50 Fun Facts About Pocahontas

Who provides the speaking voice of Pocahontas in the 1995 Disney film?

Irene Bedard, an Alaska-born actress, was the speaking voice of Pocahontas (1995) and later played Pocahontas's mother in Terrence Malick's The New World (2005).

Which Broadway performer provides Pocahontas's singing voice?

Judy Kuhn, a Tony-nominated Broadway performer from Les Misérables and Chess, provided Pocahontas's singing voice and was hired before the speaking role was cast.

Which movie star voices John Smith?

Mel Gibson voices John Smith in Pocahontas (1995) and sang his own parts, including 'Mine, Mine, Mine' alongside David Ogden Stiers's Ratcliffe.

What is the name of Pocahontas's pet raccoon?

Meeko, the greedy raccoon, was created by veteran Disney story artist Joe Grant, who had worked at the studio since the 1930s; John Kassir provides his chattering.

What kind of animal is Flit?

A hummingbird named Flit, voiced by Frank Welker, is Pocahontas's prickly companion; he distrusts John Smith at first and fusses over Pocahontas.

What breed of dog is Governor Ratcliffe's pet Percy?

A pug named Percy is Governor Ratcliffe's pampered pet, bathed and fed cherries aboard ship; he ends the film having abandoned his owner for Pocahontas's side.

Who voices Grandmother Willow, the talking tree?

Linda Hunt voices Grandmother Willow; she had won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing a man, Billy Kwan, in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982).

Which future Batman voices the young settler who was washed overboard in the opening storm?

Christian Bale voices the young settler who falls overboard and is rescued by John Smith; Bale later played Pocahontas's eventual husband in Terrence Malick's The New World (2005).

Which activist and actor voices Chief Powhatan?

Russell Means, a leader of the American Indian Movement who took part in the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation, voices Chief Powhatan; he also played Chingachgook in The Last of the Mohicans.

David Ogden Stiers voices Governor Ratcliffe and which other character?

Wiggins is Ratcliffe's fussy manservant.

What is Governor Ratcliffe secretly planning to do with the gold he expects to find?

There is no gold, and he ends up shipped home in chains.

What is the name of the ship that carries the settlers from London in the film?

The Susan Constant, flagship of the real 1607 voyage, is the only one of its three ships (with Godspeed and Discovery) that the film shows carrying the settlers.

What is the name of the warrior Pocahontas fears she will be made to marry?

He is shot dead by Thomas, which triggers John Smith's death sentence.

What image from Pocahontas's dream turns out to match John Smith's compass?

A spinning arrow is the image from Pocahontas's recurring dream; when John Smith's compass needle spins, Grandmother Willow helps her read it as pointing to her path.

How does Pocahontas save John Smith at the film's climax?

She throws herself over him before her father strikes, saying he will have to kill her too; Ratcliffe then fires at Powhatan, and John Smith takes the bullet and is shipped home for treatment.

Which two Academy Awards did Pocahontas win?

Best Musical or Comedy Score and Best Original Song both went to Pocahontas at the 1996 Academy Awards, with composer Alan Menken sharing the song award with his lyricist.

Which song from Pocahontas won the Oscar for Best Original Song?

'Colors of the Wind' won Best Original Song at the 1996 Oscars; Vanessa Williams sang the pop version over the end credits and performed at the premiere.

Which love song was cut from the film after test audiences of children lost interest?

'If I Never Knew You', the love duet for Pocahontas and John Smith, was cut after test screenings with children; it was restored for the 2005 tenth-anniversary DVD.

Where did Pocahontas hold what was then the largest film premiere in history?

New York's Central Park hosted the premiere on the Great Lawn on 10 June 1995, a free screening on giant outdoor screens that drew a record crowd.

Which Disney film was in production alongside Pocahontas and got fewer of the studio's top animators?

The Lion King was in production at the same time, and most of Disney's top animators chose Pocahontas as the prestige project; The Lion King went on to be the far bigger hit.

Roughly how much did Pocahontas gross worldwide?

Pocahontas grossed about $346 million worldwide on a budget of roughly $55 million, placing it among the top five films of 1995.

What was the name of the 1998 direct-to-video sequel?

Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998) sends her to England as an envoy to King James, with Ratcliffe scheming against her at court.

Which two directors made Pocahontas?

Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg directed Pocahontas; Gabriel had co-directed The Rescuers Down Under and Goldberg had been the supervising animator of the Genie in Aladdin.

Which studio chairman wanted the film to be a romantic epic like Beauty and the Beast?

Jeffrey Katzenberg, then Disney's studio chairman, pushed for a romantic epic in the mould of Beauty and the Beast and hoped for a Best Picture nomination; the film received mixed reviews and none.

Which supermodel was among the real-life inspirations for Pocahontas's design?

Naomi Campbell was among the real women, along with Christy Turlington and model Dyna Taylor, whose features the animators blended for Pocahontas's design.

What is the name of Pocahontas's best friend in the film?

Nakoma, Pocahontas's loyal best friend, is voiced by Michelle St. John; worried for her friend, she sends a warrior after Pocahontas, which leads to the tragedy at the glade.

What was the real Pocahontas's birth name?

Amonute was the formal name given at birth; she also had a private name, Matoaka, revealed only after her baptism, while 'Pocahontas' was a childhood nickname.

According to colonist William Strachey, what did the nickname 'Pocahontas' mean?

'Little wanton', meaning a playful or mischievous child, is William Strachey's gloss of the nickname Pocahontas; her people gave children such familiar names as their personalities emerged.

What was the name of Pocahontas's father, leader of the Powhatan Confederacy?

Wahunsenacawh, known to the English simply as Powhatan, was mamanatowick or paramount chief of some thirty Algonquian-speaking groups in Tidewater Virginia.

In which year was the real Pocahontas captured and held for ransom by the English?

In 1613 Captain Samuel Argall lured Pocahontas aboard his ship Treasurer with the help of Japazaws, a Patawomeck weroance, and held her to bargain with her father.

What Christian name did Pocahontas take at her baptism?

A 1616 engraving is captioned 'Matoaka, alias Rebecca, daughter of the most powerful prince of the Powhatan Empire of Virginia'.

Whom did the real Pocahontas marry in 1614?

John Rolfe, an English settler who reached Virginia in 1610 after being shipwrecked on Bermuda, married Pocahontas in April 1614 with the consent of both the governor and her father.

What was the name of Pocahontas's son, born in 1615?

Thomas, Pocahontas's only child, was born in Virginia in January 1615, raised in England after his mother's death and returned to Virginia as an adult; many prominent Virginia families later claimed descent from him.

Why was Pocahontas taken to London in 1616?

To be shown off as a 'civilized savage' and lure investors: the Virginia Company paid for the 1616 trip to promote the colony, and John Smith wrote to Queen Anne ahead of her visit.

Where did the real Pocahontas die in 1617?

Gravesend, England is where Pocahontas died in March 1617, having fallen ill as her ship set out for Virginia; she was buried at St George's Church, whose later fire left her exact grave unknown.

Where was John Smith taken after his capture in December 1607?

Werowocomoco, Powhatan's capital on the York River, is where Smith was brought after Opechancanough captured him in December 1607; his story of Pocahontas saving him appeared only in his 1624 Generall Historie.

Roughly how long did the calm between Jamestown and the Powhatan last after the 1614 marriage?

Eight years of relative calm, remembered as the Peace of Pocahontas, followed the 1614 marriage and ended with Opechancanough's attack on the settlements in March 1622.

Which Powhatan priest accompanied Pocahontas to England in 1616 on her father's orders?

Tomocomo, also recorded as Uttamatomakkin, was a priest and adviser sent by Powhatan with Pocahontas in 1616, reputedly to count the English by cutting notches on a stick.

What did Pocahontas's husband cultivate at his Varina Farms plantation?

A new strain of tobacco, grown from seeds of the sweeter Nicotiana tabacum obtained from the Caribbean, flourished at Varina Farms and became the cash crop that made Virginia viable.

In the film, which settler friend of John Smith is voiced by comedian Billy Connolly?

Ben, the gruff older settler voiced by Billy Connolly, is paired throughout with Lon, voiced by Joe Baker; they are the settlers who dig for gold alongside John Smith.

Which lyricist was hired to write the songs for Pocahontas with Alan Menken?

Stephen Schwartz was hired partly because, like Alan Menken, he was based near New York, while Tim Rice was based abroad; Schwartz later wrote Wicked.

Which Hollywood star was cast as spiritual guide Old Man River before the role became a tree?

Gregory Peck was cast as Old Man River, a wise tree, but concluded the character ought to be maternal and withdrew, and the role became Grandmother Willow.

What kind of animal was Redfeather, a talking sidekick dropped during production?

A turkey named Redfeather, voiced by John Candy, was written out once the filmmakers decided the animal sidekicks would not speak; a raccoon took his place.

Which real Jamestown captain actually despised John Smith, before the villain was renamed?

Edward Maria Wingfield, the Jamestown council's first president and an enemy of John Smith, was the villain's intended namesake until the filmmakers chose the more sinister-sounding Ratcliffe, a real captain killed by the Powhatan in 1609.

Which chief's speech inspired the lyrics of the film's Oscar-winning song?

Chief Seattle's widely quoted words about the land and its creatures, as popularly attributed to him, were the lyricist's starting point for the film's Oscar-winning song, the first song written for the film.

Who was the supervising animator of Pocahontas herself?

Glen Keane, who had animated Ariel and the Beast, was supervising animator for Pocahontas herself, blending the features of several real women into her design.

What unwanted distinction does the film hold among Disney Renaissance movies on review sites?

Only one rated 'rotten': Pocahontas alone among the Disney Renaissance films has sat below Rotten Tomatoes' 60 percent line, with a consensus calling it well-meaning and often beautiful but bland.

Disney estimated the crowd at the film's record-setting 1995 premiere at how many people?

100,000 people, by Disney's estimate, attended the free outdoor premiere on 10 June 1995, then the largest film premiere ever held; Vanessa Williams performed live afterwards.

Which Titanic villain voices Pocahontas's new love interest in the 1998 sequel?

Billy Zane, Cal Hockley in Titanic, voices the English diplomat who becomes Pocahontas's new love in the 1998 direct-to-video sequel; John Smith was recast with a different actor.

Roughly how old was the real Pocahontas when John Smith arrived in 1607?

10 or 11 is the usual estimate, since Pocahontas was born around 1596; the film ages her into a young adult, and historians have found no evidence of any romance with Smith.