Picking up from our “Hunchback” (un)proposal – we’re exploring another film in Disney’s back-catalogue that they may be considering for a poorly conceived live-action remake: Pocohantas.
To say the original 1995 film is historically accurate is a black hole of insanity – everything in this is wrong from the events to the real-life people the characters follow. Only a skeleton of what happened in history occurs in this movie. For one thing Pocahontas was still a child at the time John Smith’s company came to America – yet for some reason the popular belief of Pocahontas and Smith being romantic has persisted to this day. This dated idea has got to go. It was the next commander, John Rolfe, who married Pocahontas and would later take her to Britain… only for her to die of smallpox a few years later.
Her cultural impact in American history cannot be forgotten, but we also must not sugarcoat it with the same family-friendly tropes Disney’s “renaissance” period was made of. As a history buff, it is time to address this period of colonialist expansion honestly and pull no punches.
Thematic Changes
It is true that the initial settlers came to the new world in search of gold and new lands to settle. What is missing however is the context. Basically, after the Spanish discovered and colonized Mesoamerica there was a race for England to found settlements of their own. Another important reason was that trade with the east had been severed thanks to Constantinople falling to the Turks. Without trade the European states become week economically and would collapse unless trade with the east can be reestablished. The need to search for more resources should be addressed. Many more factors were in play than just the white man’s greed – there was also a large amount of competition” in seizing the virgin resources of the New World.
Settlers Pushed to the Brink
For my vision this cannot be done with simple cartoon bad guys – there are things that occurred beyond a greedy man looking for gold. As such I want to have more of these colonists aside from just John Smith. Perhaps have one character come to the new world because he’s a secret catholic another comes because he wants to provide for his family. Any further context can be added in the form of a historical flashback about how the Spanish were dominant, and England is pushed to find new resources. The resolution that saved Jamestown that was not discussed was the colonists found profit in tobacco instead, a substance that natives have used for thousands of years. This could be an interesting resolution for a remake, trade and commerce was the resolution not preachy heartfelt speeches that so many of these films have resorted to.
A major theme I would emphasize are the hardships of the first few years of the fledgling colony. This is a movie where there’s no true bad guy, just people confused and frustrated that the paradise they’ve desired hasn’t come the way they expected. The antagonist is survival and mistrust, not just a lust for gold. Even Governor Radcliff is not a “chaotic evil” antagonist this time – he’s pursuing his ambitions for higher office via colonial profit – a “neutral” evil. In my interpretation in this remake was a strict governor who struggles with stability of the colony. I don’t think your gonna care about gold when half your colonists are dead. So for this project Ratcliffe is more like Lady Eboshi from a movie with similar themes, Princess Mononoke is not a villain that our hero faces, but rather the elements our colonists overcome.
The entire Jamestown settlement was struggling during it’s first few years. 2/3rds of its colonists died of starvation, some even resorted to cannibalism. That’s not something the animated film would mention – and would represent a key component of the settler’s motivation was survival, rather than strictly profit. Starvation, death, and mistrust are more relatable struggles then finding gold.
Internal Conflict for the Natives
The confusion and debate of the natives should also be explored. If Pocahontas’s father, Chief Powhatan, wanted to massacre the entirety of Jamestown he certainly could have. I’d love to see chief Powhatan as more the stoic traditionalist father who still carries wisdom and poise – whom even when vastly outnumbering the colonists, he doesn’t go in for the kill.
Another element to add Pocahontas’s prophetic dream that was so often mentioned early in the movie. In the beginning it’s only herself and Grandma Willow that talk about her dream about a spinning arrow (later revealed to be a compass given to her by John Smith). Here we have an opportunity to show her dream. Instead of Pocahontas telling strange clouds (the sails of the ship), have her see strange clouds in her vision. Showing an illusion would make things different compared to just recycling the same lines, (*cough* Lion King 2019 *cough*).
Another element that also be changed is no talking trees. Talk to the wind in a misty meadow, just something that connects better with native culture specifically with the Powhatan tribes Pocahontas was part of. Perhaps this has Dagobah vibes. Maybe Grandma Willow just a human that lives in a hollowed willow tree, similar to the seer in Vikings. That would be a little less ridiculous (or creepy) than a talking tree.
We Know How This Ends…
One more adjustment I would have done is alter it’s ending. It’s an ending where relationships are established ends with a happy Pocahontas looking over her village but looks up concerned with the rapidly growing Jamestown Settlement, then the camera pans up to see more ships. More ships, more settlers. Cut to black as just the sounds of the waves and forest for the end credits. Not so much a happy ending but an ambiguous and foreboding one.
Dreamcast
Just like our Hunchback take-down, I’m not going to provide an in-depth analysis this time around – just slapping on actors could visually and aesthetically fit the part, should Disney actually be dumb enough to pursue this poorly advised remake.
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Ive been reluctant to use clips because YouTube sometimes delete clips I could find useful. I still try whenever possible
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