Thursday, August 19, 2010

Pocahontas and "Ethnic Make-up"

I saw this on Sociological Images which I visit (and quite enjoy) from time to time. Because I kinda deeply dig Pocahontas (1995) whatever its flaws (why do I never talk about it on this blog? Hmmm) and because I like inspired mash-ups, I wanted to share.



The poem is "Slip of the Tongue" by Adriel Luis. The video is by Samantha Figueroa. The art is (mostly) by Disney... though that guy who did those 'Disney Princes Gone Wild' thing slips in there, too.

10 comments:

Alex said...

Random piece of trivia, but I read that as Pocahontas and The Lion King were being developed at the same time, all the best animators flocked to Pocahontas because they thought it was the more "prestige project." Just found that interesting, since I definitely prefer The Lion King...

NATHANIEL R said...

Yeah, the WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY doc has a lot of interesting stuff about which projects seemed like sure things during preproduction vs what things actually were like.

as for myself. I prefer POCAHONTAS but I know I'm in the .002 percentile on that front. it's lonely! :)

I appreciate that The Lion King was a ginormous success by just about any measure but it's just not a film that spoke to me personally at all (though i like it just fine). Plus though i like an occassional elton john song, he really doesn't do it for me as a musical score composer. i think it's an entirely different skill set than pop song construction.

Robert Hamer said...

Not only that, Alex, but then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner predicted that Pocahontas would be the second animated film to recieve a Best Picture nomination. Most of my info on this stuff comes from Tim Brayton.

I never really enjoyed the film, for all the obvious reasons (white washing of history, racial condescension, bland characters, forgettable songs save one).

Interesting that you like it, though, Nat. It appears you have a weakness for white guilt alleviating epics starring exotic native princesses.

Alex said...

Wow, I should definitely see Waking Sleeping Beauty. Honestly, looking at Disney's canon, I was always sort of surprised that Beauty and the Beast was the one to make Best Picture.

The only songs from the movie that are worth remembering are Colors of the Wind and Just Around the River Bend (a friend and I sang them nonstop on a school canoe trip one time), and I love Grandmother Willow as a supporting character, but the rest of the movie is pretty blah for me.

Agustin said...

didn't know of sociological images!! great site!! thanks!
how i love them graphs!

Jeff said...

I also prefer Pocahontas to the Lion King.
In fact is in my top 3 pre-pixar disney movies.The other two are "The Little mermaid"(my favorite) And Beauty and The beast.

James T said...

Nathaniel, i'll play Freud and tell you why you prefer Pocahontas.

1) Lion King = kind of a macho movie (it's a stretch but i think it's close to the truth)

2) Menken

NATHANIEL R said...

James T -- "are you calling me a girlie boy?" he asked while dreaming of Pocahontas perfect flying hair and its silky smooth tendrils.

Robert -- actually i usually HATE while guilt epics. But again. Pocahontas herself just gets to me. I just love staring at her. And i think the movie's color palette did a total whammy on me. It's like Sleeping Beauty level yowza I SEE IN COLOR.

I was totally obsessed in 1995. like bought the soundtrack. went to see it twice*. etcetera.

* i realize second viewings aren't abnormal for movie geeks of all persuasions but they kind of are for me. at least in the movie theaters. Usually I only see 3 or 4 movies twice in theaters a year and it's not always because i love them. Usually it's just accidental this friend really wants to see this and it was ok/good whatever.

James T said...

Hehe, I think you're just the type I like. Someone that you can tell he's gay but far from a caricature. And you're an actressexual, so Pocahontas>Simba (live, animated, human, animal, same difference)

Andrew R. said...

Colors of the Wind = Best Disney song.

The film itself? I used to like it a lot, but outside of the score it has seriously lost any appeal it once had.

The fact that they thought it would be the 2nd animated Best Picture nominee is very interesting, though, especially when you consider how LONG it took them to do so.