Pocahontas

I can't believe that a Disney freak like me had never actually sat down to watch this film. Last year before we visited Disney World we tossed in numerous Disney films to get geared up - and allow my son to watch them for the first time.

Well, Pocahontas was watched by my wife and son on a day I was not there. So, I missed it again.

We are preparing for our surprise Disney trip coming up in a few weeks, so we have been watching some of the movies again. This time, I made sure to watch one of the few Disney animated features I had not seen previously.

So, the story of Pocahontas is pretty knowledgeable to most, but of course this is a Disney film so they obviously take liberties with the story.

Anyway, Governor Radcliffe (David Ogden Stiers) has compiled a bunch of men to take the journey from England to the New World. It is here that they will try to discover gold like the Spanish before them.

In their way, the savages as they call them - or the Native Americans who were here before them.

With Radcliffe's crew is an experienced savage hunter, John Smith (Mel Gibson). Who would have thought it would be him befriend one of the savages.

As Smith is exploring the new world, he is followed by Pocahontas (Irene Bedard) and her raccoon friend, Meeko (John Kassir). Smith discovers his spy and they develop a bond - soon falling in love with each other.

The Native Americans and the English, however, have other ideas and begin a small war against each other. Thanks to Radcliffe's lust for gold, many are killed. Smith is captured by the Native Americans and they threaten to kill him - but Pocahontas throws herself on top of him to spare his life.

Seeing this, all but Radcliffe tosses down their weapons - in hopes to bring both the Native Americans and the English together.

This was not one of the best Disney features, but it was still pretty good. A handful of the musical numbers were also pretty fun, especially "Colors of the Wind" and "Dig".

It was also fun to see - er I mean hear - a young Christian Bale in the role of Thomas, one of Smith's friends on the ship.

Final note: It's kind of ironic to see Gibson in the role of Smith. A role that basically fights for equality, especially after some of Gibson's recent rants.

So, cross off one of the few Disney films I have not seen yet. I think there may be a few more, so I will need to get to those as well.

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