Latest news with #Pocahontas
Straits Times
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
How Pocahontas' 1995 theme song Colors Of The Wind has become a generational rallying cry
NEW YORK – In January, Ms Lanie Pritchett expressed her displeasure with the second inauguration of US President Donald Trump by passionately lip-syncing a 30-year-old Disney song. 'I had this rage in me,' the 22-year-old theatre major at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas said in an interview. 'It was a rough day for a lot of people. I thought, I can't do much, but I can share my thoughts.' Her thoughts were encapsulated in a few lines from Colors Of The Wind, the power ballad from Disney's 1995 animated film Pocahontas. Specifically, 'You think the only people who are people are the people who look and think like you / But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew you never knew'. She uploaded a TikTok video with the overlay, 'me arguing with magas for the next four years' – and a caption explaining that her progressive views partly stem from Pocahontas being her 'favourite princess movie growing up'. It quickly racked up more than 500,000 views. Ms Pritchett, was raised in a conservative household in East Texas, where she and her sister would give living-room performances of Colors Of The Wind while the Pocahontas DVD played in the background. She now views the song as an important commentary on queer inclusivity, cross-cultural understanding and environmentalism. 'Obviously, that movie has its problems,' she said, 'but the music was really good.' In fact, 30 years after Disney released Pocahontas in theatres in June 1995, the film's Oscar- and Grammy-winning track has broken out as a beloved entity with millennial and Gen Z fans. On TikTok, people like Ms Pritchett have reinterpreted the Colors Of The Wind lyrics to comment on an array of contemporary topics they feel strongly about, including immigration, the Middle East, Trump and Elon Musk, Black Lives Matter and oil drilling. They play acoustic versions on guitar, set audio snippets to nature montages and animatedly mouth the lyrics. Even British singer Ellie Goulding posted an a cappella rendition with the caption 'Colors Of The Wind radicalised me'. The song's popularity is especially impressive, given that Pocahontas has not aged well, and the film is not often discussed in a nostalgic light. Instead, Colors Of The Wind seems on track to one day join When You Wish Upon A Star (originally from the 1940 film Pinocchio) as the rare Disney anthem that is almost completely divorced from its parent property. Colors Of The Wind was written in 1992, when veteran Disney composer Alan Menken and Broadway scribe Stephen Schwartz convened at Menken's home studio in Katonah, New York, to craft the ballad that would anchor Disney's still-scriptless animated musical about Pocahontas. A scene from the 1995 film Pocahontas, where Irene Bedard voiced the titular character and Judy Kuhn provided the singing voice. Mel Gibson voiced Pocahontas' love interest John Smith (right). PHOTO: THE WALT DISNEY CO In the film, the track served to convey Pocahontas' dismay at John Smith and other English settlers who had arrived in the 1600s with little regard for the Powhatan people and the natural surroundings they encountered. ('You think you own whatever land you land on.') As the song unfolds, Pocahontas educates Smith on respecting Earth and one another, 'whether we are white or copper skinned'. Schwartz has said his lyrics were inspired by the words of Chief Seattle from the 1800s, although the recorded accuracy of Seattle's speeches and a purported letter from Seattle to President Franklin Pierce that Schwartz referenced have been much debated. The songwriters were also aware that they would be speaking to contemporary audiences. 'We had a conscious desire to have the overarching theme be about protecting the environment,' Menken said in an interview. 'It's one of the vital issues of our time.' The composers next approached Broadway performer Judy Kuhn to record a more formal demo of the track. Although Kuhn, who is Jewish, was told that Disney hoped to ultimately hire a Native American woman to sing for Pocahontas, in the end, Kuhn performed on the soundtrack too. (Pocahontas' speaking voice was provided by Native American actress Irene Bedard.) Earlier in 2025, Kuhn's version of Colors Of The Wind was certified multi-platinum, after selling more than two million copies. 'I really look forward to the day that this song seems quaint and irrelevant,' Kuhn said. 'It just feels, sadly, more meaningful all the time.' Keeping with tradition, Disney released a radio-friendly pop version, sung by American actress-singer Vanessa Williams, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although there have been popular comic takes, such as American actress Melissa McCarthy's 2016 lip-synced performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the overwhelming sentiment among fans and the songwriters is that Colors Of The Wind holds a serious urgency that is as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. 'There are obviously important themes in it that made a difference, and that's a wonderful thing,' Menken said. 'Frankly, when I look at the world, I wish it had made more of a difference, but we'll take what we can get.' NYTIMES
New York Times
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How ‘Colors of the Wind' Became a Generational Rallying Cry
In January, Lanie Pritchett expressed her displeasure with the second inauguration of President Trump by passionately lip-syncing a 30-year-old Disney song. 'I had this rage in me,' the 22-year-old theater major at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas said in an interview. 'It was a rough day for a lot of people. I thought, I can't do much, but I can share my thoughts.' Her thoughts were encapsulated in a few lines from 'Colors of the Wind,' the power ballad from Disney's 1995 animated film, 'Pocahontas.' Specifically, 'You think the only people who are people are the people who look and think like you / But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew you never knew.' She uploaded a TikTok video with the overlay, 'me arguing with magas for the next four years' — and a caption explaining that her progressive views partly stem from 'Pocahontas' being her 'favorite princess movie growing up.' It quickly racked up more than half a million views. Pritchett, who is a lesbian, was raised in a conservative household in East Texas, where she and her sister would give living-room performances of 'Colors of the Wind' while the 'Pocahontas' DVD played in the background. She now views the song as an important commentary on queer inclusivity, cross-cultural understanding and environmentalism. 'Obviously, that movie has its problems,' Pritchett said, 'but the music was really good.' In fact, 30 years after Disney released 'Pocahontas' in theaters in June 1995, the film's Oscar- and Grammy-winning track has broken out as a beloved entity with millennial and Gen Z fans. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Buzz Feed
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Mind-Blowing "The Lion King" Facts You Never Knew
Arguably the greatest Disney film ever made, The Lion King is not only a timeless classic but also an unforgettable, bold vision that brings us evergreen themes, reminding us all to remember who we are. Magic doesn't happen by magic. Hard work and great decisions bring masterpieces to life. Here are 21 facts about the animated Disney classic The Lion King: First, the opening scene wasn't originally intended to be the start of the film. That changed when the filmmakers heard the power of the song "The Circle of Life." This is revealed in the "The Making of the Lion King" featurette. The unmistakable and unforgettable choir in "The Circle of Life" is what, according to the filmmakers, "found the 'heart' of the film." The African music and choir elements were organized by composer Lebo M, who had previously worked with lead composer Hans Zimmer on past projects. The voice actors for Timon and Pumbaa (Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella) originally auditioned for the roles of the hyenas. Their comedic compatibility was so great that the characters Timon and Pumbaa were actually created to add an extra splash of comic relief to an otherwise dark film. And to think, we almost missed out on Disney's most dynamic (and hilarious) duo. Legendary voice actor Jim Cummings provided the voice for the hyena, Ed. Cummings claims that he also voiced Scar for the final verse of "Be Prepared." According to Cummings, Irons was having vocal problems during the recording of the song, so Cummings stepped in and offered his vocal range. Depending on who you ask, the creators of The Lion King were viewed as the "B-Team" of the studio, while the "A-team" was assigned with the task of creating Pocahontas. The studio saw Pocahontas as a production with higher hopes. It's safe to say they took it personally and created a masterpiece. The song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" almost got the ax. Elton John went through dozens of rewrites of the song, but saved his best for last with a finalized song that's considered one of the best love songs in any Disney animated film. "Hakuna Matata" also almost didn't get included. Elton John was the one who had to advocate for the song. A production research trip to Africa helped the crew bring the animals featured throughout the movie to life. Director Roger Allers, Artistic Supervisor (Story) Brenda Chapman, and Production Designer Chris Sanders all viewed the wildlife in Africa, which really helped them gain a genuine understanding of how the animals interacted. Despite the CGI wildebeest, it all started with a hand-drawn image. The image trickled into a CGI model, which evolved into an army of terrifying wildebeest. Composer Hans Zimmer created the score for Mufasa's death, and he credits the death of his own father, who passed away when he was six, for helping him capture the emotional impact of the score. The film earned an Oscar for Best Score. Legend Frank Weller made all the lion sounds. The genius of animated sound snarled into a trash can to really make the lion roars come to life. There was a song titled "The Lion in the Moon," which was cut from an early draft of the film. It was a lullaby sung by Sarabi to young Simba after their run-in with the hyenas. The scene was replaced by Mufasa teaching Simba about the "Great Kings of the Past," which obviously did more for the plot. Although inspired by Hamlet, The Lion King is technically the first original animated feature film from Walt Disney Feature Animation. Meaning, it was the first film the studio created that wasn't adapted from a pre-existing book, fairy tale, or historical event. Weird, right? Puumba is the first Disney character to let one rip on screen. First to cut the cheese. First to pass gas. First to make a stink. You get the idea. The Lion King almost wasn' Lion King. One working title was "King of the Jungle." Assuming the lack of, well, jungle in the story, the title was altered to something a little more sensible. Other titles included: King of the Kalahari and, very simply, Lions. More than 600 artists and technicians collaborated on The Lion King to bring the final product to life. That's some legendary teamwork right there for a movie about animated animals. In the original finale, Scar wasn't eaten by hyenas. The original death involved Scar believing he killed Simba and then catching fire as he burned to death, laughing in seeming victory. And Simba watched him burn. The ending was too dark, and honestly, the theatrical death of Scar feels more appropriate to his character. Unless there is some VCR renaissance in the future, The Lion King will most likely live on forever as the highest-selling VHS tape ever. The movie earned an estimated $520M in VHS sales. Actor Matthew Broderick, who voiced adult Simba, had his singing cut from the film. He was a Tony Award-winning performer, so the choice seemed odd at the time, but musician Joseph Williams sings the final version. You can't argue with the final product, but you have to feel for Broderick. A Nazi propaganda film inspired the "Be Prepared" song. With the way the hyenas march to Scar's singing, it's not a very subtle nod, either. In 1994, a devastating earthquake struck the Los Angeles area, where the film was in its final stages of production. This natural disaster delayed production, which was on track for a fall 1993 release, but was ultimately pushed back to summer 1994. What's your favorite thing about The Lion King now that you're older? Comment below! Watch it on Disney+.
Telegraph
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Disney legend Alan Menken: The dwarves are the whole point of Snow White
'Are we going to talk about Disney and woke?' Alan Menken makes a horrified face and draws a finger across his neck in a throat-cutting mime. 'I'm going to pull the plug on this interview if there is any mention of Disney and politics!' He's joking. Having composed some of the most memorable scores in the history of animation, including nine for Disney – from The Little Mermaid to Beauty and the Beast – Menken is not about to let a culture-war kerfuffle throw him off balance. 'It's fine,' he says. 'Ask me anything.' We are meeting a few months ahead of the West End opening of Hercules, a new stage-musical version of Disney's 1997 animated riff on Greek mythology, set to Menken's original gospel-driven score (with lyrics by David Zippel). 'It's a very sophisticated score stylistically,' he says. 'It has a lightness to it and a rhythmic propulsion.' A native New Yorker, Menken doesn't do false modesty – and why should he? After all, he's one of only 27 people ever to have achieved the EGOT, winning Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. His last Academy Award came in 1996, for Pocahontas, though he's been nominated multiple times since. 'The Oscars have dried up because I've won eight of them now.' Yet it's another Disney production, the live-action remake of Snow White – not a film that Menken had anything to do with – which is dominating the headlines when we meet and that will, in the weeks that follow its woeful box-office performance, come to be seen as a nadir in the studio's muddled, frequently controversial project to update its much-loved back catalogue. At the time, Rachel Zegler, Snow White's leading lady, was drawing criticism from some quarters for comments she had made about Palestine, while the decision to have computer-generated dwarfs in an otherwise human cast had gone down badly with just about everyone. 'How you deal with all this stuff, it's as tricky as hell,' says Menken, who is in two minds about the whole idea of updating the classics, although he is sympathetic towards Zegler. 'She's just a kid. Yes, she said 'Free Palestine'. It's the kind of thing any of us might have said. We all want people to be free. Although, of course, there are also the nuances of history. 'But when it comes to the dwarfs…' He pauses, takes a breath. 'I'm sorry, but the dwarfs are what Snow White is all about!' There's been a bit of 'that stuff' with Hercules, he admits. The story, in which Hercules, a demigod raised among mortals, learns to embrace his destiny, has been updated for the stage show and, says Menken, now allows for its hero – depicted in the cartoon as a buff, blue-eyed redhead and played on stage by the dark-haired, Surrey-born actor Luke Brady – to be portrayed as 'a racial outsider'. Menken applauds the 'richness' this brings to the character, but laments the toning down of the cartoon's randy satyr, Philoctetes, who, he says with a hint of regret, will not be seen on stage 'running around lusting over nymphs'. 'At the time, you play with certain clichés because it's fun,' he says. 'But each new adaptation has to be sensitive to the passing of time and the way people will look at certain issues.' Menken is a hyperactive speaker; he talks in stops and starts, and is as physically expressive as any one of the animated characters to whom he has given such glorious musical voice over the years. He and his writing partner Howard Ashman are widely credited with reviving Disney's fortunes during the late 1980s after a prolonged period of creative and commercial decline for the studio in the decades that had followed the death of Walt Disney in 1966. The duo, who had already had a theatrical hit in 1982 with Little Shop of Horrors, struck gold three times in quick succession with The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992), the lyrics for the last completed by Tim Rice following Ashman's death from Aids in 1991. Menken, who proudly calls himself 'the keeper of the flame', would go on to score Newsies, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Enchanted and Tangled. For him, the essence of Disney can be traced back to those classics of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s that have enriched the childhoods of multiple generations, and to the spirit of which his own scores nod. 'Fantasia, Dumbo, the later Winnie the Pooh: they all had a depth and a beauty, a proper form, a moral,' he says. 'When the Aids crisis hit, or when 9/11 happened, I couldn't watch the news, I couldn't watch my favourite action adventure movies, it was just too fraught a time. But I would watch Disney. For me, those films were the only safe space in the world. I grew up on those films, but, by the 1980s, it had all gone. So Howard and I came along and rebooted it.' Now, the company to which he has dedicated his career once again finds itself at a turning point, caught between trying to appease the more progressive yet censorious Left and the diehard traditionalist Right. Although Menken is in favour of a live-action remake of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (initially announced in 2019), he accepts that, given the story's more 'problematic' aspects, it is unlikely to go ahead. 'People will go, 'Let's leave out the fact that Frollo [Quasimodo's clergyman nemesis] is obsessed with the gipsy Esmeralda.' They'll say, 'We can't have Quasimodo as a hunchback.' Well, f--- that. I'd love to make a Hunchback movie [that follows] what Victor Hugo wrote. But it can't be done.' However, he says, swerving onto a more diplomatic course, 'I don't think Disney is having an identity crisis. Obviously, Disney has been very open for gay people and diversity and woke. And then woke became a dirty word. Sometimes, when you press against limits, things push back. But I know Bob,' he says, referring to the Disney CEO, Bob Iger. 'I think he's pretty savvy about the business model.' Menken grew up in a Jewish household in New York City during the dawn of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s and, throughout his early years, set his heart on becoming a pop star. 'I didn't want to go to school, ever,' he says. 'I was very ADHD. My parents were appalled.' When he told them he wanted to be a songwriter, in the mould of his hero Bob Dylan, they insisted that he practise the piano every single day. 'They imprinted on me the need to dig in and work. They would say, 'You want to be a shoe salesman instead?' I find it very depressing to buy shoes now.' After graduating from college in 1972, he attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop – a well-respected incubator for future Broadway talent – partly to placate his parents, who were musical-theatre fanatics. That same year, he met and fell in love with Janis Roswick, a ballet dancer; half a century later, they remain married and have two daughters. Suddenly, the itinerant lifestyle of a touring pop star no longer looked quite so appealing, so Menken dedicated himself instead to composition. It's often said of his Disney music that it lacks an identifying style of his own, unlike, say, the higher-brow Stephen Sondheim, whose musical imprimatur is instantly recognisable. 'You can only pull on the stuff that's in your gut,' Menken says. 'And when it comes to audiences, the great thing about Disney is that it's a leveller.' All the same, he is keen to point out that his scores do have musical and emotional specificity, be it the 'apocalyptic' Phil Spector girl-group sound behind Little Shop of Horrors or the ragtime influence on Newsies. 'I'm not trying to be egotistical, but that was very much my and Howard's approach: we established throughout our scores a specificity of place,' he says. By comparison, 'a lot of the new Disney scores are generic…'. He stops, as if reconsidering what he is about to say. 'I think they have moved into a different place, where a Lin-Manuel score is very much Lin-Manuel,' he continues, referring to Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of Hamilton, who wrote the Oscar-nominated score for Disney's 2021 film Encanto. 'That's not what Howard and I did, but, hey, things evolve.' At 75, Menken still has multiple projects on the go – including both a live-action remake and a stage adaptation of Tangled, the 2010 Disney animation loosely based on the story of Rapunzel – and can't imagine himself retiring any time soon. 'Well, I can if I think what I'm producing isn't good enough,' he says, 'but I haven't reached that point yet.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
MAGA Rages as Trump Aide Accuses Dem of Controlling Biden ‘Autopen'
MAGA is raging online after President Donald Trump's crypto czar accused a senator of being behind the 'autopen' conspiracy, which alleges Joe Biden did not call the shots during his presidency. The White House's crypto and AI czar, David Sacks, told Fox News on Tuesday that Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren 'controlled the autopen during that administration.' Biden, 82, has been open about his use of an autopen during his presidency, having utilized the device to make signatures since 2021, the first year of his term. The MAGA conspiracy regarding the device centers on whether Biden was aware of its use each time, with Trump himself pushing the conspiracy that he was not. Right-wing figures claim Biden's mental capacity deteriorated so much that other Democrats used his autopen without his knowledge to push their agenda. Sacks' remark to Jesse Watters—in primetime, on Fox News—sent those right-wing theories into overdrive, despite Sacks providing no proof to back his claim up. Infowars founder Alex Jones, whose love of spreading baseless conspiracies cost him his media company, was among those who seized on the comment. 'The Fake Pocahontas was using the Autopen!' he posted, referring to Warren. 'This is a coup against the American voter!' Another viral post, with 6,000 likes, went so far as to claim that Warren, 75, 'must stand trial' for her alleged involvement. 'Easiest way to tell that the allegations of Elizabeth Warren being in charge of the Autopen is when she doesn't dispute them,' the post read. 'Elizabeth Warren must stand trial for it. This is Treason 100%.' The account MAGA Voice received nearly 9,000 likes on a post that read in part, 'SHE SHOULD BE THROWN IN PRISON FOR THAT. LOCK HER UP.' Chuck Callesto said Warren was 'BUSTED.' He shared the Fox News clip and asked his nearly one million X followers: 'If this is true, what should Elizabeth Warren's punishment be?' Warren's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast. She has not publicly addressed Sacks' accusation. Sacks, who undermined White House messaging over the weekend regarding Medicaid cuts, later clarified on X that Warren controlled the Biden autopen only on matters related to crypto. ˙He also toned his definitive accusation down, claiming it was just 'my theory.' 'My theory is that multiple people controlled the autopen depending on what issue it was,' he wrote. 'On crypto, Warren controlled the autopen.' Multiple U.S. presidents have used an autopen, including President Barack Obama. Trump first spread the Biden autopen conspiracy in March, when he claimed in a late-night post to Truth Social that his predecessor's presidential pardons should be nullified because they were issued using an autopen without his knowledge. 'Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,' Trump wrote. 'In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them, but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!' No credible proof has backed up Trump's claim, but his sycophants in Congress are making sure the conspiracy is thoroughly looked into. House Oversight Chair James Comer said this month he was investigating a list of names of individuals who may have used the device without Biden's knowledge. 'Don't rule out Hunter Biden,' Comer told Fox News, citing one name. 'He spent a lot of time in the Oval Office in the last three months.'
