John Smith (Disney)

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Captain John Smith



First appearance	Pocahontas (1995)
Created by	Carl Binder
Voiced by	Mel Gibson (original) Donal Gibson (sequel)

Captain John Smith (or simply John Smith) is a protagonist from Disney's 1995 animated feature Pocahontas and it's 1998 direct-to-video sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World. He is based on the actual historical figure John Smith, though he does differ in looks (the real John Smith was a short, bearded man) and intentions. He was voiced by Mel Gibson in the first film, and by Mel's younger brother, Donal Gibson in the sequel. He is also featured as one of the more prominent characters in the Walt Disney World nighttime light and fireworks show, Fantasmic!.

In the first film, he is one of the lead characters and the love interest of the films heroine, Pocahontas, and is the only one of the English settlers in the Jamestown Settlement willing to befriend the natives due to his love and learning to accept other cultures from Pocahontas.

In the second film, his role is much smaller, though he is still a very important part of the plot. While in the beginning of the film he is still Pocahontas's love interest and is presumed dead, the film goes on to develop a romance between Pocahontas and the man who she would marry in reality, John Rolfe. In the end however, he is the hero of the film and helps to defeat and expose Ratcliffe, and frees Pocahontas when she is imprisoned.

While between the two films Pocahontas falls in love with the two different men, most other media, including the Disney Princess franchise, acknowledges John Smith and Pocahontas as a couple and ultimately ignores John Rolfe.

[edit] Trivia

He is featured in Disney's Hollywood Studios nighttime stage show Fantasmic!.
He makes cameo appearances in a few episodes of the Disney's House of Mouse television series.
He appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for meet and greets, shows and parades. He is the least common Pocahontas character.
He and Pocahontas appear in the Disney Cruise Line stage show The Golden Mickeys.