Anastasia (1997 film)
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| Anastasia | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Don Bluth Gary Goldman |
| Produced by | Don Bluth Gary Goldman |
| Written by | Susan Gauthier Bruce Graham Bob Tzudiker Noni White Eric Tuchman |
| Starring | Meg Ryan John Cusack Kelsey Grammer Christopher Lloyd Hank Azaria Bernadette Peters Angela Lansbury Kirsten Dunst Jim Cummings |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Edited by | Bob Bender Fiona Trayler |
Production
company | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates
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Running time
| 94 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50 million |
| Box office | $139.8 million[2] |
Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical film produced by Fox Animation Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox, directed by former Disney animation directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring the voices of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst and Angela Lansbury. The film is an adaptation of the legend of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, which claims that she in fact escaped theexecution of her family. It tells the story of an eighteen-year-old orphan named Anya who, in hopes of finding some trace of her family, sides with a pair of con men who wish to take advantage of her likeness to the Grand Duchess.
The film premiered on November 14, 1997 in New York City, and was released on November 21, 1997 in the United States, and despite the objections of some historians to its fantastical retelling of the life of the Grand Duchess, enjoyed a positive reception from many critics. From a $50 million budget, the film grossed $139,804,348 worldwide, making Anastasia a box office success. The film also received nominations for several awards, including two Oscars for Best Original Song("Journey to the Past") and Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. It is the most profitable film from Don Bluth and Fox Animation Studios to date.
The success of Anastasia spawned various adaptations of the film into other media, including a direct-to-video spin-off film, a computer game,[3] books, toys, and an upcoming stage adaptation in 2016.[4][5]
Contents
[hide]Plot[edit]
In 1916, Tsar Nicholas II hosts a ball at the Catherine Palace to celebrate the Romanov tricentennial. His mother, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, is visiting from Paris and gives a music box and a necklace inscribed with the words “Together in Paris” as parting gifts to her youngest granddaughter, eight-year-old Grand Duchess Anastasia. The ball is suddenly interrupted by the sorcerer Grigori Rasputin, the former royal advisor of the Romanovs until he was banished by Nicholas II for treason. In retaliation, Rasputin sells his soul in exchange for an unholy reliquary, which he uses to place a curse on the Romanov family, sparking the Russian Revolution. Only Marie and Anastasia are able to escape the siege of the palace, thanks to a young servant boy named Dimitri, who shows them a secret passageway in Anastasia's room. Rasputin confronts the two royals outside, only to fall through the ice and freeze to death. The pair manage to reach a moving train, but only Marie climbs aboard while Anastasia falls, hitting her head on the platform and ending up with amnesia.
Ten years later, in 1926, Russia is under communist rule, and Marie has publicly offered 10 million rubles for the safe return of her granddaughter. Dimitri and his friend and partner Vladimir, thus search for a look-alike to bring to Paris and pass off as Anastasia so as to collect the reward from Marie. Elsewhere, Anastasia, now using the name "Anya", leaves the rural orphanage where she grew up, having lost her memory prior to arriving there. Accompanied by a stray puppy she names "Pooka", she turns down a job at a fish factory in favor of going to Saint Petersburg after her necklace inspires her to seek out her family in Paris. In the deserted palace she encounters Dimitri and Vladimir, who are impressed by her resemblance to the "real" Anastasia and decide to take her with them.
Bartok, Rasputin's albino bat minion is nearby and notices his master's dormant reliquary suddenly revived by Anastasia's presence; it drags him to limbo, where the soul of Rasputin survives. Enraged to hear that Anastasia escaped the curse, Rasputin sends demonic spirits from the reliquary to kill her; despite two assassination attempts, the trio manage to (unwittingly) foil him, forcing Rasputin and Bartok to travel back to the surface.
Anastasia, Dimitri and Vladimir eventually reach Paris and go to meet Marie, who refuses to see her, having been nearly fooled numerous times before by impostors. Despite this, Sophie—Marie's cousin—quizzes Anastasia to confirm her identity. Dimitri and Vladimir had taught Anastasia all the answers, but when Anastasia independently, though vaguely, recalls how a boy (namely Dimitri) saved her ten years ago, Dimitri realizes that she is the real "Grand Duchess", and later informs Vladimir at the Russian Ballet. Dimitri, however, insists they do not reveal this truth to Anastasia. Sophie, convinced as well, arranges for Anastasia to meet Marie after a Russian ballet. However, Marie wants nothing to do with Dimitri, having heard of him and his initial scheme to lie to her. Anastasia overhears that Dimitri was using her all along as part of his con to get Marie's money and she confronts him about it before she walks off. Dimitri manages to change Marie's mind by presenting her with Anastasia's music box, which he had found after their escape. Anastasia's memory returns upon meeting Marie, and grandmother and granddaughter are reunited at long last.
The next day, Marie offers Dimitri the reward money, but to her surprise he refuses it and leaves for Russia and thanks Anastasia for her return to her grandmother. That night, at Anastasia's return celebration, Marie informs her of Dimitri's gesture and leaves her to her thoughts. Anastasia then wanders through a garden and onto the Pont Alexandre III, where she is trapped and attacked by Rasputin. Dimitri returns to save her, but is injured and knocked unconscious. In the struggle, Anastasia manages to get hold of Rasputin's reliquary and crush it underfoot, destroying it. With Rasputin's soul having been tied to the reliquary, he promptly dies and disintegrates.
Afterwards, Dimitri and Anastasia reconcile after Anastasia finally discovers the truth about herself; they elope and Anastasia sends a farewell letter to Marie and Sophie, promising to return one day. The couple kisses on a riverboat and Bartok shares a kiss with a female bat before bidding the audience farewell.
Cast[edit]
- Meg Ryan as Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, the youngest daughter and one of two surviving members of the Imperial family.
- Kirsten Dunst voices a younger Anastasia.
- Lacey Chabert provides the singing voice of a younger Anastasia.
- Liz Callaway provides the singing voice of Anastasia.
- John Cusack as Dimitri, a young con man and former servant of Tsar Nicholas II who falls for Anastasia.
- Glenn Walker Harris, Jr. voices a younger Dimitri.
- Jonathan Dokuchitz provides the singing voice of Dimitri.
- Kelsey Grammer as Vladimir "Vlad" Vanya Voinitsky Vasilovich, a former nobleman and a friend of Dimitri.[6]
- Christopher Lloyd as Grigori Rasputin, a dangerous and power-mad sorcerer who cast a curse that would claim the lives of all but two members of the Imperial family: Anastasia and Marie.
- Jim Cummings provides the singing voice of Rasputin.
- Hank Azaria as Bartok, Rasputin's bumbling small albino bat sidekick who serves as the film's comic relief.
- Angela Lansbury as the The Dowager Empress Marie, the mother of Nicholas II and Anastasia's grandmother.
- Bernadette Peters as Sophie Stanislovskievna Somorkov-Smirnoff, Marie's first cousin and lady-in-waiting.
- Andrea Martin as "Comrade" Phlegmenkoff, the orphanage's inconsiderate owner.
- Rick Jones as Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last Russian Emperor and Anastasia's father.
- Rick Jones also voices a Revolutionary Soldier, a servant, and a ticket agent.
- Charity James as Anastasia Imposter
- Debra Mooney as Actress
- Arthur Malet as Traveling Man, Majordomo
J.K. Simmons and Lillias White are among the ensemble and character voices.
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