The Disney representation of Pocahontas
There is much controversy surrounding the Disney story of Pocahontas, due mostly to its deviation from the historical record, but this page is about the Disney art, or how Disney chose to represent Pocahontas's image visually. The image, too, has generated some controversy, which is interesting, as we don't often see objections to how the starring animated Disney characters look. For example, Moana of the Pacific islands, Tiana, the African-American, from New Orleans (The Princess and the Frog) and Mulan from China, all seem to have escaped significant criticism. Pocahontas, perhaps because she was designed to be less 'cartoonish' and more like a real person, generated the dissatisfaction of those who either expected something different or preferred to have no Disney Pocahontas at all. This page will be about how Disney arrived at the image below and how it was received.
The information provided on the Blu-ray.com webpage, The Making of Walt Disney's Pocahontas, is a very complete account of the art and design of Pocahontas. Nevertheless, I will give this topic a shot with a slightly different angle.
The information provided on the Blu-ray.com webpage, The Making of Walt Disney's Pocahontas, is a very complete account of the art and design of Pocahontas. Nevertheless, I will give this topic a shot with a slightly different angle.
Pocahontas was the 1995 installment of a line of Disney "princess" movies that followed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella, (1950) Sleeping Beauty (1959), The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Aladdin (1992). After Jasmine in Aladdin, Pocahontas was the second "ethnic" Disney princesses, the first and only Native American one, and the first Disney princess to be based on an actual historical figure. (Mulan (1998) became the second historically based "princess".)
The eight movies listed above were generated over a period of more than 60 years, so it's not surprising that the Disney representation of women evolved in that time.. In particular, the 30-year gap between Sleeping Beauty (1959) and The Little Mermaid (1989), saw the transition from women characters as passive damsels in distress who spent a lot of time doing housework, to more independent, self-actualized women in keeping with the times. (Aurora in Sleeping Beauty (1959), while a quintessential damsel in distress, was exempt from doing housework, as the plot required her to sleep through most of the film.)
The three more modern princesses (Ariel, Belle and Jasmine), while less domestic than their predecessors, also differed from the classic princesses in sporting a wide-eyed, cartoonish look, presumably aimed at appealing to children. With Pocahontas, the animators appeared eager to go in a slightly different direction.
According to one website, Screenrant.com, Disney initially toyed with a youthful version of Pocahontas, which would have been more in line with the historical record. The two images below show two totally different preliminary ideas for the Pocahontas character. (I should note, though, that I have not been able to verify the source of these images, so reader beware.)
Concept art for early imagining of Pocahontas according to Christy Box of Screenrant.com, Nov. 22. 2017
The two youthful concept art images below, on the other hand, are verified Disney creations, both of which appear in the book, The Art of Pocahontas, by Stephen Rebello.
Art by director Mike Gabriel
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Concept art by Glen Keane
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Ultimately, however, the animators elected to abandon that idea and go for a more adult, realistic-looking character in keeping with the serious nature of the story, but one that would allow for a romance, conforming more to legend than to real life. Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg is quoted as having called for "the most idealized and finest woman ever made." He must have known that high hopes would be riding on their concept of a home-grown, American princess.
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As a starting point, the animators would have naturally looked at the only known real-life image of Pocahontas for ideas. However, the Simon de Passe engraving clearly did not provide the inspiration they required. The English in 1616 had commissioned an image of Pocahontas that would emphasize her acceptance of English ways, so they dressed her according to the English fashion of the time. For Disney's purposes, the image had little to offer, and we might guess the animators shared the view of 1600s John Chamberlain, that "Here is a fine picture of no fayre Lady." However, I have been unable to find a legitimate quote by the animators describing exactly how they reacted to this image. Likewise, the Disney animators do not seem to be on record as having been influenced by the William Ordway Partridge statue that stands in Jamestown, though arguably that conception of Pocahontas shares some features with the Disney version, if you ignore the vertical feather.
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Glen Keane, the supervising animator of Pocahontas, related in an interview with writer Katie Steed (2014) that he had gone to Jamestown, Virginia to seek inspiration among the trees and streams there to try and imagine what it might be like for John Smith to stumble upon Pocahontas in a canoe for the first time. In Keane's telling, it was while he was standing in the woods when Shirley Little Dove [Custalow] and her sister, Debbie White Dove, emerged from behind some trees and introduced themselves, saying they were descendants of Pocahontas. Keane said in the interview:
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"And as they stood there, I mean ... I took a picture of both of them, and between their faces was Pocahontas’ face in my mind – I could see her.
They were both beautiful, they had a nobility in the way they stood. All the way through the film, I had that photo on my desk there as a reminder of that. Because it was real, I was animating something that I believed. And I think you really have to believe in what you’re animating." |
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Amazingly, even the animator backstory has a Disney-like, fairy tale quality to it. Since it comes from Keane himself, it appears that one or both of the Custalow women really were early models for how Pocahontas might appear.
A Pocahontas sketch (right) accompanies the article, but with no explanation, it's unclear if it's an actual Glen Keane concept drawing at an early stage of animation or just some random fan art thrown in to fill space on the page. A photo of Debbie White Dove (described as Devi in the Steed article) is posted here to help readers imagine Keane's early encounter with the Custalows and how it may have resulted in a sketch. This photo was not in the Steed article, but cropped from a photo (probably a screen capture from a Pocahontas documentary) that appeared in The Log, Volume V, Issue 5, SepOct 2007. (dead link removed) |
Pocahontas
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Debbie White Dove
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Quote by Glen Keane in Animation Magazine:
“Shirley said she had been given a calling by her father to stay and live on the reservation and explain to other people the Indian ways, and also talk about the Great Creator and really share the life of the Indian people with the world. That was her calling in life. Her sister, Debbie Whitedove, who had long black hair and was very beautiful, said, ‘I don’t understand why my sister is into all this Indian stuff. I find it boring. I’m an airline stewardess. I like to fly around the world.’ And I thought, somewhere in between these two is Pocahontas’s personality. So for the whole film I had the picture of those two girls: one a very deeply rooted, spiritually grounded person, who was very traditional and dignified, and the other side of her, someone who’s adventurous, not afraid to break tradition and fall in love with John Smith, and go against her father and save his life.”
Glen Keane, from "Into the Woods with Keane and Pocahontas", Dec. 8, 2011, Animation Magazine link
“Shirley said she had been given a calling by her father to stay and live on the reservation and explain to other people the Indian ways, and also talk about the Great Creator and really share the life of the Indian people with the world. That was her calling in life. Her sister, Debbie Whitedove, who had long black hair and was very beautiful, said, ‘I don’t understand why my sister is into all this Indian stuff. I find it boring. I’m an airline stewardess. I like to fly around the world.’ And I thought, somewhere in between these two is Pocahontas’s personality. So for the whole film I had the picture of those two girls: one a very deeply rooted, spiritually grounded person, who was very traditional and dignified, and the other side of her, someone who’s adventurous, not afraid to break tradition and fall in love with John Smith, and go against her father and save his life.”
Glen Keane, from "Into the Woods with Keane and Pocahontas", Dec. 8, 2011, Animation Magazine link
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Christy Turlington
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After the Custalow sisters, a long list of models and actresses have been named in articles as elements combined to create the final Pocahontas character. Ultimately, there's no single person who is a dead ringer for the Disney Pocahontas. If the animators are to be believed, she is a composite of roughly 15 individuals. Model, film-maker and charity founder, Christy Turlington, is one person who has been named, Varying hairstyles and makeup give her a number of looks, so it's sometimes difficult to see how she fits into the Pocahontas mix, Apparently, her inclusion came about because her image appeared frequently in fashion magazines that the Disney animators thumbed through for inspiration back in 1992 or '93..
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Model, actress and purveyor of fragrances, Naomi Campbell, is another model who has been named as an inspiration for the Disney animators..
Naomi Campbell
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Dyna Taylor A person who has been largely forgotten, probably because there seems to be no decent public photo available of her, is a California woman of Filipino descent named Dyna Taylor, a university student at the time of the Disney production. In the run-up to Pocahontas, she was extensively filmed and sketched. In one instance, 15 animators were said to have drawn her face from various angles. Supervising animator, Glen Keane apparently gave her a signed picture of Pocahontas that says, "To Dyna, with gratitude for the inspiration you gave us," She also got a $200 modeling fee and no screen credit, However, she did score a television appearance on "Entertainment Tonight" and an article in the New York Times. Link to article (Paywall) |
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Natalie Venetia Belcon
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Live Action Reference
Several models and actresses have been named as live action reference for the Disney character, Pocahontas. These include Charmaine Craig (right), Natalie Venetia Belcom (left), Irene Bedard (below) and possibly a mysterious Jamie Pillow about whom I can find little information and no official credit. Both Craig and Belcon can be found in the Other Crew section of the IMDb Pocahontas cast page with credits as "video reference cast." Charmaine Craig is now an author, and Natalie Belcon is a jazz singer. |
Charmaine Craig
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Irene Bedard is credited as "Voice." on IMDb but she has often said that she was videotaped as reference for speaking scenes. Jamie Pillow was mentioned by Glen Keane in the New York Times Dyna Taylor article as an inspiration and as coming from the Pasadena Art Center. It's not 100% clear, though, if she was used for live action reference, though she is mentioned alongside Belcon and Craig, who were. Pillow is not listed in the credits on IMDb.
I have not found any reference to Judy Kuhn, the singing voice of Pocahontas, as having been used for live action reference. Kuhn says she would have been the speaking voice of Pocahontas, too, but then Disney decided to cast Native American Irene Bedard as the speaking voice. Kuhn's "Colors of the Wind" (written by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz) won numerous movie awards for best song.
Live action reference, by the way, is the use of a model, usually of similar proportions to the animated character and often dressed in like-costume, who is filmed performing the actions and gestures that will appear in the animated film. The technique is used to ensure that the animated character's movements are life-like and believable. It is debatable, though, if the physical features of these live action models actually contributed to the features of the Disney Pocahontas. On the other hand, the photo of Charmaine Craig above suggests that she may have had some influence.
Irene Bedard
I have not found any reference to Judy Kuhn, the singing voice of Pocahontas, as having been used for live action reference. Kuhn says she would have been the speaking voice of Pocahontas, too, but then Disney decided to cast Native American Irene Bedard as the speaking voice. Kuhn's "Colors of the Wind" (written by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz) won numerous movie awards for best song.
Live action reference, by the way, is the use of a model, usually of similar proportions to the animated character and often dressed in like-costume, who is filmed performing the actions and gestures that will appear in the animated film. The technique is used to ensure that the animated character's movements are life-like and believable. It is debatable, though, if the physical features of these live action models actually contributed to the features of the Disney Pocahontas. On the other hand, the photo of Charmaine Craig above suggests that she may have had some influence.
Irene Bedard
Irene Bedard
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Irene Bedard, the voice of Disney's Pocahontas, is the person most often identified as the living reference for her image in popular imagination. Actually, Bedard was only used for live action reference, and she is not credited with video reference in the film. However, she said in a 2010 interview:
"During some of the recording sessions they would film me. ... I was new to the process and found out that the animators look at that film frame by frame and use it to capture expressions. One of my habits is pushing my hair behind my ear and I noticed that Pocahontas has the same habit." - Irene Bedard, in 2010 interview with Mike Gencarelli on Media Mikes.
In another interview (Ultimate Disney.com: "An Interview with Pocahontas" by Renata Joy), Bedard said:
"While we were recording, the animators filmed me to use as a reference for expression and body movement. They also captured certain facial expressions and the way my hands moved."
"My 2-year-old already recognizes "Mommy" on the screen. My brother came all the way from Alaska to the Central Park premiere and throughout the screening, he constantly nudged me because he recognized traits of mine."
"During some of the recording sessions they would film me. ... I was new to the process and found out that the animators look at that film frame by frame and use it to capture expressions. One of my habits is pushing my hair behind my ear and I noticed that Pocahontas has the same habit." - Irene Bedard, in 2010 interview with Mike Gencarelli on Media Mikes.
In another interview (Ultimate Disney.com: "An Interview with Pocahontas" by Renata Joy), Bedard said:
"While we were recording, the animators filmed me to use as a reference for expression and body movement. They also captured certain facial expressions and the way my hands moved."
"My 2-year-old already recognizes "Mommy" on the screen. My brother came all the way from Alaska to the Central Park premiere and throughout the screening, he constantly nudged me because he recognized traits of mine."
Concept Art
At some early point in the creative process, and long before the live action reference above, Disney artists would have begun sketching Pocahontas in various poses, and attempting to settle on a concept. The images below were created in the early stages of pre-production.
At some early point in the creative process, and long before the live action reference above, Disney artists would have begun sketching Pocahontas in various poses, and attempting to settle on a concept. The images below were created in the early stages of pre-production.
"... deriving humor and comedic support from animals"; concept art by Joe Grant
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Early concept art by Joe Grant
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Early concept art by director Mike Gabriel
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The images immediately below are verified Glen Keane early concept art images. It appears that the long, full-bodied hair was part of the concept from very early in the animation process.
Concept art by Glen Keane
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Concept art by Glen Keane
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Concept art by Glen Keane
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The early concept art below by director Mike Gabriel is interesting for several reasons. It appears that the animals (Meeko the raccoon and Percy, the pug) had achieved their semi-final look fairly early in the animation process. John Smith and Pocahontas, on the other hand, still had a lot of evolving to do. We see also that Gabriel had imagined the Powhatan Indians using birchbark canoes, so there would be some education required before they settled on the more authentic dugout variety. Pocahontas never did get actual Powhatan attire, and I imagine it will be a few more decades before we see a Disney movie with Pocahontas topless, as she would have appeared back in the day. We'll have to wait for her tattoos as well, but note that in this early concept art image, Pocahontas did sport tribal tattoos on her upper arms.
Many sketches are available online, but some of them are of uncertain origin. I'm going to post a few more images here that I think are legitimate, but I will attempt to search their source, and verify that they're the real deal. For now, though, consider these as probably Disney/Glen Keane, but not 100% verified:
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On the 'Asian' look of Disney's Pocahontas
I live in Japan (almost 30 years now), and I have to say that if Disney ever made a live-action Pocahontas (God forbid), and if they didn't feel constrained by the current trend to hire only Native Americans for Native American roles, they could certainly find an actress who resembled the Disney Pocahontas here in Japan*. I know it's not just me, as others on the internet have referenced Pocahontas's Asian look. Disney spokespeople, of course, don't really comment on that. As you can see from the above early concept art, though, Pocahontas was once imagined as having a less Asian face. How then, did Disney's animators decide to go with the angled almond-shaped eyes? The only related quote I could find is this one, by Glen Keane, from Stephen Rebello's The Art of Pocahontas:
I live in Japan (almost 30 years now), and I have to say that if Disney ever made a live-action Pocahontas (God forbid), and if they didn't feel constrained by the current trend to hire only Native Americans for Native American roles, they could certainly find an actress who resembled the Disney Pocahontas here in Japan*. I know it's not just me, as others on the internet have referenced Pocahontas's Asian look. Disney spokespeople, of course, don't really comment on that. As you can see from the above early concept art, though, Pocahontas was once imagined as having a less Asian face. How then, did Disney's animators decide to go with the angled almond-shaped eyes? The only related quote I could find is this one, by Glen Keane, from Stephen Rebello's The Art of Pocahontas:
- "Whereas Ariel in The Little Mermaid was designed as a very white bread, middle-of-the-road American girl-next-door, there had to be something a little bit unique and 'pushed' in the design of Pocahontas, something that would set her apart." - Glen Keane, p. 93
Study by Michael Cedeno (Disney)
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Powhatan by Ruben Aquino (Disney)
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Study by Michael Cedeno (Disney)
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* I thought I was finished with this topic, but it occurred to me later that the angled eye position in the Pocahontas image above is more of a trope than a representation of reality. Certainly some Asians have eyes that angle up (or down) on the outside corners, but the use of this by Disney is more of a shorthand to express 'Asian' than an observation of how Asian eyes actually look, i.e., generally as horizontal as European or African eyes. This confuses me. Why would Disney decide that Pocahontas should look neither like a Native American woman nor like a typical Asian woman, but then suggest she looks 'Asian' through the use of a stereotype? But I may be over analyzing this.
Is Disney's Pocahontas "sexualized"?
I plan to keep this entry short, as I am aware of how little of value I can bring to the table here. The short answer is obviously "yes" as were the other princesses leading up to the Disney movie, particularly Jasmine, in Aladdin. The Disney Pocahontas is busty, shows a lot of shoulder and leg, and finds herself in the arms of the handsome John Smith in record time. I find it a little ironic that Pocahontas's clothes are sometimes criticized as being overly revealing, though she is far more covered up than she would have been in real life. Remember, the lack of historical accuracy is also a frequent criticism, though that properly relates to her having been a prisoner of the English instead of a wholly independent actor.
So yes, the Disney Pocahontas is sexualized, but we can also say that Pocahontas is portrayed as an independent thinker, a person open to other cultures, and someone willing to go against the rules of her society. In the end, she represses her desire to be with John Smith out of a sense of responsibility to her tribe, and she stays in Virginia (a choice the real Pocahontas likely did not have). The Disney Pocahontas is sexualized, but her sexuality is ultimately thwarted by the story.
It's interesting that the Disney heroines that followed Pocahontas are generally not sexualized, in this way and they stay away from the complications of romance in favor of heroic actions and bravery against their enemies. Disney seems to have responded to the criticism of viewers, though they rarely get any credit for that. In my view, people seem to complain about Disney's Pocahontas as if it were made yesterday instead of 25 years ago. I regard the Disney Pocahontas as a transitional princess. The "princesses" who came after her were a different kind of hero.
I plan to keep this entry short, as I am aware of how little of value I can bring to the table here. The short answer is obviously "yes" as were the other princesses leading up to the Disney movie, particularly Jasmine, in Aladdin. The Disney Pocahontas is busty, shows a lot of shoulder and leg, and finds herself in the arms of the handsome John Smith in record time. I find it a little ironic that Pocahontas's clothes are sometimes criticized as being overly revealing, though she is far more covered up than she would have been in real life. Remember, the lack of historical accuracy is also a frequent criticism, though that properly relates to her having been a prisoner of the English instead of a wholly independent actor.
So yes, the Disney Pocahontas is sexualized, but we can also say that Pocahontas is portrayed as an independent thinker, a person open to other cultures, and someone willing to go against the rules of her society. In the end, she represses her desire to be with John Smith out of a sense of responsibility to her tribe, and she stays in Virginia (a choice the real Pocahontas likely did not have). The Disney Pocahontas is sexualized, but her sexuality is ultimately thwarted by the story.
It's interesting that the Disney heroines that followed Pocahontas are generally not sexualized, in this way and they stay away from the complications of romance in favor of heroic actions and bravery against their enemies. Disney seems to have responded to the criticism of viewers, though they rarely get any credit for that. In my view, people seem to complain about Disney's Pocahontas as if it were made yesterday instead of 25 years ago. I regard the Disney Pocahontas as a transitional princess. The "princesses" who came after her were a different kind of hero.
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More to come ...
More to come ...
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The Art of Pocahontas
by Stephen Rebello (1996) Disney Editions ISBN-9780786862115 There are many Disney images floating around the internet, but it's sometimes difficult to know if the images are actual Disney art or fan-made studies. With this huge and heavy coffee table book, we can be confident that what we're looking at is actual Disney concept or storyboard art and even which artist created which image. The huge number of drawings, many of which look nothing like the final product, are interesting for how they show (vaguely) how the concept of Pocahontas developed. The early images of Smith, Powhatan, Kocoum, Ratcliffe, and the background scenery are all worth a look. On the other hand, the text seems to be mainly promotional copy by Disney, and rarely explains in concrete terms how the images came to be or how they were received at the time. To be fair, Disney probably didn't feel the need to document the creation of the art in that much detail at the time, or perhaps they did and the details can be found elsewhere. This book is mainly useful for its images and for documenting artist names. |
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A little random, but ... I'm not sure if I'm providing a service here or only pissing people off, but here's an image found on Screen Rant, attributed to artist Elena Provolovich for Dr. Aesthetica (a UK-based cosmetic clinic) that re-imagines Disney princesses with body shapes that reflect "average UK women's measurements." Yes, I understand that Pocahontas was not a "UK woman", but some may make the case that she died as an English woman, though we can't be sure she had a choice in the matter (the English part, not the dying part.) For more images of this type, see the Sept. 2020 article by Cassie Hurwitz on the Screen Rant website. |
Image by Elena Provolovich
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Links
- Interview with Glen Keane, Disney veteran and legendary animation artist (Part 1), 07 October 2014 by Katie Steed, Skwigly Online Animation Magazine
- Mod Post: Pocahontas and Character Design from Walt Disney Confessions Rage (posted around 2014?)
- Who in the world is Dyna Taylor? She may be the face that launched a thousand movie tie-ins - New York Times archive, Anthony Ramirez, July 6, 1995.
- "Into the Woods with Keane and Pocahontas", Dec. 8, 2011, Animation Magazine
- "Hollywood’s biggest stars may be staying in the background, but their talents are audible in a host of animated films," (dead link) by Jan Stuart. June 30, 2001, Newsday
- "Interview with Irene Bedard" Oct. 15, 2019, by Mike Gencarelli, Media Mikes
- UltimateDisney.com: "Interview with Pocahontas" by Renata Joy, May 11, 2005
- "20 Disney Concept Art Designs Better than What We Got" (dead link removed) Screenrant.com, Nov. 22, 2017 by Christy Box
(C) Kevin Miller 2018
Updated Nov. 28, 2024 / Banner photo by Hadley-Ives
Updated Nov. 28, 2024 / Banner photo by Hadley-Ives
