Anastasia (1997 film)

Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical historical fantasy adventure comedy-drama film produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman from a screenplay by Susan Gauthier, Bruce Graham, and the writing team of Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. The film stars the voices of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst, and Angela Lansbury. Loosely based on the legend of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, youngest daughter of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, and set in an alternate version of 1926, the film follows eighteen-year-old amnesiac orphan, Anya, who, hoping to find some trace of her past, sides with two con men who wish to pass her off as the Grand Duchess to Anastasia's paternal grandmother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, amidst the rumors that the Grand Duchess had escaped the execution of the royal family. The film shares its plot with the 1956 film of the same name, which in turn was based on a play by Marcelle Maurette. Unlike those treatments, this version adds a magically empowered Grigori Rasputin as the antagonist.

Anastasia was the first 20th Century Fox animated feature to be produced by its own animation division, 20th Century Fox Animation, through the animation studio Fox Animation Studios. The film premiered at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City on November 14, 1997, and was released in the United States on November 21. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation, voice performances, and soundtrack, though it attracted criticism from some historians for its fantastical retelling of the Grand Duchess. Anastasia grossed $140 million worldwide, making it the most profitable film from Bluth and Fox Animation Studios. It received nominations for several awards, including for Best Original Song ("Journey to the Past") and Best Original Musical or Comedy Score at the 70th Academy Awards.

The success of Anastasia spawned various adaptations of the film into other media, including a direct-to-video spin-off film and a stage musical, which premiered in 2016.