Anastasia (1997) - Nostalgia Critic
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It's Fox's attempt at creating a Disney Princess movie! How well did it work though? Nostalgia Critic takes a look at one of Don Bluth's biggest productions, Anastasia (1997).
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Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical fantasy drama film produced by directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. It stars Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst, and Angela Lansbury. Based on the legend of Grand Duchess Anastasia, the film follows an eighteen-year-old amnesiac Anastasia "Anya" Romanov who, hoping to find some trace of her deceased family, sides with two con men who wish to pass her off as the Grand Duchess to dowager empress Maria Feodorovna; thus the film shares its plot with Fox's prior film from 1956, which, in turn, was based on the 1954 play of the same name by Marcelle Maurette. Unlike those treatments, this version adds a magically empowered Grigori Rasputin as the antagonist.
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Favorite Don Bluth film?
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I haven't seen this film
Please review the Lego Batman movie and national treasurer 2 Book of secrets
For the Commercial Special can you talk about the following?:
Shaving Fun Ken
Those Barbie and GI Joe Nissan ads, even a car company shipped those two
The Match Made in Hell commercial from 2020
Hess Trucks
Celebrity Snickers commercials, you know like that one where Willem Dafoe dressed up as Marilyn Monroe
Michael Jackson's Pepsi commercials
That credit card commercial with Kevin Hart and the mom from Home Alone
Spirit of Massachusetts
An American Tail
Thumbelina
From the historical angle, I think it does bear pointing out that Anastasia's body wasn't discovered until 2007. So, at the time, there was still a mystery about her and some chance she had possibly escaped
Its now believed by science that Anastasia's body was among those originally found back in the 1990s. When they found those two additional bodies in 2007, DNA testing came to the conclusion that aside from the son Alexei the other body was most likely Marie.
@@Nolascana the sisters were all late teens or early adults. Their brother was still a child. Still sad but actual ages are important.
@@Nolascana The way the bodies were left did make it hard. Basically they wanted to hide the bodies, so the put them in barrels with oil and set them on fire. When the grave was discovered, they had less bodies then members of the household (they were able to identify servants along with the murdered members) they had 9 out of 11 bodies. And using the bones they found they were able to identify that it was Alexi and one of the two youngest sisters (Anastasia or Maria) who were missing. They have since found an additional bodies near the original site which included Alexi and one of his sisters. Meaning that they have the full unique dna profiles of the members of the family at this point. Since the murder was known to be a rushed job (it was done at night quickly because of an advancing army looking for them) its theorized that they probably didn't account for the servants to be murdered.
Did Czar Nick deserve to be killed? You say it like he did. Are you a communist sympathizer, or something?
@@Nolascana The decision was made as a personal decision by the higher ups of the revolution. In fact they lied for years that that they had killed the entire family, and instead said that they just killed the Tsar. Nobody understood why they killed the daughters. There is an old educate when it comes to dealing with people in power and change of rulership, you don't kill children unless there is a proven reason to (ie you know the child is trying to take back power etc.). Even the French monarchy had one daughter, at the time in her teens, who survived the bloody French revolution. The oldest daughter was only 22 and was seen as a bit of a sweetheart by the public at the time. She and the next oldest had been working as nurses during the war, they were seen as sheltered, but compassionate workers.
For those not in the know, the reason Anastasia did well and didn't get any sort of backlash the way Hercules or Pochahantus did is that the film makers marketed it to Russians as an animated "fantasy" retelling of her story, so that no one would complain about it being inaccurate to the source material. A really smart move on Don Bluth's team to do so as the years go by with the movie retaining its charm and not falling to any calls of being a bastardization of its source.
Ye but in todays world
They people will get mad if a disabled character isn't voiced by a disabled person
@@kingkaza that's a huge exaggeration and I think you know it
@@cheyannegiles9772 but it did legit happen when people got mad a disabled character who dose crazy stunts isn't played by a disabled person
Also sia's music got hated cause autistic child wasn't played by autistic child (but also movie was shit and giving very bad advice)
@@kingkaza ah sorry, i was thinking in terms of voice acting, not live action acting
@@cheyannegiles9772 well i guess south park too as is mostly 2 guys voicing basically every race and gender
10:06 Interesting fact: After the Romanovs died/went missing, there was a woman who went by Anna Anderson who claimed to be Anastasia and blamed amnesia for her not knowing certain things about Anastasia’s life before she was officially found to be a fraud in 2007 when Anastasia’s body was found. So amnesia isn't just a plot device, it's a real part of the story that inspired this movie (and at the time of it being made could've still been considered even more based on a true story).
I had a very interesting experience with this fact. My mind somehow combined the fake princess and the modern scammer Anna Sorokina, and I though even Alexis Sorokin from Vampire the Masquerade: Kindred Most Wanted was a reference to her.
In fact, Sorokina was revealed in 2017, and the VtM char must have been a simple coincidence.
I remember
DNA determined she was a fraud years earlier
The moment of realization from Lansbury, "Anastasia, MY Anastasia!" never fails to make me cry. It makes up for the absolute whiplash those transitions gives me.
Me and my mom tear up EVERY TIME!!!
She is so sincere. I seems like they were actually reuniting. It hits where it hurts.
Dame Angela never phones it in. You can just imagine her in the booth reciting that line
Another historical accuracy is the scene from Once Upon a December. When you see Anastasia's little brother walking, he has a slight limp to his walk. This is because her brother had haemophilia, causing that limp.
And in real life Anastasia was the favored grandchild of her grandmother
@CERBERVS where in the absolute fuck are you coming from with this shit? We’re talking about Anastasia and you gotta instigate some religious drama
@CERBERVS Really the cartoon animated movie with a talking bat and magic is “a lie” fucking color me shocked I had no idea your a godamn genius 😂
@CERBERVS ahh ok I see where this is going. Wiseass doesn’t begin to describe me as I talk with a clearly psychotic Christian nationalist about a children’s movie but between your raging boner for imperialist Russia to suddenly making the very clear human rights abuses during and after the revolution somehow Christian focused and then your wink wink jew hating language you can fuck all the way off
And so the fantasy Rasputin induces in Anastasia would’ve been unlikely as there’d been no way Alexei would’ve been allowed to jump into the water as shown in the movie.
Miss Don Bluth's art style so much. Wish he was still doing animated movies.
Hes started a new studio. He's trying to.
Wasn't he working on a Dragon's Lair movie on Indiegogo?
He did tried to come back by pitching a Dragons Lair movie, but sadly they didn't want it.
@@Nicky2414 well... I can see why.
@@Nicky2414 Netflix was interested, but they decided to make a live action Dragon's Lair starring Ryan Reynolds, instead of the animated movie people actually wanted. Don Bluth and Gary Goldman are producing it.
The Broadway musical actually does take it in that direction that you wish the movie had. It’s never blatantly shown or told to the audience whether or not Anya is really Anastasia, and the musical ends with Anya and the Dowager choosing not to care and taking comfort in the fact that it just being a possibility is enough for them. It’s actually really beautiful.
The whole musical itself actually takes a much more grounded and realistic approach with Rasputin being replaced as the villain by a Bolshevik general trying to convince Anya that pretending to be Anastasia is extremely dangerous. If you get the chance to go see it I highly recommend!
Oh yes! And the music is really good. Goes without saying for a musical, but I love the soundtrack a lot. XD
Shame they took out the one part of the movie that is the most accurate to history
@@nathanielgarza9198 which part was that?
@@dankiumzed2831 the one where Rasputin is an evil sorcerer that sold his soul to kill the Romanovs
@@nathanielgarza9198 that actually happened?
Ok, but you gotta admit, this part will always get a laugh.
(Raspy inhale)
(Coat drop)
"Grandma, it's me, Anastasia."
I have always wondered since I was a child, if it was a woman who was a chain smoker or a man dressed as a woman 😂
That scene is hilarious, did you see the cut together of the woman in the little mermaid where they first try to reveal Ariel? lol
@@JackalopeBunny oh, yes🤣I've seen lots of the memes in all the different movies, it's hilarious 🤣
My friends and I quote this all the time! XD
Yup, I laughed just reading this comment. 🤣
Anastasia’s song, and seeing the ghosts dancing still gives me chills. Best scene ever!
_Once Upon A December_
My favorite version is a pure piano cover~
It’s so beautifully haunting! It reminds me of The Haunted Mansion with a touch of Cinderella.
Yes! Seeing that in the commercial made me desperately want to see it. Goosebumps!
I dead ass used this song to start my jogs..I'd start slow walking, go to a speed run, then SPRINT when the music swelled.
Originally, In an early storyboard version, the ending was slightly different, Anastasia was worried on not seeing her grandmother again. Her farewell letter made no mention about returning to Paris again, resulting in Marie, and especially Sophie, to bemoan on not seeing Anastasia again. However, the filmmakers felt that the audience would lose sympathy for Anastasia for abandoning her grandmother unexpectedly, and considered it too bittersweet.
I'm glad they used the current ending. It's a very Disney ending but a great one at that!
I still didn't like the fact that she left the ONLY FAMILY she has left at the end
@@joshuamerriweather2861 for a MAN
That's definitely more in keeping with the movie this was inspired from, when Anastasia leaves with her guy and the grandmother smiles and pretends it was never her at all (leaving it up to interpretation if she is protecting Anastasia, or genuinely doesn't think it was her).
I fell like that was a good way of giving closure to the grandmother.
In The Dark Of The Night is an absolute banger. And the power rise at the end of it is just amazing. That transition to "Come my minions..." etc gives me chills every time.
Yes!!!
No doubt.
@@MiaArianaMia There a reason for the editing problems, while Anastasia had a good budget Don Bluth didn't have enough animators. So Fox filmed the whole thing in live action, then animate it. Disney has done live action references before, but in Anastasia's case it's MUCH more extreme. Considering that this is the first Don Bluth film to not have John Pomeroy involved, maybe making Anastasia was a bit harder than the 80's classics??????
Note that there’s a subtle historical reference in Anastasia’s fantasy sequence where her brother Alexei never leaves his mother’s side, since he had hemophilia, his mother was very over-protective of him and it was through her that Rasputin became acquainted with the royal family as he could “heal” the boy.
That and it looks like he's limping very slightly, good little reference.
Considering Rasputin got the family doctors to stop giving him aspirin he actually did help.
Anastasia is a criminally underrated movie and musical. It definitely deserves more attention than all these other Disney Princess films.
Funny enough she technically is now a Disney princess.
The movie was the most popular movie of 1997 obviously a movie 25 years old is going to be underated after so many decades
@@entertainingblackmanvideos7691 "The movie was the most popular movie of 1997"
cite your sources.
@@jclkaytwo i think one of don bluth highest grossing films
@@jclkaytwo I was born 1990 I saw the movie on the big screen in 1997 it was the most talked about movie that year in life next to men in black
Fun Fact: When Don Bluth and Gary Goldman began researching the actual events, they discovered the history of Anastasia and the Romanov dynasty was too dark for their movie, and decided to use the basic facts of the Romanovs' demise and the Russian Revolution as a starting point and ask, "What if this girl escaped, and what would have happened to her?" opting to "tell a myth or a fairy tale". Bluth also did not take into consideration depicting Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks as the villains, and instead, incorporated Grigori Rasputin, explaining "We wanted to stay out of politics." In reality, Rasputin was already dead when the Romanovs were assassinated. In addition to this, Bluth created the idea for Bartok, the albino bat, as a sidekick for Rasputin. "I just thought the villain had to have a comic sidekick, just to let everyone know that it was all right to laugh. A bat seemed a natural friend for Rasputin. Making him a white bat came later, just to make him different."
It does leave how she survived the purge of the Romanovs up in the air. We know that in real life Anastasia was killed along with the rest of her family, and the woman who claimed to be her was an imposter. But I think they could have at least tried to explain how she survived like a sympathetic guard rescued her or something like that.
Very impressive indeed.
It's actually quite weird, too. Rasputin was loyal to the crown until he died, even though he was corrupt.
@@HolyknightVader999 Yeah he tried to talk Nicholas II out of entering WWI. So ironically had Nicky listened to him then maybe he and his family wouldn't have been murdered.
Kind of weird for Don Bluth to think that kind of direction would've been too dark considering he made An American Tail, a movie that was unapologetic about its "Mice are American immigrants and cats are exploiters and oppressors" allegory.
A lot of the issues in this movie could honestly be solved by removing Rasputin. Think about it, he's not really necessary at all.
The reason Anastasia is separated from her family was due to the revolution, not Rasputin. Anastasia's nightmare on the ship could just have been a real nightmare due to repressed PTSD from what happened to her family. Anastasia chooses to run off with Dimitri by the end, Rasputin didn't affect that either, she was clearly already questioning her life at the palace.
You could remove Rasputin and absolutely nothing would be missed.
Since Lansbury's death, I've actually been finding out just how much a part of my childhood she was, and it makes me appreciate her even more. I was the perfect age for this movie (7) when it came out, and I actually dressed as Anastasia for Halloween. I see the movie's flaws as an adult, but I still love it and will watch it over and over again -and sing Once Upon a December randomly.
Agreed
Also loved her in both Beauty & the Beast as well as Last Unicorn
Landsbury will always be Jessica flesher from murder she wrote, what a kind special lady
Fun fact: While Christopher Lloyd voiced Rasputin, the song: In the Dark of the Night, is actually sung by Jim Cummings
And wasn't the only time Cummings done so as he did Be Prepared.
It really goes to show how much range Cummings has in characters and in people that it's hard to make out
Doug actually made that mistake years ago of thinking it was Lloyd.
@@Ultizer all the more reason to share
Not really, IMO I think Cummings' characters all sound the same.
@CERBERVS He was also really, really close to the family to the extent people thought he was using magic on them them hypnotized or he was getting a little too close to the Czarina and her daughters, if you catch my drift.
@CERBERVS So did James Cameron's 'Titanic'. Your point?
Fun fact: Anastasia is now a Broadway Musical! The focus is now no longer on a magical wizard, but the political tension between the people who overthrew the royal family and those who are still unsatisfied with the way the country is being run. Throughougt the show a man chases Anastasia, wanting to kill the last of the Romanov's, while Anastasia's plot is the same as the movie. It has a ton of new songs and they re-used the melody from In The Dark Of The Night for a very touching song about leaving your homeland behind. I really recommend checking out the soundtrack!
completely agree! the Broadway show is amazing
By far one of the strongest vocally, musically,and dance shows that’s been put out in recent years. It’s so haunting yet wonderful to listen to! One of the best numbers is Quartet at the Ballet the harmony between Anya, Dmitry, Gleb, and Maria is incredible! Especially the final “🎶Find a way, Anastasia!🎶”while Odet does her fouettés. And I agree that Stay I pray you is amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. Gleb was definitely the perfect antagonist, working for the Soviet’s yet in love with the Anya even though she is a Romanov. The climax Neva Flows/Still reprise is so intense and is my personal favorite in the show! I never got to see the show live but I hope to see the tour soon!
@@AlexMarinaccio135 ah Quartet is amazing! I genuinely love how it combines the score from the musical with the actual music from the ballet, and has the characters reflect eachother (Odette dancing before Anya sings, The Prince dancing before Dimitri sings etc)
@@parentalcryptid569 Yeah definitely! I also love the reflection that Anya and Dmitry share throughout the the show, singing the same verse the second to last verse in We’ll go from there, How they realize they truly love each other in Everything to win and Everything to win reprise, and of course A crowd of thousands which is hands down one the best songs in the show!
They actually used the Broadway logo for the video thumbnail lol
I was a Russian and Central Eurasian Studies Major in college because of this movie. I watched it one day when I was home sick as a sophmore in high school and out of curiosity I looked up the movie and when I saw it was based off a real person I looked her up and the rest was history. The Romanovs and the Russian Revolution were a gate way to Russian culture, literature, language and their vast and fascinating history. If you know what to look for there is actually a lot of historical easter eggs in the movie. For example in Once Upon a December they show her little brother limping. In reality Anastasia's one and only brother Alexi suffered from hemophilia and did limp. Rasputin drowning in the opening is a nod to the fact that even after everything his killers put him through, Rasputin had water in his lungs which means he drowned. I honestly love those little details they add. However... as an adult I can aknoweldge while it's a beautiful and comforting movie and did lead the way to learning about the real girl and people... it does feel like a diservice and insult to history. The fact was Anastasia was a girl who was burtally killed a month after 17th birthday with the rest of her family. There was no magic and no big great vilain to be destroyed, no love story, no happily ever after. It's not as bad as Pocahontas by any means but as much as I still enjoy it the movie does leave a bad taste in my mouth. Now the broadway musical on the other hand is AMAZING because it actually respects the history it's base off of while telling an engaging story about a young woman finding herself. If you can see the tour or find a "slime tutorial" I highly recomend it.
Though the Romanovs did some horrible things, no one deserves to die the way they did, and with there deaths, a great evil would take their place.
@@hakopathebro9727 "Evil" is a stretch. A great struggle is more like it, with Evil winning out after decades.
The Tsar was just as evil, tossing away lives like bread to a duck pond in the name of "God"
@@beatles123 5 million, Holodomor. 1.2 million in the great purge. 700 thousand in Lenin’s Concentration camps. Cossack genocide 20 thousand to 500 thousand. I can go on and on and on, these are the first two decades. Theses deaths were not from war but orders, genocide of “enemy’s of the state” but you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. If the intentional killing of innocent civilians is not evil I don’t know what is, and ww2 what was it you said throwing away life’s like bread to a duck pond. The Tzar was a weak and essentially swayed man, but if you think that in anyway justifies the killing of young children you must have a incredibly insidious moral compass. If you want to be better informed on this topic read The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a bit of a depressing read but still worth it.
Tы говоришь по-русски?
I've always felt that Rasputin's story is very tacked on in this movie. It's a supernatural subplot that keeps on trying to interrupt a historical rom-com. The main characters didn't even know that he was still around. On the other hand, I've always loved the animation for the characters in this. Don't know if they used rotoscoping, but the realistic body languages convey so much personality that really complements the voice acting & singing. Also, it's pretty cool that Anastasia gets two solo songs. It was around that time when Disney began cutting down on the "I want" songs. Hercules' & Mulan's were shortened while Tarzan didn't get any.
At least Bartok for a happy ending. Loved that little white bat.
Another comment said that the stage play changed Rasputin's character to a revolutionary who wanted to make sure all Romanovs/monarchy was dead. That does sound better option for me too but I guess it would be harder for kids to understand than "an evil wizard out for revenge". Also, we got those creepy green minigargoles blowing shit up and an evil horse statue
@@kiiltochii1607 It wouldn't be so jarring if Anastasia's story was a bit more fantastical as well. Or at least have her interact w/ Rasputin in the middle of the film.
@CERBERVS 6:43 Hence, Doug equated this w/ Disney's Pocahontas.
@CERBERVS It was especially to John Ratcliffe.
Even though it's not historically accurate in the slightest, it's still an underrated gem.
I always saw it as a telling of the myth of Anastasia instead of the true story.
Anastasia is the best Disney princess film. How many others have a likeable protagonist AND romantic interest? Great animation, a great villain with a banger song... yeah Disney only bought it recently but it had already beaten all the other princesses in my opinion.
I feel like this film may have rubbed some people the wrong way with its historical inaccuracy. Because a lot of people see Tsar Nicholas II as a tyrant and while he wasn't the worst person in history, he certainly wasn't a nice dude. Yet this film attempted to make him look like a nice guy who was tricked and betrayed by Rasputin, rather than being accountable for his own actions.
@@barbiquearea it tried framing the whole Tsar system as somehow a group of all these innocent kindly monarchs who were manipulated by evil bad Rasputin. As a kid i would've bought it probably but man as an adult its so cringe, its like this very naive foreign view of Russians. As if any serf would be like 'oh we miss the Tsar, the good old days'. The Romanov's were tyrants, and yes so were most monarchs, but its pretty well-known how fucking ludicrously detached these guys were. The line of Tsars also suffered from degenerative diseases where they were completely unpredictable insane tyrants, and both Tsar Paul and Alexander were assassinated. I don't know, the movie frames it way too much as a pro-Tsarist thing, and while Rasputin was a weirdo, the Tsars were fucked and they were ruining their country the day they were born. Its just ridiculous to such a degree its hard to suspend your disbelief because its so overtly political
@@GuineaPigEveryday Tell me about it. Rasputin wasn't even at the Russian court during some of Tsar Nicholas's worst screw-ups. You can't blame him for Nicky being a racist and a bigot who said some derogatory stuff about the Japanese, calling them "monkeys", before they obliterated his navy during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. Not to mention Nicky was extremely antisemitic and forced Jews living in Russia to live in pogroms and tried to blame all the bad stuff on them.
This all happened before Rasputin gained favor with the Romanovs, but even at the height of his power the man was just a backwater priest and mystic, not the boogeyman history made him out to be. In fact he actually tried to convince Tsar Nicholas to not get in involved in WWI, which was what ultimately caused his downfall.
Angela Lansbury's death was probably the celebrity death that genuinely made me cry this year so to honor her I watched this for the first time and absolutely adored it. I am an absolute sucker for hand drawn animation and honestly the musical numbers were pretty awesome
RIP Angela Lansbury 1925-2022
Not Hagrid's death? :(
What about Robin Williams?
I didn't even know she passed until this video. She always reminded me of my grandmother, as she held that old world elegance and charm that made her presence in a movie feel like a warm hug (especially in films like Mrs. Claus, where I can completely believe she came in just to play herself as she could say she actually WAS Mrs. Claus and I would fully believe her). Such an amazing lady, she will be missed by so many.
Her and Pat Moirita. Those are the two that made me actually cry.
As good as ur thoughts are on the opening being cut out, I think the opening is pretty much required for this film. It sets the tone and stakes for Marie's character and how much she misses Anastasia, framing the opening from her perspective adds a huge emotional weight. If we cut that out, the reunion just wouldn't have felt as sweet since we no longer see Marie's relationship with Anastasia from the very beginning.
Also we would miss the confirmation of young Demitri helping Anya escape.
@@PetProjects2011true. It'd feel 100% out of left field if Demetri just said he knows because he helped her escape, and we were never shown it
After reading the real life events, i do feel for the grandmother who had always insisted they were alive. She felt in her heart she knew they were alive and claimed this up until her death, which was 2 years after her family was killed. Plus learned that most if them as well as others that were killed along side them were thrown into a well. Though I also learned that the grandmother didn’t actually like Anastasia’s mother all that much, but still mourned her after learning of their demise while also hoping they were all still alive.
Yeah the Tsars mother (the grandmother) was originally from Denmark so when her son married Alexandra (originally from Germany) she didn't like it first based on the fact of her German ethnicity but later they just clashed personality wise. By the end, Tsar Nicholas was meeting with his mother alone and never with his wife.
She has such pretty designs with her outfits. Most princesses don’t have as much outfits.
Plus her personality outshines quite a few of the Disney Princesses (not all but a few)
Fun fact, the Russian outfits in that first ball are pretty solidly based on the 1903 ball in the Winter Palace.
I like your idea of the audience not knowing Anya is Anastasia but considering Anastasia is the title of the movie and Anya is the main character I think Anya’s true identity would be pretty obvious
I agree with both of you. She should have been renamed and the reveal at the end that she is Anastasia should have been a twist.
This reminds me of James Cameron's commentary for Terminator 2 in which he addresses the promotion for the film spoiling the twist of the T-800 being the hero. He says that as a storyteller, you still have to go through the motions of pretending as if the audience doesn't have that info.
Yeah I was thinking that too.
Anya is not a short of Anastasia iin Russian. It's Nastya.
@@user-hc1uz2dn5s Nasty! ...A.
Fun fact: in Russia, they don't even mind the historical inaccuracy, because the dub and the marketing played it like "Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter." "What if Rasputin was a wizard zombie and Anastasia survived with amnesia?"
The only thing that bugs them are the local anachronisms, like the cops in St. Petersburg wearing uniforms from the 1980s.
ARE YOU SAYING ABE LINCOLN DIDN'T REALLY HUNT VAMPIRES?!
Now maybe I'm an adult who has no real problems with this movie because of nostalgia...but...I love it to this day. It actually makes me cry on several levels anytime I watch it.
First, is that it will never be real. The reunion of Anastasia with her grandmother is so soothing for the grandmother's heart that it breaks mine to know that there was no relief for her (or her counterpart) in real life. There were liars and almosts and then just more heartache.
Second, it's so touching as a movie. I like that she has small memories of her past because you can feel how much she wants to go back to a time she will never get again.
And third...Aaliyah sang the pop track or a pop cover for Journey to the Past and...well....talk about taken too soon.
Never do I look at this and think "wow I wish the black screen lingered longer after the songs" or "what a funny way they animated that half second frame" or "Hey! they reused that walking scene!"
The pop cover was actually made for the movie. If I recall (its been a LONG while since I watched it on VHS) it was included with the movie? Or at least mentioned in the VHS before the movie? I completely forgot about it though until I read your comment.
@@jessicawilson1751 last time I watched it I was crying too hard to pay attention to the credits 😅
I tend to see it more through White eyes.
Exactly how I feel! EEP!😍
Well said. Funny enough I did not like this movie as a kid, I probably only watched it once, but as an adult I love this movie, the songs, the animation, it is just spectacular to me now.
Always great to see Doug cover a Don Bluth film.
Just needed a Don Bluth stare
Titan AE next
@@claymathewselevator8121 yes!
they also made rule 34's out of
it cough moving right alone.
@@claymathewselevator8121 I want to see his response to "Thumbelina". Very underappreciated Bluth movie IMO.
Honestly everyone in the animation department really put everything they had into this to make it look so beautiful and historical and it really shows in the final product how much of a good job they did
I just loved how doug called the matryoshka a babushka. It was adorable lol.
But the matryoshka depicts a babushka on the head of the doll, so maybe he really meant that the story would be embroidered into a headscarf... or something. Nah, he called a nesting doll a headscarf and it made me chuckle.
Doug can do adorable ?? Ah thought he is just another CZcamsr hiding behind an unfunny alter-ego with short glimpses of funny.
Well, now since she's owned by Disney, she's my favorite Disney Princess. Also the musical is beyond amazing
Disney Princess is a specific franchise tho. They have to be coronated at Disney World to be part of it. That’s why certain actually princesses of disney aren’t even disney princesses (like Kida or Elsa and Anna. The latter two bc Frozen was so popular, it became its own franchise).
Yes. I feel the exact same way. I love this movie. And definitely my favorite princess who is now owned by Disney.
Anastasia is my favorite non-Disney made movie of the mid 90s! This movie was the first time Disney felt they had competition in animation at the time. RIP Angela Lansbury, you were amazing!
And now ironically it is part of the House of Mouse.
@@barbiquearea I know it’s now owned by Disney, but the cartoon was made long before the buyout. Don Bluth was competing with Disney, and it was when ex Disney animators were joining rival animation studios!
I think this film is a big reason why so many people say Don Bluth is one of the best directors of Animation films ever.
Not to mention that this movie got Don Bluth out of his dork age after several misfires in that decade, like (ahem) A Troll In Central Park, although only for a short time.
@@aussieman3021 Too bad Titan A.E was a disaster.
"The Secret of NIMH", "An American Tail", "The Land Before Time": Are we a joke to you?
@@orangeslash1667 That's why I said "although only for a short time".
@@aussieman3021 Fox offered Don to direct Ice Age after Titian AE, but he said no for some reason????
interesting fact:
the song "Once in December" became a classic
at the graduation in Russia. Every schoolboy in Russia dances to this song at the last bell (this is a holiday when teenagers go to school for the last time. That is, they see off the school). Next year I will also dance to this song
That sounds beautiful.
The chemistry between the main characters is amazing!! And their kiss at the end is the most realistic kiss in any animated movie ever!!
This movie has one of the most beautiful songs (once upon a December) and most evil sounding (in the dark of the night) all in one.
Very underrated movie
...Yet somehow I like what they did with the music for "In the Dark of the Night" in the musical better. They ripped bits of the melody and remixed it to make it more a song of sorrow and farewell by refugees trying to escape the soviet state.
The dark of the night always cracked me up with those little minions bobbing around singing
@@esotericexplorersmartinez493 I choose to just listen to the song and imagine the background singers as demons or skeletons or something
Anastasia remains one of my all time favorite animated movies. Dimitri was also my first animated crush when I was 5 years old. Even as a kid I knew there was something really special about him: the conman changing his ways to ensure the happiness of the woman he loves, even if that means he'll never see her again. Phenomenal stuff!
I was 5 years old when this movie came out
I very distinctly remember Rasputin's death. I watched the movie as a young child on VHS. I also remember his skeleton was still somewhat alive before it disintegrated into dust. Definitely one of the more disturbing and gory deaths I had seen in a drawn film.
@CERBERVS No, and neither does the movie.
@CERBERVS If you say so. To the rest of us it's just a kids movie.
@CERBERVS Yes, he was a magician and a pervert!
I'm kidding and you're annoying.
@CERBERVS Idk what you want me to do about it? I'm not the one who made the movie, go rage in their Twitter or something. You're making a pointless argument and wasting my time.
@CERBERVS Well, if you think Anastasia and Pocahontas are so outrageous, wait until you see the _animated_ Titanic movies. You're gonna flip.
This was a great review. It felt like one you wanted to do. You had good points, nice jokes and the jokes didn't go on for too long. I really enjoyed watch you do one of your A grade reviews.
I remember when the Nostalgia Chick covered this movie, good times. Also, "In The Dark Of The Night." is seriously one of the best Villain songs ever.
Has she taken hers down as I cant find it or any of her animated reviews 🙂 thanks x
@@s.g2344 I think most of them are on Internet Archive.
The electric guitar totally made it!
Nostalgia chick 😍😍😍😍
@@s.g2344 - They're freely available for patrons, otherwise you might have a hard time finding them now. =/
I think this film just shows how much of a legend Don Bluth is with Animated Films
Probably with my favorite scenes is the reunited scene.
Mostly because it’s a beautiful moment but how it was done.
The fact that a very vivid memory was triggered by the smell alone.
Smell can be one of the most Powerful memory triggers And that it’s interest to such a vivid memory makes so much sense
Ah yes, the Disney movie that isn't Disney. We recorded this along with some Christmas specials, so we watch it around the holidays every year. :03
I love Anastasia! it's one of the most beloved underrated masterpieces of all time! everything from the story, to the animation to the voice acting is all just marvelous!!!
Underrated? Seriously? When this came out it pissed Disney off to no end. It had all the magic and talent of a Disney movie but it wasn't Disney. Don Bluth finally got the recognition he deserved.
The animation is dazzling, but what at all is special about the story? It's as stock and cliche as they come.
@@dreamlandnightmare Yes, but it beat Disney is the point.
Another Fun Fact I Love from this Beautiful Animated Film Is: In real life, Olga really did say that Anastasia's drawing looked like a pig riding a donkey. This was stated by Anastasia in a letter to her father, and the image used in the movie is a reproduction of the original picture.
Doug already mentioned that, but that is pretty cool to say the least.
That's one of the most beautiful animated films, there's so much going on in the backgrounds, so much details, it's actually a masterpiece. Of course, it has some flaws but you hardly notice them.
Interesting fact: the waltz song "Once upon a December" is very popular in Russia and is used when children finish school. We have a tradition when boys and girls waltz together when they have their "Farewell Bell" aka Prom, and this song is often used but with different lyrics or simply its instrumental version.
The best animated films are the ones you have to rewatch again to catch all the details you missed
@@AndreNitroX There a reason for the editing problems, while Anastasia had a good budget Don Bluth didn't have enough animators. So Fox filmed the whole thing in live action, then animate it. Disney has done live action references before, but in Anastasia's case it's MUCH more extreme. Considering that this is the first Don Bluth film to not have John Pomeroy involved, maybe making Anastasia was a bit harder than the 80's classics??????
@@orangeslash1667 nice, i find animation fascinating
@@AndreNitroX Of course it’s good, it’s Don Bluth.
@@turkishissunlanguage nope, but there is a video called Don Bluth musicals, that goes into more detail in the Anastasia section.
I feel like instead of cutting out the opening, you could merely give it a different PoV. Maybe cut out the scene of Rasputin damning the Romanovs to hell, and put the PoV. . . In Dmitri's hands. Adds a lot of story, melancholy, and motivation to his character, and adds to the ambiguity of Anya's situation, as well as their chemistry together.
Honestly i still think Anastasia the character still has one of the best journey i think i've ever seen in a film.
I will always care about this movie, no matter how old I get. Even if it's historically inaccurate, it is a beautiful masterpiece in my opinion, because it has so much heart and love put into it.
I agree. I absolutely love this film when I was growing up and yeah inaccuracies aside it holds a special place in my heart
Me too I’ll always love this movie
This moment 26:55 LMAO
Rasputin’s death really reminds me Dr. Facilier’s death (The Princess and the Frog)
"Dancing bears...
Painted wings...
Things... I almost remember...
And a song, someone sings... Once upon a December..."
Gosh, I freaking love this movie!
Impeccable animation
Amazing OST
Great story and characters
It's "Dancing pairs", actually...
I think this film just shows how much of a special heart we have for Animation and want to see it become something new and special for generations down the line
I remember over the years when Anastasia came out, a number of people thought it was a Disney movie and called it that. This movie and along with Pocahontas got me into history.
I was confused on why people were calling it a Disney Movie when even I knew it was a Don Bluth movie.
@@Zodia195 I guess people thought it was a Disney film before it involves a princess, even though Disney didn't own the rights of the movie or the company at the time.
I couldn’t take this film seriously - it made a complete joke out of the 1917 revolution and ruined the character of Rasputin! Yeah the art and animation was cool, but the writing was utter trash that mocked the period it was meant to portray.
@@wilberwhateley7569 It made people curious though to go look at the actual historical events of what was going on. That's what was more important. Even I know that Anastasia was actually killed; but the Russian people overall, I think, are officially still declaring her fate 'unknown' though it's most likely true.
It is a Disney movie now
Doug noting that "most Disney movies had about 5 songs" is blowing my mind. Looking through Disney animated films of the time, he's absolutely correct. I would have guessed they contained more like 8 songs each.
The nod Don Bluth gave Angela Lansbury is so heartwarming 😭
I miss Angela Lansbury already. What a Broadway treasure.
I loved her in Murder She Wrote
This movie had such fluid animation that upon rewatch I questioned whether the animation was incredible rotoscoping instead of hand drawn.
There's nothing wrong with rotoscoping as long as the end result looks good.
@@kimifw58 agreed
I'm Russian, so, of cource inaccuracy freaked me out. Not because Anastasia was executed with all her family. It's a legend, I'm okay with that. But because Raspoutin was dead months before Revolution and mostly because heroes returned to Russia in the end. It's ridiculous. They would have been executed there in 2 years after the end of NEP.
But I still fell for this movie, especially for magnificent songs.
тут еще прикол в том, что Распутина сделали противоположностью того, что было в реальности
I first heard "Once Upon a December" as a cover from Pentatonix. I looked up where it was from, and it was "Anastasia". I knew the general plot of it, so it made sense. It's such a beautiful and haunting song, I fell in love with it immediately. Makes me wish even more that I can learn ballroom dancing.
I like how you mention at the beginning that some of the songs and scenes are very Broadway. Anastasia actually became a musical (they got rid of the supernatural aspects and the villain is just a soldier instead of Rasputin) and was on Broadway a few years ago!
Trying to make it more historical is a shame in ny opinion. That soldier has nothing on Rasputin from this film.
@@carlotta4th I agree. The villian was a downgrade despite being historically accurate.
@@sakunaruful I liked him. He wasn't a villain, more of just an antagonist. I found that the Broadway actor makes him kind of adorable, but with a Javert code of honour.
I'm not gonna lie, I've always loved this movie, as a kid I knew it wasn't a Disney movie but I didn't care, it entertained me as a kid and brought back 90's nostalgia for me as an adult
SAME!!!!!
I even got my son to watch it as a kid and even in 2022, at age 17, he watches it with me.
As a kid, I didn't see it because I too thought it wouldn't be what I'd go for but years later. I gave this film a gander and I loved it immediately. I miss Don Bluth's art and animation style so much because it has so much potential. His films are the reason why so many kids had good childhoods. We need more films like the ones Don Bluth created. We just don't see any films like that like we used to.
Once upon a December still makes me tear up, there is something about the music that goes straight to the heart.
Fun Fact: Don Bluth and the team liked Meg Ryan for Anastasia because as Don Bluth put it "she represented a courageous female figure". So, Don Bluth took a piece of dialogue from "Sleepless in Seattle" and animated. And apparently it really made Meg Ryan feel like she was a part of making/building the movie.
Same way the makers of Aladdin got Robin Williams to be the Genie.
A courageous female, but not on Mrs. Brisby's level.
In all honesty, the few seconds of Rasputin's death was enough to leave an impact. No need to add on. Everything from being struck by the demons to his body melting until the skeleton is left, which crumbles to dust and blows away.
If you notice when the dust blows past Anastasia, she has her head down the whole time. Not just because Dimitri needed her, but even she couldn't bear to watch Rasputin's downfall, it was that gruesome.
Also, "I was froz-blblblblbbl!" XD
Fantastic review.
I never realized that Anastasia wasn't a Disney movie.
Also, while it may not do justice to the source material, Once Upon a December remains one of my favorite songs from an animated movie. It's right up there with Be Prepared. There's something genuinely magical about it.
It's a Disney movie now though
12:36 thank you for saying something about Dimitri's weird and creepy face at this part. I thought I was the only one that found that expression creepy.
I never really liked him. XD
I can't help but crack up into a billion pieces of laughter with that part.
I didn’t really grow up with this movie, but as a teenager and adult I absolutely LOVE the stage musical. It’s one of my all time favorites, and I have to give props to the musical, it does what most movie to stage adaptations don’t and mesh movie and historical really well. And to give props to the movie, I know I wouldn’t have heard of the Romanov’s as a kid without this movie.
Not really a good way to learn about the Romanov's to be fair, I'm glad I was taught about it in school cuz this movie is so naive about the entire history. Sure its a kid movie but wow its political message is so obnoxious, its trying to be Pro-Tsarist from a very foreign perspective. I think for the time, the Romanov's were tyrants, many Tsars suffered from degenerative diseases where they became irrational maniacs, and while we can look at them more positively in hindsight because of the Soviets, the movie is still super black and white about it. As if some wonderful innocent monarchs were manipulated by evil Rasputin, it treats Russians with such disrespect in this way. Its a very naive foreign perspective because it was really hammering home its anti-Communist messaging, which means it ignores all of what we know to be true about the Romanov's being morons and tyrants, to their own people especially.
Trust me the stage musical is WAY better.
Oh my goodness yes. I love the Broadway Musical. I got to see it when it came to town this year and there were moments my jaw dropped. My Petersburg is my favorite song. I was bummed when I rewatched the movie and it wasn't in there 😅
Honestly when Don Bluth is on his a game, there is no one who can even come close to him.
Don Bluth is awesome
I always loved this film growing up, and still do. In the Dark of the Night remains one of my favorite villain songs! Weird thing, it wasn't until I was an adult that I found out 20th Century Fox made a live action film also called Anastasia with Ingrid Bergman in it in 1956, and the premise of it is similar to this one. Finding someone to impersonate the lost princess and travel to Copenhagen (instead of Paris) to convince the dowager empress. Once I learned that, it always made me wonder if it was the source material for the script or not (or inspired by?). If so, that would make this animated film an adaptation of an old Hollywood movie from 1956 and not a standalone story.
I actually remember watching this movie quite often as a kid, and I don't remember the transitions being so quick.
Still love it.
Maybe cause as children we have shorter attention spans and don't notice that much
@@aarushiyadav7101 There a reason for the editing problems, while Anastasia had a good budget Don Bluth didn't have enough animators. So Fox filmed the whole thing in live action, then animate it. Disney has done live action references before, but in Anastasia's case it's MUCH more extreme. Considering that this is the first Don Bluth film to not have John Pomeroy involved, maybe making Anastasia was a bit harder than the 80's classics??????
Honestly you could just look at the animation in this film for a couple hours and not get bored at looking at it.
Anastasia was one of the greatest movies ever! It even had an all-star cast featuring Meg Ryan, Kirsten Dunst, Hank Azaria, Christopher Lloyd, and the late Angela Lansbury. It's a really good family film because had good animation, good storytelling and great visual effects. If only it should premiere on either Disney Junior or Disney Channel as a general audience program.
In Anastasia, Meg Ryan playing her was constantly pissed that she hated being treated like royalty. It's like Sandra Oh telling everyone not to get close while playing Dr. Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy. Or Demi Lovato
getting pissed off at people for no reason while playing Sonny Monroe in Sonny With A Chance. How crazy can a former actress get? And why didn't she no longer become America's sweetheart?
And Jim Cummings as the singing version of Rasputin
Does show how fantastic his vocal range is
Bro don’t forget John Kusack and Kelsey Grammar!
I think Kelsey Grammar did officially voice Sideshow Bob as Bart Simpson's arch rival in many Simpsons episodes.
Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum! I'm ready for SpongeBob SquarePants!!!!!!
I bought the anastasia soundtrack on CD back in the day and would just let it play over and over. I still go back to listen on CZcams when I'm craving to. While not the best movie compared to most, like Doug said, it has enough charm for the family to enjoy and one of my faves to revisit every so often!
I absolutely love this movie (and not just because my name is Anastasia and grew up watching this movie)
The voice acting is incredible, the music is perfection, the animation is fantastic - this movie is just a complete masterpiece
This movie is childhood nostalgia at its best! Great animation, great music, and memorable characters with an awesome villain!
Now who wants him to make a Thumbelina Review?!
Other than loving the "deep in the night", villain song, I'd largely forgotten this film existed.
Then, of all people, I find rustle Watson and Michael ball singing "once upon a December", as a duette.
Two grand old doods, One Broadway, one opera cross over singer, who clearly hadn't forgot this film as much as I had, it was really surreal!
After so many years of waiting for him to review this movie, it was pleasantly, surprisingly positive. I've also always had a soft spot for this movie mostly because of the songs. Each one is just so nostalgic for me, especially "In The Dark of the Night". I was a bit too young to see Aladdin, Lion King, Pocahontas, or Hunchback in theaters, so In The Dark of the Night was my first exposure to a villain song on the big screen. I've adored villain songs ever since.
Lloyd does a great Rasputin but can we just appreciate Jim Cummings doing the singing parts? Fact he can replicate Lloyd’s tone of voice is absolutely incredible.
Honestly more animated films need to take notes and do what this film did right and follow it
Once Upon a December is one of my favorite animated musical numbers.
Meg Ryan and Kirsten Dunst both made the best choice to play Anastasia in this epic family film. When I saw the animated film which is about the lost Russian princess, it even had John Cusak as Dimitri, Christopher Lloyd as Rasputin, Hank Azaria as Bartok, Kelsey Grammar as Vladimir, Berdinette Peters as Sophie, and the late Angela Landsbury as the Dowager Empress. Also, it had great animation directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and awesome scenes. Plus, it had a great soundtrack!"It's an excellent film that I would recommend to anyone.
Did you know Kelsey Grammar was the same voice actor who played Sideshow Bob from most of the Simpsons episodes?
Nostalgia Critic: "Come on in. The water's...HELL!!!"
I still think this has some of best work Don Bluth has ever gave us.
Totally agree!!!
Agreed! 👌🏽♥️
The amount of levels of layers this film has and can twist and turn any of those on a dime, just shows how good this film is
I was madly in love with Dimitri for years when I first saw this.
When I was a kid and I discovered movie editing, I edited down this movie, so I completely got rid of the intro, so there was no history. I just had the movie start cleanly with Anastasia in the orphanage. I also did the long cuts in the middle as well at least three seconds of fade out between major scenes. Then I showed it to my mom. And then I showed her the original. She agreed. Leaving the intro out was the best way to tell the story. And the only reason I even thought about leaving the intro out when I was learning how to edit was because when I saw this in theaters, I literally arrived a little too late and I missed the intro so I didn’t know who Anastasia was. I just saw this teenager and orphanage. Nothing more.
RIP, Angela Lansbury.
The fox animated film that everyone thought was a Disney film that later became a Disney film through the fox buyout.
Life can be really strange.
That's not how it works. If it's not made by Disney, it's not a Disney film.
@@vetarlittorf1807 They bought out fox properties, thereby making any of the fox films now theirs, so it doesn’t have to mean they had to originally make it to be theirs .
10:18 "Hi Doggie" made me laugh way more than it should. Im so happy you reviewed this move; its one of my favs.
This is my one of my wife's (if not her most favourite) movie from her childhood and is a big world history buff. She studied the story of Anastasia and the Rominoffs and knows it very well
I think we should just make a law where Jim Cummings just sings the musical parts for Villains and have another actor do the normal lines.
Ah, but what would we call this law though?
So here's some History for you In real life, Gregori Efimovich (Rasputin) was a very controversial figure who, in fact, was the Romanovs' advisor and Czarina Alexandra's most trusted confidant. Rumor has it that Rasputin told the Czarina he was about to be assassinated, and that if one of her relatives killed him, all the Romanov family would die within a year. While of course these facts were too dark to be included in the movie, there is a reference: during the song "A Rumor in St. Petersburg", an old woman tells Dimitri to buy "Count Yussupov's pajamas", while offering a pair of ragged clothes. Yussupov, who actually was a Prince, really existed, was indeed related to Alexandra Romanov, and was the one who killed the real Rasputin, along with a group of noblemen.
Fun fact: Peter O’Toole, Jonathan Pryce, Patrick Stewart and Tim Curry were originally set to play Rasputin before Christopher Lloyd eventually won the role. As Tim Curry totally owns every villain song he does, I would have loved to have heard his rendition of “In The Dark of the Night”.
21:00 - It's called dramatic irony.
Man who knew a bathtub full of Chili would be so hard to clean
I knew i never should of chewed Bubblegum next to that Rocketship that one time
fun fact, in the flashback scene in the abandoned palace, while the "ghosts" dance they have no reflection, while Anastasia does