Walt Disney Fudged The Truth!
In America, the general audience is used to seeing many things portrayed on the silver screen, but many times what they see is not always necessarily all there is to the story. In Gary Edgerton and Kathy Merlock Jackson's essay "Redesigning Pocahontas," the famous Native American figure is redesigned by the Walt Disney Company to meet the expectations of critics and audiences around the country, but leave out much of the truth behind Pocahontas' story in the process. Walt Disney's version of this renowned story has been changed to a commercialized rendition that only feeds on what America recognizes as the "Hollywood Indian," but doesn't that go against what Disney was trying to do with the movie in the first place? Although the film company's intention was to accurately depict the life of a famous Native American, the Walt Disney Company knowingly changed the image of Pocahontas and her story in the hopes that Americans could associate more with her character and of having a better chance at increasing their profits from movie sales and other merchandise. The authors begin by going into detail about why it is that the Walt Disney Company decided to make this movie in the first place, and why they felt the need to ma
The majority of people in the United States desire authenticity and change in the way things are usually done, but to bring about change is too much for most people, and it is this notion that makes it easy for companies to get away with a lot of things. The idea of crossing over someone's "comfort zone" was too much to handle, which justified Disney's need to produce stories that follow a formula similar to their previous blockbusters. The same is true for other films created in years before Pocahontas that brought about the "Hollywood Indian" image. Many times Native Americans were depicted as drunks, or mystics who always went on "spiritual journeys," not to mention that in early Westerns Native Americans were usually played by Anglos. Despite all intentions to keep from turning the protagonist into a stereotype, the film would end up catering to public desire for expert storytelling rather than historical accuracy. Disney had attempted to get guidance in making the film, but later decided that the real story did not suit their needs, thus leaving them to design and write the movie to their liking. As far as the image of Pocahontas was concerned, ke Pocahontas "more presentable" for typical movie-goers. The idea for the film spawned off from co-director Mike Gabriel's desire to "initiate a new project after finishing The Rescuers Down Under
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Mattel Pocahontas,
Pocahontas Disney,
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Indian Despite,
Peter Schneider,
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Anglos Pocahontas,
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disney movies,
famous native american,
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Approximate Word count = 925
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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