Anastasia

Some of the most beautiful animation and backgrounds in recent history are a central ingredient of "Anastasia", a charming full-length feature based on the famous title character and set against the period of the Russian revolution. Expert vocal work by Angela Lansbury (Dowager Empress), Meg Ryan (Anastasia), John Kusack (Dimitri) and many others, make the characters seem more dimensional than in most animated features. Particularly Dimitri and Anastasia, whose love-hate relationship seems startlingly real given the superb animation.

The score is studded with some Oscar-nominated music and the sinister moments have the kind of villain you love to hate (Rasputin). Some of the scenes might be too intense for small children--as well as a realistic railway scene on a runaway car--but all in all, should delight young and old. Angela Lansbury's voice is especially effective as the Empress. The art of animation doesn't get any better than this! This Don Bluth/Gary Goldman production is as good as anything Disney might have attempted.

The best way to watch a movie is with suspension of disbelief - Just trust what the producers present you with and don't question it. With that, "Anastasia" is one of the most delightful movies I've seen in some time. It's like an old musical, with people spontaneously erupting into choreographed dance, but with modern dialog (And funny, at that!), an enjoyable romance, and action sequences to keep things moving. The music, while nothing to remember to the point of distraction, was perfect for humming, and even worked to advance the plot - Unlike so many animated songs put in for the sake of having a song. So it wasn't historically perfect - if it were, there'd be no story. Go ahead and feel smug that you know what really happened, but don't turn to comment to your neighbor, lest you miss one minute of the wonderfully unfolding plot.

Let others carp about the disservices to history: this Anastasia rises above its flaws to offer an engaging, emotionally resonant story of a girl's search for identity. Within its historical, quasi-factual context, the film presents a situation almost everyone can relate to--that of trying to find one's place in the world. Orphaned Anya's quest for her past (and, consequently, her future) strikes universal emotional chords: singing "Journey to the Past," she sets out with both trepidation and hope to find her identity and her place in the world. The haunting, poignant "Once Upon a December" sequence, one of the finest scenes in any recent film, is unforgettable, as we watch Anya's yearnings take the form of a ghostly dance with memories of a vanished life. And the final reunion where hostility melts gradually into acceptance, is one of the most moving and satisfying moments in film. Everything about the film bespeaks loving attention and quality: the magnificent animation and design re-create lavish Russian and Parisian locations (complete with recognizable artworks and cameos by celebrities of the '20s), and the screenplay balances action, humor, and genuine emotion. Villain Rasputin is clearly aimed at children, and some of the repartee between Anya and unlikely hero Dimitri may seem jarringly anachronistic, but viewers of any age should still enjoy this timeless coming-of-age story.

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.

Starring the voice talents of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd and Kelsey Grammar At the turn of the century Imperial Russia was undergoing the throes of revolution. It didn't take long for Tzar Nicholas Romanov and his family to be murdered and replaced by the Bolsheviks.

That was the end of Tzarist Russia in 1917.

But this film is something else entirely - a beautiful romance between a peasant palace worker and the impetuous and excitable Anastasia Romanov. This is a journey through life, a quest for truth on a road less traveled.

Young Anastasia has no recollection of her past, but she is soon won over by a charming swindler who takes her to Paris to meet up with the Empress of Russia. Action, adventure and romance awaits!