Anastasia - 8 stars out of 10

Anastasia - 8 stars out of 10
400th Review

"Anastasia" is definitely the closest that 20th Century Fox ever came to matching the quality of Disney. Anastasia is a thoroughfare for French and Russian culture, masking education with entertainment. Fox went all out with the voice talents of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Angela Lansbury, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, and Bernadette Peters (all of whom deserve to be mentioned). Although the quality of animation is slightly below Disney's, the voice talent makes up for it. The script is well written, though you must question whether Fox was copying Beauty and the Beast by casting Lansbury in a narrative role.  The music is also on par with Disney, matching singable memories with unforgettable visuals like the ghosts of Anastasia's past dancing around her as she sings Once Upon A December.  I love that it becomes a key component of the storyline as it matches the song played by the music box.  Meanwhile, Journey to the Past is one of the best movie songs of the 90's.  Anastasia is great for families as it entertains kids with fun characters like Bartok and Pooka, but also plays to adults with its tearjerking moments (I speak from experience) and well-developed characters.