A gorgeous piece of work. It pulls every heartstring a good romance should, yet bursts with G-rated fun, wonderfully human characters and several solid and hummable songs.
it’s an amazing movie i definitely recommend. I’m constantly singing to the music and just thinking about it overall, it reminds me of beauty and the beast or princess and the frog!!
Bluth has rediscovered the ingredients of quality mainstream animation: depth and movement are more in evidence, and the action sequences are expertly staged, notably a harrowing train crash.
This sumptuous-looking film clearly spared no expense in its visual rendering; its optical flourishes and attention to detail aim for the Disney gold standard and, for the most part, come pretty darn close.
While I know the movie is not historically accurate, I don't care! The movie is fiction after all- based on a true story (of Anastasia's rumored escape and women who claimed to be her), loosely, mind you- but perhaps it is not as unlikely as it seems: when the remains of the Romanovs were discovered back in 1991, Alexei (her brother,the Czarvitch) and one of the Grand Duchesses were missing. And with age analysis of the bones, scientists believe that the missing daughter is in fact Anastasia, and not one of her sisters, Olga, Tatiana, or Maria. But who really knows what happened?
My opinion of the movie is that it is wonderful. It draws you into the world of the lost Russian Princess, to a time that is "far away, long ago", that doesn't exist anymore.
The music and animation are stunning, and the photo research of St. Petersburg is amazing! Take the Catherine Palace and the magnificent gate you see, as well as the city itself. The 3-D animation is amazing; you look like you could reach out and touch it! The music is truly magical; "Once Upon a December" (especially Deana Carter's version)
is haunting yet beautiful. I own the soundtrack- I listen to it frequently
to help me relax.
But what I love best about the movie is the romance that occurs between Anya(Anastasia) and Dimitri. It starts out as a con, a trick for money, and turns into a love story. I think it shows that people really do have good in them, and that true love really exists. It's also heartwarming to think that a young boy who saved the girl he liked (princess or not) later helps her restore her identity and find a true place (in this case, happily together with him).
"Anastasia" is really my favourite movie of all time, even though now I'm almost 23. I'd recommend it to anyone, and advise historical literialists to look beyond the fiction and let yourself be taken on a "Journey to the Past" with the romance, comedy, and magic of this story.
Anastasia is Twentieth Century Fox's response to many of Disney's historically inaccurate, though intellectual animated musicals in the past twenty years.