Anastasia arrived in 1997 as 20th Century Fox’s first animated feature made in-house, through Fox Animation Studios. Don Bluth and Gary Goldman directed it from a screenplay by Susan Gauthier, Bruce Graham, Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. It runs 94 minutes. It is beautiful, uneven, and worth the ticket.
Trailer, via MeiilinG.
Meg Ryan as the Grand Duchess
The film opens in 1916 Saint Petersburg, at a ball for the Romanov tricentennial. Dowager Empress Marie gives her youngest granddaughter a music box and a necklace reading “Together in Paris.” Rasputin crashes the party, sells his soul for the power to kill the Romanovs, and starts the revolution. Marie and Anastasia escape across the frozen Little Nevka. Rasputin drowns. Anastasia falls boarding a train, hits her head, and loses her memory.
Ten years later, Marie offers 10 million rubles for Anastasia’s return. Con men Dimitri and Vladimir hunt for a look-alike. Anya, eighteen and orphaned, leaves the orphanage with a stray puppy named Pooka and heads for Paris.
The Cast Fox Assembled
Meg Ryan voices Anastasia, John Cusack is Dimitri, Kelsey Grammer is Vladimir, Christopher Lloyd is Rasputin, Hank Azaria is Bartok, Angela Lansbury is the Dowager Empress, and Kirsten Dunst plays young Anastasia. Bernadette Peters voices Sophie.
Bluth said Ryan was his first and only choice, but she hesitated over the dark history. The team animated a reel from her Sleepless in Seattle audio to persuade her. “I was blown away that they did that,” Ryan said. Cusack admitted he couldn’t sing; Jonathan Dokuchitz handled his vocals. Liz Callaway recorded demos that ended up in the final film.
What the Songs Carry
Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens wrote the songs in their film debut; David Newman composed the score. “Journey to the Past” earned a Best Original Song nomination. The soundtrack is the film’s strongest asset, and it papers over a plot that races.
Two Halves of the Same Film
| Element | What works | What doesn’t |
|---|---|---|
| Animation | Rich palace and Paris sequences | Uneven crowd work |
| Cast | Lansbury, Grammer, Lloyd | Ryan reads young |
| Songs | “Journey to the Past” | Filler numbers |
| History | Fantasy framing | Historians objected |
The Rasputin Problem
Rasputin is the weakest link. He sells his soul, drowns, and returns as a reliquary-powered revenant, which turns a historical fantasy into a monster movie. Lloyd has fun. The film loses its footing whenever he’s on screen. Bartok, his albino bat, is the better comic invention.
Where the Money Went
Anastasia grossed $140 million worldwide, the most profitable film from Bluth and Fox Animation Studios. It premiered at the Ziegfeld Theater on November 14, 1997, and opened in the United States on November 21.
The Numbers
- Runtime: 94 minutes
- Premiere: November 14, 1997, Ziegfeld Theater, New York City
- U.S. release: November 21, 1997
- Worldwide gross: $140 million
- Reward offered in the film: 10 million rubles
- Metacritic: 61/100
Our Verdict
Anastasia is a gorgeous, muddled film. The Paris reunion earns its tears. The Rasputin detour squanders them. It is the rare animated feature that trusts its audience with amnesia, revolution and a con, then flinches into a bat sidekick.
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