- “This is my land! I make the laws here! And I say anyone who so much as looks at an Indian without killing him on sight, will be tried for treason and hanged!”
- ―Ratcliffe to Smith
Governor Ratcliffe is the main antagonist of Disney's 1995 animated feature film, Pocahontas.
Background
Personality
Like most Disney villains, Ratcliffe is very power-hungry. He is unbelievably greedy, as evidenced by his insatiable craving for gold, which would make him a very wealthy man. He is also highly xenophobic (even for the period in which he lives), ruthless and incredibly manipulative. It is also interesting how he shares this similarity to Henry Bowers from the novel and film IT by Stephen King. While he exudes great confidence and gives the impression of being rather vain, Ratcliffe in fact seems to take a rather dim view of himself, admitting in a sad tone of voice that he has never been a popular man. This, in addition to the fact that his peers at court consider him a "pathetic social climber", make him a somewhat sympathetic character in spite of his villainy. His mission to colonize the Americas is his last chance to make a name for himself. Ratcliffe's lack of self-esteem stands in contrast to the egomania of most Disney villains, such as Sarousch, making him somewhat unique. Despite his self-confessed lack of popularity, Ratcliffe seems quite charismatic and commands the respect of his troops until the end of the film.
Similar to Judge Claude Frollo, Ratcliffe actually believes that he is a good person and refuses to find fault in himself. He believes what he does to be in the name of the crown and even goes as far to call John Smith a liar, sees the land he found as his own, believes what Pocahontas told Smith to be lies and even calls his own men traitors at the end. He also believes himself to be powerful as he threatens his men that he will have them hanged or executed when they turn on him at the end of the film.
Unlike most Disney villains, Ratcliffe is calm and collected for most of the two films. For example when John Smith tells him there is no gold in Virgina, Ratcliffe, rather than lose his temper, insists in a stubborn voice that is a 'lie' and will hang anyone who refuses to shoot an Indian. However, he does get flustered at times but is easily calmed.
Ratcliffe is also sarcastic as he 'praises' John Smith for saving Thomas, which implies he is actually disappointed that Thomas didn't drown. In the second film, he flirts with Pocohontas at the ball and mocks John's death in a sarcastic voice.
Ratcliffe is also somewhat lazy as he simply slouches off eating food like chicken while the settlers including Thomas, Ben and Lon do all the manual labor digging for gold. He also lets his men finish setting up camp in the rain while he keeps bone dry in his tent.
Physical Appearance
Ratcliffe is an obese adult man with long black hair tied up into short pigtails with red ribbons, thick black eyebrows, and notable lavender eyelids. He is most often seen in a rose-colored long-sleeved shirt with a long V-cut neckline underneath a magenta coat with lavender collar and cuffs, black linings on the chest and waistline, and a magenta colonial hat with a blue feather on its black band with a turquoise medallion resting around his neck to top his sophisticated look off. He also wears magenta keen-length pants, lavender calf-high socks, black colonial boots, and red cape. In his imagination at the King's ball, he wore a golden yellow version of his uniform with a red medallion.
Appearances
Pocahontas
Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas.
Ratcliffe leads an expedition to Virginia to find gold and other riches (which he wants to keep for himself). He fails to tell any of the other crew of his real reason of going to Virginia and recites the "Adventure of our lives" and "Freedom" speech to cover it up. When they see land, Ratcliffe meets with John Smith, whom the crew admire, about his plan on dealing with the "savages" and "filthy little heathens" (what he calls the Native Americans,) and Smith assures his success and the meetings through. Ratcliffe arrives on the Shore of Virginia shortly after Smith and Thomas, a new recruit, then takes some land in the name of King James and calls it Jamestown.
After Smith leaves to search for the Indians, Ratcliffe orders some men to build a fort and clear the ship while the rest dig for gold. When John Smith returns, Ratcliffe orders him to prepare the men for battle so they can destroy the Indians and take the gold. But Smith tells Ratcliffe that there is no gold and that they don't have to fight the Native Americans because he already met one of them, and suggests the Natives can help them by showing them their land. Ratcliffe, however, doesn't believe this, declaring that the land belongs to him and announces that "Anyone who so much looks at an Indian without killing him on sight will be tried for treason and hanged!" When he sees John Smith running off somewhere that night, he sends Thomas to follow him, hoping the "poor excuse for a soldier" will be able to prove his worth. He later overhears the men talking about Smith's capture (Smith had been attacked by a warrior named Kocoum, whom Thomas had promptly shot dead during the fight, but had been ordered to flee the scene for Smith to take the blame) and decides to wage war against the Indians to rescue Smith exterminate the "savages" and take their gold for himself (although he merely tells his men it is a rescue mission to ensure their support). After the two sides march their way to one another, they are stopped abruptly by Pocahontas, who tells everyone that they were led onto the path of hatred. All the men on both sides are deeply touched by the woman's love and wisdom, and lower their weapons. The would-be combatants now make it clear that there will be no battle.
Ratcliffe is the only one not moved by this, and orders his men to open fire anyway, thinking it is a trick, but they refuse. Outraged, Ratcliff grabs a gun from one of his men and prepares to shoot Powhatan himself. John Smith sees this, jumps in the way and takes the bullet (though not fatally). Finally seeing Ratcliffe for the corrupt, greedy monster he really was, Thomas and the other settlers rebel, now realizing that John Smith was right all along and they should never have listened to Ratcliffe, bounding and gagging him and sending him back to England to await punishment for his crimes. All the while, he angrily tells the settlers that they are the real criminals for turning against him and warns that they are the ones who will be punished.
Journey to the New World
Ratcliffe in Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World
Ratcliffe returns in the sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World. Apparently, he has fabricated his own version of the events in Jamestown to implicate John Smith as the traitor, and despite the impossibility of his honesty, he is easily believed by King James (mostly due to their close, personal friendship) and sent to capture Smith for questioning along with some soldiers. In the ensuing fray, Ratcliffe tells Smith "Pity. I so would have preferred to see you hanged", knocks Smith off a building to his apparent death, and tells King James that he had tried to stop Smith from committing suicide.
When John Rolfe, who had been sent to Jamestown to bring back Powhatan for questioning, returns with Pocahontas, Ratcliffe immediately plots to get rid of her, convincing James to invite Pocahontas to the Hunt Ball, where he has planned a bear baiting with a jester, knowing about her "savage" instincts. Pocahontas, at first, impresses the King with her manners taught by Rolfe, but naturally becomes outraged at the bear baiting, especially when the snobbish aristocrats in attendance do nothing but laugh at the creature's torture, and openly insults Ratcliffe and King James, calling them savages. Ratcliffe convinces King James to imprison her and sentence her to death, and is allowed to take his armada to Jamestown for war with the Powhatans. However, unbeknowest to Ratcliffe, hiss lies are finally exposed when John Smith, who survived his ordeal with Ratcliffe, aids Rolfe in breaking Pocahontas out of prison and shows himself in the King's court. Realizing that he has been fooled, King James orders Ratcliffe to be stopped.
In the subsequent battle, Ratcliffe attempted to end Pocahontas's life until Smith intervenes, dueling and almost killing Smith for real, but is subdued by Rolfe and thrown overboard. Before he falls into the river, Smith says to Ratcliffe the latter's earlier remark: "Pity. I so would have preferred to see you hanged." Ratcliffe makes it to shore where King James and his soldiers were waiting. When Ratcliffe tells King James that the "fugitives are getting away," King James, who has already learned the truth and refuses to believe him, says "No more lies" and and tells his men to arrest him while walking away in disgust. His sentence for high treason is unknown, though realistically, he would have been put in prison for life and/or executed.
House of Mouse
Ratcliffe appears as a minor guest character in the show. He appears in House of Genius, where he is seen behind Fagin.
Disney Parks
Ratcliffe posing for a photo at one of the Disney parks.
Ratcliffe can be found at the Disney Parks as a meetable character usually rare depending on the park. He also appears as one of the villains of the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game.
Fantasmic!
Ratcliffe plays a notable part in Disney's Hollywood Studios' version of the show. Ratcliffe and his men claim the mountain as King James' land and battles the Indians, whom he still believes are savages.
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
In Frontierland and Liberty Square, Ratcliffe is freed from prison by Hades (in the guise of Lord Indigo) and makes a deal to take control over Frontierland in exchange for the crystal of the Magic Kingdom. Ratcliffe agrees, but soon enough, Ratcliffe begins to panic as the crystal is nowhere in sight, but being that Pocahontas knows the land, he kidnaps Meeko to force her into helping him find it. Fortunately, the guests defeat Ratcliffe by blasting him with magic, making him fall off of his ship.
In 2013, Ratcliffe joined other Disney villains in the "Unleash the Villains" event at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Associated Characters
Wiggins
Wiggins, also voiced by Stiers, is Ratcliffe's manservant. In sharp contrast to his villainous master, Wiggins is light-hearted, timid and very playful (in one scene, he is seen cutting topiary from Virginian shrubs). Although he could in no way be considered an "evil" character, he nonetheless appears to be very loyal to his master and Ratcliffe, though constantly annoyed by his shenanigans, seems to trust him implicitly. At the first film's end, he expresses regret at seeing Ratcliffe for the greedy monster he truly is, and even sobs. He does not appear in Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World.
Percy
Percy was originally Ratcliffe's pet pug. He appears spoiled and seems to have an irritable personality, especially in the first film. Percy and Meeko spend most of the first film fighting, usually over food with Meeko always coming out on top, only to apparently become friends by the film's end. Percy leaves Ratcliffe at this point and remains with Pocahontas and her people. Ratcliffe never reacts to the fact Percy isn't with him anymore in Pocahontas II. Percy, on the other hand, seems to have had a change of heart and does not want to go back to Ratcliffe, at one point cowering underneath a carriage in Ratcliffe's presence.
Songs
Ratcliffe has been part of a couple of Pocahontas songs during the two films.
Trivia
- Unlike other Disney animated villains, Ratcliffe is based on an actual historical person.
- His confession that he is not a popular man, coincidentally also seems to apply to real life. While he has a small, but dedicated fanbase and in spite of his obvious panache, he is in fact one of Disney's greediest and most unpopular villains. This may be because he came after one of Disney's best villains, Scar, giving him a lot to live up to and being followed by Frollo.
- In the foreground, a rat can be seen boarding the ship in exactly the same manner (thereby pronouncing the 'rat' in 'Ratcliffe').
- Governor Ratcliffe is the third 'John' in the Pocahontas series. Due to this fact, his first name was never mentioned.
- Despite being the main antagonist of the first film, Ratcliffe does not interact with Pocahontas until their first true meeting took place in the second film. The real Ratcliffe was generous with the Native Americans. They tortured him to death when he was planning to trade with them in 1609. He did not live to see Pocahontas be married to John Rolfe.
- He is believed to have a cameo at the end of Frozen as one of the lords who look at the ending scene from a balcony, but some people think it's just a lookalike.
- In the final scenes of both films, Ratcliffe is wearing his armor.
- The Governor Ratcliffe action figure doesn't come with the hat or cape.
- In real life, the supervisor of John Smith's ship on the journey to America was Christopher Newport, not Ratcliffe.
- He appears in Disney theme parks all over the world as a meetable character.
- Ratcliffe wasn't among the antagonists in Mickey's House of Villains.
- He symbolizes the deadly sin of Greed and mistaken speculation, due to his obvious and insatiable craving for the non-existent gold that would forever elude him.
- Ratcliffe bears similarities to both Horned King and Frollo, in the sense that all three are the main antagonist, employ henchmen to do their dirty work while they sit around for most of the film, and only in the climax of their film do they deliver a blow to the protagonists personally. Ratcliffe and Frollo are also similar first appearing in scene one and in their hatred of a certain race (Radcliffe:Native Americans and Frollo:Gypsies) and they also obtain a high rank in authority and political influence.
- He is the second villain from the Disney Renaissance who has not die at the end of his debut film, the first being Jafar (though Ratcliffe did not die in the sequel either), and the third being Hades (though only because he is a god and is immortal).
- He is also the second Disney Princess villain not to be killed, the first being Lady Tremaine and the third and, to date, last, being Hans. Jafar did not die in the first Aladdin, but did in the sequel.
- He has also some physical similarities with Hook. They have the same shoes, and their hair, and mustache also have similarities.
- Ratcliffe is also similar to Shere Khan and Edgar Balthazar. Although they are all the main antagonist they do not interact with the protagonist at first.
- Ratcliffe is Disney's second main antagonist who is bound and gagged, after Edgar Balthazar.
Voice
| Country | Actor |
|---|---|
| US. | David Ogden Stiers |
| Spain | Miguel Ángel Jenner |
| Sweden | Stefan Ljungqvist |
Gallery
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