OVP: Anastasia (1997)

Film: Anastasia (1997)
Stars: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst, Angela Lansbury
Director: Don Bluth & Gary Goldman
Oscar History: 2 nominations (Best Original Song-"Journey to the Past," Score)
(Not So) Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

All right, I think (I pray) that my stomach virus is officially gone (as it appears to be, knock on wood), but I will not be attempting a third week of Foreign Language Film as at this point it feels like it's tempting fate (to keep up with the 2005 OVP, though, we'll still do that write-up, as well as the writing categories from that year sometime between now-and-Sunday).  Instead, we're moving on to a different slate of films, at least one of which will be in a foreign language, but all of which will be animated.  This week every one of our five reviews will be of animated features, all but today's being films that I saw for the first time over quarantine.  Today, though, we're revisiting a film from the mid-1990's, a time when Disney was hitting its renaissance, but not without competition.  In 1997, Disney's success with princesses had spilled over to Fox, with a major hit that seemed to rival Disney's success that decade, a movie about a real-life princess named Anastasia.

(Spoilers Ahead) We start in Imperialist Russia, where the Dowager Empress (Lansbury) gives a music box to the young Grand Duchess Anastasia (Ryan as an adult, Dunst as a child), and bids her farewell before she goes to Paris.  The two are saved during the Russian Revolution by a young boy named Dimitri (Cusack as an adult) who takes them through a secret drawer.  We learn that the Revolution is caused by Rasputin (Lloyd), who has sold his soul to curse the Romanovs.  Ten years later, there are rumors that the young princess survived the night, and the Dowager Empress has put up a reward for her discovery, but no one knows who she is.  Dimitri and his associate Vlad (Grammer) find a young woman who resembles her, Anya, who it turns out is the real Anastasia despite them only hoping to impersonate her.  The film's final third is a standoff between Rasputin and the now-in-love Anastasia & Dimitri.

The film is loosely based on the real-life story of Anna Anderson, whom we discussed here (which, again, was a loose interpretation).  As I mentioned at the time, even as late as the 1990's the mystery of whether or not Anderson was Anastasia was coming to a close, but hadn't been shut at that point (and we'd wait a decade before there was confirmation of all five children's bodies having been discovered, proving that one of the great mysteries of the 20th Century, whether one of the Romanovs survived, had an unsatisfying & tragic answer of "no").  Still, this doesn't have the same "is she or isn't she?" question that the more historically-minded 1956 film did, and so it isn't ruined as much by knowing that Anderson was not Anastasia, and that the real Anastasia died at the age of 17 in 1918, since we know in the confines of the film that she is Anastasia.

The film, though, is not very good.  It's a bit sloppy, the comic bits are wrong-headed, but it has a great score, to the point where you'd be forgiven if this was a "guilty pleasure" (which it is for me, and which is why it's getting a 3-star even if it deserves a 2).  The opening ode "A Rumor in St. Petersburg" is hilarious and recalls something like "Belle" and "Once Upon a December" is a romantic, moody ballad that runs well through the film.  Honestly, it's a pity that one of the least of the film's songs "Journey to the Past" was the one that ultimately got a nomination because we could have done so much better.

Before we go I want to remind everyone that while many animation snobs spent decades pointing out that Anastasia was not a Disney Princess, with the Fox merger Disney now owns this property.  I've become mildly obsessed over if/when some of the major properties that Disney purchased (not just Anastasia, but also Rio, Ferdinand, and the mammoth (pun-intended) animated franchise Ice Age) will get rides or nods from the studio at their parks, but so far we haven't seen any hints that Anastasia will be added to the successful Disney Princess line or will be a character at the parks, but I have to imagine this is in the works.  If you want, sound off in the comments on which Fox property is the first to get a nod at Disney's theme parks.