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.
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.