Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Visual Index ~ Pocahontas (1995)
For Earth Day, Hit Me With Your Best Shot returns to Disney's long neglected Pocahontas (1995). Can you sing with all the colors of the wind? The movie uses a lot of them and not shyly: blues, greens, pinks, oranges, yellows, and that glorious raven hair of Disney's most beautiful heroine.
Pocahontas's Best Shot(s)
13 savages chimed in. Click on their best shot selections to read the corresponding article
One of the greatest marriages of image and melody in the entire Disney canon...
- Three Pounds Lost
She's still dwarfed by the majesty of the earth...
-Film Actually
The best scene in the movie is a silent one...
-Coco Hits New York
...not one without its wonders. The main two of which for me are its use of long lens widescreen framing and the music.
- Best Shot in the Dark
It’s not that the film isn’t beautiful, it’s just that I remember it more for it’s music.
-Missemmamm
We're no longer looking at moving drawings, but being moved by the drawings...
- The Film's The Thing
Pocahontas looks really good especially when her hair is wind blown (nature as her personal wind machine for the win)...
- Sorta That Guy
At times it feels as if Pocahontas is a feature-length version of a lost Fantasia sequence...
-The Entertainment Junkie
One of the least busy and textured images in the film,
- Lam Chop Chop
Love Story, Flawed History Lesson, and Nature Appreciation Pamphlet all in one go? No easy feat...
-Minnesota Gneiss
It's dealing with big themes that kids don't think about and visualizing them in a way that kids can understand at every level...
- Dancin' Dan
For all of Pocahontas failures, I love it and feel deeply protective...
- The Film Experience
Confession: I totally started to tear up here...
- I Am Derreck
Reader Comments (12)
I looove some of these captions. Three Pounds Lost is totally right, I remember noticing that even as a mostly-oblivious nine year old watching the movie, and The Entertainment Junkie's caption is a brilliant description of the film.
SUCH a beautiful movie. One of Disney's best, despite its reputation as a disappointment.
My only complain about Pochahontas is that the plot felt so rushed.... though for the entire runtime, it's passable.
But visually, it's just perfection.
I adore the shots when she she first sings "can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"
Perfection, it needs to be repeated.
I hate that I missed this. I don't know why I thought that it was due tonight. BOO ME!!!
I love the color journey the film takes in this progression of shots. starting with the calming blues and greens, before the conflict occurs, then red starts to creep in until it becomes angry and menacing during 'savages' and finally the sunset hues as the film concludes. just gorgeous.
I would also like to point out that almost every shot has Pocahontas herself in it-naturally. and hardly any contain those pesky animal side-kicks...
This came out just when I stopped going to Disney movies, probably seeing only one more unthinKing and Stitch. Everyone's writing is going to make me finally see it.
Visual candy- those HD shots are to die for! The detail in these is surreal! Where was this movie when disney was doing all those 3D conversions- the leaves blowing in and out of the screen would have been breath taking! Also I think I'm talking to a very small audience when i say how much i loved this movie flawed and all - its not what actually happened but the directors interpretation - think of it as Arronofsky's Noah if you may ...only better :P
I am not big on animation in general, especially in movies, but these shots make me want to check it out. Beautiful images.
It's a beautiful film- a great example of traditional Disney animation
Sorry I'm late but I had to add mine as well.
http://missemmamm.com/2014/04/24/hitmepocahontas/
Thank you.
mary - thanks. added. better late than never
My favorite memory of "Pocahontas" actually happened when i was seeing it in theaters for the first time with my baby sister... The "Colors of the Wind" song played on the VHS of Lion King before the movie, and when the song happened 500 children sang every word. It was magical. I'm tearing up like a fool at my desk right now thinking about it.