ANASTASIA
Camzilla
💬
In 1916, as the malevolent monk Rasputin casts a terrible spell upon the house of Romanov, the beloved daughter of Czar Nicholas II, Anastasia, flees Russia with her grandmother, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, thanks to the serving boy Dimitri, only to become separated. Almost a decade later, St. Petersburg con artists Dimitri & Vladimir stumble upon 18-year-old orphan Anya, & decide to groom her to pass off as the Empress' real granddaughter, hoping to get the reward. However, they all discover she's the real deal as the evil spectre of Rasputin tries to kill her to fulfil his curse. She & Dimitri defeat him, fall in love & run away together.
✔️
I love this movie SO much, it's definitely a favourite of mine.
The best things about it are the songs. Quando Viene Dicembre is extremely beautiful, Nella Notte E Nel Buio is catchy and super fun and I know them by heart (the English voices are of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd & Angela Lansbury, but the Italian version with Tosca & Fiorello is superior, I'm sorry).
The plot is fun and romantic and the characters are so funny, especially Rasputin, with his body parts falling apart.
The animation is lovely and the expressions are clearly made to be similar to human models.
The bat Bartok & the dog Pooka are cute.
❌
As a child I liked it less, mostly because Rasputin scared me.
Bartok & Pooka are pretty pointless to the plot. Pooka especially: Bartok was already a sufficient animal sidekick.
⭐️ 9