Anastasia (1997)
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An amnesiac Russian grand duchess embarks on a journey to discover her past while being pursued by a vengeful sorcerer.
The story
Set in an alternate 1926, the film follows an amnesiac Anastasia Romanov who embarks on a journey to discover her past. After a traumatic escape from a palace siege in 1916, she is separated from her family and loses her memory. Years later, she lives in a rural orphanage and decides to travel to Paris to uncover her identity. She joins forces with a conman named Dimitri and his partner-in-crime, Vlad, who are searching for an Anastasia look-alike to claim a large reward. As the trio travels toward Paris, they are pursued by the vengeful, immortal Grigori Rasputin and his bat sidekick, Bartok.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1916, during a ball in Saint Petersburg, Grand Duchess Anastasia is gifted a music box and necklace before the palace is attacked by the villainous Grigori Rasputin. Anastasia and her grandmother, Marie, flee, but Anastasia hits her head and suffers amnesia. Ten years later, Anastasia (now Anya) leaves her orphanage to find her past in Paris. She meets Dimitri and Vlad, who are searching for her to claim a reward. They travel together, pursued by Rasputin and his bat sidekick, Bartok. Upon reaching Paris, Anya is reunited with Marie. Dimitri realizes Anya is the true princess and helps her regain her memories through the music box. In a final confrontation at the Pont Alexandre III, Anya destroys Rasputin's reliquary, defeating him. She and Dimitri reconcile and elope, while Anya sends a final letter to Marie and Sophie.
- First release year
- 1997
- Runtime (minutes)
- 94
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Don Bluth; Gary Goldman
- Writers
- Susan Gauthier · screenplay; Bruce Graham · screenplay; Bob Tzudiker · screenplay; Noni White · screenplay; Eric Tuchman · story adaptation
- Cast and characters
- Meg Ryan · Anya / Anastasia; John Cusack · Dimitri; Kelsey Grammer · Vladimir Vanya "Vlad" Vonitsky Vasilovich; Christopher Lloyd · Grigori Rasputin; Hank Azaria · Bartok; Angela Lansbury · Maria Feodorovna; Bernadette Peters · Sophie Stanislovskievna Somorkov-Smirnoff; Kirsten Dunst · young Anastasia
- Genres
- animated; musical; historical fantasy
- Themes
- identity; memory; romance
- Tone and mood
- fairytale; romantic
- Premise and plot tags
- amnesia; quest; royal; historical fantasy
- Source material / true-story basis
- adaptation of a 1956 film
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation, voice performances, and soundtrack, though it attracted criticism from some historians for its fantastical retelling of the Grand Duchess.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 83% · scale: percentage · review count: 58; Metacritic · score: 61 · scale: out of 100 · review count: 19
- Production trivia
- The film was the first 20th Century Fox animated feature produced by its own animation division.; The film's soundtrack was released in CD and audio cassette format on October 28, 1997.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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