I grew up in the age of the beloved Disney movies The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. When Pocahontas came out in 1995, I loved it in a more mature way, imagining I deeply understood "Colors of the Wind" and playing the song in junior high band. Later, in 2009, James Cameron's Avatar came out, and I was awestruck. I've also always had a thing for space and stars, and it very magically combined my interest in space travel with a fondness for nature.
Those Disney movies and Avatar have stayed with me well into my adulthood. I've always clung to Belle as my favorite character, but Avatar holds a special place in my heart. One year, I "won" Halloween by showing up to a friend's party in full Neytiri costume, having done my own makeup. Nobody talked to me for hours because they didn't recognize me! Once the cat was out of the bag, people were still confused as to who I was supposed to be. I even re-used the
costume for a football game, throwing an ASU shirt over the outfit and opting out of the makeup, which made people even more confused. It was such a good movie, and I was always surprised to find how many people had not only not seen it, but had no recollection of what it even was.When the Pandora area opened up in Disney World, I was thrilled to be immersed in the recreation, and riding the Ikran (or Banshee) on the Flight of Passage ride was more thrilling and awe-inspiring than I could have imagined.
I don't remember when it first occurred to me that the story of Avatar is the story of Pocahontas in space, but the parallels are fascinating. Here is how they stack up.
The Overall Plot
Both stories involve "modern" people, driven by a greed for resources, clashing with local "savages."
- The Valuable Mineral: In Pocahontas, the colonizers are obsessed with gold, even though it isn't actually there. In Avatar, the "Sky People" are after Unobtainium, which they know is sitting right under Hometree.
- The Long Journey: The "Skywalkers" in Avatar had to be in cryogenics for the long journey to Pandora, while the Englishmen in Pocahontas had to cross the salt water on a long journey to the Americas.
The Antagonists
In both movies, the villain is ugly—both in appearance and spirit—and gives a demeaning speech about the locals to justify killing them.
- Governor Ratcliffe (Pocahontas): "Don't lose your heart, men. It won't be long before we reach the New World. And remember what awaits us there. Freedom, prosperity... the adventure of our lives. You're the finest crew England has to offer, and nothing-- not wind nor rain nor a thousand bloodthirsty savages shall stand in our way. Carry on, men!"
- Colonel Quaritch (Avatar): "You're not in Kansas anymore. You're on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen. Respect that fact, every second of every day. ... Out there beyond that fence, every living thing that crawls, flies, or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubes."
The Overseers: Both movies feature a leader who supports the villain, but isn't necessarily quite as evil. In Avatar, this is the corporate administrator Parker Selfridge. Unlike the brutal Colonel, Selfridge isn't painted as a pure combatant; he’s a bureaucrat, which makes his complicity in the destruction feel more cold and calculated. King James in Pocahontas isn't even seen until the sequel - he never steps foot in the New World, and is, therefore, just an ideal over-sea-er.
Signs from Nature
Both films rely heavily on the idea of a spiritual connection to the environment.
- The Signs: Pocahontas has a dream and confides in Mother Willow. Later, a raccoon brings her the compass John Smith gifted her, reminding her of the spinning arrow in her dream. Neytiri sees the sign from Eywa—the floating, dandelion-like seeds that collect on Jake Sully.
- The Battle: The invaders of both films had superior weapons, and the natives in each story united disparate tribes to form a more powerful army in order to level the playing field.
- The Rebellion: Mother Nature physically strikes back in both. Mother Willow raises her roots to trip the encroaching Englishmen, and in Avatar, the animals unite to fight against the humans.
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
It isn’t a coincidence that the heart of both stories is a tree. In Pocahontas, Mother Willow is an ancient, sentient guide who offers wisdom and perspective, acting as the spiritual anchor for the entire tribe. In Avatar, Hometree is the literal and metaphorical center of the Omaticaya people—it is their sanctuary, their connection to their ancestors, and their source of life. Both films use these massive, rooted, and ancient beings to highlight a fundamental truth: while the humans see the land as a resource to be harvested or moved, the natives see it as a living entity that holds the memories and spirits of those who came before. When the invaders target the tree in each film, it’s not just an attack on a resource; it’s an assault on the soul of the community.
The Heroes and the Love Story
John Smith and Jake Sully are both battle-tested soldiers, and I love that they share the same initials. They both undergo the same arc: a cocky guy meets the indigenous beauty who happens to be the chief's daughter, betrothed to a beefcake of a warrior, and she teaches him to the foreign hero to nature differently. He realizes his people are in the wrong, falls in love, and is seen as a traitor by his own people.
- All Tied Up: Both of our heroes are captured by the natives following a misunderstanding. However, in Avatar, Dr. Grace is also captured and tied up, while in Pocahontas, John Smith is by himself.
- The Injury: In Pocahontas, when John Smith throws himself in front of the musket fire to save the Chief, he is wounded, and Pocahontas rushes to his side, cradling him. Neytiri likewise cradles Jake Sully's human body when he is suffocated in the battle.
- Lost (and Found) in Translation: It makes sense that the indigenous tribes of each move have their own language. Overcoming the language barrier and learning to communicate is one of the first tests of our new couples.
The Divergence
How the two films differ is powerful. While the setup of these two films mirrors each other so closely, the way they end is where the real story lives. The depth of the transformation changes significantly between the two eras. In Pocahontas, the hero’s "leaning in" is cautious and tentative; he learns a few lessons, but he remains firmly an outsider, leaving much of the emotional labor of bridge-building to her. In contrast, Jake Sully’s arc is one of complete immersion. He doesn't just visit the forest; he effectively dies to his old life so he can be reborn into the new one. This shift in the heroes' journeys—how they communicate, how they fight, and how they ultimately choose their futures—tells us as much about our evolving culture as it does about the movies themselves.
- Overcoming the Language Barrier: A key difference is the role of language. In Pocahontas, she magically learns English ("Listen with your heart"). In Avatar, the process is more deliberate—Jake is part of a program designed to bridge that cultural gap.
- No Fight Club Here: While both films lead up to a battle between superior weapons and a united native force, Pocahontas ends with a fragile, hopeful truce. Avatar goes further, with an all-out battle and brutal losses on both sides, ending with the total expulsion of the industrial force.
- The Departures: John Smith ultimately returns home to heal, leaving behind many of the men in Virginia but ultimately retreating to the world he knows. Jake Sully, however, makes a more radical choice: he permanently abandons his human body to live as an Avatar, helping to lead the effort to expel the industrial force from Pandora entirely. These departures mirror a classic tension—between the comfort of returning to the life we were born into with a newly refreshed perspective, versus the transformative, permanent choice to fully commit to a new way of existing.
There is so much to be said about the velocity of technology today—from the rise of AI to the evolution of increasingly effective, and frankly, scary weaponry. It’s easy to feel the weight of that shift. But I’ve come to believe that in a world where these forces are becoming more pervasive, the act of retreating into nature and intentionally celebrating our humanity is going to increase in importance, not decrease. If Pocahontas and Avatar taught me anything, it’s that no matter how advanced our 'Sky People' tech becomes, it can never replace the quiet wisdom of a forest or the necessity of seeing our world through a lens of connection rather than conquest. The further we advance, the more we need to stay rooted.
