Well, everyone, today, we review a non-Disney film that was made by the company 20th Century Fox, over twenty years before that company got bought out by Disney, and then was renamed 20th Century Studios. Oh, but that’s not all, before this movie was released, or even went into production for that matter, directors Don Bluth, and Gary Goldman went through some very serious hardships following the release of their 1989 hit All Dogs Go To Heaven. From films of theirs like 1994’s Thumbelina, and 1995’s The Pebble & The Penguin being flops, to having to shut down their former main animation studio in Dublin, Ireland, and then having to lose their former film business animation partner John Pomeroy to Disney, Don Bluth, and Gary Goldman faced difficult circumstances before they would form Fox Animation Studios in Phoenix, Arizona for a few years. From there, they would go on to make the first of two full-length animated films before that animation studio would surprisingly close down in June 2000. Well, let’s now discuss this very first animated film that was made at that former studio, and directed by Don Bluth, and Gary Goldman. Presenting to you all my review of the 1997 non-Disney animated film that was made by 20th Century Fox, and starring a cast that includes Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammar, Angela Lansbury, Hank Azaria, and Christopher Lloyd, the one, and only Anastasia!
Plot: In the year 1916, Tzar Nicholas Romanov (Rick Jones), his daughter Anastasia (young Anastasia voiced by Kirsten Dunst, and adult Anastasia voiced by Meg Ryan), and his family celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Tzar rule in Russia. But the party is interrupted when the Tzar’s former advisor, Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd), who was exiled for treason, uses a reliquary to cast a curse on the family. Rasputin then sells his soul to that object for the power to destroy the Romanovs, and spark the Russian Revolution, causing the death of all of them except for Anastasia/Anya, and her grandmother, the latter who escapes to France, while Anastasia falls, and gets amnesia. Ten years later, Russia is under the Soviet Union, and rumors spread of Anastasia being alive. After Anastasia leaves an orphanage, she uses a clue from her necklace that her grandmother gave her ten years before shortly before the siege on the palace that should help her eventually remember who she was before. Now, with the help of a dog named Pooka, and two conmen named Vladimir (Kelsey Grammar), and Dmitri (John Cusack), can Anastasia find her grandmother, and rediscover her true heritage?
Well, I will say this, first of all, seeing that this was probably Don Bluth’s first really, really good film since maybe 1988’s The Land Before Time, or 1989’s All Dogs Go To Heaven, Don Bluth, after a string of just okay animated films that he made like Rock-A-Doodle, or Thumbelina, he really seemed to realize what made a great film in the first place. Now, even though this movie was based on actual events, as well as, like films such as 1995’s Disney film, Pocahontas, also full of historical inaccuracies, Anastasia is a well done film overall. First of all, though this film was probably a little too dark, and scary for an animated film for children in the beginning, Anastasia helps make up for this with things like a good story, very memorable characters, including the villain, and villain sidekick, and some surprisingly great, and mostly, if not fully, memorable songs that were written by Stephen Flaherty, and Lynn Ahrens, and a score by David Newman.
So, first off, for the story, though, again, it is apparently inaccurate, including what these characters were actually like in real life, you can tell that Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, and the team at Fox were trying their best to put as much heart into this film as possible. Now, whether the filmmakers made this film the way that they did because the real life story of Anastasia was much darker than portrayed in the film, or they were just trying to take artistic licenses, and creative liberties, I’m not sure what the case was. Anyway, however inaccurate this film is to Anastasia’s real life story, there is plenty of heart to this film. And yeah, let’s remember that many films, and even shows that are based on historical events take creative liberties. Case in point, films like Pocahontas, Titanic, The Patriot, and The Prince Of Egypt! Anastasia is certainly no exception. Sure, the film does have some cliches, notably like girl meets guy, main character wanting more in life, etcetera. Still, the way that it’s handled surprisingly ends up being a little more different than in many animated movies particularly that were released back around this time. Due to that being the case, though Anastasia can feel a whole lot like a Disney film, the movie isn’t afraid to have more darker moments in this film, maybe even more so than many Disney films. Now, granted, some of the remaining Disney films that were released in the mid to late 1990s, like 1995’s Pocahontas, and 1996’s The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, had a more darker tone than your typical Disney fare. Still, director Don Bluth has never seemed to be afraid to incorporate some very dark moments in his animated films. I mean look at films like The Secret Of NIMH, which had really intense moments in the climax, An American Tail with the really dark moment with the Jewish pogrom scene before the main mice characters immigrated from Russia to America, or even in All Dogs Go To Heaven, which had one of the most bittersweet endings in animated film. Well, the point being that even if Anastasia, like those had really, really intense moments, at least it was able to balance that out with some more lighthearted, and heart-warming moments, including some hilarious moments here, and there, and more.
Next, there are the characters. Starting with Anastasia. Yes, like many typical Disney princesses (which, reminder that she was a non-Disney one until a few years ago, when Disney bought out Fox), Anastasia does want more in life. But the fact that she mainly cares about finding out about her family, and who she is more than anything else, that certainly more unique than many other animated princesses, particularly for this time period. Then there’s Dmitri. Yeah, he did serve as the love interest for Anya/Anastasia. However, the thing that makes him stand out from many other love interests is that he seems to go from a caring person to acting selfish, and wanting certain things for selfish reasons, and going through a transformation that would help him being a more caring person again. What’s more is that he doesn’t even work for the villain in spite of this. Yeah, how often did that seem to be the case in the world of animated films that came out around the 1990s, or shortly after? Hopefully rhetorical! Then, there are supporting characters like Vladimir, and Anastasia’s grandmother Romanov. They were fun characters too who also have great development. Same goes for the dog, Pooka, who is more like comedic relief, along with Dmitri, and Vlad, serve as helping Anastasia on her journey to Paris, France in an attempt to find what remains of her family. Then, there’s the villain, Rasputin. I’m not sure if he was made the villain for this film due to him being rumored to have done some very horrible things in his life, or some other reason. Either way, he was a really well-developed villain, whose motives for being a villain were actually understandable. It doesn’t excuse him being who he allows himself to be in this film, but still. Oh, and it’s also worth mentioning that even if he’s not as hilarious as a villain like Hades from Hercules (ironic, considering that Disney film came out just a few months before Anastasia), he’s still memorable for what comedic moments that he does have, and for being brave enough to get a job done himself if he has to. Plus, how can you go wrong with him being voiced by Christopher Lloyd? Yeah, Lloyd always does well regardless of whether he plays the role of a hero, or a villain. The one character who could have been better written was the albino bat, Bartok, who served as Rasputin’s sidekick, and served as comic relief. First of all, the fact that he has a closer relationship with his master than other villain sidekicks to their respective villain masters, that’s likely either a plus, a double-edged sword, or all of the above. But what’s weird is that Bartok can also be a little bit of a confusing character in terms of how he acts as if he wants to go along with Rasputin’s wishes, and yet at other times, feels hesitant to want to assist Rasputin in his plans to kill Anastasia, you know? Finally, with the characters, and the voice casting, how could you not appreciate that we have mostly a well known cast for the voices of this film? From Meg Ryan playing Anastasia (Kirsten Dunst does young Anastasia, Lacey Chabert her young singing voice, and Liz Callaway does Anastasia’s adult singing voice), and John Cusack playing Dmitri (Glenn Walker Harris Jr., and Jonathan Dokuchitz his adult singing voice), Angela Lansbury voicing Grandma Maria Romanov, Kelsey Grammar voicing Vlad, Hank Azaria voicing Bartok, and, of course, Christopher Lloyd voicing Rasputin (and Jim Cummings apparently providing the singing voice for him), and more, how could one not appreciate that this film had a mostly, if not fully, well-known cast?
Now, for the songs! As mentioned before, these songs were written by Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty, and the score composed by David Newman. First of all, the fact that David Newman was the one to compose the score for Anastasia, wow, what a great thing! I mean for him to come from a family of musicians that includes his apparently brother, Thomas Newman (whose works include films from Disney/Pixar’s library like 2003’s Finding Nemo, and 2023’s Elemental), and cousin Randy Newman (whose works include the Toy Story films, Monsters, Inc., and more), and be a composer himself, how cool is that? I mean considering you don’t often hear of composers from the same family, isn’t that cool, or what? Well, putting that aside, Newman’s score helps engage this film from beginning to end. Even the Academy seemed to think so too, as David Newman apparently got a nomination at the Oscars for Best Original Score for this film. How about that? And just think, five years later, he would go on to compose for Fox, and Blue Sky’s very first full-length animated film, Ice Age. But another major highlight for this film when it comes to the music is in fact its songs. Seriously, I was surprised how much I found myself singing along with some of these songs, like “A Rumor In St. Petersburg”, “Journey To The Past”, In The Dark Of The Night”, and one of my favorites, “Learn To Do It”. Even if you don’t have these songs fully stuck in your head when seeing this film the first time around, then they may end up growing on you if you decide to watch this film a second time around, or even multiple times after that. Yeah, considering that can be said about Anastasia, or even Disney’s Hercules, and both movies being released in the same year, in 1997, definitely shows what even animated are capable of when it comes to writing original songs. Finally, on a side note, can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that even though Disney had their last villain song in 1996’s The Hunchback Of Notre Dame for the next thirteen years, until 2009’s The Princess & The Frog, non-Disney animated films like Anastasia, 1998’s Quest For Camelot, and 1998’s The Prince Of Egypt would continue the tradition of being a musical, and including a song for the villain in the mix? Just a thought!
One other thing I should mention is the animation. Wow, Don Bluth truly knows how to use the art of hand-drawn animation as an art form of storytelling. No doubt did he do well with doing that even here. The way that facial expressions are animated on the characters, the beautiful backgrounds of snow, rivers, and more, the animation is also an amazing aspect of this film as well. It’s just a shame that Don Bluth, and Gary Goldman were only able to make two full-length films when partnering with Fox, and then had to call it quits thanks to the financial failure of 20th Century Fox/Fox Animation Studios’ second full-length films, from 2000, Titan A.E.
Finally, of the two animated films that were released in 1997, and were fairly popular, you may be wondering, which one was better, was it Disney’s June 1997 film Hercules, or 20th Century Fox’s November 1997 film, Anastasia? Well, I will tell you the truth, ladies, and gentlemen, for the most part, it’s Anastasia. Now, don’t get me wrong, there were at least a couple ways that Hercules might have been a little better. Those being that Hercules was a little more hilarious, was more lighthearted, had a more hilarious villain in Hades, and a little more memorable than Rasputin because of that, as well as villain sidekicks that were better developed, and not confusing at points, not by much, if at all. Aside from those aspects, Anastasia was better for quite a few reasons. Among those reasons are that the songs were a little more memorable, you have a warmer feeling from beginning to end, better animation, characters that are a little more complex, a storyline that’s based on actual events, and better lessons to be learned. Plus, at least with Anastasia, at least you find yourself having a better feeling with how things turn out by the end. Seeing as Hercules had an ending that you’d find yourself feeling happy, but also ambivalent about, it helped to see Anastasia do a better job in that regard too. Oh, and also, at least Anastasia didn’t feel Americanized, or feel corny by much, if at all.
And that’s my review for Anastasia. Even if there were inaccuracies to this film, then look at it this way. One can go watch, or see Anastasia, and then decide to do research on the actual life of Anastasia afterwards. This film has a great story, likable, and memorable characters, excellent songs, wonderful animation, and many other qualities that help make this film worthwhile. It was great to see this film succeed financially, even if it could have performed somewhat better at the box-office. Truly, it’s tragic that Fox Animation Studios was short-lived, and didn’t last long, and had to close its doors after the financial failure of 2000’s Titan A.E. But hey, at least people can look to Anastasia, and remember how great, and well-done it was. If you’re interested in a retelling of Anastasia, regardless of accuracies, or inaccuracies, then definitely make a point to see this film. You’ll definitely be glad to have seen it. Though Anastasia may not be quite as great as animated films like The Lion King, or The Prince Of Egypt, Anastasia definitely deserves recognition, including being one of the better non-Disney animated films that came out in the 1990s. With all that said, definitely go see Anastasia if you haven’t, and see what you think!
Final Rating: 9/10
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 