Cleaning The Pond (Director's Cut)

Dances With Wolves (1990)

This is a lengthy extended scene where Dunbar discovers the pond adjacent to the fort, has been severely polluted by dead deer. He gathers all the deer together while simultaneously trying to determine why they were put there. He hauls them off and sets fire to the pile, accidentally creating a huge smoke cloud.

I do not own the copyrights to this film

[CatherineSTodd]

Thanks for posting these director's cut scenes. Many scenes I've never seen before. I had forgotten just what a marvelous film this is. Wish Costner had been able to make more of this caliber.

[Fnaf-vhcs]

i miss being young and watching this movies every Saturday night, back when Hollywood was big even in east of Europe for us, pity how the world evolved in the negative way even movies don't have a nice stories. Well at least we got some nice movies I think 1990s were the best.

[bokehintheussr]

John Dunbar is an interesting character. On the one hand he is able to learn conversational Lakota in a few months, but on the other hand it was a revelation for him to discover that setting fire to a load of wet, rotting deer carcasses will create a lot of smoke.

[lestersmith]

I know he calls it a pond that he cleaning up but they also say it’s a river. I love these deleted scenes.

[Whyistomatoafruit]

This scene scared the absolute f*ck out of me as a kid.

[kimchifries]

Watching this as a kid has left me with a lifelong mistrust of small bodies of water

[lankylankster]

Interesting narrative by the film's protagonist towards the end of this clip. Shows he's open-minded, which, IMO, was at the forefront on his ability to make a real connection with the people he was 'taught' were no more than beggars and thieves. 🙂LL

[hawkinatorgamer]

Soldier - "In the absence of orders....attack". This captures that, he was a soldier, he soldiered.

[fuferito]

“The Dead Marshes, Precious. Don't follow the lights.”

[Ninja-tylw]

"Those are actual dead deer that Kevin Costner pulls out of the river. To look authentic the carcasses had to be heavy, so animals killed on the highways were collected for the scene."

Jikes.

[howardford]

Watching this with headphones fly buzzing around at 03:56 had be swatting at my right ear! No joke, lol.

[brandon]

Interesting sidenote, Kevin Costner actually used real dead deer in the scene. They would use roadkill from the local area so that it look more real.

[megacron]

Couple of problems with this scene, which might be why they cut it out. First, those carcasses have been there for days if not weeks - they would completely fall apart when you pulled on them. Second, even if you managed to get all the parts & associated goo out of the water, it would still be tainted for a good long time. Did he bring barrels of water with him? What did he drink for all that time? The theatrical version made it seem like only one dead deer was in the pond, which (mostly) overcomes those issues.

[DoyleHargraves]

I bet everyone here has lit something on fire before, only to then immediately regret it.

A pile of dry christmas trees comes to mind.

[snowlauncher]

Lt. Dunbar was following masking requirements in case those dead animals had covid. :)

[leviathantoobz]

Sometimes I just come to this video for the music if I’m a feeling a bit under the weather/melancholy

[EnemyAce]

The movie never really explained this. Was the fort attacked by the Pawnee, who threw the dead deer in the water to make in undrinkable? Maybe they figured that if the water was bad the soldiers wouldn't come back?

[ericscottstevens]

As to the unrest at the fort before the arrival of Dunbar. The US Army utilized "Galvanized Yankees" to man the outposts out west. These were former Confederate soldiers who swore allegiance to the Union, but probably were not too keen to taking orders nor fighting against Confederate forces out west. Some deserted, rejoined Confederate forces, then were captured again by the Union.
Pawnee would not do this, Lakota would. This is an interpretation of a Fort Rice type establishment built on Latoka land (now present day Mandan, North Dakota). It was attacked by the Lakota in 1865 and they took the entire horse herd of the 4th U.S.V.I, leaving the soldiers stranded without the mobility of transportation. Withdrawal from the fort ensued 5 months later.

[Rockerman]

I had to laugh, being from Wyoming and an Elk hunter .. the elk bugle that sounds when it shows the mule deer head in the pond. I remember seeing this in Casper Wyoming in the theatre and half the theater was like People were looking around like what was that all about? Mule deer don't bugle.

[captainamerica]

Bad idea burning those carcasses. Sends a plum of smoke up that marks your spot not to mention the possibility of a wild fire. Shoulda drug each carcass a couple hundred yards from the post let the scavengers do the rest.