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Anastasia is my personal favourite Don Bluth movie, but this film actually does it justice if not as good.

The animation is mostly good, bright and colourful, that falls a tad flat in the scarier bits. The story is a bit noisy, but well told, considering that the film itself is too short. The dialogue is good, the best coming from Zozi, and the morals are admirable.

The songs are quite good, but not as beautiful as Anastasia. All of them are lively, and atmospheric, but could have been better timed. The voice talents are impeccable, Bartok is a little annoying but Hank Azaria voices him well, but Kelsey Grammar is perfect as Zozi. Andrea Martin is convincing as Baba Yaga, and Catherine O'Hara is a suitably over the top villain, a bit too OTT perhaps. Tim Curry is also very good as the skull who was brilliantly animated, and Jennifer Tilly is great as Pilaf .

An entertaining movie! Look out for it! 7/10. Bethany Cox

I didn't expect to like the movie as much as I did Anastasia and I was right.

They chose the character I didn't care much for, but as I said in my Anastasia review he was very appealing to the kids. So when it comes to Bartok the magnificent, this cartoon is more for just children. So the drawing is not as beautiful, there are less details of Russia and songs are not as great.

Also, as somebody who grew up over there and had a lot of Baba Yaga in my childhood, I really didn't like the portrayal of her or her house, was so different from what it was in my childhood. This of course wouldn't make a difference for most viewers and kids but this is where movie lost some points with me. I wish it was her old house with chicken legs in the middle of a beautiful Russian forest.

It is still not a bad movie for kids. And I personally liked to have more of Kelsey Grammar in it who now had a bigger part as Bartok's friend the bear.

In this follow-up to ANASTASIA, the title character (and most of the others) are gone, so I can only suppose that BARTOK THE MAGNIFICENT portrays the future of the Romanoff family (Prince Ivan looks like he could be Dimitri's grandson or something). Bartok, after the demise of Rasputin, now works in his own two-man circus act that reinacts his fictitious heroic deeds. After Prince Ivan is kidnapped by the evil witch Baba Yaga, the gullible people of Moscow force Bartok (whom they totally believe to be the real McCoy) and his supposedly dead bear friend, Zozi, to rescue him from the evil witch.

When I first saw this on the shelf, I was dismayed. I was horrified that they were going to ruin ANASTASIA. Thankfully, my fears were dispelled as soon as I heard and saw the opening sequence telling the tale of Baba Yaga. The animation is smooth, flowing, and the lip-synching actually works. The voice of Kelsey Grammer for Zozi fits like Mickey's glove; you can tell Zozi is Frasier. The use of CGI in certain places, normally backgrounds and inanimate objects, is a good touch. The story isn't quite as poignant as ANASTASIA: this time 'round, Bluth and co. have opted for a comedy in the form of BARTOK THE MAGNIFICENT. If you liked ANASTASIA, certainly watch BARTOK THE MAGNIFICENT, if you didn't like ANASTASIA, watch it anyway! It will be worthwhile.

I liked Anastasia, but it suffered from one particular thing, the "Bluthiness" or what you'd call it. It tried to juggle the darker stuff with the 90's Disney aesthetic, and it worked out fine, but with this spin-off movie about the little fast-talking bat we get an all-out Bluth movie with some bizarre characters and more spookiness and that's its biggest strength.

If you like Bartok, this movie is for you, but even if you don't you'll get a handful of enjoyable side characters voiced by well-known actors like Kelsey Grammar, Tim Curry and Jennifer Tilly.

It was an enjoyable watch even if the production value was noticably lower, because of its smaller budget and the story was kind of predictable. Not a must watch, but harmless kiddie fare with an unmistakable Bluthanian aesthetic.

Bartok gets his own spin-off? Bartok!? That little white bat from Anastasia. Out of all Don Bluth films and characters, this one was the one that simply had to have a movie of his own?

I mean... it's Bartok. What more is there to say?

We could have had another Land Before Time movie. (Oh wait, we had... Several. And they all "inhaled".) Another The Secret of NIMH. (Had that one as well, actually. It "inhaled" even more.) Another American Tail. (That one was actually pretty good...) Another... The Pebble and the Penguin? (We don't have one of those. Thank Cthulhu!)

You know, the more I think about this, the less awful in principle it actually sounds.

So, long insane rambling aside, is the film any good?

It's not... awful. What I mean, it's not good either, don't get me wrong. No miracles were performed here. The skies didn't part, the trumpets didn't sound, no babies were born with white-feathered wings sticking out of their teeny tiny shoulder blades. But it is better than it has any right to be. It's colourful, looks pretty damn great given the no doubt small budget, and the characters are... non-offensive.

That being said, it's boring. Beyond boring. And given that it has talking bears, Baba Yaga, mythical quests, kings, queens, dragons and all that usual jazz, that's something of an achievement. Movie has to try to be this boring. For example, you'd think that stealing a crown from a huge, flaming fire giant smith would be at least a little bit exciting. Right? It's not. One of the dullest action scenes I've seen in my life. It's sort of amazing.

So, summa summarum, the film has its upsides, but it's still not something I'd recommend to anyone. But, if it was on TV and a little kid needed his daily fix of that sweet, sweet pixelated voodoo, I probably wouldn't change the channel.

This film, about a circus bat in Russia, off to save the prince from the "evil" Baba Yaga, will no doubt have a great appeal on children. It is sure to entertain them and they will be likely to sing and dance along with it as soon as they know the words of the songs.

As an older person, such as a grown-up or teenager, this film may fall flat on its face. It is quite babyish and the animation - including the backgrounds, could possibly do with a little bit more work. However, this film is likely to entertain the older anyway. The songs are very charming and so is the plot. The characters are also very lovable. One thing that can be said happily, is that they use a very English actor to voice - not a baddie - but a goodie, a thing which many American films do not have (including "The Lion King")! The other voices are good too.

So, enjoy "Bartok The Magnificent", who is the specifically, terrifically magnificent!

As an earlier commentator noted, "Bartok the Magnificent" is a prequel to "Anastasia". I guess animated bats live for a REALLY long time. But if you are going to quibble about dates then just what will you say about the existence of talking bears, musical witches and a huge animated riddle asking skull—just go with it. For all the sequential fuzziness, I find this film a real joy.

The voice talents of Kelsey Grammar as the Russian Dancing (and classical theater loving) bear Zozi is wonderful as are also Tim Curry's, as the Huge Talking Skul and Jennifer Tilly's role as Piloff. I have no idea what Piloff is, She looks life a living fur boa some women might wear around their necks. Whatever she is, Tilly's voice makes her seems gentle and funny (and a little ditsy but in an attractive kind of way) while also being impervious to whatever Bartok does to get her off the bolder (and a strange looking bolder it is too—looks more like a construction girder) as demanded by Baba Yaga. Indestructible gentle femininity is a good thing. Of course Bartok (voiced by Hank Azaria) is himself a hoot. Also Kelsey Grammar's voice in song is as full of life and warm as is his speaking voice. I love to listen to him even when he's the bad guy as in "Toy Story 2" as Stinky Pete. This film is one of the straight to video ones which should have been given a shot as a theatrical run. Both the video and the DVD comes with the songs separate with sing along lyrics--nice touch.

I liked Anastasia. It wasn't the best animated movie ever, but it was nice. And Bartok was my favourite character, so.... .... I was all the more disappointed with this movie. The idea of giving him his own story to star in is great. But please, please, give the movie a story! This one mixes an old Russian fairy tale about a witch (in the original she lives in a house with 4 chicken legs, so the house can walk around, I believe) with a PC-game-alike plot:

1) Go on quest. Get item 2) return from quest. bring item to whoever requested it. 3) get sent on another quest to get another item.... 4) repeat until you feel sick

First quest: find the kidnapped prince. Then the witch sends him on 3 or 4 quests of her own before being willing to help him. Etc. etc.

Add in some poor songs, some really really obvious morals, and you've got one of the worst direct-to-video sequels ever devised for a major animated feature. Only Lion King 2 comes off worse, from those that I've seen so far...

I just finished watching Bartok and I must say I was thoroughly impressed. This movie had all the ingredients for a superb animated feature that so many cartoons these days lack.

The cast was excellent and the whole story was downright hilarious. Hank Azaria as Bartok is a wonderful, loveable and a funny little character people can't help but love. I myself chuckled everytime he opened his mouth. Kelsey Grammer also turns in a great voice performance as Zozi the big bear. The voiceovers are something else to comment on. Very seldom these days do I see cartoons taking time to match up the words of the character with the proper lip movement, but Bartok the Magnificent pulled it off wonderfully.

I can't say enough about this fantastic movie that hasn't gotten enough recognition. I recommend it to people of all ages. There is enough content and humour throughout to entertain adults and the fluent and colourful animation will be awe-inspiring to kids, no matter what their interests are.

the skull dude (played by tim curry) is really cool.... the songs r awesome! and who says cartoons can't be good??? The witch is awesome.. first off~ zozie is an AWESOME name... second bartok has the COOLEST accent EVER!! (all of the characters do... ) but i gotta say.... the best character is piloff.... she's.... 'a.... thing... after my own heart' *sigh* ok, well... see it. And there's my review.

Following the massive success of Anastasia in 1997, directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman took it upon themselves to create a direct-to-video prequel entitled Bartok the Magnificent, focusing on Hank Azaria's lovable bumbling bat character from the first film. Known as the only followup to a Bluth film that the original creator himself was involved with, the film has gone on to achieve a small cult following from fans of Anastasia and Bluth enthusiasts alike, even if its existence alone remains fairly questionable. For a small direct to video prequel about a sidekick, it's not half bad.

The film centers on the titular Bartok who makes his way as a street magician and a con artist having to unveil the kidnapping of the young czar prior to the Russian Revolution. Because the premise of the film is super simple at its core, the execution is all the more impactful, down to a strong message of discovering inner strength through selfless acts and overcoming what you appear to be. Every character in the film is defined through a definitive role, whether it be Bartok's flamboyant partner Zozi the thespian bear, the czar's cunning assistant Ludmilla, and even the misunderstood witch Baba Yaga. Zozi is arguably the most lovable character in the whole feature, as his overly confident persona allows for a strong contrast between the more insecure Bartok, making the journey all the more delightful from start to finish. By embracing the limitations in format and presentation, Bluth, Goldman, and even the cast did their absolute best in performing through their hearts, something that can always be appreciated in musical cinema and animation.

Arguably though, the real star of the movie has to be the musical numbers, written once again by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. With the film's establishing number sets up the film's world with appropropriate danger and fear from the people of Russia, which then connects to Bartok the Magnificent pitching his concept of who he is to the public, all with the right amount of dazzling showmanship to be found. Arguably the biggest heartwarmer would have to be A Possible Hero, showcasing how much Zozi encourages Bartok to be far more than he appears to be. The lyrics in every song are jam packed with whip smart material, demonstrating Sondheim's method through forming patterns of catchy sound and simple words easy to remember by the audience, on top of cleverly expressing all the story and character you have. The blending of Russian folk music and Broadway jazz suits the tone very well, pulling off different genres through modern swing and Russian mythology. Through so much self worth and projection, this film's soundtrack is easily one of the best in Bluth's filmography.

As far as other notable qualities are concerned, despite the low budget showing in some aspects, the art and animation direction are quite impressive. Bluth's trademark character animation direction works in the film's favor with a lot of strong acting and staging shown throughout. Even with a lot of crowd scenes, the normal issue of there being too much going on in just one shot alone in a Bluth film remains toned down to keep the clarity strong and intact. The small but effective usage of computer generated imagery adds into the unsettling atmosphere in some sequences, complete with Baba Yaga's skull entrance/guard posing a spooky albeit playful presence to our heroes. Perhaps some of the backgrounds do look a bit pug fugly in saturation, but the more gloomy backdrops add a nice contrast to the eyes. Considering that the film was not optimized for the big screen, one would probably be disappointed that Bluth's talents were utilized in a smaller aspect ratio than usual, but once again, the limitations worked within everyone's favor in the end.

Despite being a fairly simple endeavor in Bluth and Goldman's filmography, Bartok the Magnificent has a lot to offer in terms of characterization, performance, musical accompaniment, and visual choices. Given that this film was made with little interference from Fox, it is both a blessing that this film came out as good as it was, and a curse that it remains obscure in spite of its triumphs. I would definitely recommend it to anyone regardless if you have seen Anastasia or not, for just like the movie's hero, this tiny project will surely leave an impact in one way or another.

I've been watching this movie since I was a child and I've always loved it. I'm a huge Anastasia fan, so this was great for me since I love Bartok.

If you take this film outside of the world of Anastasia (cause they're only connected through one character) - you'll get a good impression out of it.

Is it a great animation for today? Maybe not so much. BUT: it has a very pleasant, unique magical atmosphere that makes you want to watch this movie with a sense of lightness, like you have nothing in the world to worry about. It puts you right into your childhood mode, and especially if you've seen it before.

AND, the music is simply amazing!!! I would definitely recommend watching it, but just try not to expect a masterpiece or it being connected to Anastasia too much. Treat is a light piece of entertainment, which it is.

Admittedly, in parts the animation quality leaves a lot to be desired. It, like quite a few aspects of the film, feels quite rushed, especially in contrast to the scenes which are quite polished.

But that would be my only criticism. Sure, it's a touch cheeseball and tacky, full of cliché, but deliberately and well-timedly so. It works with the context of the scenes.

The characters are utterly adorable and the talent behind them really shines through.

I absolutely would rate this far higher than the movie it is a spin-off of, and a littlemore time spent polishing this little gem could have made it great.