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utterrandomnesswithlulu · 1 year

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY: ANASTASIA

Constantly mistaken for a Disney film due to its similarities with films that were released during the Disney Renaissance (Disney movies made and released from 1989 to 1999), Anastasia came out in 1997 in association with Fox Animation Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. On this Flashback Friday, we’re taking a look at the classic animation movie Anastasia.

SPOILERS

SYNOPSIS

We’re introduced to a young Grand Duchess Anastasia at a ball in 1916 which is celebrating the Romanov Tricentennial. The Dowager Empress Marie is gifting her grandchild a music box and necklace, that is inscribed with Together in Paris. The eight-year-old is ecstatic at the idea of being in Paris with her grandmother, but those hopes are dashed short when Grigori Rasputin, a sorcerer and former advisor to the Romanov is seeking revenge after being exiled for treason. Rasputin has sold his soul in order to obtain an unholy reliquary that curses the Romanovs and sparks the Russian Revolution. The family has been ripped apart as revolutionaries overwhelm the palace. With the help of a 10-year-old servant boy, Dimitri, Anastasia is able to escape through a secret passage with her grandmother. Anastasia is ambushed by Rasputin, and they are able to escape him as he falls through the frozen river. Anastasia and Marie are able to reach a train, but as Marie climbs abroad with the aid of the other passengers, Anastasia loses her grip on her grandmother’s hand and falls, hitting her head on the platform. This results in amnesia.

Ten years later, the Dowager Empress is desperate to be reunited with her granddaughter and has offered 10 million rubles (today that would be equivalent to 136,850.00 USD) to reward anyone who can find her and have her safely returned. Conman Dimitri and his partner in crime, Vlad, are actively searching for an Anastasia look-alike to bring to Paris and claim the 10 million ruble reward money. Meanwhile, an 18-year-old Anya leaves behind her orphanage, she is accompanied by a stray dog, Pooka, as they journey to St. Petersburg. Inspired by an inscription on her necklace, she believes the thing needed to unlock her memories is in Paris. However, without an exit visa, she has no hope of leaving Russia. An elderly woman points her to the old palace to look for Dimitri. There, Anya finds Dimitri and Vlad, and they are both impressed by how similar she is to the long-lost Grand Duchess Anastasia. With their look-alike secured, Dimitri and Vlad agree to take her to Paris.

Rasputin’s minion, an albino bat named Bartok, is near and watching the events unfold as the long-dormant reliquary suddenly springs to life. It’s revived by Anya’s presence, and it drags Bartok to limbo where he finds his master, the undead Rasputin. Livid that the young Anastasia escaped his curse, Rasputin sends his minions from the reliquary to finish the job. The reliquary’s demons sabotage the train that the three of them boarded, unsuccessful with the train. The demons cause her to sleepwalk off their ship on their way to France. With Dimitri able to save her before she walks off the ship, Rasputin decides to travel out of limbo to kill Anya personally. Meanwhile, as all of that is happening, Dimitri and Vlad teach Anya etiquette and the Romanov family history as Dimitri and Anya begin to fall in love.

The trio finally reaches Paris, but the Dowager Empress is no longer seeing people who claim to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia. Sophie, the Dowager Empress’s cousin, quizzes Anya to confirm her identity. However, with all the questions that Anya answered correctly, the imposters knew as well. Sophie decides to attempt to stump Anya by asking how she escaped the palace during the siege, and Dimitri panics because they haven’t taught her any of that. Dimitri has the abrupt realization that Anya is indeed Anastasia when she recalls how a servant boy opened a wall to help them escape. Sophie convinced, arranges a meeting at the Paris Opera House. At the Opera, Dimitri tries with all his might to get the Dowager Empress to at the very least talk to her. However, she wants nothing to do with the con that Dimitri is peddling. Unfortunately, Anya, who has been left in the dark about Dimitri’s and Vlad’s true intentions, overhears the entire conversation. Furious at him, she leaves, but Dimitri isn’t letting anything go, knowing full well that Anya is the real Grand Duchess, and abducts the Dowager Empress and takes her to Anya’s hotel. The Dowager Empress is finally convinced to meet Anya only after Dimitri reveals the music box that Anastasia dropped during their escape. As the Dowager Empress and Anya speak, Anya slowly regains her memory, especially after seeing her wear the necklace that was a gift to the young Duchess. The Dowager Empress recognizes Anya as Anastasia and the two are finally reunited.

Dimitri is called upon by the Dowager Empress, who attempts to uphold her promise of giving a reward to anyone who finds Anastasia. It takes her a moment, but the Dowager Empress recognizes him as the servant boy who helped them escape. Dimitri refuses the money, which surprises her, and he leaves for Russia. At a celebration held in honor of Anastasia, the Dowager Empress informs Anastasia of Dimitri’s gesture, which leaves her torn between staying or going with him. Walking off somewhere, she is trapped by Rasputin, who attacks her. Dimitri returns to save her but is attacked by an enchanted Pegasus statue. During the struggle, Anastasia is able to get hold of the reliquary and smashes it, avenging her family and destroying Rasputin.

In the end, Anastasia and Dimitri elope and she sends a letter to her grandmother and Sophie, promising that they’ll see each other again.

PRODUCTION

Anastasia is loosely based on a real person, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, who was the daughter of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II. She and her family were executed in July 1918, and there were many rumors that she and her brother, Alexei Nikolaevich, might have survived the execution. In 1991, a forensic study was done on the bodies found that positively ID the family and servants, but not of Anastasia and Alexei. It wasn’t until 2007 that a DNA test of a secondary gravesite identified the bodies of Anastasia and Alexei.

Directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman researched the actual events through CIA agents that were stationed in both Moscow and St. Petersburg. Screenwriter Eric Tuchman, around this time, wrote a script about the very real events that happened to the Romanov family, but it was scrapped because Bluth and Goldman believed that it was too dark for the film they wanted to create. Bruce Graham (who had been a co-screenwriter with Tuchman) decided to rework the script with Susan Gauthier, which turned Tuchman’s dark, adult script into a more lighthearted romantic comedy geared toward children. When Graham and Gauthier left for other projects, Bob Tzudiker, Noni White, and even Carrie Fisher (uncredited) were brought on board for additional rewrites.

For the villain, Bluth took into consideration very real political activists such as the Bolsheviks and even the Russian Revolutionary and politician Vladimir Lenin. However, they instead went with Grigori Rasputin, who was indeed a mystic man and advisor to the royal family. They choose him because of all the things that were used to kill this man, and how truly terrible he was. Rasputin was already dead before the events of Romanov’s assassination. Bartok was later introduced as the comedic sidekick.

Casting Meg Ryan as Anastasia was Bluth’s first and only choice, but it took some persuasion from them for her to accept this role. John Cusack was brought on board to voice Dimitri, and he later admitted to the cast and crew that he, in fact, couldn’t sing. Liz Calloway became Anastasia’s singing voice, while Jonathan Dokuchitz became Dimitri’s. Christopher Lloyd was hired as Rasputin because of his popularity in the Back to the Future trilogy (Jim Cummings provided the singing voice), and Hank Azaria won the role as Bartok ten minutes into his audition. Kelsey Grammer got the role of Vlad and even sang for the character too.

The score was composed by David Newman (Matilda, Death to Smoochy, The Brave Little Toaster, Serenity, and Ice Age). The song, Journey to the Past, was nominated for an Academy Award and was written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.

Anastasia was released on November 21, 1997, a week after the re-release of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Disney also released Flubber, a double feature of George of the Jungle and Hercules. Disney retaliated even further by not allowing Anastasia to advertise during the program The Wonderful Life of Disney and banned its sponsors from doing the same. Despite this, Anastasia was marketed with promotional sponsors from Burger King, Dole Food Company, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Shell Oil, and even the 1997 Figure Skating Championships.

Anastasia received both critic and audience acclaim, gaining 3 out of 5 stars from most critics, who cited the film as “pure family fun,” and “a charming film despite its historical inaccuracies.” It has generally favorable reviews from Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and even Russia’s reviews were mostly positive.

By the end of Anastasia’s theatrical run, it grossed 14.1 million domestically. Worldwide it totaled 139.8 million, making it Don Bluth’s highest-grossing film after All Dogs go to Heaven.

After Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, Anastasia became a Disney Princess and became available on Disney+ December 2020.

CONCLUSIONS

Anastasia was an absolute favorite of mine growing up, I rate it a 4.5/5.

Even though it took artistic liberties from true historical events, it gave a tragic event a Hollywood ending. It was marketed more toward children, and while that could have been problematic because of the real events it was drawing the majority of its inspiration, it executed it the best it knew how. It is indeed a movie inspired by true events and based on them, and one must explore the ethics of twisting historical events for a Hollywood story. Is it wrong, is it fine, or should it not be done at all?

Hollywood, in general, is no stranger to twisting events to fit a specific narrative. While it is a favorite, as an adult, these thoughts crop up because of what it is based on. Obviously, all this is my opinion, so don’t misconstrue a beautifully done movie.

Do you love Anastasia?

#anastasia #movie #disney #21st century fox #hollywood #90s movie #90s princess #meg ryan #john cusack #jim cummings #bartok #vlad #dimitri #anya #pooka

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