Episode 5x08 - Pocahontas

11/16/22 • 110 min

1 Listener

As historically inaccurate and insensitive as it is, the time has come in our journey to tackle Pocahontas, Disney’s very fictional retelling of historical events between the colonists of Jamestown and the Native American Powhatan tribe.

Don’t miss:

The way the music of this film saves its bacon on several fronts
How interruptions from studio exec Jeffrey Katzenberg caused stumbling blocks in character development
A discussion of how many things Disney got wrong about Native Americans, despite the fact that they did make far more of an effort than most studios at the time
Our final score, which puts it near the bottom of the Renaissance

PLUS, we talk through all the thoughts our audience had when they watched the movie, including several members of our community on Twitter!

Links for you:

Our website has our ranking spreadsheet for all the movies we’ve rated so far
Become a Ko-fi member for exclusive content and access to your hosts and our team
Join our ‘Ohana to be among the first to know about new content we’re developing
Follow us on Twitter @definingdisney and let us know your thoughts on Pocahontas
When our transcription is available, we’ll link it here

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a single episode, and if you enjoyed this one, please leave us a rating and review. Thanks for listening and we’ll see ya real soon!

Don’t miss:

The way the music of this film saves its bacon on several fronts
How interruptions from studio exec Jeffrey Katzenberg caused stumbling blocks in character development
A discussion of how many things Disney got wrong about Native Americans, despite the fact that they did make far more of an effort than most studios at the time
Our final score, which puts it near the bottom of the Renaissance

PLUS, we talk through all the thoughts our audience had when they watched the movie, including several members of our community on Twitter!

Links for you:

Our website has our ranking spreadsheet for all the movies we’ve rated so far
Become a Ko-fi member for exclusive content and access to your hosts and our team
Join our ‘Ohana to be among the first to know about new content we’re developing
Follow us on Twitter @definingdisney and let us know your thoughts on Pocahontas
When our transcription is available, we’ll link it here

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a single episode, and if you enjoyed this one, please leave us a rating and review. Thanks for listening and we’ll see ya real soon!

Previous Episode

Episode 5x07 - The Fox and the Hound

1 Recommendations

Get the tissues, y’all - it’s time for us to take on The Fox and the Hound, one of Disney’s Dark Age films that really pulls at the heartstrings.

Don’t miss:

The reason Amos Slade is one of the scarier villains we encounter in the canon, despite his immaturity of holding a grudge against a literal adolescent animal
How some of the imagery in this film quickly gets burned into your mind
A discussion of the theming nuances of this film that help us make a guess at where in America it might take place
Our final score, which strikes the balance between the strong moments and its lack of staying power

PLUS, we talk through all the thoughts our audience had when they watched the movie, including several members of our community on Twitter!

Links for you:

Our website has our ranking spreadsheet for all the movies we’ve rated so far
Become a Ko-fi member for exclusive content and access to your hosts and our team
Join our ‘Ohana to be among the first to know about new content we’re developing
Follow us on Twitter @definingdisney and let us know your thoughts on Fox and the Hound
When our transcription is available, we’ll link it here

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a single episode, and if you enjoyed this one, please leave us a rating and review. Thanks for listening and we’ll see ya real soon!

Next Episode

Episode 5x09 - Make Mine Music

1 Recommendations

Come along on another symphonic journey as we tackle our last package film in Make Mine Music! Fair warning - this one isn’t on Disney+, so you may not be able to watch it before listening.

Don’t miss:

The short that really serves as the blueprint for discussing character development in music
How jazz ties all of these shorts together, even with all its wide-varying subjects
A discussion of the oddities that litter this film, including changed score segments, one anthropomorphic animal in an otherwise normal world, and a short that was cut entirely
Our final score, cementing the package era as the overall lowest in the canon

PLUS, we talk through all the thoughts our audience had when they watched the movie, including several members of our community on Twitter!

Links for you:

Our website has our ranking spreadsheet for all the movies we’ve rated so far
Join our ‘Ohana to be among the first to know about new content we’re developing
Follow us on Twitter @definingdisney and let us know your thoughts on Make Mine Music
When our transcription is available, we’ll link it here

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a single episode, and if you enjoyed this one, please leave us a rating and review. Thanks for listening and we’ll see ya real soon!