DisneyToons Review: Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World

Disneytoons 8th film.

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My opinion right after watching movie

My opinion right after watching the Pocahontas sequel is that it is not that bad, but it is not that good either. I do feel like there is a lot that is contrived in the movie, and certain plot elements that are shoehorned in there, but the animation is really nice, it has somewhat of a full plot, the characters are decently handled, and it is just a decent at best movie.

Production

There is no information on the production of this film.

Story

The film starts with Ratcliffe (David Ogden Stiers) and a bunch of soldiers break into John Smith (Donal Gibson)’s house, since they have a warrant for his arrest. Apparently, they have a warrant for his arrest for being a traitor, and avoiding the punishment of the crimes he committed. Apparently, the King of England (Jim Cummings) believed Ratcliffe’s side.

I am going to stop right here. How in the HELL  did Ratcliffe get off free? I get it that he lied t the King, but how did he believe him? Ratcliffe was bound and tied by chains on the boat to England, and there were COUNTLESS witnesses that went back to England (the other sailors in Pocahontas) that can prove that Ratcliffe is guilty, an John did nothing wrong This was a complete and contrived stretch to get Ratcliffe off, and for him to have power again (though he said in the last film that no one takes him seriously). After a long chase on the rooftops, John Smith is holding onto the roof by his fingers and falls after Ratcliffe kicks off his fingers, leaving us to believe that John Smith died. The King loses it at Ratcliffe, since he wanted him alive. I immediately realize that this king is an idiot.

A few months later, Pocahontas (Irene Bedard) is still saddened over John Smith’s death, and Nakoma (Michelle St. John) tells her that she needs to move on. She sings Where Do I Go From Here, and it is a very good song, explaining her indecisive behavior, insecurities, and not knowing what to do with her life, which is something we all go through one way or another.

A boat arrives to Jamestown, revealing our new protagonist John Rolfe (Billy Zane). He is there to pick our Pocahontas, and to bring her over to Britain to try to make piece, and to give her opinion on the Radcliffe mess in the last film. A war between the whites and natives almost breaks out thanks to Rolfe’s horse, and when he helps her out, she is annoyed with him, since the people of Jamestown needs to learn that they can count on the natives.

He arrives to their tribe, and gives the horse to Pocahontas as a peace offering from England, and tells them that the King wants Pocahontas to go to England. The natives continues to think this is ridiculous, and Rolfe is shocked and a bit disgusted when it is revealed that Pocahontas is a female, which Chief Powhatan (Russel Means) points out. She decides to go to England, and tells her animals to stay (though they of course come for some pathetic comic relief), and has a tear-filled goodbye with her people, right as she sails on the ship to England.

The boat finally makes it to England, and Pocahontas is completely astounded. You can totally tell that they are trying to establish chemistry between Rolfe and Pocahontas, but it is not really done well, since they have like nothing in common, and it is more awkward than something you 100% root for. A horrible song titled What a Day in London, which shows Pocahontas completely overwhelmed by the city, and the civilians randomly singing. Ugh.

So the pompous Ratcliffe shows up in his pompous carriage to tell Pocahontas and Rolfe that the King will not meet up with her, and that they are setting their boats to declare war to get their gold, and to reclaim Jamestown. WHAT? They already HAVE Jamestown. The USA did not exist yet, and the civilization of settlers are still there. And about the gold part, the COUNTLESS PEOPLE who came back to England from the first film KNOWS that there is no gold. Ratcliffe has too much power.

John Rolfe takes her to his house, and his maid Mrs. Jenkins (Jean Stapleton) gets Pocahontas settled, since he has to go to the King to clear up this understanding, and so far, Pocahontas is not pleased with the King. He goes to the King, who is displeased that the native representative is a woman. Ratcliffe and Queen Anne (Finola Hughes) are sitting right beside him, and Ratcliffe manages to coerce the King to invite Pocahontas to the ball, to prove that she is civilized, and only then he will meet up with her.

We get the typical montage segment of Rolfe and Jenkins teaching Pocahontas the English way of etiquette, class, dress code, etc, and Rolfe starts to fall in love with her, and vice versa. Nice to know that he starts to like her when she is adjusting to the English lifestyle.

While I as not a fan of Pocahontas and John Smith’s relationship, at least there was some basis, and they did have chemistry. I just cannot support these two. Anyways, they escort one another to the ball, and while Pocahontas mildly struggles with the English etiquette, she does well enough to impress the King and Queen.

Ratcliffe then sets a bear baiting performance (knowing she would act out), and when she demands to let the bear go, she is…….. arrested……. She is arrested for that? I guess we will go with it for now.

So word about Pocahontas’ arrest makes it back to the local pubs, and a hooded figure instantly leaves when he hears the news. It is so clear that this is John Smith. He goes to Rolfe’s home, and the two then set up a plan to help Pocahontas escape the prison, which goes well enough at first, but then the drama with John Smith takes over, since they are fighting over Pocahontas’ fate; Smith not wanting her to die for her people, and Rolfe saying she should.

Was this supposed to be a surprise? Some people say that Smith was overly arrogant in this film, and that John Rolfe sucks, but I disagree on both counts. I will get into all of the drama later.

Pocahontas runs off, and has a moment, via Where Do I Go From Here reprise, and Nakoma telling her to never forget her land, which is why she reverts back to her native self. Actually, I disagree with what I said about Rolfe, right after seeing the next scene, with Smith calling her crazy, since they will not listen to her, or her culture, also saying that she will die for something foolish. This does not sound like the Smith from the last film. It is just another contrived way to get Rolfe and Pocahontas to be better.

She goes to the palace, and manages to convince the King that Ratcliffe was wrong, and that there was no gold, and when John Smith (who was supposedly be dead) shows up, they realize that Ratcliffe is full of shit, but he already left. Since I am too tired to recap all of this, I will just say that they defeat him, and Ratcliffe is arrested.

Before the ship sails off, John Smith tells her that they can travel the world together, now that the king gave him a ship, and got like some sort of promotion, but Pocahontas tells him that their paths do not follow one another anymore, but wishes him well. Hold on; I recall int he last film that he liked Virginia because he never had a home, and felt more like home over there. Now he wants to travel all over the world, and all of that is forgotten? Her and Rolfe then go on a boat that will take them to Jamestown and her people. Why does Rolfe want to settle over there when his home, his career, and so much more is over at London, and he fell in love with her when she was a London woman? He has NEVER shown ANY interest in her people or culture. There is speculation about Pocahontas dying right after the film takes place.

This is actually very sad, since the movie was a lot better than I thought it was. The plot is a pretty clever idea, and you can tell that there was some effort put into the movie, but Rolfe and Pocahontas’ relationship is just too contrived, and the consistency issues between the last film and this film are just a bit too bothersome to ignore. Still one of the better films in the canon thus far.

Characters

The characters were not atrocious, but nothing special.

She did not really change at all in this film, though she was consistent to her character, which is not common for these DisneyToon films. She is the same Pocahontas.

Ugh, he is even worse in this film. The writers made it seem like his crimes were easily brushed off, though it was taken seriously at the end of that film. He is an even worse villain in this film. Just treacherous.

John Rolfe is a pretty cool guy. He is pretty gentlemanly, and has etiquette, I do not see how he is a match for Pocahontas. He is a strong enough and a good enough character though.

It is like they intentionally made him more unlikable in this film to make John Rolfe look bad. He was not really supportive of Pocahontas, and I feel like everything in the last film was tossed aside when it comes to him.

Animation

The animation is actually pretty good. It ALMOST looks like it would look good for a theatrical feature. Most of the designs are the same as the designs in the first film, and the backgrounds were very detailed. There is just something that makes it very obvious that it is a television direct-to-dvd piece of animation; the best of that type of animation though.

Music

The music is….. pretty decent. I really like Where Do I Go From Here, but the other songs are pretty ridiculous and extremely silly. It does have some of the native and european feel to it when it comes to the music, and the score is pretty decent. I cannot say anything else about it.

Reception at Release

When it was released on August 4th, 1998, it received negative reviews.

Reception Today

People still really loathe this film (mostly for pairing up Rolfe with Pocahontas instead of Smith), and think it is one of the worst Disneytoons films.

Final Score

Story: 5.5/10

Characters: 5.5/10

Animation: 7.5/10

Music: 7/10

25.5/40 = 64%

Next time…

Review: March 2nd, 2015

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