I remember being on a forum where someone blasted the Disney company for not recognizing Anastasia in their princess collection. Others agreed until I posted the movie was not a Disney one but made by Fox. The original poster thankfully thanked me for the information and apologized for blasting the Disney company. She just loved the movie and wanted the same amount of merchandising for Anastasia that the Disney princesses get. Which is understandable.
What’s my point? That Anastasia is often mistaken for a Disney movie and probably because, as the Nostalgia Chick points out, it is the most similar to the Disney formula.
In the dark of the night, there will be SPOILERS!
The movie is based on real events, if you squint really really hard. It opens in 1917 where Russia shows no sign of being at war. History, who needs it? We are introduced to the Romanov family, namely the young Grand Duchess Anastasia (voiced by Kirsten Dunst) and her grandmother, the Dowager Empress Marie (voiced by Angela Lansbury). They are at a ball and it should be noted that Anastasia has been aged younger for the movie. She’s eight in this scene, where the real Anastasia was about 16. And there’s a big party! Because, you know, no war or anything. It gets interrupted by Rasputin (voiced by Christopher Lloyd) who curses the Russian family. Nicholas has him thrown out as the empress gives Anastasia a necklace which opens a special music box.
That night, angry Russians—who probably remember they are at war—storm the
We return ten years later where an orphan girl named Anya (Meg Ryan) is being turned out because she’s eighteen. The head of the orphanage has arranged a job for her but after meeting a dog, Anya decides to go to
Meanwhile, Anya is trying to get herself to Paris—it’s her only clue to her past, written on the necklace she wears. But she needs a visa to leave so a woman tells her to go to see Dmitry. Who is squatting in the abandoned palace. Anya gets in and it all seems very familiar to her (“Once Upon a December”). When Dmitry sees Anya, he realizes she looks like the Grand Duchess and so says he can help her reunite with people he thinks might be her family in Paris. So she agrees.
Underneath the surface, it appears Rasputin isn’t dead. He’s a zombie, hungering for revenge rather than brains. His sidekick, Bartok (Hank Azaria), returns with the vial he sold his soul for. (I feel like this movie should’ve come with an apology to Rasputin, even if he had been dead for centuries). Rasputin realizes this means that there is still one Romanov alive and Bartok reveals it’s Anastasia. So Rasputin vows to finish the curse and chases after the amnesiac Grand Duchess (“In the Dark of the Night”).
She is on a train bound for Paris with Dmitry and Vlad when they hit a snag. The communist government has changed how the visas look and Dmitry’s forged ones are still in the style of the old way. So they have to hide, making Anya wonder if they are on the up-and-up. But Rasputin’s demons attack the train and they have to make it out alive.
They succeed but Anya is told she has to learn the history of the Grand Duchess Anastasia. She is uncertain but agrees to try (“Learn to Do It”). Vlad and Dmitry teach her to be aristocratic, to act like Anastasia and the Romanov family history. She picks it up quickly and even starts recalling things her teachers haven’t mentioned, spooking them. At last, they arrive at a ship which will take them to Paris. Dmitry and Anastasia practice dancing and their bantering turns into sexual tension.
That night, the ship hits rough waters as Anya dreams. She sees her family, spending time swimming. In reality, she is sleepwalking and ends up on deck. Puka, the dog, wakes Dmitry so he can save Anya from jumping overboard. Rasputin fails again!
All make it to Paris where another fake Anastasia tries to impress the Dowager Empress. But she’s just parroting back information everybody knows. The Empress decides to stop looking for Anastasia and accepts the fact her beloved granddaughter is dead. Just as Anya arrives and gets an interview with Sophie—thanks to Vlad being Sophie’s sweetheart.
Anya answers all the questions but Sophie throws in a curveball: How did she escape the palace the night the palace was stormed? Dmitry facepalms—this is one thing he knows Anya can’t answer. But she surprises him by answering about a servant boy who opened a wall. Dmitry was that servant boy and realizes Anya IS Anastasia. Sophie says Anya passes but explains the Dowager Empress refuses to see anyone else. Vlad implores her to help them and Sophie suggests they go see the Russian ballet that night.
But her help doesn’t end there. Nope, the movie gives us a big splashy shopping spree number (“Paris Holds the Key”). This also features a lot of references to Paris in the 20th century, more for the adults than the children. So Anya gets done up and Dmitry falls more in love with her as he escorts her to the Russian Ballet.
At intermission, Dmitry goes to present Anya to the Dowager Empress. He and Sophie have a wink-wink conversation but the Empress surprises them by asking Dmitry to come into her box. Anya hangs outside as the Dowager Empress reveals she knows who Dmitry is: a conman who held auditions to find someone to swindle her out of her money. Anya is upset and wants nothing to do with Dmitry.
But he’s now determined to reunite grandmother and granddaughter. To that end, he hijacks the Dowager Empress’ car and leads her on a crazy drive through Paris. He convinces her Anya is Anastasia by revealing he was the servant boy who saved them a decade prior and producing the music box.
So the Dowager Empress heads up to talk to Anya. After Anya reveals her necklace, the Dowager Empress realizes she is Anastasia and a tearful reunion follows. They spend time together and her memories come back more and more. So a ball is planned because it’s Paris in the 1920s! And it’s not like there might be people who would want to take Anastasia out because she has a legitimate claim to the Russian throne. So let’s announce she’s alive!
At the ball, the Dowager Empress reveals Dmitry refused the reward money. This makes Anastasia think, so she goes out into the gardens where Rasputin attacks. Dmitry jumps in to save her and in the end Rasputin gets defeated. Dmitry and Anastasia elope and live happily ever after. Where? It’s a cartoon, does it matter?
Cue the end credits and the pop love ballad (“At the Beginning”). And everyone leaves!
So, how does it hold up? Okay, honestly. Yes, there are a lot of historical nitpicks. But the same is true of Pocahontas. The movie’s aim is not to educate but entertain. And it does so, even if there are some logic holes you realize when you get older. But in some ways, the Disney movies are a bit better when it comes to characterization.
The music is beautiful, especially “At the Beginning.” My class chose it as our Junior Ring song. It may have also been our graduation song if the class before us didn’t steal it. So “Anastasia” will have a special place in my heart because of that song.
Sorry for the delay—I was working on something and was like “I have time” until it was my birthday and I realized I only had four days left. So, oops?
Next month: Backstreet Boys!
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