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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 9314
Released: February 19, 2002 |
| Our Price: $21.99 |
| Used Price: $14.89 |
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MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Stomping out their usual cuteness and carbon copying Disney's grand animation style to a T, directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (An American Tail) create a successful musical comedy from the story of the lost Russian princess. Adapting the story of imperialism and revolution is tricky, and subsequently the film's opening is weak. Once Anya (voiced by Meg Ryan, sung by Liz Callaway) is a teenager and on her own (suffering from some degree of amnesia), the film is quite pleasing though never refreshingly new.
Twentieth Century Fox's big-money gamble to horn in on Disney's realm is worthy. The songs, especially the recurrent "Once Upon a December," by Broadway team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are better than Disney's recent efforts. It's worth picking up the soundtrack. The mix of cell animation and computer work is vivid. The collection of vocal talent is also strong, from John Cusack (as Dimitri, who wants to earn the reward by bringing Anya to Paris) to Hank Azaria as an amusing albino bat. Kelsey Grammer helps turn a roly-poly sidekick into a warm and strong supporting character.
The biggest drawback is Bluth/Goldman's insistence on having a typical villain. Surprisingly, the story would be strong enough without one, and the undead corpse of Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) is unneeded and unoriginal. --Doug Thomas
Anastasia Reviews:
ONE OF DON BLUTH'S BEST 9.25 OUT OF 10 
2009-12-06 - After the year 1989 which saw two awesome Don Bluth films (All Dogs Go To Heaven and The Land Before Time), for some reason something bad happened in the 90's. Before Anastasia came out in 1997, we were given efforts from Don Bluth such as The Pebble And The Penguin (Easily his worst film.), Rock A Doodle Doo (It was alright.), and a few other not-so-great efforts. While I would have to say this is not my favorite Don Bluth film (It ranks third behind All Dogs Go To Heaven and The Secret of Nimh), this is still a fantastic film that brought Don Bluth back to the top of film-making form. This film is a dazzling, eye-catching, extraordinary cinematic accomplishment that can easily overthrow many Disney films even to this day.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: The film starts off in the year 1916, in Russia at the Czar's palace during a ball. It is during this ball that an evil man named Rasputen (Played by Christopher Lloyd) puts an evil curse on the Romanov family. Then a short while later, an angry mob storms the palace and kills most of the family except for the Grandmother (Who is the ruler of France) and Anastasia, but when the two try to escape by train, Anastasia loses her Grandmother's grip and falls. Fast forward ten years later and we are now in the Soviet Union and rumors start popping up around St. Petersburg that Anastasia is still alive so two guys; Dimitri (Played by John Cusack) and Vladimir (Played by Kelsey Grammer) decide to hold auditions to find a girl who looks like Anastasia so they can claim a reward of ten million rubles. Then we are introduced to Anya (Played by Meg Ryan), an eighteen-year-old girl who has no memory past the age of eight and wants to find her family that she never knew, so she starts off by going to St. Petersburg where she plans to go to Paris but first meets Dimitri and Vladimir who decide to take her to Paris with them because she looks a lot like Anastasia. But the group has troubles on their journey because they are being hunted by Rasputen who wants to kill Anastasia to fulfill the curse he put on Romanov family.
MUSIC: The music in this film is great, and even the musical parts of the film are great and never get annoying. I have no problems with this area because it is superbly done.
ACTION: This film is extremely entertaining and there is never a dull moment. There's even action scenes in this film which are rather awesome to watch (Watch the train scene and you'll see why.). The animation looks stunning even in this day and age despite the fact it came out twelve years ago. Overall, I don't really have any gripes with this area either.
ACTING: The only problem here is a few moments of cheesy dialogue, but other than that all the actors do a really good job at their roles. I don't think better people could have been cast for such roles because their roles suit them perfectly. I even enjoyed them for moments of fun humor. Other than dialogue issues, I don't really see any other issues.
OVERALL: If you enjoy animated films, musicals, or just amazing films in general, then what the hell are you waiting for? Buy this damn film! This is a review coming from a person who rarely ever gives positive (Let alone raving) reviews of animated films, but this is one of those rare animated films that I love so much because it's a breathtaking, awe-inspiring, ride that you don't want to end.
THE GOOD: Stunning animation, superb music, awesome action scenes, cool storyline, fun humor, and good acting.
THE BAD: Moments of cheesy dialogue.
Great NON-Disney Movie 
2009-10-13 - this is a great movie and very entertaining for our daughter. she loves it and likes to watch it over and over and over. Thats all for now
Good family flick
2009-03-30 - Anastasia is the most overlooked "princess" of Disney. She is a great character and this is a really cute movie.
Not Bluth's Best Film, But Still Easily One of The Best Animated Films Ever Made
2009-03-19 - The Film Follows The Adventures of Anastasia, a Rusin Princess Who Lost Her Memery Years Ago As A Young Girl. On Her Way To Paris To See Her Gandma, She Bumps Into Demetrie and Vlad Who Help On Her Journey. Meanwhile, Evil Velian Russputain and Sidekick Bartok The Bat Try To Distroy Anastasia From Knowing Who She Was Years Ago.
ANASTASIA is Not Anwhere Near Don Bluth's Best Film Made, But This is Still One of The Best Animated Films Made.
The Animation Even Being 2D Animation, is Absolutly Realistic.
The Voice Talents Are Great Featuring Meg Ryan as Anastasia, John Cussack (From MARTIAN CHILD) as Demitrie, Christopher Lloyd (From BACK TO THE FUTURE) as Rusputian, Hank Arazaria (From THE SIMPSONS) as The Sidekick Bartok, Among Others.
The Directors Don Bluth (THE SECRET OF NIMH) and Gary Goldman (TITAN A.E.) Have Made A Great Film Though It's Not for the Whole Family (Violene and Suspence), Thay've Made One Great Film That Will Be Timeless For Generations To Come.
Overall Rating-5/5
3 stars out of 4
2009-01-19 - The Bottom Line:
As long as you don't mistake Anastasia for anything close to history, you'll probably enjoy this well-made animated movie for its above-average music, characters, and story.
