Pocahontas II: Things Are Not What They Appear

In the 1998 Disney animated film, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, the Native American princess Pocahontas travels to England with John Rolfe in order to ask King James and Queen Anne to not start a conflict between the British and the Powhatan people back at home. As a children’s animated movie there are bound to be some differences between what actually occurred and what is depicted in the film, but what is not told in this one holds a lot of significance to Pocahontas and other Native Americans of the time. 

         The film begins with Pocahontas trying to move on from the death of John Smith—her love interest in the first film—when John Rolfe, a diplomat sent by the King, arrives to bring Chief Powhatan to England to negotiate before declaring war on them. Pocahontas willingly decides to go to England in place of her father, fitting her into the common stereotypes of both being a princess and a matriarch. But this storyline is much different from that of actual history. In 1613, Pocahontas was captured and held for ransom for a year as a way for the British to try and have control over Powhatan. During this time, she met John Rolfe, who she then married. She was also baptized as a Christian with her new name, Rebecca. Although this film shows that Pocahontas willingly went to England and became “civilized” in order to be heard by the King, she was forced into English society, was already married to John Rolfe when she did visit England and died on her way back to Virginia.

         Although she changed herself to be seen as a civilized person, in the film there were still people that saw her as a savage. In the beginning of the film, a new settler hits Pocahontas with a sack of goods and proceeds to call her a “filthy barbarian.” Once she is having dinner with the King in England, she stops the night’s entertainment because they are torturing a bear. The King demands her to "sit down at once and we will overlook this savage behavior.” She is still seen as a savage because she does not comply with all of their customs, no matter how hard she tried to impress them before. Even though she took the time to change her ways to get the attention of the King, she is still not taken seriously because they continue to believe she is savage by nature. At the end, the war between the English and the Powhatan does not happen just because John Smith returns and explains to the King and Queen that there needed to be no conflict.

         Pocahontas may be the main character of this film, but she was treated like a side character. With playing the princess and strong woman role, she still fell short in authority compared to her white male counterparts. Pocahontas’ story was romanticized in order to make another princess Disney film, furthering the stereotypes found in many Native American characters on television and film. This film caused further social marginalization of Native Americans because as a children’s movie that is regularly watched even now, they will grow up with these stereotypes in their minds about all Native Americans since they were grouped together as one group. Disney animated films might not be the best source of historical information but they do still have a lot of power behind them.