---
title: "Anastasia"
year: 1997
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/anastasia"
fi1m_id: "anastasia"
imdb_id: "tt0118617"
tmdb_id: 9444
wikidata_id: "Q486609"
fi1m_score: 64
critics_score: 53
critics_reviews: 7
published: "2026-09-24T01:44:04.984427+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-24T01:44:13.179417+00:00"
region: "DE"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Anastasia (1997)

Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman · 1h 34m · FSK 0 · Animation, Family, Fantasy, Adventure

## Identity

Anastasia

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/anastasia
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** anastasia
- **IMDb ID:** tt0118617
- **TMDB ID:** 9444
- **Wikidata ID:** Q486609
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118617/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9444, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q486609

**Fi1m score: 64** · Critics 53 from 7 reviews

*In a sentence:* The fall of the Romanovs, retold as a con with a talking bat; the ballroom scene nearly excuses it

> Don Bluth and Gary Goldman’s handsome fake-princess musical is at its best when it stops to waltz and at its worst whenever Rasputin turns up. Children will be fine; adults will enjoy the palaces and have to forgive the history.

## Synopsis

St Petersburg, 1916. At a ball in the palace, the Dowager Empress Marie (Angela Lansbury) gives her granddaughter Anastasia (Kirsten Dunst) a music box and a necklace engraved ‘Together in Paris’. The disgraced holy man Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) curses the family, a mob storms the palace, and a kitchen boy helps the two escape through the servants’ quarters; in the crush at the station, Anastasia is lost. Ten years on, an orphan called Anya (Meg Ryan) leaves the orphanage with the necklace and no memory of anything before the age of eight, and heads for St Petersburg, where Dimitri (John Cusack) and Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer) are auditioning girls to pass off as the princess for the Empress’s reward in Paris. Rasputin, not quite dead, learns that one Romanov got away, and his bat Bartok (Hank Azaria) would rather he let it go.

## Review

Don Bluth and Gary Goldman have taken the oldest rumour of the last century, that one Romanov daughter walked away from the revolution, and made a 94-minute musical out of it. Susan Gauthier, Bob Tzudiker, Bruce Graham and Noni White’s script gives the legend the shape of a con-artist picture: two chancers need a girl to pass off as the princess, and pick the one girl in Russia who might be her. It is a decent, good-looking film with one scene we will remember for a long time and a villain it did not need.

The look is the best of it. Michael Peraza’s production design gives us the palace twice: first lit by candles for the ball, all gilt and mirror and red carpet, then ten years on with the windows boarded, the chandeliers under sheets and snow drifting across the ballroom floor. St Petersburg is drawn in grey and blue, Paris in cream and gold, and the film uses its wide frame to keep whole streets in view. The set pieces are helped by computer animation, a runaway train on a collapsing bridge most of all, and the carriages have weight.

We were moved, more than we expected to be by a film with a talking bat in it, when Anya wanders into the ruined ballroom and sings to herself. The figures in the paintings step down and dance with her, the candles relight as her memory fills the hall, and the last couple to fade are her parents. Bob Bender and Fiona Trayler cut the sequence to the waltz rather than the other way round, and David Newman’s score carries the tune into the rest of the film, so that it keeps turning up under the chase scenes as a reminder of what she is looking for. Nothing else here is that good.

The voices are well chosen. Meg Ryan plays Anya as a brisk, modern American with no patience for being rescued, and John Cusack’s Dimitri is a mumbler who does his best work when he is losing an argument. Kelsey Grammer gives Vladimir a fond, weary decency, and Bernadette Peters turns up late as a cousin in Paris and enjoys herself. Angela Lansbury, as the Dowager Empress, is the one actor who sounds as if she knows what the story is about: a woman who has had too many girls brought to her door and has stopped hoping.

The songs are a mixed bag. The waltz is lovely, and Anya’s number on the road out of the orphanage, sung to a landscape of snow and telegraph poles, earns its size. Others stop the film dead, and a comic number about Paris is the sort of thing you use to put the kettle on.

Then there is Rasputin. The writers have decided the revolution needs a cause and hand it to Christopher Lloyd’s holy man, a corpse in limbo whose hands and eyeballs keep dropping off, with Hank Azaria’s Bartok the bat for company. Lloyd has a good time and the green sprites in his big number are handsomely drawn. But every time the film cuts to him, the story with people in it stops, and we found ourselves waiting to be let back on the train. Worse is what he stands in for. The real Anastasia was shot with her family in 1918. The film turns that into a curse and a fall through the ice, but it has taken a massacre and used it as a fairytale prologue, and grown-ups will notice.

Against Bluth’s own record it is his most polished film and his least personal. [*The Secret of NIMH*](https://film.one/film/the-secret-of-nimh) (1982) and *An American Tail* (1986) frightened children on purpose and were the better for it; here the darkness is confined to Rasputin’s cellar and the rest could have come from any studio in the late nineties. Most critics found it pleasant and forgettable, and we are only a little warmer than that. The U certificate is fair, though the decomposing villain may bother the very small. Watch it for the ballroom and the bridge, and do not feel bad about talking through the bat.

*Fi1m score 64, published 24 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews are split down the middle, and the praise clusters almost entirely on the look of the film. Most critics admire the animation: the widescreen backgrounds, the carefully rendered settings, the blending of computer work with traditional cels, and a general lift in quality over Don Bluth’s recent films. Rasputin’s anarchic villainy draws some warmth too, and several find the central love story engaging enough to carry the film for children.

The reservations are about everything underneath the surface. The songs are called weak more than once, the plot is judged predictable and built from familiar animated-film conventions, and the liberties taken with the Romanovs trouble more than one critic. Variety and The AV Club go furthest, finding it formulaic and short of a creative spark. Radio Times draws the line by age: children will enjoy it, adults may not. The spread is wide, from a firm recommendation at RogerEbert.com to plain disappointment, with no single view dominant.

## Straight answers

**Is Anastasia worth watching?**

*Anastasia* is worth watching for families and for anyone who likes a well-drawn palace, and we scored it 64. The ruined ballroom waltz is the one scene we will remember for a long time; the rest is a decent con-artist musical that stops dead whenever Rasputin and his bat turn up. Adults will enjoy the look and have to forgive what it does to the history.

**How long is Anastasia, and what is it rated?**

*Anastasia* runs 1h 34m and is rated 0 by the FSK in Germany. It is an animation and family film.

**Where can I watch Anastasia in Germany?**

*Anastasia* is streaming on Disney+ in Germany, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from €3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How does Anastasia compare to Nicholas and Alexandra?**

*Anastasia* is a 94-minute animated musical that turns the Romanovs' fall into a fairytale prologue, while [*Nicholas and Alexandra*](https://film.one/film/nicholas-and-alexandra) is a three-hour live-action account of the same family and the actual history. The animation is the more enjoyable evening and the better made scene for scene; Schaffner's film is the more honest and the slower sit. Take the cartoon for children and the ballroom, the drama for Janet Suzman and the facts.

**What should I watch after Anastasia?**

After *Anastasia*, try [*Nicholas and Alexandra*](https://film.one/film/nicholas-and-alexandra) (1971, Fi1m 58): The same family, the actual history, three hours and not a single bat. Then [*The Secret of NIMH*](https://film.one/film/the-secret-of-nimh) (1982, Fi1m 74): Bluth at his darkest; the field mice carry more menace than Rasputin manages; and [*The Prince of Egypt*](https://film.one/film/the-prince-of-egypt) (1998, Fi1m 74): The other late-nineties hand-drawn musical with a real sense of scale and better songs.

### Reviews we read (7)

- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (3/4): Ebert gives the film a positive review. The page content is blocked, so its specific praise cannot be verified. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/anastasia-1997)
- **Empire**, Phil Thomas (65/100, inferred): Thomas finds the film charming and entertaining, though ultimately unremarkable. He particularly objects to its idealised portrayal of the Romanovs. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/anastasia-review/)
- **Time Out**, DA (65/100, inferred): The review presents the film as an engaging love story, though its songs are a notable weakness. It praises the animation as a major improvement over Don Bluth’s recent work. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/anastasia)
- **Radio Times**, Joanna Berry (3/5): Berry says historical liberties may disappoint adults, while children are likely to enjoy the sweet adventure. She singles out its appeal to children as its chief strength. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-kwsbda/anastasia/)
- **Variety**, Todd McCarthy (35/100, inferred): McCarthy finds the film ambitious but only moderately effective, lacking the creative spark to rise above familiar formula. He praises its colorful widescreen visuals and some dramatic moments, while criticizing awkward story elements and uneven animation. [Read](https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/anastasia-2-1200451949/)
- **The AV Club**, Maria Schneider (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film disappointingly predictable and overly reliant on familiar animated-movie conventions. Its sumptuous settings and carefully rendered backgrounds are praised, especially the blend of computer animation with traditional cels. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/anastasia-1798196308)
- **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film entertaining in flashes but ultimately too formulaic, with too many weak songs. He praises Rasputin’s anarchic villainy and the animation’s imaginative flair. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/anastasia-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray)

## Details

- **Director:** Don Bluth, Gary Goldman
- **Director:** Don Bluth, Gary Goldman
- **Screenplay:** Noni White, Susan Gauthier, Bob Tzudiker, Bruce Graham
- **Editor:** Bob Bender, Fiona Trayler
- **Music:** David Newman
- **Production design:** Michael Peraza
- **Producer:** Gary Goldman, Don Bluth, Laura Jo 'L.J.' Wentworth
- **Cast:** Meg Ryan as Anastasia (voice); John Cusack as Dimitri (voice); Kelsey Grammer as Vladimir (voice); Christopher Lloyd as Rasputin (voice); Hank Azaria as Bartok (voice); Bernadette Peters as Sophie (voice); Kirsten Dunst as Young Anastasia (voice); Angela Lansbury as Dowager Empress Marie (voice)
- **Runtime:** 1h 34m
- **Certificate (FSK):** 0
- **Release (Germany):** 1 April 1998
- **Genres:** Animation, Family, Fantasy, Adventure
- **Budget:** $53 million
- **Box office:** $140 million

## Where to watch in Germany

- Disney+: streaming, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent €3.99, hd
- Apple TV: rent €3.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy €9.99, hd
- Apple TV: buy €9.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-24.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 1998: Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (nominated)
- Annie Award for Best Animated Feature 1998: Annie Award for Best Animated Feature (nominated)
- Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Family Film 1997: Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Family Film (won)

## If you liked this

- *Anastasia* (1956): Ingrid Bergman plays the same con straight; the scene with the grandmother is the point.
- *Nicholas and Alexandra* (1971), Fi1m 58: The same family, the actual history, three hours and not a single bat. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/nicholas-and-alexandra.md)
- *The Secret of NIMH* (1982), Fi1m 74: Bluth at his darkest; the field mice carry more menace than Rasputin manages. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-secret-of-nimh.md)
- *The Prince of Egypt* (1998), Fi1m 74: The other late-nineties hand-drawn musical with a real sense of scale and better songs. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-prince-of-egypt.md)
- *Wolfwalkers* (2020): Hand-drawn and alive; proof the form did not die with the century.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/anastasia