Anastasia (1997)
Director: Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Starring: Meg Ryan, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, and John Cusack
I didn’t really like this film and was quite surprised to find that it seems to get a lot of positive reviews. Of course, this is a kid’s film and this is the first time I have seen this film. I like plenty of Disney’s animated films, especially from the early nineties. Perhaps if I had seen this film when I was nine, I would have a similar, nostalgia based appreciation of it like I do The Lion King and Aladdin.
The film is set during the Russian Revolution and doesn’t seem to be very historically accurate. It follows the once popular story that Anastasia – the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicolas II of Russia – managing to escape a death sentence during the Russian Revolution. The fantasy of the story doesn’t so much bother me, but the portrayal of the Romanov family as, well, not brutal dictators seems a little off to me. I get that we all hate Communism, but the cause of the revolution is said not to be due to the terrible conditions in Russia at the time, but by a curse put upon the family by Rasputin as revenge for casting him out. During the revolution, Rasputin chases the family but it killed a lot easier than he actually was by falling in some ice. However, his cheating death reputation is restored as it is revealed his is stuck in limbo and, ten years later when his talking bat friend discovers Anastasia is still alive, he sets out to have her killed a fulfil the curse.
This is the first animated film that John Cusack has been in. For the singing parts, they get another actor, so it marks the 28th film in a row where he hasn’t sang. Meg Ryan plays the titular Anastasia to Cusack’s love interest character of Dmitiri, who, along with his friend Kelsey Grammer, is trying to con Anastasia’s Grandmother, living in France, that the girl he is found is the real Anastasia. Complications ensue once it is revealed that she is the real Anastasia. Rasputin is plays by Christopher Lloyd, the second time he has shared a film with Cusack after Eight Men Out. I don’t think they have much interaction in either film. The talking bat is played by Hank Azaria, who we saw only two films ago in Grosse Point Blank.
Well, despite some of the ridiculousness, it wasn’t a terrible film. There are far worse animated kids’ films out there. A voice acting role can be a good one to get and it remains in his top ten films at the box office. I think it can be said that the peak of his career is not over yet.
The Filmography Challenge 