ANASTASIA

ANASTASIA is magnificent animated entertainment built around romance, family, and the hope of finding home. Its historical elements give the love story emotional weight, and the film’s fulfillment leaves many viewers teary-eyed. It also offers moral and redemptive elements without becoming overly sweet.

The cost is real but limited. Rasputin’s occult powers, demonic attacks, and grotesque images may frighten very young children. The film also turns the Russian Revolution into a tool of Rasputin’s evil and leaves God out of the story, even though it hints at answered prayers.

If your children are old enough for the frightening scenes, see ANASTASIA together and discuss its spiritual and historical weaknesses.

Before the Russian Revolution, Anastasia receives a music box from her grandmother with a key bearing the words, “Together in Paris.” When the royal family is torn apart, Anastasia is separated from her grandmother.

Ten years later, a young woman named Anya leaves an orphanage with no memory of her past. A former kitchen boy named Dimitri sees her as a possible Anastasia look-alike and takes her toward Paris, where the Dowager Empress offers a reward for finding the lost heir.

Four stars means ANASTASIA is superbly made, emotionally powerful entertainment. Don Bluth, who made AN AMERICAN TALE, has produced an animated film technically on par with anything Disney has made. The human side of the story enhances the romance, and the film avoids the excessive sweetness that can weaken animated movies.

The historical revisionism muddies the plot, especially because the jeopardy depends on Rasputin’s attacks. Still, the story is deeply emotive, and its romantic promise lands with unusual force. ANASTASIA stands out as an entertaining, moral family film.

ANASTASIA celebrates family, love, loyalty, and the hope of restoration. Its answered-prayer and redemptive elements give the story a moral center. Yet the film’s spiritual balance is weak: Rasputin’s occult powers and demonic forces dominate the conflict, while God is absent. The heroes must save the day themselves, which strains credibility and may disappoint Christian viewers.

The film also revises history. Rasputin is presented as the force behind the Russian Revolution, while the Communist Revolution is reduced to his tool rather than shown as a political movement led by Vladimir Lenin. Adults familiar with the real evils of the Russian Revolution may find this unsettling.

At heart, the film longs for family and home. Scripture affirms that longing while pointing beyond earthly restoration: “they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).

ANASTASIA is a superb, moving animated romance with strong family themes and a memorable emotional payoff. Its frightening supernatural scenes and historical and spiritual weaknesses call for thoughtful parental guidance. For families ready to discuss those concerns, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP.