Review of Anastasia (1997) by Mvansach — 20 Jan 2021

Anastasia, arguably one of the most iconic animated films from the ‘90s, follows the story of a young girl on her path to discovering who she really is, facing many challenges along the way. Although this movie was created by Fox Animation Studios, it could easily be mistaken as a Disney movie, as it has a similar animation style to many Disney classics, such as Hercules and Sleeping Beauty. This is likely because Fox had intended for the movie to act as a challenger to Disney. Many today continue to mistake it for a Disney movie, some even going as far as to think of Anya as a Disney princess. With the recent merger between Disney and Fox, this is technically true, but not when originally produced.

The story of Anastasia follows an 18-year old amnesiac orphan girl, Anya, who sides with two con men attempting to use her to trick the Grand Duchess into believing she’s the lost princess for a monetary reward. Their plan quickly falls through, as one of the con men, Dimitri, who had also been a former worker at the palace, realizes Anya is the lost princess and their “fake” story had been real all along. This is a loose adaptation of the legend of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, though the story was altered so that she escaped the execution of her family.

Although this is a very well-known film, both me and my friend who I watched it with had never seen it beforehand. We both ended the film with a very neutral opinion on it, neither loving it nor hating it. There’s many good aspects of the movie, but I believe the reason it may be loved by so many is nostalgia. Remembering or rewatching a film you had loved in your childhood often encourages a more positive outlook, but because my friend and I hadn’t seen it before, this wasn’t the case for us. That being said, like most animated films intended for younger audiences, I believe this is a great movie for children, though not as much for older audiences.

One of the movie’s strongest aspects is the unique storyline, but this is also the case for many movies of its genre. The soundtrack is also amazing, and this was the only part of the movie I was familiar with before watching. Apart from these two things, there hadn’t been anything I noticed that made Anastasia stand out in comparison to other animated films, most parts of it being very average; there were, however, a few parts I didn’t enjoy. There were parts of the animation which were strange to me, whether because it lacked connection to what was happening or there were just small details that didn’t fit with the rest of the scene. This didn’t completely ruin the movie for me, but it did throw me off on occasion or distract me from what had been happening. Unlike the majority of the story, the relationship between Anya and Dimitri felt a bit rushed. This wasn’t very surprising to me because there was more of a focus on Anya being reunited with her family than on her relationship with Dimitri, but it made it feel like the positive resolution of their relationship wasn’t needed. I did like the fact that they ended up together, I just wish they had put a bit more effort in building up to the finale, as it was very anticlimactic. There were also many points where Anya had been a “damsel in distress” type character, which was disappointing because she had the potential to be a strong female lead. Despite the points where it falls a bit short, I do believe Anastasia is a solid animated movie. Though I recommend it more for children, it’s a short and sweet watch for older audiences, as well. That being said, if you’re looking for a movie you’ll genuinely enjoy the entire way through, I recommend watching something else instead.