Product Details

• Actors: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Kelsey Grammer, Hank Azaria
• Directors: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman
• Writers: Arthur Laurents, Bob Tzudiker, Bruce Graham, Eric Tuchman, Guy Bolton
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English, French, Russian
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: June 8, 1998
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (201 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304873441
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,609 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Stomping out their usual cuteness and carbon copying Disney's grand animation style to a T, directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (An American Tail) create a successful musical comedy from the story of the lost Russian princess. Adapting the story of imperialism and revolution is tricky, and subsequently the film's opening is weak. Once Anya (voiced by Meg Ryan, sung by Liz Callaway) is a teenager and on her own (suffering from some degree of amnesia), the film is quite pleasing though never refreshingly new.

Twentieth Century Fox's big-money gamble to horn in on Disney's realm is worthy. The songs, especially the recurrent "Once Upon a December," by Broadway team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are better than Disney's recent efforts. It's worth picking up the soundtrack. The mix of cell animation and computer work is vivid. The collection of vocal talent is also strong, from John Cusack (as Dimitri, who wants to earn the reward by bringing Anya to Paris) to Hank Azaria as an amusing albino bat. Kelsey Grammer helps turn a roly-poly sidekick into a warm and strong supporting character.

The biggest drawback is Bluth/Goldman's insistence on having a typical villain. Surprisingly, the story would be strong enough without one, and the undead corpse of Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) is unneeded and unoriginal. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Russian history- sort of, February 4, 2008

By	Gunner (Bethlehem,Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anastasia (Follow-Along Edition) (DVD)

Anastasia DVD


Anastasia is an animated movie about the Russian Romanov family and what happened to them.
It is sort of like a Cinderella story with a Russian history twist.

Highly recommended for families with young children that want to start teaching them something about European history or just want to enjoy a family oriented movie.

Gunner February,2008

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute movie for kids that's intelligent enough for adults, April 30, 2000

By	Andrea K. Johnson (Minot, North Dakota USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Anastasia (DVD)

I bought this movie because I've been interested in the mystery of the Grand Duchess Anastasia since I was a kid, not because I have rugrats. This movie was entertaining. Anya is a spunky heroine; Dimitri is a scrappy hero; they have a sweet and surprisingly adult romance and the plot is more realistic (except for the ridiculous villain Rasputin) than expected. There is a lovely, melancholy song called "Once Upon a December" that the amnesiac Anya sings in the empty palace as ghosts come out of paintings to dance with her. This movie isn't historically accurate, but it's a satisfying fairy tale -- the way we wish it had been.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just do not expect historical accuracy in a cartoon musical, January 16, 2003

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Anastasia (DVD)

"Anastasia" is a animated musical that works despite some serious problems fundamental to the story for anybody who knows anything about Russian history. The legend of Anastasia has in roots in a historical truth: that when the Communists executed the Romanovs and gunned them down, the young Grand Duchess was not shot; she fainted. When it was discovered she was still alive she was clubbed and bayoneted to death. But the "truth" remains, she was not shot dead with the rest of her family. In this version that issued is rendered moot because the young Anastasia never joins her parents as they fled St. Petersburg. However, the greatest historical liberty is the idea that the Russian Revolution was the result of a curse the mad monk Gregorei Rasputin laid on the Romanovs. Forget Lenin and the Communists overthrowing the Czar; it was a crazy monk and his friend, an albino bat named Bartok.

However, "Anastasia" has several things working in its favor to counter-attack this nonsense. First, there is the haunting "Once Upon a December," which carries the mood of the story perfectly and comes into play at several key moments in the film. The rest of the music is above average and avoids cuteness for the most part (the bad guys get the fun song with "In the Dark of the Night"), but "Once Upon a December" is musically the cornerstone of the whole film. Second, there is the wonderful vocal work by Kelsey Grammer and Angela Landsbury as the supporting characters Vladimir and the Dowager Empress Marie; they are the pair who provide the film with its heart while Anna and Dmitri wait for their brains to catch up with their hearts. Third, in true giant cartoon movie style, the film reduces everything to the fundamental desire to go home and be part of a family.

Ultimately, the backbone of the story is more the 1956 Ingrid Bergman film version of the "Anastasia" story than history: a con artist wants to earn the reward for finding the lost heiress to the Russian thrown and turns an amnesia victim into Anastasia only to discover that she is the real thing and that he is in love with her. Then basically they throw in the standard evil person trying to keep the princess and her boyfriend apart (think Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" except instead of an evil queen it is a mad monk and instead of a giant dragon there is a small albino bat and the princess is really a Grand Duchess and the prince is now a former servant boy, but other than that they are remarkably the same). Besides, kids like this film and they should be allowed to do so for a few years before they discover they can not learn history from movies (and should never let watching a movie substitute for reading an assigned book).