Absolutely the worst movie.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I'm somewhat biased: I watched this movie as a child dozens of times. The first because it had the same name as mine, and all of the times afterwards and still today because I love the movie by itself.After years, I watched it once more tonight. The fact that it's not factual in the least doesn't take anything away from the movie to me, though I must admit cross-referencing did distract me from the movie until I just put that to the side and decided that the movie is just fiction and to leave it at that. Avoid looking at the facts very much until after the movie.The music, characters, and scenes took me back to my childhood. The first ballroom scene and remembrance of it is my absolute favorite. I remembered the wonder of being a child throughout watching the movie, but I also held wonder for some more little details in the scenes I hadn't noticed before. Only two things made me cringe: the pronunciation of Anastasia and Rasputin's undead body's antics. I've grown up listening to almost everyone pronounce the name not as the Greek origin or the Russian adaption (Ah-na-stah-see-uh / Ah-na- stah-shyah), but as the common English pronunciation - which this movie uses. I'm both Greek and Russian, so it does tend to rub me wrong even more in that aspect. I've grown up around both cultures and done further research on the name, and I'm certain it's pronounced wrong. It's funny how what bothers me the most is the pronunciation.Overall, this is a magnificent movie which all children (and those childlike at heart) will enjoy and should watch at least once. It definitely encourages imagination in its own way.

In the late 1990s, we had two animated movies that were based on a certain event in a country's history. In 1995, Disney gave us an American "history lesson" (and I use that term loosely) with Pocahontas, but in 1997, 20th Century Fox did exactly what Disney did, except give us a look at a bit of Russian history (again, using the term "history" loosely) about the daughter of Czar Nicholas II, Anastasia Romanov, simply called...well...Anastasia. However, one thing to consider when going into this film is that this is a family picture ("kids movie" for short), so if you're looking for a true-to-life history lesson a la a PBS or History Channel documentary, you might as well throw that out the nearest airlock.In this film, Anastasia, voiced by Meg Ryan, is a princess that went missing for several years after the attack on the Romanov family during a party, which was led by the Romanov's former confidant Rasputin, voiced by Christopher Lloyd of Back to the Future fame, who is an undead, evil sorcerer in this movie. Anastasia, now with a case of amnesia and dubbed Anya, eventually joins two con men, Dimitri (John Cusack) and Vladimir (Fraiser's Kelsey Grammar), who are convinced that she really is the missing Romanov princess, and travel to Paris, France, where her grandmother, the Dowager Empress, resides, to hopefully reunite them, all while Rasputin is seeking her unfortunate demise.I won't judge this movie on historical accuracy, as all (or most) of us can tell that the general audience for this film is younger children, though adult audiences will also be entertained, since there was a lot of effort put into the creation of this film. That, and I wouldn't dismiss it as a "Disney knockoff" right away, because the directors of the film, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, were former Disney animators, so it's easy to confuse this for a Disney picture like Beauty and the Beast. As a family film alone, it is pretty damn good. The artwork and animation is great, the songs are enjoyable, and the voice acting is pretty decent.The film was such a success that it became co-director Don Bluth's comeback after a slew of mediocre to bad animated films he directed throughout most of the decade, and his highest grossing film to date. Not only that, but it warranted a direct-to-video follow up film starring the villain's sidekick, Bartok the Bat (voiced by The Simpsons' Hank Azaria in both films).Overall, the film serves as a great choice to have playing during a family movie night, unless you're extremely picky on historical accuracy, in which case, go do something else for 97 minutes.

Anastasia (1997): Dir: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman / Voices: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Kelsey Grammar, Angela Lansbury: Beautifully detailed animation with a story that isn't quite as lively. Set in Russia 1916 where Rasputin causes a revolution by casting a deadly curse upon the Ramanov family. After ten years young Princess Anastasia remembers nothing of the event yet ventures to Paris because of a locket given to her by her aunt. She is accompanied by a con man named Dimitrie who wishes to earn the reward money for her safe return. Obviously they fall in love and Rasputin will threaten a return. History established before formula sets in. Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman who previously collaborated on All Dogs Go to Heaven. Meg Ryan gives personality to Anastasia with more input than the flat screenplay offers. Christopher Lloyd provides comic anger as Rasputin but the role is cardboard and beneath his talent. John Cusack voices the soul seeking Dimitrie in what appears to be a prop. Viewers are not surprised when he hooks up with Anastasia and they may not care either. Kelsey Grammar voices Dimitrie's companion in another drab character. Finally, these films cannot be complete without involvement of Angela Lansbury who cannot save it either. The animation is dazzling and it is an attempt to animate the classic story, which in itself falls flat. Score: 3 ½ / 10

This movie by Don Bluth is very similar in style to Disney films of the period. It is a very fanciful take on the Russian Revolution, which happened not because of discontented people and bad rulers but because swell rulers were magically undone by a villain who without explanation hates them passionately. This magic follows the amnesiac Anastasia as she teams up with a couple of likable grifters.At times the movie is quite enjoyable, although I always felt like it was falling a little short. The comparisons with Disney are hard to avoid, and while it does some things a bit better than Disney did in this period, Disney still tends to do more things better. One strength of Anastasia is its princess, who has more personality than Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. In her spunky determination she is more akin to the princesses Disney has pumped out in more recent years, making her ahead of her time. But while she has some personality, I would say she has a lot. The love interest is also likable but fails to be memorable.Still, the likability of the leads makes the plight of the protagonists more affecting than many Disney films of that period, and there are moments when the movie is downright touching.On the other hand, Bluth is not nearly as good at villains. Rasputin is evil, and his first appearance beyond the grave is amusingly perverse, but he's not remotely scary, never come close to someone like Malificent.The animation is quite good, and there are moments when it is really quite lovely, but again, it lacks the memorable scenes that distinguish Disney's better (and sometimes even lesser) films. There is something off about the basic structure of the film. Rasputin's pet bat seems shoe-horned into the film just because they wanted him, and he's never essential nor particularly amusing.