Out of the Vault: SQUANTO: A WARRIOR’S TALE

The Walt Disney Company has an odd history. Initially it was one of the main pillars of Golden Hollywood, but was always associated with making mostly glossy family fare, nature documentaries and fairly disposable programmers. Over time it grew in reputation, mostly as Walt himself became a television mainstay and the popularity of its massive, industry-defining theme park, Disneyland. But after the death of the founder of the company, Disney as a studio found themself in a bit of wilderness period, putting out increasingly idiosyncratic fare both in animation and live-action, and creating a strange hodge-podge of material that would over time become junkier and junkier.

That is until the late 1980s and into the 1990s, when Disney reclaimed the top shelf role in the world of family entertainment, putting out a string of animated and even live-action films that defined the childhood of a whole Millennial generation (myself included). Often known as the Disney renaissance, this fizzled out around the end of the 1990s, leading to another shorter wilderness period until the rise of Pixar, the domination of revitalized Walt Disney Animation Studios and finally the rise of Marvel Films and purchase of the Star Wars franchise led to Disney being the central hub of profitable Hollywood production.

And now they seem to have found themselves in a bit of a wilderness again. Yes, they have two of the most profitable film of the year most likely to their name, but that was after a series of failed re-imaginings and half-starts on new directions, the long term health of Marvel and Star Wars is in serious question.

But that’s not what I’m interested in exploring. Because say what else you will about Disney, one thing that has always been true is that Disney has never been want for content to be consumed. They have a regular stream of new movies, TV series and other pieces of media to be consumed. Unlike any other company, Disney has defined itself an identity that exists somewhat outside of framework of just movie culture. There are people who consider themselves “Disney geeks,” with all the broadness that entails. But even for those folks, there are plenty of cultural dead ends that are worth exploring.

That is where Out of the Vault comes in. As an experiment, it is a series of articles that will look at the forgotten cul-de-sacs of Disney lore, the films that are lurking deep in the spaces of Disney+ that most dare not explore. That isn’t to say they are the worst of Disney’s output; there are plenty of rotten Disney movies that are well and in some cases even fondly remembered. Instead, it is a monument to the sheer breadth of Disney output, and films that people put blood, sweat and tears into that became pop cultural phantoms.

For example, our first dipping of our toes into these waters: Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale. Released in 1995, a full year before Disney Animated Pictures’ Pocahontas, Squanto is an odd relic of a film, a historical action-adventure that is kid-friendly in the sense that it is not especially bloody in its violence, but it’s themes and content are greatly upsetting. Telling a highly mythologized version of the story of the actual historical figure of  Tisquantum, more commonly known as Squanto, the film is deeply steeped in 1990s revisionism of the American story. The film presents an unambiguously critical view of the role of European colonialism into the “New World,” but also pulls back some of its potential biggest punches in a message of unity and peace. The film is definitely a product of its time, but one that surprises as a product of one of the most historically politically conservative companies in Hollywood.

Squanto centers on the titular member of the Patuxet, who is kidnapped into slavery by English traders who come to what would become modern-day Plymouth. After he is taken to Europe, Squanto has a series of adventures with the clear-eyed mission of returning home, which includes fighting a bear, learning English from a group of Franciscan monks including Mandy Patinkin, and eventually sneaking onto a ship to come back home. Upon returning home, he discovers his whole tribe has been killed by disease spread by Europeans, and now must build a new life for himself, striving for peace and understanding between the peoples on either side of the Atlantic.

This is more or less the whole scope of the movie. (Sorry for spoilers for a 30-year-old film that you likely have never heard of.)  But nothing in the film is especially surprising, other than it’s very menacing view European expansion into the Americas and the impact it had on indigenous cultures there. For being made in 1994, the film is very clear-eyed, if cartoonishly so, about the motivations of European interference into the New World. They are shown to be greedy and almost outlandishly dismissive about the humanity of its natives. Michael Gambon plays Sir George, an actual English trade baron, who gives his best scenery chewing performance playing his greed and racism to the rafters. Really any of the British aristocracy who are played for villains are at this pitch, which is in stark contrast to the more reserved aspects of the film.

At the center of the film is Adam Beach, an actual first nation’s actor who, while not a riveting screen presence, handles the burden of being at the center of a historical action film for families with a certain degree of calm. In fact, most of the indigenous characters are played by actual indigenous actors, a pleasantly surprising discovery, but an example of the filmmakers trying to “do right” by the material. Eric Schweig as Ebenow, a fellow captive from a rival native tribe, is especially impressive, as he has to carry the crux of the film’s anger.

That is because as the hero Squanto ultimately does have to have the very safe moral position of violence of all stripes is unjustified, even after the English traders return to the Americas. This softens Squanto’s agency somewhat, and it also glosses over quickly Squanto’s role in brokering the first Thanksgiving, his primary claim to fame. 

The movie was directed by Xavier Koller, a Swedish filmmaker whose previous work had been the Oscar-winning film Journey of Hope. You can definitely feel the movements of a director attempting to transition from their home country to America, with long shots of beautiful countrysides outshining the more pedestrian action sequences. The film is clearly attempting to draft off various contemporary action hits, most recognizably Last of the Mohicans and to a lesser degree Prince of Thieves, but sanding some of the nastier edges off of those.

Still, it is surprising to see a film that deals with the oft forgotten history of chattel slavery of Native Americans in England, as well as the overall devastation of these initial contacts, especially in from mid-90s Disney. The film pulls some of its punches in its final act, but as an overall artifact of mid-tier entertainment it is effective enough. It sidesteps the biggest landmines of the subject matter, and has more teeth than Pocahontas certainly. But it is also easy to see why it is ultimately a side note in the larger history of the company. Too serious to be fully engaging as children’s entertainment, but not quite mean or brave enough to go as far as it needs to with its subject matter. It feels like a movie that was created to be shown in 8th grade history classes.