Ben Oliver

Now
Banner image for Anastasia

Anastasia

She certainly has a mind of her own.
01 January 2019

Releasing an animated film to compete with Disney right in the middle of one of their most successful periods was a bold move. Luckily it paid off both financially and artistically for Fox. It’s a wonderful piece of animation that, apart from the weird flashes of CGI, has survived the last 22 years rather well.

The historical details are… not really historical at all. The film floats the idea that one of the Romanovs survived the Russian revolution, and she travels to Paris to reconnect with her ancestors. If you can see past the inaccuracies, the screenplay is a pretty solid romance that doesn’t follow the Disney princess formula blow-by-blow.

A beautiful piece of work that doesn’t carry the Disney name, and risks being overlooked in the future because of it.