Anastasia (1997)

The last surviving child of the Russian Royal Family joins two con men to reunite with her grandmother, the Dowager Empress, while the undead Rasputin seeks her death.

Directors:

Don Bluth, Gary Goldman

Writers:

Susan Gauthier (screenplay), Bruce Graham (screenplay)

Stars:

Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meg Ryan	...	Anastasia (voice)
John Cusack	...	Dimitri (voice)
Kelsey Grammer	...	Vladimir (voice)
Christopher Lloyd	...	Rasputin (voice)
Hank Azaria	...	Bartok (voice)
Bernadette Peters	...	Sophie (voice)
Kirsten Dunst	...	Young Anastasia (voice)
Angela Lansbury	...	The Dowager Empress Marie (voice)
Rick Jones	...	Czar Nicholas / Servant / Revolutionary Soldier / Ticket Agent (voice)
Andrea Martin	...	Phlegmenkoff / Old Woman (voice)
Glenn Walker Harris Jr.	...	Young Dimitri (voice)
Debra Mooney	...	Actress (voice)
Arthur Malet	...	Travelling Man / Major Domo (voice)
Charity James	...	Anastasia Impostor (voice)
Liz Callaway	...	Anastasia (singing voice)

Storyline

The daughter of the last Russian Czar, Nicolas II (Rick Jones), Anastasia (Meg Ryan) is found by two Russian con men, Dimitri (John Cusack) and Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer), who seek the reward that her grandmother, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna (Dame Angela Lansbury), promised to the ones who'll find her. But the evil mystic of the Czar family, Grigori Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd), still wants the Romanov family to be destroyed forever.

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Plot Keywords:

romanov | russian revolution | russia | amnesia | princess | 

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Taglines:

Discover the Adventure Behind the Greatest Mystery of Our Time

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hank Azaria, Andrea Martin, and Kelsey Grammer made Bartok the Magnificent (1999), only Azaria reprised his role as Bartok the bat. Whereas Andrea and Kelsey played two different characters.

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Goofs

At the beginning, Bartok mentions that "all the Romanovs are dead", because he doesn't know Anastasia is alive. Later, several times, Rasputin is intent on killing Anastasia, thus seeing "the end of the Romanov line". They both must know that Anastasia's grandmother the Dowager Empress Marie -explicitly mentioned as Anastasia's father's mother- is also still alive, however she is well beyond child-bearing years, and has no plans to attempt to claim a throne. To truly "end the line", Rasputin needs to make sure that no other Romanovs would be born or attempt to claim their birthright; Anastasia could potentially claim her right to the throne as well as have children, and therefore is more of a threat.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dowager Empress Marie: There was a time, not very long ago, where we lived in an enchanted world of elegant palaces and grand parties. The year was 1916, and my son, Nicholas, was the czar of Imperial Russia.

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Crazy Credits

The first part of the initial set of the credits highlighted scenes from the film.

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Alternate Versions

The version shown on HBO and related channels contains extra credits for the Spanish-language version of the film. The song over those credits, a Spanish version of "Journey to the Past," was on the film's soundtrack album.

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Connections

Featured in MsMojo: Top 10 BEST Animated Villain Songs (2019)

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Soundtracks

"Once Upon a December
(Reunion)
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Performed by Liz Callaway and Angela Lansbury

User Reviews

Has the sumptuous look of a Broadway musical...delightful entertainment...

Some of the most beautiful animation and backgrounds in recent history are a central ingredient of "Anastasia", a charming full-length feature based on the famous title character and set against the period of the Russian revolution. Expert vocal work by Angela Lansbury (Dowager Empress), Meg Ryan (Anastasia), John Kusack (Dimitri) and many others, make the characters seem more dimensional than in most animated features. Particularly Dimitri and Anastasia, whose love-hate relationship seems startlingly real given the superb animation.

The score is studded with some Oscar-nominated music and the sinister moments have the kind of villain you love to hate (Rasputin). Some of the scenes might be too intense for small children--as well as a realistic railway scene on a runaway car--but all in all, should delight young and old. Angela Lansbury's voice is especially effective as the Empress. The art of animation doesn't get any better than this! This Don Bluth/Gary Goldman production is as good as anything Disney might have attempted.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian French

Release Date:

21 November 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Music Box

Filming Locations:

Chicago Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$120,541, 16 November 1997

Gross USA:

$58,406,347

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$139,804,348

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Animation Studios, Fox Family Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (as dts) (DTS HD Master Audio 5.1) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) Dolby Digital (as Dolby Digital) (Dolby Digital 5.1) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) SDDS (as Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) (8 channels) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1 (D-Cinema prints) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) Dolby Atmos (Dolby Atmos) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1