POCAHONTAS and POCAHONTAS II: JOURNEY TO THE NEW WORLD
(G)
MOVIE: ** (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ***1/2 (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
With every awesome release of a Disney classic to Blu-ray comes a lesser classic with an even lesser sequel. “Pocahontas” gets the Blu-ray treatment, bundled with the direct-to-video sequel “Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World.”
The original “Pocahontas” represents a slump after the revival of Disney animation in the 1990s. Telling the mostly fabricated story of Pocahontas falling in love with John Smith, the Disney version is less a history less and more a retroactive apology to Native Americans. Cheesy and long-winded, this is one of my least favorite classics in the Disney canon.
The package contains separate DVDs of “Pocahontas” and “Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World,” each with a single bonus feature. The Blu-ray, which contains both relatively short features, includes classic bonus material from the DVD release several years ago. Content includes deleted scenes, an audio commentary, a deleted song, the “Little Hiawatha” animated short and the featurettes “Drawing Inspiration: The Lost Story of Hiawatha” and “The Music of Pocahontas.”