The Complicated History and Future of ‘Pocahontas’

WARNING: The following article mentions and/or discusses topics that may be distressing for certain audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. 

In this new age of Disney movie-making, it seems that nearly every animated film is getting a live-action remake. Pick your favorite movie from your childhood, and there’s a live-action remake for it. And if it’s not already out, Disney is working on one as we speak. If you grew up on Moana (2016) and Frozen (2013), Disney has you covered in the next few years. If you’re a bit older and enjoyed Cinderella (1950) and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Disney has that for you too. It’s best not to discuss the live-action Snow White (2025), though.

But if you’re a 90s kid, you lived through Disney Animation Studios’ second great renaissance. Your childhood was based around The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). But then, The Walt Disney Company brought them all back for your children in the form of live-action remakes. And they were massive hits.

The Lion King (2019), Beauty and the Beast (2017), and Aladdin (2019) all grossed more than $1 billion at the box office. And despite some critics and trolls speaking out against The Little Mermaid (2023), it still managed to make $569 million. And with rumors swirling that Disney is working on live-action remakes of Tarzan (1999), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and Hercules (1997), the reinvention of Disney’s 90s films is complete. Well, it’s almost complete.

Notably absent from the rumors and list of Disney’s upcoming live-action remakes is Pocahontas (1995). Pocahontas tells the story of a young Powhatan Native American in Virginia and her love affair with Captain John Smith, a British settler who came to the New World looking for riches. Young Pocahontas is helped along the way by Grandmother Willow and a host of furry friends as they try to fight off Governor John Ratcliffe, who is there to rob Chief Powhatan and his people of their riches.

Pocahontas broke a lot of new ground for Disney. She was one of the first non-white Disney Princesses and the first, and only, to be based on a real person. But it was bigger than just a princess film. As the first Native American princess, Pocahontas broke the mold. She was no longer waiting for someone to save her. She was tough and independent.

The film would also be Disney’s first attempt to include real-world issues in animated films. With the inclusion of Grandmother Willow and the film’s message of respecting the environment, Pocahontas, it could be argued, is the first film about climate change. The film also gets into issues of respecting each other’s differences, and eventually, as Pocahontas and Captain Smith did, learn to live together.

But the Pocahontas movie also had some issues and detractors. For a film based on a real person, it blatantly glossed over many facts from Pocahontas’ life. It whitewashed a number of the other issues, like colonialism in the United States.

This isn’t to say that Pocahontas wasn’t well received when it first came out and isn’t still considered a Disney classic. It was the eighth highest-grossing animated film of the 1990s, making just under $350 million, making more than Hercules and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. And it’s not as though Disney is trying to hide the film. It is still available on Disney+, and you can still purchase the DVD on Amazon and its sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World (1998). 

So, let’s take a look at what Disney got wrong in Pocahontas, the film’s legacy, and what the future holds for one of the most popular animated films of the 1990s.

What Disney Got Wrong?

Let’s start with the weird part first. When Captain John Smith landed in the New World and first interacted with the Native American people, he was 27. When Pocahontas first met John Smith, she was either 9, 10, 11, or 12, depending on who you ask. There was never a romantic relationship between the two. She was the daughter of Wahunsenaca, sometimes written as ‘Wahunsunacock’ or ‘Wahunsenacawh,’ (Chief Powhatan), and as such, she actually feared Smith. The English, including John Smith, were known to kidnap the daughters of Chiefs in exchange for food and supplies.

According to the National Parks Service, what happened next would link Smith and Pocahontas forever:

As Smith tells it, he was brought in front of Chief Powhatan, two large stones were placed on the ground, Smith’s head was forced upon them, and a warrior raised a club to smash in his brains. Before this could happen, Pocahontas rushed in and placed her head upon his, which stopped the execution. Whether this event actually happened or not has been debated for centuries. One theory posits that what took place was an elaborate adoption ceremony; its adherents believe that Smith’s life was never in danger (though, he most likely would not have known that).

So, that part is somewhat accurate. But that’s about where the two stories diverge. Yes, Pocahontas did become an emissary between the two worlds after she saved John Smith, but that was it. She would later marry one of Chief Powhatan’s bodyguards, but that’s not how her story with the English would end.

According to The Indigenous Foundation, Captain Samuel Argall used his wife to trick Pocahontas onto his ship and kidnapped her. As the daughter of a Chief, she had high value. Argall told Chief Powhatan that Pocahontas would only be gone for a short time and gave him a copper pot to signify the deal. Argall told Chief Powhatan that if he did not relent, the English would attack his village and kill his favorite daughter.

Pocahontas was taken to England against her will. What happened next is up for historical debate. Some sites argue that she was raped and beaten, while others said she was forced to live in isolation. What is not up for debate is that she was paraded around England as an example of the “American Indian.” She was later forced to convert to Christianity. During her religious instruction, she met John Rolfe. The two would have a son, Thomas, and Pocahontas would change her name to Rebecca. How much of this was against her will is unclear.

After having been in England for months, Captain John Smith visited Pocahontas. She would admonish him for how he treated her people and her family. According to the National Park Service, she said to him, “your countrymen will lie much.” It would be the final time that the two of them would ever see each other.

In early 1617, John Rolfe and Pocahontas returned to Virginia with their son. The Virginia Company of London arranged the trip in an attempt to settle relations between the English and the Native Americans. Early into their journey, Pocahontas fell ill and died. Most historians believe that she died from smallpox, but the exact cause is unknown. She was in her mid-20s when she died. She was survived by her husband, John Rolfe, and her son, Thomas Rolfe.

So, why would Disney take such liberties with her story when the historical record would easily contradict the film? According to the New York Times, Disney executives wanted a romance. They wanted the next Beauty and the Beast, and that required a romantic relationship that never actually existed.

Angela Aleiss, a film scholar whose books include Hollywood’s Native Americans: Stories of Identity and Resistance, told the New York Times:

Disney made a lot of unfortunate decisions with this movie. It should be a lesson. Why not let Indigenous people tell these stories?

So, given the lack of historical accuracy and the complaints about the story, how did the public receive Pocahontas?

Public Reaction

Disney Animation Studios ruled the 1990s. It was a decade of success not seen since the 1950s. Pocahontas was a critical and financial hit for Disney. Reviewing the film for the New York Times, Janet Maslin called it a “landmark in animation.” The film also starred Mel Gibson as Captain Smith. This was a time when Gibson was at the top of the box office before he, too, became problematic. It would make $346 million, making it the decade’s fifth highest-grossing Disney Animation film. It also won two Academy Awards.

It would ultimately spawn a sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, including John Rolfe. He would be a negotiator for King James with Pocahontas’ father, Chief Powhatan. Much like Pocahontas’s story, his was much more complicated. He would stay in America and become a slave-owning tobacco merchant. But that’s another story.

The success of the film was primarily based on its messaging. Pocahontas contained anti-war, environmental, and social justice messages that still resonate today. But much like today, Disney faced critical backlash for including these social messages. Disney was accused of attempting to indoctrinate children. The resulting backlash forced Disney to take a dramatic turn at the decade’s end. After putting out Mulan (1998), Disney moved away from serious films based around strong female protagonists. Instead, they released lighter movies like The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) and Treasure Planet (2002). It would take another decade before Disney returned to the strong female lead with The Princess and the Frog (2009). 

But those weren’t the only accusations being hurled at Disney. Members of the Native American community accused Disney of “whitewashing” history and dramatically altering their story to sell tickets.

Hanay Geiogamah, a former director of the American Indian Study Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, was hired by Disney in the 1990s to consult on Pocahontas and its straight-to-video sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, told the New York Times: 

I understood why people were upset, and, at the time, I made my voice heard, too. But you have to remember, at the end of the day, this was a Disney animated fantasy. I was actually pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. Yes, there was a falsity at its core. But it also gave millions of young people a positive impression of Indian life. It wasn’t all battles and ugliness and harshness.

So, if that is true, why is Disney staying away from a live-action Pocahontas?

The Future of Pocahontas

Disney doesn’t hide Pocahontas as it does with Song of the South (1946), another problematic movie from Disney’s past. You can still stream the film on Disney+, and it’s readily available on DVD. Disney fans can meet Pocahontas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

But unlike other Disney princesses, Pocahontas is only available at one park. She rarely shows up in Disney Parades or nighttime shows. And Captain John Smith has almost completely disappeared from Disney.

But without Pocahontas, there is no Tiana, Mulan, or Moana. She was one of the first ground-breaking Disney Princesses.

In her essay, In Defense of Pocahontas: Disney’s Most Radical Heroine, Sophie Gilbert wrote:

It’s maybe overstating things to say that there would be no Elsa or Rapunzel or Merida without Pocahontas, but to overlook her status as the first truly empowered Disney heroine is to miss a real turning point for female characters in the 20th century. […] Not only was Pocahontas a radical reimagining of the Disney heroine, the movie she starred in was itself attempting to both re-explore history and to encourage empathy as a guiding quality for young viewers.

The New York Times reports that a Pocahontas live-action remake is unlikely ever to happen. The film’s legacy is just too complicated, and in this world of instant reactions to everything online, Disney just doesn’t want to deal with the issues the film could create. Especially considering the enormous number of issues that Disney is currently facing.

So, for now, Pocahontas fans will have to appreciate the classic animated film for what it is: A timeless Disney classic that will live in our memories with no live-action remake for our children.