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Anachronisms (2) |
Character error (1) |
Continuity (3) |
Errors in geography (2) |
Factual errors (5) |
Incorrectly regarded as goofs (1) |
Revealing mistakes (1)
Anachronisms
In some scenes the Union Flag of Great Britain and Ireland is displayed, although this flag was not created until 1801 (nearly 200 years after the movie is set). In other scenes, St. Patrick's cross is omitted.
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The Character, Grandmother Willow, is a Weeping Willow, a species and cultivar of willow that was not introduced to the New World for centuries to come.
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Character error
John tells Thomas to aim his musket with "both eyes open" which is actually a bad way to aim a gun as it's hard to line up your sights. However, firearms did not have rifling along the barrel back then, and even if you did aim perfectly with a smoothbore gun the bullet could still spin off path and easily miss a target less than 20 feet away. The fact that Thomas hit anything he was aiming at can be attributed only to luck.
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Continuity
At the beginning of the storm the Union Flag is torn by the storm. Later in the scene, the flag is restored.
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John Smith's helmet disappears and reappears throughout the movie.
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At the beginning of the song "If I Never Knew You," both John Smith and Pocahontas are sitting on the ground. After they sing together with the flashback, they are standing and about to kiss when Nakoma interrupts; then they are suddenly on the ground again.
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Errors in geography
There are many cliffs visible near Jamestown. The land in Virginia near Jamestown is flat.
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Ratcliffe's maps show the island of Hispaniola (today divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic) underneath Florida, where Cuba should be. Although 17th century maps are known to be inaccurate, a mistake this obvious is unlikely given that the Caribbean area was well charted by then.
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Factual errors
Indians didn't plant corn in rows.
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Pocahontas follows a compass to the north, while the sun is rising. Her shadow is to her right, when it should be to her left.
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When Governor Ratcliffe plants the British flag, he claims the New World "in the name of His Majesty King James I." The king wouldn't have been referred to as James I until they'd had King James II.
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The film depicts Pocahontas as a woman in her twenties or perhaps late teens, thus making a romance with John Smith, who was in his late twenties at the time, more acceptable. In reality, Pocahontas was a girl of around 12 or 13 when she met John Smith.
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The movie depicts John Smith as being in actual danger of execution at the hands of Powhatan's men and depicts Pocahontas saving his life because of her love for him. In reality Pocahontas was playing a role in a highly scripted symbolic ceremony where Smith would be adopted into the tribe after his life was "saved".
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Incorrectly regarded as goofs
There are many historical inaccuracies in this story of Pocahontas, however this is (obviously) a highly fictionalized account of her life.
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Revealing mistakes
When the Native Americans are preparing for the battle, they are surrounding a big fire. Before they move to start the battle, they are all walking towards the center of the circle. As they do this everyone's shadow is right in front of them, as if the sun was behind all of them. This isn't possible since at least half of their shadows would be behind them and not in front of them.
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