My Movie Review on Anastasia (1997) · 5:22pm Jul 22nd, 2019
Salutations, my friends.
This is your warmhearted film and tv show reporter here with his 50th film review.
And today, I'll be making an analysis on 20th Century Fox's and Don Bluth's "Anastasia (1997)".
Here's the summary of this beloved tale:
In the year 1916, in St. Petersburg, Russia, a royal family known as the Romanovs are inflicted by a curse, which was cast upon them by a vengeful sorcerer known as Rasputin. In the wake of the curse, the Romanovs are attacked by Russia's government and are killed in the process, with the exception of Anastasia and her grandmother, Marie. Escaping in the midst of the chaos, Anastasia is separated from her grandmother, goes missing, and is presumed to be dead.
A decade later, though, rumors have spread that Anastasia could very well still be alive.
Two conmen by the names of Dimitri and Vladmir make it their mission to find someone who looks exactly like the young princess in an effort to earn some quick cash from the princess's grandmother.
The answer to their problems, unexpectedly, comes in the form of a girl named Anya, who astoundingly looks so much like the lost princess. It's even more astounding that Anya doesn't remember who she is, where she came from, and if she had a family. Every aspect of her lift beyond being a lost 8-year old child is a blank to her.
With Anya wanting to know who she is, and the two cons finding themselves with an opportunity they can't turn away from, the trio travel together to Paris to meet with Miss Marie.
As the journey progresses, however, one question comes to everyone's mind:
Could Anya actually be the lost princess?
I can hardly believe that I'm making my debut on a film by Don Bluth by reviewing this film, but, here I am. And I'd like to tell you that, even though I haven't gotten around to reviewing Bluth's other films, "All Dogs Go to Heaven" and "The Secret of Nimh" definitely being ones I hope to review soon, I think this is the very best film ever to be made by Don Bluth! The same with Gary Goldman!
The animation is absolutely spectacular! I'm not sure how often I've said this about other animated features, but, the visualization of it all made everything seem so real. The water and snowy winds, for instance, were sogroundbreaking; the designs of the film's human characters were also sorealistic for being hand-drawn animated. All in all, the animation made everything feel like opening a history book, and getting transported back in time, despite the film's historical inaccuracies.
The story and direction that the film had were additionally spot-on. I mean, like I already said, the film isn't the most historically accurate motion picture, and obviously "The Greatest Showman" will be having some company in that category, but yet...Bluth and Goldman's direction, along with the creative storytelling of Susan Gauthier, Bruce Graham, Bob Tzudiker, Noni White, and the uncredited touches by the late Carrie Fisher, were so awesomely done and engaging that one wouldn't really take that to mind, honestly. They gave the film such brilliantly executed drama, and there was even some nicely done comedic charm to help lighten things up. The plot was marvelously character-driven too, and the writers and directors gave each character excellent personality and dialogue. The best part about this movie is that once you get into it, you'll immediately want to see where things will be going.
The voice-acting from the ensemble cast, as well as the characters and character development were amazing too.
With no memory at all about who she is and where she came from, Anya is a young adult girl who is searching for what her purpose in life is and if she has a family that loves her. To boot, she has a fiery, headstrong, and smart-aleck personality that makes her all-the-more fun to watch. Additionally, Meg Ryan was astoundingly perfect for the part, being so tongue-in-cheek that no one but her would be meant for the part.
John Cusack likewise did a phenomenal job portraying Dimitri. He gave his character a nicely done conman-vibe, incorporating a really smooth personality with a slight sense of humor on the side. Dimitri himself had brilliant character development throughout the film, and not just through discovering that money isn't everything.
The chemistry and developing romance between Anya and Dimitri was likewise enjoyable. It has a certain romantic-comedy vibe, and their developments towards each other was something that I don't think many animated features at the time touched yet.
And Christopher Lloyd...
Man, his performance as Rasputin was terrific! For many years, Lloyd's ability to play such powerful and intimidating villains never ceased to amaze me. He did a great job at getting really into his character physically and emotionally with just his voice, and he even incorporated a brilliant dark sense of humor and personality on the side. The character of Rasputin was able to prove himself as a force to be reckoned with, as well as a villain for the ages. He even had great development throughout, in that his thirst for revenge and hatred towards the Romanovs, as well as his obsession over his dark powers, drove him deeper into darkness.
I think I'm pretty much going to say that the rest of the film's ensemble and characters were ones that no one will be forgetting anytime soon. I mean, Hank Azaria and his character of Bartok provided tons of great laughs, even when it seemed like they weren't even trying to; Bernadette Peters and her character of Sophie also didn't keep from standing out either. Even Kelsey Grammer and Angela Lansbury did a terrific job portraying Vladmir & Marie, and the characters themselves were marvelously memorable.
Finally, it all comes down to the music that this film has.
David Newman's scoring for the film was able to really rock the house, ejecting brilliant Russian and French feels whenever the opportunity presented itself. There was likewise an emotional resonance from the music throughout this picture, like, whenever, danger comes into the mix, there would be this feeling like something is trying to catch you and you don't know if there's any escape.
The songs that were made by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty were lovely too. They lyrics and melodies are memorable, the performances of the singers were
extraordinary, and they bring in a flavor originated by Disney since "The Little Mermaid", but at the same time...the flavor is something of its own.
Now before I conclude this review, I'd like to be upfront by saying that despite how much I commend this film, I don't think it's something that people ten and under should see. It's mainly because many of the moments with Rasputin are too intense and scary for little ones. That, and the film might be too dark for children. Anya's journey and the concept of amnesia will likely be something children will have a hard time understanding and relating to. Why the film wasn't even rated PG instead of G for the intense moments and peril is something I don't know, but I find that to be the fault of the MPAA rating system and no one else.
In conclusion, however, "Anastasia" proves itself to be a gem to behold. In my opinion, it should even be classified as the pinnacle of Bluth and Goldman's animation career.
So, I rate "Anastasia (1997)" a solid 5 out of 5 stars, the rating being for a film that's perfect for pre-teens, teens, and adults.
Excellent movie, up there with Disney's finest.
I'll be honest, this has got to be the one Don Bluth movie I haven't seen, and probably never will in its entirety.
Any thoughts on the Broadway version?
I’ve never heard of this before, it sounds really good! I’ll definitely watch it eventually!
Fun Fact: a while back, somebody did an animatic showing King Sombra singing "In the Dark of the Night".
5092609
How come?
Nah. I've never seen the Broadway version. I don't go to broadway stuff very much.
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I don't really enjoy the story. I've watched parts of it. Everything else about the movie is amazing and I enjoy.
It's just knowing the true story of Anastasia and the Russian revolution kinda turns off this whole thing for me.
It's not just this movie. Any movie/show that takes a, often tragic, historical event and tries to, for lack of better term, "Disney-fy it", I just find outputting.
On top of all that, the songs are very well loved by animated musical fans everywhere. Considering that Disney tends to dominate in that category, that's really saying something.
Gonna leave this here for your viewing pleasure:
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Fair enough, though its not the worse. Yeah, we all know Anastasia didn't make it out, but then again, the legend that she MIGHT have survived wasn't disproven until the film came out. At least its not as bad as those two Titanic animated films where, you know, NO ONE DIED