Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #33: Pocahontas (1995)

Make Sure You've Read: Munir's Disney Retrospective - The Renaissance, Part 2 (1995-1999) Introduction

It seemed rather impossible for Disney to do anything wrong after The Lion King. After that film's gigantic success, the studio positioned itself as the leading animation studio, obliterating what little competition they had at the time. Boy, what a difference one year makes! Pocahontas was destined for greatness from the very beginning. Before his bitter departure from the studio, Jeffrey Katzenberg put all of his effort into making this film the 'new Beauty and the Beast'. Top animators like Glen Keane were working on it, legendary composer Alan Menken was attached to score it, and Disney was proudly announcing that this was their first feature film based on real character. What could possibly go wrong? Well apparently many things because nowadays, Pocahontas is viewed as the 'beginning of the end' for Disney, and the start of their decline. While I can agree that Pocahontas does not surpass its predecessor in any way, and that it was indeed it a decline from its earlier predecessors, I also think that it has an undeservedly bad reputation, that it offers great entertainment and is still one of the most ambitious and beautiful films that ever came from the studio.

Are We in The Third Golden Age?

Disney. The word that embodies animation. When you think animation you think Disney and vice versa. Yet, Disney hardly has the best track record when it comes to animated films, sure when you think of Disney animated films, you'll think of the classics; The Lion King, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Jungle Book, Dumbo, Beauty and the Beast etc..., but since the end of the second Golden Age (or Renaissance) Disney has been a bit down in the dumps. Particularly in the majority of the 2000s we've had a lot of flunks (in terms of critical consensus and box office revenue), with Chicken Little, Brother Bear, Home on the Range and Atlantis (among others) with some exceptions i.e. Lilo and Stitch.

Through all of the turbulence, there's been so much speculation about when - if ever - the third Golden Age of Disney will begin.