Anastasia (1997 film)

Anastasia
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Don Bluth Gary Goldman
Produced by	Don Bluth Gary Goldman
Written by	Susan Gauthier Bruce Graham Bob Tzudiker Noni White Eric Tuchman
Starring	Meg Ryan John Cusack Angela Lansbury Kelsey Grammer Christopher Lloyd Hank Azaria Bernadette Peters
Music by	Score: David Newman Songs: Stephen Flaherty Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics)
Editing by	Bob Bender Fiona Trayler
Studio	Fox Animation Studios
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	November 14, 1997 (1997-11-14) (NY premiere) November 21, 1997 (1997-11-21) (US)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$53,000,000
Box office	$139,804,348

Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical adventure film produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. It was the first feature film to be released by Fox Animation Studios.

The idea for the film originates from Fox's 1956 live-action film version of the same name. The plot is loosely based on an urban legend which claimed that Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the last monarch of Imperial Russia, in fact survived the execution of her family, and thus takes various liberties with historical fact.

Plot

In 1916, Tsar Nicholas II and his family hosts a ball at the Catherine Palace to celebrate the Romanov tricentennial. His mother, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna (Angela Lansbury), is visiting from Paris, and gives a music box and a necklace inscribed with the words “Together in Paris” as parting gifts to her eight-year-old granddaughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia (Kirsten Dunst). The ball is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of Grigori Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd), a power-mad sorcerer who was banished by the Tsar for treason. Rasputin had then sold his soul in exchange for an unholy reliquary, which he uses to cast a curse on the Romanov family, sparking a revolution that forces them to flee the palace. Only Marie and Anastasia are able to escape, thanks to a young servant boy named Dimitri, who shows them a secret passageway in Anastasia's room. Rasputin confronts the two royals outside, only to fall through the ice and drown. The pair manage to reach a moving train, but only Marie climbs aboard while Anastasia falls, hitting her head on the platform.

Ten years later, Russia is under communist rule, and Marie has publicly offered ten million rubles for the safe return of her granddaughter. Dimitri (John Cusack), now a conman, and his friend and partner Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer) thus search for an Anastasia lookalike to present to Marie in Paris and collect the reward. Elsewhere, Anastasia (Meg Ryan), now under the name "Anya," leaves the rural orphanage where she grew up, having lost her memory prior to arriving there. She turns down a job at a fish factory in favor of going to St. Petersburg after her necklace inspires her to seek out her family in Paris, accompanied by a stray puppy named Pooka. In the deserted palace she encounters Dimitri and Vladimir, who — impressed by her resemblance to the "real" Anastasia — decide to take her with them.

Bartok (Hank Azaria), Rasputin's bat minion, is nearby, and notices his master's dormant reliquary suddenly revived by Anya's presence; it drags him to limbo, where Rasputin has existed since his death. Enraged to hear that Anastasia escaped the curse, Rasputin sends demonic spirits from the reliquary to kill her; despite two attempts, the trio manage to (unwittingly) foil him, forcing Rasputin and Bartok to travel back to the surface.

Anya, Dimitri, and Vlad eventually reach Paris and go to meet Marie, but Anya must first be quizzed by Marie's first cousin, Sophie, to confirm her identity. Dimitri and Vladimir had taught Anya all the answers, but when Anya independently (though dimly) recalls how Dimitri saved her ten years ago, the two men finally realize that she is the real Grand Duchess. Sophie, convinced as well, arranges for her to meet Marie after a Russian ballet, but Marie refuses to see her, having been tricked numerously before by lookalikes. Horrified that Dimitri was using her, Anya storms out. Dimitri, having fallen in love with Anya, manages to change Marie's mind by presenting her with Anastasia's music box, which he had found after their escape. Anya's memory returns upon meeting Marie, and after using her necklace to wind the music box and singing the lullaby it plays, the two women are reunited at long last.

The next day, Marie offers Dimitri the reward money, but to her surprise he refuses it and leaves for Russia, convinced that he cannot be with Anya. That night, at Anya's return celebration, Marie informs her of Dimitri's gesture and leaves her to her thoughts. Anya then wanders through a garden and onto the Pont Alexandre III, where she is trapped and attacked by Rasputin. Dimitri returns to save her, but is injured and knocked unconscious. In the end, Anya manages to destroy Rasputin's reliquary by crushing it under her foot. With Rasputin's soul having been tied to the object, he promptly turns to dust.

Afterwards, Dimitri and Anya reconcile; the two then elope and Anya sends a farewell letter to Marie and Sophie, promising to return someday. The film ends with the couple sharing a kiss as they sail out of Paris with Pooka. A reformed Bartok looks on, and quickly falls for a female bat that sneaks up and kisses him.

Voice cast

Voice Actor	Singing Voice	Character
Meg Ryan	Liz Callaway	Anya/Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova
Kirsten Dunst	Lacey Chabert	Young Anastasia
John Cusack	Jonathan Dokuchitz	Dimitri
Kelsey Grammer		Vladimir Vanya Voinitsky Vasilovich
Angela Lansbury		Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna
Bernadette Peters		Sophie Stanislovskievna Somorkov-Smirnoff
Christopher Lloyd	Jim Cummings	Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin
Hank Azaria		Bartok

Musical Score

See also: Anastasia (soundtrack)

The musical score for the film was composed, co-orchestrated, and conducted by David Newman, and the songs were written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. The film's soundtrack was released in CD and audio cassette format on October 28, 1997.

Songs

1. "Once Upon a December Prologue" - Young Anastasia and Marie (Lacey Chabert and Angela Lansbury)
2. "A Rumor in St. Petersburg" - Chorus, Dimitri and Vladimir (Jonathan Dokuchitz and Kelsey Grammer)
3. "Journey to the Past" - Anastasia (Liz Callaway)
4. "Once Upon a December" - Anastasia (Liz Callaway)
5. "Learn to Do It" - Vladimir, Anastasia and Dimitri (Kelsey Grammer, Liz Callaway and Jonathan Dokuchitz)
6. "Learn to Do It" (Waltz reprise) - Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer)
7. "In the Dark of the Night" - Rasputin, Demon bug chorus (Jim Cummings)
8. "Paris Holds the Key (To Your Heart)" - Sophie, Dimitri and chorus (Bernadette Peters and Jonathan Dokuchitz)
9. "Once Upon a December (Reprise)" - Anastasia and Marie (Liz Callaway and Angela Lansbury)
10. "At the Beginning" (end credits) - Donna Lewis & Richard Marx
11. "Journey to the Past" (end credits) - Aaliyah
12. "Once Upon a December" (end credits) - Deanna Carter

Release

Box office

A limited release of Anastasia in New York City on the weekend of November 14, 1997 grossed $120,541. The following week, the wide release of Anastasia in the United States made $14,242,807, which placed it as the second highest-grossing film between November 21-23, 1997. By the end of its theatrical run, Anastasia had grossed $58,406,347 in the domestic box office and $81,398,001 worldwide. The worldwide gross totaled $139,804,348, making it Don Bluth's highest-grossing film to date.

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from film critics. Roger Ebert gave the film 3½ out of 4 stars describing it as "...entertaining and sometimes exciting". The movie also currently stands with a 85% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Carol Buckland of CNN Interactive praised John Cusack for bringing "an interesting edge to Dimitri, making him more appealing than the usual animated hero" and stated that Angela Lansbury gave the film "vocal class", but described the film as "OK entertainment" and that "it never reaches a level of emotional magic." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly said that the film "has the Disney house style down cold", but that the film feels "a touch depersonalized".

Reception in Russia

Anastasia was a hit in Russia, despite the fact that the film took great artistic licenses with Russian history. Gemini Films, the Russian distributor of Anastasia, stressed the fact that the story was "not history", but rather "a fairy tale set against the background of real Russian events" in the film's Russian marketing campaign so that its Russian audience would not view Anastasia "as a historical film". As a result, many Russians praised the film for its art and storytelling and saw it as "not so much a piece of history but another Western import to be consumed and enjoyed". A number of Russian Orthodox Christians, on the other hand, found Anastasia to be an offensive depiction of the Grand Duchess, who was canonized as a passion bearer in 2000 by the Russian Orthodox Church. Some of Anastasia's contemporary relatives also felt that the film was distasteful, but most Romanovs have come to accept the "repeated exploitation of Anastasia's romantic tale ... with equanimity."

Criticism

Anastasia was harshly criticized by many historians because it presents a "sanitized, sugar-coated reworking of the story of the [Tsar's] youngest daughter." While the filmmakers acknowledged the fact that "Anastasia uses history only as a starting point", others complained that the film would provide its audience with misleading facts about Russian history, which, according to the author and historian Suzanne Massie, "has been falsified for so many years." Similarly, the amateur historian Bob Atchison said that Anastasia was akin to someone making a film in which "Anne Frank moves to Orlando and opens a crocodile farm with a guy named Mort." At the same time, however, Atchison recognized the possible benefits of Anastasia, noting that "if 900,000 kids go to 'Anastasia' and of that, 10,000 kids become really interested in Russian history and go on and find the truth and pursue it, it's worth it."

Awards

Anastasia won 8 awards and was nominated for 16 others, including two Academy Awards in the categories of "Best Original Musical or Comedy Score" and "Best Original Song" for "Journey to the Past". The R&B singer Aaliyah performed her pop single version of "Journey to the Past" at the 70th Academy Awards.

Nominations

Award	Year	Category	Recipient(s)
Academy Award	1997	Best Original Musical or Comedy Score	Stephen Flaherty (music), Lynn Ahrens (lyrics), David Newman (score)
Academy Award	1997	Best Original Song ("Journey to the Past")	Stephen Flahery (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics)
Annie Award	1998	Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature	Fox Animation Studios
Annie Award	1998	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production	Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Annie Award	1998	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Effects Animation	Peter Matheson
Annie Award	1998	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production	Stephen Flaherty (songs), Lynn Ahrens (songs), and David Newman
Annie Award	1998	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Producing in an Animated Feature Production	Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Annie Award	1998	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production ("Marie")	Angela Lansbury
Annie Award	1998	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production ("Anastasia")	Meg Ryan
Annie Award	1998	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production	Eric Tuchman (animation adaption), Susan Gauthier, Bruce Graham, Bob Tzudiker, and Noni White
Golden Globe	1998	Best Original Song - Motion Picture ("Once Upon a December")	Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics)
Golden Globe	1998	Best Original Song - Motion Picture ("Journey to the Past")	Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics)
Golden Satellite Award	1998	Best Motion Picture - Animated or Mixed Media	Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Golden Satellite Award	1998	Outstanding Original Score	David Newman
Golden Satellite Award	1998	Outstanding Original Song ("Journey to the Past")	Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics)
Golden Satellite Award	1998	Outstanding Original Song ("Once Upon a December")	Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics)

Wins

Award	Year	Category	Recipient(s)
ASCAP Award	1998	Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures ("At the Beginning")	Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
Annie Award	1998	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production ("Bartok")	Hank Azaria
Blockbuster Entertainment Award	1998	Favorite Animated Family Movie
Critics Choice Award	1998	Best Family Film
Artios	1998	Best Casting for Animated Voiceover	Brian Chavanne
KCFCC Award	1998	Best Animated Film
Golden Reel Award	1998	Best Sound Editing - Music Animation	Brent Brooks (music editor) and Tom Villano (scoring editor)
Special Award	1998	Best Family Feature Film - Animation

Spin-offs

Due to Anastasia's success, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment created a direct-to-video spin-off called Bartok the Magnificent (1999), featuring Rasputin's albino bat crony. A video game based on the film, titled Anastasia: Adventures with Pooka and Bartok, was released for the PC by Fox Interactive in 1997.

External links

• Anastasia at AllRovi
• Anastasia at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Anastasia at the Internet Movie Database
• Anastasia at Metacritic
• Anastasia at Box Office Mojo
• Anastasia at Rotten Tomatoes