2001
- Pocahontas , Walt Disney Special Collection, 2005
- Pocahontas - A Native American Legend , Walt Disney Special Collection, 2008 (part of the limited gold steelbook edition)
- Pocahontas , Musical Masterpieces - Limited Edition, 2009
- Pocahontas - Special Edition (DVD / BD), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2012
- Disney Classics: Pocahontas (DVD / BD), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2017
Web links
- Pocahontas in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Pocahontas at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c sharetv.com Trivia zu Pocahontas (1995), English
- ↑ www.imdb.com Box office for Pocahontas
- ^ André Maurois : The history of America. Rascher, Zurich 1947
- ^ National Park Service: Historic Jamestown - Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend
- ↑ a b c www.blu-ray.com The Making of Walt Disney's Pocahontas. Article from August 20, 2012, accessed June 29, 2014
- ↑ German synchronous index: German synchronous index | Movies | Pocahontas. Retrieved April 18, 2018 .
- ↑ a b [1] at Rotten Tomatoes , accessed on March 20, 2015
- ↑ a b [2] at Metacritic , accessed on March 20, 2015
- ↑ Pocahontas in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ James Berardinelli ReelViews
- ↑ Ed Gonzalez: Slant Magazine
- ↑ Christopher Null: Filmcritic ( Memento from June 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Pocahontas in the Lexicon of International Films
- ^ Ernst Corinth , Dirk Jasper: Filmlexikon ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Michael Szymanski: Word Magazine
- ↑ Christiane Peitz: "False ideal world". In: Zeitmagazin . No. 47 of November 17, 1995.
- ↑ Jeremy Gerard: Variety ( Memento November 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Cinema , issue 11/1995.
- ^ Roger Ebert : Chicago Sun-Times
- ↑ Jeffrey M. Anderson: Native Daughter , on Combustible Celluloid , September 7, 2005
- ^ Peter Stack: San Francisco Chronicle
- ↑ Michael Dequina: Pocahontas on: The Movie Report, June 13, 1995
- ^ Richard Corliss: TIME
- ↑ Rory L. Aronsky: Film Threat
- ↑ Info according to IMDb
- ↑ Info according to IMDb
- ↑ a b c - POCAHONTAS 1 1st edition. November 20, 2013, accessed July 11, 2020 .
