Pocahontas
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: June 23, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
6
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
Disney's 33rd animated feature, and its first with characters based on real people, is a stunning movie with clever twists, vivid characterizations, insightful songs and a surprising harvest of revisionist history that manages to ring smartly as pure entertainment. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
Because she also has a classical heroine's sense of quest, the picture's Pocahontas rises above stodgy old legend into the sky of myth... That's apt for a role model for any child, red or white. And it's perfect for a film romance that earns a place of honor among Disney's latter-day animated film stunners. Read full review
90
VarietyJeremy Gerard
The Disney artists have created a vivid palette for the picture. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Taking advantage of the studio's breathtakingly intricate animation, directors Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg have breathed vitality into this, the fifth "new wave" Disney animated picture. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Gloriously colorful, cleverly conceived and set in motion with the usual Disney vigor, Pocahontas is one more landmark feat of animation. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleHollis Chacona
Pocahontas' arrow, tipped with tender romance and feathered with spirited folklore, hits the bulls-eye dead on. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff(not credited)
Overall, Pocahontas is a triumph as a visual experience (though the music is unusually bland), but a disappointment as a film. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The film looks great, the songs are wonderfully visualized, and the characters are appealing. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
With an original score by Alan Menken and Gilbert and Sullivan-ish songs by Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, the movie is the cartoon equivalent of a full-scale, high-quality Broadway musical. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The film is attractively designed and energetically edited, in the usual Disney fashion, and it's interesting to see the Disney folks convey such a hearty endorsement of interracial dating. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRory L. Aronsky
The animation in Pocahontas is a testament to the constantly evolving skills of the various animators involved, drawing characters that manage to make an impact, even if only a small one. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Contradictions confound certain aspects of this project--such as the language spoken by Pocahontas (which, in the Hollywood tradition, oscillates between tribal talk and the unaccented chatter of a contemporary Valley girl)--but overall this seems like a reasonable stab at an impossible agenda. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverMatt Zoller Seitz
Pocahontas is a fascinating departure from the studio's formula--a delicate work of art that casts a very fragile spell. Read full review
70
NewsweekLaura Shapiro
Just about everything in this lavish, animated feature is for the pigtail set, especially a big romance between Pocahontas (Irene Bedard) and the strapping John Smith (Mel Gibson). Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg, Pocahontas is on the formulaic side, a copy that duplicates what its predecessors have done, only a little less adroitly and with a little less style. [16Jun1995 Pg. F.01]
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Despite haunting moments in this fabricated fling between a headstrong Native American and an English sea captain, the film isn't as chirpy or majestic as recent Disney fare. [16Jun1995 Pg. 01.D]
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Disney deserves praise for raising the ante on its ambitions in animation. Next time, though, a little less civics lesson and a little more heart. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
As a fairy-tale confection, a kind of West Side Story in Jamestown, Pocahontas is pleasant to look at, and it will probably satisfy very small kiddies, but it's the first of the new-era Disney cartoons that feels less than animated. Read full review
40
EmpireDavid Hepworth
It's a war story with all the action removed and moral conflict inserted in its stead. That you're no longer allowed to boo is bad enough, but asking anyone to root for this bunch of drips is adding insult to injury. Read full review
40
The New YorkerBruce Diones
Disney may have seen lightning strike for the fifth consecutive time with this animated smash, but it's the weakest of the bunch: a bland, predictably p.c. story so taken up with teaching lessons about tolerance and the environment that it leaves hardly any room for laughter. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Unwilling to offend, the scribes have committed the greatest offence of all - they've neglected to tell a story, airbrushing out anything remotely dramatic. Read full review
30
Washington PostRita Kempley
There's a sense of mystery in this purply palette and one of majesty in the landscapes, but the drama of the drawings is never really echoed by the skimpy and predictable story. Read full review
20
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The scenario (written by Carl Binder, Susannah Grant and Philip Lazebnik) is disappointingly wan and obsequious. Read full review
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