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| “ | I'm not afraid of you! | „ |
| ~ Anastasia to Rasputin |
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna "Anya" Romanov is the titular main protagonist of the 1997 animated film of the same name. She is the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, and his wife, Empress Alexandra, and was the only Romanov family member to survive Rasputin's deadly attack. This movie was based on the speculation of "what if Anastasia survived Russian Revolution?".
She is voiced by Kirsten Dunst as a child who later voiced Kiki, (Lacey Chabert, who later voiced Eliza Thornberry, Aleu, Princess Elise, and Meg Griffin, singing) and Meg Ryan as a young adult (Liz Callaway, singing).
Appearance and Personality
Young Anastasia
As an eight-year-old child, Anastasia possesses flawless fair skin, rosy cheeks, long flowing auburn hair (naturally curled at the ends), and blue eyes with naturally groomed eyelashes and thick eyebrows. Ten years later, at eighteen years of age, Anastasia has blossomed into a slender and incredibly beautiful and attractive young woman. Despite her obvious increase in height, hair length, and physical development, her overall appearance remained generally the same.
Anastasia shares some physical resemblance with her father, Nicholas II. Although Anastasia's mother, Empress Alexandra, is seen only briefly throughout the entire film, and we cannot visually compare the two, her grandmother, the Dowager Empress Marie, states that she inherited the beauty of her mother. According to Dimitri and Vladimir, Anastasia inherited Empress Alexandra's chin, Empress Marie's hand, and the seemingly renowned blue eyes of the Romanovs.
Personality
From quite early in the film, Anastasia is portrayed as spunky, stubborn, kindhearted, brutally honest, independent, and has no problem speaking her mind or standing up for herself. She refuses to be undermined or put down, and often finds pleasure in cutting witty or sarcastic remarks, leaving others stunned and at a loss for words. However, she can appear to be insecure and shy at times, such as when Dimitri reveals that she would have to prove to Sophie and Empress Marie that she is the Grand Duchess. According to Vladimir, she was quite notorious for her mischief among the palace staff during the Romanov reign.
One of Anastasia's most obvious personality traits is her high level of determination. As seen in the film, once Anastasia sets a goal for herself, she sticks to that goal until she is satisfied with her success, despite her frequent displays of insecurity. In this case, she was determined to find her family in Paris, and refused to stop until she succeeded.
Plot
In the film, the young Anastasia and her Grandmother are trying to escape the opposing soldiers by crossing under a bridge that lays on top a frozen pond , but are stopped by Rasputin who tries to kill Anastasia when he leaps from the bridge and grabs her by the foot. She screams while he taunts her life and thrashes her violently about in the snow and ice. As Rasputin becomes closer to finishing what he started- the ice underneath him cracks and drags him down in the cold water to his death as Anastasia manages to escape. As Anastasia and her grandmother try to board the train, her grandmother gets on as Anastasia tries to reach for her hand but the crowd of people cause her to lose her grip and she falls to the ground and hits her head which causes her to have amnesia.
10 years later, Anastasia who is at the time called Anya is now 18 years old and has gotten a job at a fish factory. However, as Anastasia is walking along the path, she decides to find her own path by finding her family who are in Paris, France and even befriends a dog name Pooka. Anastasia doesn't have a passport visa and can't get a ticket, but an old woman did tell her that a young man named Dimitri that lives at the old palace can help her out. Anastasia finds the palace and starts having faint memories from her past.
Anastasia is then confronted by Dimitri, who is shocked to find Anya is actually the long lost Princess Anastasia. Anya tells him her problems and her wish to go to Paris, with Dimitri telling her that he and his friend do have enough tickets and that the third one is for Anastasia and that she does resemble her on which Anya doubts. As Dimitri seemingly leaves, Anya is filled with questions and determination.
But meanwhile Rasputin discovers Anastasia survived and he tries to kill her. But after two failed attempts he decides kill her in person.
Meanwhile Anastasia and Dimitri find that they are falling in love and Dimitri discovers she is the real Anastasia. At the Russian Ballet, after Dimitri tells Anastasia to wait there so she can be announced, Dimitri tries to talk with the grandmother, but she refuses and instead tells Dimitri who he really is. Anastasia listens the conversation and thinks Dimitri lied to her and used her as part of his con to get the grandmother's money after the grandmother tells Dimitri who he really is. But the grandmother eventually talks with him and discovers she is her granddaughter and Anastasia is finally reunited with her grandmother.
Dimitri rejects the reward and decides to go back to Russia. Anastasia discovers the real feelings of Dimitri when the grandmother reveals that he rejected the reward.
Later, Rasputin leads Dimitri to Anastasia on the Alexander Bridge and tries kill him. Anastasia says that she is not afraid and she is willing to face him. Dimitri comes back and tries to save Anastasia but is injured and knocked unconscious.
Anastasia survives and filled with hatred, she lunges at Rasputin, butting him head-on and both wrestling body to body in the ground one above the other. In the fight Anastasia manages to kill Rasputin, destroy the reliquary, and avenge her family and Dimitri.
Anastasia and Dimitri then make up after she finally discovers the truth and are portrayed in the last scene as finally becoming a couple, presumably getting married and living happily ever after.
Trivia
- Later, both of Anastasia's singing voice actresses would take part in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. More interestingly, like in this movie, Liz Callaway would do the singing voice for the heroine (Kiara) as an adult; Lacey Chabert, the singing voice of Young Anastasia, would then do the speaking voice (but not singing) of Vitani as a cub.
- Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Taylor-Isherwood, Jenna Elfman, Jessica Lange, Melanie Griffith and Jessalyn Gilsig were all considered for the role of the speaking voice of Anastasia before Meg Ryan was cast, although Jessalyn Gilsig would later voice Kayley in Quest for Camelot, Emma Taylor-Isherwood would later voice Mona in Mona the Vampire and Jennifer Aniston would later voice Annie Hughes in The Iron Giant.
- Realistically, her surname would be "Romanova" as surnames ending in "-ov" are gendered.
- Eventually beginning on 2007, DNA testing by multiple nationals confirmed that the remains belong to the Tsarevich Alexei and to one of his sisters, proving conclusively that all family members, including Anastasia, indeed died in 1918, thus putting all rumors of Anastasia's potential survival at rest.
- Anastasia, Crysta from FernGully: The Last Rainforest, and Mary Katherine from Epic were originally supposed to join the Disney Princess line-up after Fox was acquired, but were scrapped for financial copyright reasons.
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