The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

OK, you're going to tell me that a cartoon doesn't have to be historically accurate. Even so, Don Bluth's "Anastasia" contains what has to be one of the most ridiculous excuses for a story ever. At the very least, the movie could've looked at the reasons why Russia had a revolution in the first place (the monarchy and aristocracy owned everything while the people owned nothing). At least it showed the people carrying out the revolution rather than giving the Bolsheviks credit; after all, the latter merely used the revolution to seize power. As Noam Chomsky noted, Lenin killed anyone who held authentically socialist views.Most importantly, I can't figure out what went wrong with Don Bluth. In the '80s he made two of the greatest animated features ever: "The Secret of NIMH" and "An American Tail". Then in the late '80s and '90s, he turned to movies that tried to be fluffy and scary at the same time. Seriously, the depiction of Rasputin - with his name not even pronounced the Russian way - seems like its purpose is to give the tykes nightmares. Basically, every character is a cardboard cutout from Disney: the beautiful woman, the handsome man, the power-hungry villain, and his bumbling sidekick. I should say that Bartok is the only interesting character in the movie. As for the song that received an Academy Award nomination, let's just say that there's a reason why it didn't win (Elliott Smith's song from "Good Will Hunting" should've won).As for the cast. Let's see, we've got America's alleged sweetheart (Meg Ryan), a political activist (John Cusack), Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), several Simpsons voices (Hank Azaria), the woman who wrote murder (Angela Lansbury), a Broadway star (Bernadette Peters), Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin), Mr. Dawes (Arthur Malet) and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). As it turns out, another Spiderman cast member (J.K. Simmons) also provides a voice."I stuck around St. Petersburg When I saw it was a time for a change Killed the czar and his ministers Anastasia screamed in vain"Sympathy for the Devil

A fun classic animated movie! It's perfect for your little girl because it's every girl's fantasy to be someone of 'importance' and to know who she is by trying to find her place in the world. In this movie, it happens to be 'Anastasia', the lost and missing only child of the Russian Royal Family. Yes, she still exists. But she and her grandmother were separated for many years. And now she's out searching for her and her grandmother is doing likewise. Do they make their way back to each other? That's depends on the con men and Rasputin. The young daughters will enjoy this movie. It's cute and a solid 6 star. It's not Disney though and that's probably why it doesn't score more from me. I'm partial to Disney, what can I say? I Love the theme song called 'Once Upon a December'. Nostalgic, indeed!

Considered by many to be the only good Don Bluth film not made in the 80s. And yeah, there's some truth to that. The 90s were not kind to this master of his craft. I could be wrong, but from what I've gathered, it seemed that he struggled with financiers and producers, who all wanted the films made their way instead of trusting his vision. Which caused the movies to suffer big time.And I'm not even so sure that that doesn't apply here as well, but at least in this case the meddlers knew what they were doing. Because let's face it. Anastasia is one big colossal Disney rip-off. It's clearly trying to cash in on the Disney Renaissance and the huge bloom in animated musical popularity it caused. And who better to help in this cashing in than Don Bluth, who used to work for Disney and during the 90s was pretty much the only Western animator alive who could even theoretically compete with the Mouse.Yet the thing is, it's a damn good rip-off. I don't mind them utilizing the Disney formula at all if it's done this well. This is an excellent film, from top to bottom. The story about a Russian princess lost during the rebellions of the 1910s and then found years later, is a good one. Sure it's based on real events only in the loosest terms possible, but that's the formula. The music is also fantastic. Bluth's films have always suffered from lackluster scores, but this has some really good music numbers. In the Dark of the Night might very well be one of my all-time favourite villain songs.And it looks fantastic! This is Don Bluth competing on the level of Disney and in some brief instances even eclipsing the studio that gave him his beginning. The backgrounds especially are gorgeous beyond belief and you find yourself lost in them, staring at the amount of detail and artwork.Now, the only real nitpick I have is the ending. It falls short. There's really no other way to say it. Rasputin, the villain of the movie, has been built up big time, but when he finally meets Anastasia... It's really disappointing. I can't spoil anything here, but come on.But, aside from that, it's a great film. Definitely worth a watch for all those that grew up with the Disney Renaissance and love the art form.

This movie is very special to me because it's a movie that my grandma and I used to watch together before she died. I feel like I am Anastasia sometimes because I lost my grand mother however I can't find mine as easily as she did. I love how Dimitri started to remember her and then fell for her all over again. The music is amazing and the music box will always be iconic. I actually have my own music box that is special to me because it keeps me close to my grandma. My favorite song will always be "Once Upon a December" and every time I hear it or sing it I start to think about her and all these memories start flooding back. This is my absolute favorite movie ever and I will never get sick of it. I always use the kids as an excuse to watch it.