The song was originally developed for the prison scene where Pocahontas visits Captain John Smith before he is sentenced to death for the alleged murder of Kocoum, Chief Powhatan's warrior whom Pocahontas was supposed to marry. The musical number, which was about 90% animated, was supposed to be a duet performed by the pair as they acknowledge their love for each other. During test screenings with child audiences their attention "seemed to wander from the film." Therefore, Alan Menken, the composer of the songs for Disney's Pocahontas, decided it had to be cut because he felt that it slowed the pace of the movie. Additionally, another song, "Savages", occurred not more than five minutes after. Although it was cut from the movie itself, If I Never Knew You was still performed by Jon Secada and Shanice at the end credits and released as a single. It had a few different lyrics than the film's original lyrics.
In 2005, Disney released the tenth anniversary edition of Pocahontas, which had the song fully animated and integrated into the film, but was an optional feature that the viewer could choose or watch the original theatrical version instead, due to seamless branching. It was performed by Mel Gibson (Captain Smith) and Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas) within the film's narrative. It was recorded for the original film in 1995. The audio version became available in 2015 for the Walt Disney Records: The Legacy Collection edition of the film's soundtrack.
