Anastasia (1997)

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Disney's Divinity
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

I was thinking that the smiley face might come off a little sinister. :lol:
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Post by Sotiris »

My favorite Don Bluth films (in order of preference):

1) Anastasia

2) Thumbelina

3) Titan A.E.
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Post by dvdjunkie »

Whoa!!! No love at all for the best Don Bluth Film of all time:

The Secret of N.I.M.H.

While I love "Anastasia", which is heads above "Thumbelina", I think that "N.I.M.H." belongs right there in second place.

And don't forget the Feivel movies either, they were a lot better than "Thumbelina".

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Post by KubrickFan »

2099net wrote:And it does happen. I thought "Man On The Moon" was a definitive Kaufman bio-pic until I read a written biography. It turns out the events in the film were accurate – but they just put them in a different order so the "story" would play better. Nothing can describe the disappointment and anger I felt when I discovered this. I would have expected more from Milos Forman, who is after all a respected Director. Now I have to wonder as to the accuracy of his Amedeus and People Vs. Larry Flynt films. :(
I know I'm responding to a post six years old, but I couldn't resist.

There are a lot of biopics, and I don't think anyone points to itself as the complete reality. You shouldn't think of it as the exact recreating of the things that happen in it, you should regard it as a movie. And because of that things are altered, and changed. That's even said in the very beginning of the movie.
In Raging Bull, the Joe Pesci character was actually a couple of other people. The screenwriter made it into his brother, because it would create a great story. Is it true? No. Is the film any good? Absolutely.
I think the best biopics are the ones that can take liberty with the facts, but are true to the feeling the people have. Amadeus is another great example of that. Of course Salieri and Mozart weren't rivals, but it's an excellent story.
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Jules
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Post by Jules »

Flanger-Hanger wrote:Well I don't care what you say because it has an 85% approval rating on RT. :P
So do 90% of Disney's 90s animated features. Ha! :wink: :P
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Post by Flanger-Hanger »

Julian Carter wrote:
Flanger-Hanger wrote:Well I don't care what you say because it has an 85% approval rating on RT. :P
So do 90% of Disney's 90s animated features. Ha! :wink: :P
Pocahontas has a 56% rating, Hunchback 71% and The Rescuers Down Under 77%. Anastasia's is just 2% less than Tarzan and Mulan and 4% less than Hercules.

However, no Disney animated feature from the 90s tops Iron Giant's or Nightmare Before Christmas' 97% approval rating.

Ad dvdjunkie is right, N.I.M.H. is amazing and my second favorite of his films.
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Jules
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Post by Jules »

You're making me feel like Aristotle for not checking before administering my supposedly crushing statement, and now you've deflated me cruelly. You horrible anti-Disney person you WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! :cry:
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Post by bradhig »

Over at IMDB some people keep thinking Anastasia was done by Disney crazy.
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Jules
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Post by Jules »

bradhig wrote:Over at IMDB some people keep thinking Anastasia was done by Disney crazy.
Funny how most people never seem to notice a movie's opening logo. That, or they've got Disneyitis.
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Post by Siren »

I remember being in the Disney Store when this movie came out and a mom came in and asked where the Anastasia stuff was. *sighs*

Poor Don Bluth will never be able to shake Disney and have people recognize him as an animator and storyteller in his own right. I loved Anastasia. I believe this came out the same year as Titanic and of course Celine's song took the Oscar. I always felt Once Upon a December was far more deserving (and far less annoying).
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Post by CampbellzSoup »

It pretty much looks like a 90's Disney movie on top of everything it just has that style - I've never seen it, but I want to.
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Siren
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Post by Siren »

To the laymen, yeah, it does look like a Disney movie...then again, a lot of animation that isn't Disney looks like Disney. But I can tell a Bluth film easily. He DOES have a different style.
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Anastasia

Post by Disney Duster »

For the record, I like Anastasia a lot.
Jake Lipson wrote:Exellent film on par with anything Disney has ever done.
Anything Disney has ever, ever done? The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast? Pinocchio or Bambi? Nope. That's not true.
Jake Lipson wrote:Anastasia is probably mistaken for Disney work often because it is as good as Disney work. Disney admitted this without saying it when they rushed a limited two-week re-release of The Little Mermaid into theaters a week before Anastasia opened. This gave them that weekend, plus Anastasia's opening weekend, to play Mermaid on screens before opening their big new holiday movie, Flubber with Robin Williams. This allowed them to crush Anastasia with Mermaid but make sure that their own (worse) movie was not squashed in the process.

See what I mean? Disney got SCARED of Anastasia because THEY KNEW it was a quality film that would do well, so they rushed out Mermaid on screens for the purposes of squashing competition and then bowing out. Otherwise, the re-release of Mermaid probably would have skipped theaters and gone directly to video in the following spring (where that reissue ended up being placed two to three weeks prior to Anastasia, as well.)
So Disney was planning this Little Mermaid re-release, and when it was going to coincide with Anastasia they hurried it up a little. K.

You know, if Anastasia was really as good as anything Disney did, it would have been great on it's own and not been squashed by a re-release of a movie that already came out, The Little Mermaid, or...a re-make of Flubber, a film that "already came out", you could say.

And if it's as good as anything Disney did, why isn't it loved or even known by like, any of the public today? Yea, some of your friends may know of it. So? It's not near, not near well known or loved as any Disney classic, which was the point, you saying it was as good as their films.

Maybe it's because it was squashed in theaters, and then no kid, or not very many kids, wanted to rent it or buy it on video because...why? And today, Disney's older features are practically only known through them coming out to DVD today, so why do those become wild sellers while Anastasia not at all? Why do new generations of kids fall in love with old Disney films re-released to video after a decade...but not Anna?

Anastasia is a very good Don Bluth film. And maybe it's close to being as good as many 90's Disney films. But not the best of Disney's classics in any way, shape, or form.

Anastasia might even do, like, all these things that you think it does better when compared to the same things in Disney classics. But as a whole experience, it does not compare to the magical, charming, perfect Disney classics. And it could very well be that Disney has it's own thing, and Don Bluth has his. In other words, they can't be as good as each other, because there's something, however small, that's too different.
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Post by Flanger-Hanger »

Anastasia does not have the same marketing support as Disney or the very brand name of Disney itself. Anastasia is not in the Disney Parks, at the Disney Store on Disney's moratorium schedule, there's no TV show based on it etc.

Many truly great films do not get recognition by the general public because of a lack of consistent marketing. Can you buy a Bartok plus or Anya backpack today? Where's an Anastasia barbie for sale? Is it Don Bluth's fault the studio it got made by was shut down after Titan A.E.? It's Fox's own fault for not doing much with the property besides a DVD re-issue. The reviews and award nominations are there, but they are not begin used at all.

Squashed in theaters? It's 139.8 million worldwide gross proved it was a moneymaker, even without the Disney name and begin direct by someone who hadn't had a hit since All Dogs Go to Heaven, and at a new studio.

You're also comparing Anastasia with films that had decades to develop their names through re-issues and merchandise sales, not to mention basic nostalgia.

Also just because you don't think Anastasia is better than Lion King does not make it true. I prefer it to Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, but I don't claim my opinion is an absolute fact.

No Disney classic is "perfect" and all other adjectives you've used Dusty to prove your point are not absolutes. If someone makes a broad statement saying Anastasia is as good as anything Disney has done (and there have been reviews with comments like that) it's OK for them to do that.
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Post by Chernabog_Rocks »

Anastasia is just as good as most Disney Classics. Which by the way aren't perfect. Nothing is perfect really, everything will have it's flaws somewhere I would think.

I have not seen the movie in forever, but really want to. If I ever find it on dvd I'll be sure to pick it up. I rarely compare the Disney films to other animated movies, I just never really stop to think about it. I have enough trouble comparing the Disney films to one another, never mind throwing in a ton more movies :lol:
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Anastasia

Post by Disney Duster »

Flanger-Hanger wrote:Squashed in theaters?
Well, I meant it has been squashed in theaters because today it has not come back to the public's mind since "Oh yea, there's that Disney movie Anastasia in theaters," Yup. The movie was so good, people knew exactly what studio made it at the time it came out with the big logo in front of it and in the commercials for it and the reviews and everything. People knew because they paid attention to the movie they were watching. Yea.

(If you think I'm being too snarky, I will always like you on this forum, I mena no harm, I get like this)

You may say "People thought (and still do) that it's Disney because it's as good as Disney." But I do not see why you would want to be like the people who don't know who really made it, why you would want to be like those who can't tell the difference.

And so you know I don't really care much about Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King. I think I'd prefer Anastasia, at least over The Lion King.

However, there's no denying Disney is just so much better. They contain Disney magic that cannot be found in any other film. Which is why you can't really compare another animated film to them, at least not wholey.

Now, if you said something like Anastasia does a lot of things as good or better than Disney does, okay. But it will always miss the best thing, the Disney magic that fills an entire Disney classic.
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Re: Anastasia

Post by Flanger-Hanger »

Disney Duster wrote:
Flanger-Hanger wrote:Squashed in theaters?
Well, I meant it has been squashed in theaters because today it has not come back to the public's mind since "Oh yea, there's that Disney movie Anastasia in theaters," Yup. The movie was so good, people knew exactly what studio made it at the time it came out with the big logo in front of it and in the commercials for it and the reviews and everything. People knew because they paid attention to the movie they were watching. Yea.

(If you think I'm being too snarky, I will always like you on this forum, I mena no harm, I get like this)

You may say "People thought (and still do) that it's Disney because it's as good as Disney." But I do not see why you would want to be like the people who don't know who really made it, why you would want to be like those who can't tell the difference.

And so you know I don't really care much about Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King. I think I'd prefer Anastasia, at least over The Lion King.

However, there's no denying Disney is just so much better. They contain Disney magic that cannot be found in any other film. Which is why you can't really compare another animated film to them, at least not wholey.

Now, if you said something like Anastasia does a lot of things as good or better than Disney does, okay. But it will always miss the best thing, the Disney magic that fills an entire Disney classic.
Any animated film is considered Disney. In the public's mind Disney=Animated. All animated films are like this, be it Don Bluth, Pixar, Richard Rich, Dreamworks etc. there's no escaping the word Disney when a new "cartoon" is in theaters.

As for the Disney magic, not all Disney films have it and many non-Disney films have it to (live action or not). I'd consider The Secret of N.I.M.H., The Iron Giant, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline all animated films that have the "Disney Magic" because they are quality films that tell good stories that do not pander to kids and while at the same time having appeal to them and an even greater appeal to adults.

"Magic" is really just marketed and personal nostalgia to most people (regardless of whether or not they choose to admit it or realize it), but to me it's a kind of superior quality and there most certainly are other non-Disney works that achieve this status.
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Re: Anastasia

Post by Disney Duster »

Yea, that's true about animated=Disney in too many people's minds.

And it's true some Disney films seem to miss the magic. Many 90's films, for instance, may possibly be called on that.

But no non-Disney film has Disney magic.

It's Disney magic.

I admit many film can be magical. It's not the same magic Disney obtains.

Look, don't just like any good animated film that has charm and some adult appeal. WTH Disney is different and special. There's such a thing as uniqueness you know. And a house style, if you forgot. Disney's current workers may not realize it, or how they did it, when making it, but somehow they manage to get Disney magic in their films.

And of course it was easy with Walt. He was alive and started the magic and worked on or approved of everything and made decisions on every animated film till Jungle Book.
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Re: Anastasia

Post by xxhplinkxx »

Disney Duster wrote:Look, don't just like any good animated film that has charm and some adult appeal.
And why the hell not?
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Post by CampbellzSoup »

So the only argument you're throwing at him is the bi-product of the Disney marketing team to appeal to nostalgia and children? I'm not exactly sure what Disney "magic" is...so if Anasatsia had been a Disney film it would have had this 'magic' by default?
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