Back in the mid `90s, the Disney studio excised a pair of songs from two of their releases "Pocahontas" and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" that both negatively impacted the theatrical versions of each film. The reasoning was simple: the songs in question ("When Love Is Gone" from the Muppets and "If I Never Knew You" from "Pocahontas") were too "adult" in nature, leading some parents to take their kids out to the snack bar or the bathroom to avoid sitting in their seats for the 3-4 minutes those respective numbers were on-screen.It didn't matter that the songs were vital to each movie comprising arguably the most dramatic moments of both stories or that anyone other than a restless five-year-old wouldn't have had a problem sitting through them. The editing shears were out, and neither song would appear in the theatrical release of either picture. Flash-forward several months. Once "The Muppet Christmas Carol" hit video, director Brian Henson insisted on the restoration of "When Love Is Gone," and the song was thankfully added into all video releases of the 1992 production (though sadly not its later DVD release). "Pocahontas," sadly, would not have its climactic song restored until a 10th Anniversary DVD release in 2005.
Unfortunately, that song Alan Menken's lovely "If I Never Knew You" is once again absent from the Blu-Ray of POCAHONTAS, which has just arrived in a BD/DVD double-pack with its inferior direct-to-video sequel "Pocahontas II: Journey To a New World."
It doesn't matter that the movie is one of the weaker Disney productions from the `90s, or that the Politically Corrected-story has numerous holes. "Pocahontas" still manages to modestly entertain in spite of its flaws primarily because of its gorgeous score by Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, encompassing "The Colors of the Wind" and "Just Around the Riverbend." Alas, for whatever reason, Disney has once more opted not to include the longer version with "If I Never Knew You," a duet between Pocahontas (sung by Judy Kuhn) and John Smith (a surprisingly effective vocal performance by Mel Gibson), sung near the conclusion of the film.
Without "If I Never Knew You," "Pocahontas" essentially has no climax. The movie's sometimes jumbled story with its one dimensional villains (gasp! That evil governor of Virginia is a nasty one!!) and confused perspective on the Pocahontas-Smith relationship reeks of the P.C. police, and minus the duet, the film also doesn't flow properly, with a particularly abrupt final third. It's a problematic but interesting entry in the Disney canon, boasting some of Menken's finest work and one of the nicest love themes you'll ever hear in an animated movie but, as was the case with the theatrical release, it's been relegated once again to a mere end credits pop duet between Jon Secada and Shanice.
With its crisp and beautiful new Blu-Ray remastering, the movie has, at least, never looked better on the small screen. The film's bold colors and striking animation are superlatively rendered, while the 5.1 DTS MA soundtrack is likewise effective in conveying the rich musical texture of the soundtrack. Extras (in addition to standard DVD copies) are mostly reprisals of material found in Disney's deluxe CAV LaserDisc box set of "Pocahontas" (likewise carried over to the 2005 DVD). These include commentary with the filmmakers (recorded in 2003) and plenty of featurettes albeit some of them only available through Disney's online "Virtual Vault" (requiring a BD Live connection). Adding insult to injury is that "If I Never Knew You" is indeed present as a supplement and in full HD making it even more frustrating the song couldn't have been included, as an option, to view integrated within the movie itself.
"Pocahontas" may always be viewed as somewhat of a black sheep, particularly compared with the high quality of Disney's theatrical output from the `90s, and it's unfortunate that the improvement yielded by including "If I Never Knew You" has been negated by the bad decision to drop it from this package. Hopefully the same situation won't repeat itself when "The Muppet Christmas Carol" arrives on Blu-Ray later this year.
On the Beauty and the Beast disc, you have the option of playing the movie with the deleted song (this is done by assembling two titles when authoring the Blu-ray with different segment mapping, and doesn't require additional room on the disc), but for one lazy reason or another, Disney decided not to do that with this disc, and instead just include the song as an extra. For what it's worth, I thought that particular animation segment was lazy, simply presenting a montage of earlier parts of the film, though the song is nice. The "deleted scenes" are hardly that, as they're mostly just black-and-white sketches with [simply put] awful songs being sung behind them.
I'm happy to have this brilliant film on Blu-ray, it looks and sounds great, but Disney really put their worst and laziest staff on this project and it shows.I should have read the reviews before buying this Blu-ray set. I am so disappointed that the song "If I Never Knew You" was again removed from this wonderful film. Why would Disney back-pedal by only offering the edited verions of this film? Sure, go ahead and offer the original version, but also offer the restored version with this wonderful song included back into the film and not as a "Deleted Scene". How hard would that have been? The work of restoring the song back into the film was already done with the 10th anniversary DVD release. Sometimes I just don't understand why these obviously poor decisions are allowed to follow through at Disney; "The Muppet Christmas Carol" debacle being another case in point. Also, what's with stacking the discs on top of each other in the case? How cheap can you get?!Note: Similar to my review of The Fox and the Hound, I won't mention or review the cheapquel that is included in this set. Is just sad how Disney pairs beautifully done films with utter disgraces.
Now I'll proceed to review the original film.
Pocahontas is blamed as the responsible of finishing the Renaissance period that began with The Little Mermaid. I find those claims utterly inaccurate. While Pocahontas did not achieve the same heights of The Lion King and is not better than that one, is still a wonderful, lush and heartfelt adventure that deserves a better reputation. The animation is just glorious and the music is one of the best Disney has ever produced.
The story has been blamed as being historically inaccurate but come on, is Disney, is any Disney adaptation faithful to its source? I don't think you can expect a history lesson from a Disney movie but you can expect great entertainment and in that front, Pocahontas delivers.
The cast of characters are great and deliver stirring performances. The characters are memorable and the love story between the two leads is credible and poignant and as whole, Pocahontas is a lush, epic and emotionally profound film that still resonates after all these years after its original release.
Video & Audio
Pocahontas looks absolutely stunning on BD. A wonderful transfer that makes the film even more enjoyable. The colors pop out the screen, detail and clarity are amazing and the picture is completely stable. A wonderful image.
The 5.1 DTS HD-MA also delivers an exceptional experience with directionality and clarity in every sound, song and dialogue. A wonderful aural experience all around!
Bonus Material
The most disappointing part of this release is the fact that the the extended cut that was offered in the 10th Anniversary DVD with the song "If I never Knew You" included in the film is not offered in this BD. Instead, the song is just offered to be viewed on its own. This is a very bad move from Disney. While the original film is still mesmerizing, the extended cut enhanced the romance between Pocahontas and John Smith and was a beautiful moment in the movie. It's a shame that some garbage is included in this release but Disney could not give us the the second cut which is beautiful. Shameful.
Here's the rest of the bonus material:
"Audio commentary" with the directors and producer of the film.
"Drawing Inspiration: The Lost Story of Hiawatha" is an all new piece where director Eric Golberg talks about the story of another native american figure, Hiawatha and how his story was considered by Walt Disney to be made into a feature film. This is an interesting piece history.
"Deleted Song: If I never knew you"
"The Music of Pocahontas"
"Deleted Scenes"
"Little Hiawatha" is a Silly Symphony from 1937
"Disney's Virtual Vault" is the useless and cumbersome tool where most of the DVDs features are housed.
A DVD copy is also included.
Final Thoughts
Pocahontas is a beautifully done film that deserves a better reputation and a better appreciation than it has now. This BD is very good but could have been a lot better. First of all a standalone release would have been much better. Second the inclusion of the extended cut and third the exclusion of the Virtual Vault and the inclusion of all the extras in physical form. Anyway, this BD features stellar video and audio and the movie is wonderful so it comes recommended.The night that I saw the Central Park (NYC) premiere of Pocahontas, it was apparent that it had been truncated, leaving behind a large,enervating hole which totally drained all drama and interest from its final sequences. I was to learn that this was the result of the excision of the song "If I Never Knew You" from the climatic moments of the film. It was pathetic that Disney released this truncated and devalued version of the film.
However, after the song was restored seamlessly in the "10th Anniversary" DVD, there seemed no reason to doubt but that this restored version would be part of the expensively priced Blu-Ray edition. Thus, I pre-ordered it (with an attractive discount) which I cannot help to think was meant to hype sales before word got out of the moronic decision to provide only the dreadfully cut version. I have no desire to view it. Including the song as a bonus does not compensate for the inability to experience the more resonant restored version of the movie.. How do I get my purchase price back? I do not know, but I will try. Maybe the best hope of seeing Pocahontason Blu-Ray lies in YOUR not buying this garbage cut, as well as in those of us who have already bought it, demanding a full refund.
I'm a Disney stockholder and I will be asking Disney if and why the masterminds behind this release are still employed at the Mouse Factory.
Save 27% Off
No comments:
Post a Comment