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Rated: G; Genres: Animation, Drama, Fantasy; With: John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer and Meg Ryan
B-
By Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is a film critic for EW

ANASTASIA (G) Fox's challenge to the Disney empire is a beautifully animated musical that attempts to conjure up the shimmering fairy-tale wonder of...the demise of imperial Russia. Anastasia, starry-eyed princess of the Romanov dynasty, sees her childhood come to an abrupt end when the evil Rasputin (voiced by Christopher Lloyd) places a curse on the czar's family. Thrown off her pedestal, she grows up into ''Anya'' (Meg Ryan), a spunky vagabond with only a dim recollection of her royal roots. Anastasia has the Disney house style down cold, yet the magic is missing. Perhaps that's because the story's somber emotional hook -- Anastasia's thwarted desire for home -- is asserted rather than dramatized. B-


Posted Nov 21, 1997
 

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