Judy Khun, the singing voice of Pocahontas, provies the singing voice of Princess Ting-Ting in Mulan 2.
After Pocahontas, Irene Bedard (Pocahontas) and Christian Bale (Thomas) both went on to appear in Terrence Malick’s live-action version of the Pocahontas story, The New World (as Pocahontas’s mother and John Rolfe, respectively).
Rupert Everett, Stephen Fry, Richard White, and Patrick Stewart were considered for the role of Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas. White was originally chosen, but the filmmakers feared that audiences would not be able to separate his voice from his previous vilian, Gaston. So he was replaced with David Ogden Stiers.
Pocahontas was harshly criticized by Chief Roy Crazy Horse as historically inaccurate and offensive for glossing over more negative treatment of Pocahontas and her tribe by the English. He claims that Roy Disney refused the tribe’s offers to help create a more culturally and historically accurate film.
You can read his entire statement on the subject, which includes the factual story of Matoka, or “Pocahontas” as she was nicknamed, here, on the official website of the Powhatan Renape Nation.
The June 1995 edition of Harper’s Bazar featured a Pocahontas spread. Gianni Versace, Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui and Isaac Mizrahi all designed special outfits for her which were then drawn by Disney animators for the magazine.
John Pomeroy, the supervising animator for John Smith in Pocahontas, watched a number of Errol Flynn movies to get the movements of the character down pat. Once the look of Smith was finalized, 14 other animators were drafted in to make him come to life.
In their quest for authenticity, the Disney studios hired mostly Native American actors to do the voices. They also employed Native American consultants and had a session with a real shaman. Despite these efforts, prominent Native American activists issued an open letter condemning the film for its historical inaccuracies and stereotyping of the Indian people.
The premiere for Pocahontas was a huge event in Central Park. With over 100,000 people attending, it holds the record for the largest movie premiere.
In the very first draft of the script for Pochahontas, the character of “Grandmother Willow” was written as a male character who was the spirit of the river, the character was named “Old Man River”. The song “Just Around the Riverbend” was written for this character to be sung. Gregory Peck was offered the role and as much as it pained him to do it, he turned down the role because he felt the title character needed a motherly figure to turn to for advice. Soon the filmmakers agreed with him and the character was changed.
