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by Adam Scholtz Published: April 4, 2006
“Anastasia” starts with the destruction of the Romanov family at the hand of a mad monk named Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) during an honorary ball in 1916 Russia. Among the attendees is the Dowager Empress Marie (Angela Lansbury), accompanied by her youngest granddaughter, Anastasia (Kirsten Dunst). The empress is leaving for Paris and gives Anastasia a gift of a necklace inscribed “Together in Paris” and a music box. The party is interrupted by Rasputin who curses the Romanovs to perish within the night. After the party, a revolt begins and the Romanov family tries to escape. Anastasia forgets her music box and runs to her room with her grandmother in tow. The mob breaches the castle and a young servant boy helps the Empress and Anastasia escape. Rasputin blocks their escape on the ice covered moat, but the ice breaks, and Rasputin drowns. Anastasia and her grandmother arrive at the station just as the train is leaving. The Empress manages to board, however the young Anastasia ends up falling and missing the train. The Empress searches for her granddaughter by having young women meet her in Paris, with only frauds being the result of her search. Ten years pass, and there is a rumor spreading that Anastasia is still alive. The Dowager Empress Marie is offering 10 million rubles to anyone that brings the girl to her. Two men, Dmitri (John Cusack) and Vladmir (Kelsey Grammar) are more then willing to take a chance if they can find someone that looks close enough to the real Anastasia to recover the reward. Meanwhile at an orphanage a young girl named Anya (Meg Ryan) is leaving to start a job in a fish factory. She has no recollection of her past aside from the necklace she is wearing that reads "Together in Paris". A stray hound leads her to St. Petersburg, and she decides to go to Paris from there. She has no visa however, so she has no way to procure a ticket. She heads off to the old palace, and while exploring the area she bumps into Dmitri and Vladmir. As she tries to escape, Dmitri sees her standing by a painting of the Romanov family, and realizes she looks an awful lot like Anastasia. She tells her story to them, and they get a jolt of compassion by wanting to help her, but say the ticket is reserved for Anastasia. They quickly go back to their normal ways and persuade her that should could be Anastasia. Anya catches their drift and agrees to go. Unfortunately, a bat by the name of Bartok (Hank Azaria) was listening the whole time, and realizes that Anastasia is indeed still alive. Rasputin’s reliquary returns to the underworld, taking Bartok with it. Once Rasputin learns that she is still alive, he goes berserk and vows to slay the remaining living members of the family. The second movie on the set is “Bartok the Magnificent.” I am unsure what reason this spinoff was made, but regardless, it was a well done one. Most of these types of movies focus on the lead character that was given a minor role in the original. However, in this movie there are lots of new characters introduced. Zozi the bear (Kelsey Grammer) is Bartok’s sidekick in his quest to rescue Prince Ivan (Phillip Van Dyke) who was kidnapped from the palace. People suspect Ludmilla (Catherine O’Hara) is to blame, as she is always vocally wondering why the prince is so nice to common people. Also included in the blame game is Baba Yaga (Andrea Martin), a witch who could have conducted the kidnapping. The animation and songs are all above average to great, with the songs tying into the story quite well. The mix of hand drawn animation and CGI graphics are blended well and work together in harmony. The characters' singing is well done, and Anastasia is likeable and relates especially well to children. The voice acting is also very well done, with a large list of top notch talent. The same team directed and produced the second movie, and unlike many direct to video movies, it is animated as well as the first and uses a healthy portion of CGI, something many movies of that nature tend to lack. Backgrounds have the same detail as the original movie, making this a definite worthwhile watch. Special features are well represented on this set, with the directors having a good audio commentary track which focuses more towards how scenes are animated and what they would have changed. The featurettes on the second disc can be accessed through a CG palace, or you can use a menu. I prefer to do the latter after the first viewing. Also included are storyboards, photographs and video clips from a trip to Russia, clips of actors in the making of the movie, music being recorded, and animators… well animating. There are also a few interviews both from old sets and new ones added to this set. On the first disc is a how-to-draw feature where Don Bluth explains what tools he uses while showing how to draw Anastasia, Dimitri, Rasputin, and Bartok. On the second disc there are a pair of easy games and a tour of the grand ballroom with someone explaining the history behind objects as you choose them. This version is definitely the one to have, with lots of new features and the addition of a second movie making it an excellent release. Even if you have the previous DVD version, it would be well worth adding this version to your collection.
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