Pocahontas (1995) review

Governor Ratcliffe (voiced by David Ogden Stiers), John Smith (Mel Gibson) and a group of British soldiers sail from England to "the New World" (specifically Virginia) with the purpose of fending off the "savages" and stealing every bit of gold they can find, but when Smith meets lovely local lady Pocahontas (Irene Bedard), they become enamored with each other.  Considering this was made in the mid-1990's, Disney deserves credit for being progressive and making a feature film involving an important Native American figure - while it isn't what you'd consider "historically accurate," its target audience is children and it's not like they're entirely keen on a drawn out lesson.  This problem is, as an adult viewer, the story's not all that captivating (Stiers' character only rants about money and murder), the cute animals (raccoon Meeko, hummingbird Flit and pampered pug Percy) don't provide much comedic relief and the "battle" between the imperialists and the indigenous people is "resolved" rather hastily.  It's kind of ironic that Gibson was cast as the voice of the open-minded Smith since, years later, he would be recorded saying some not very polite things to his wife....