Anastasia  picture image

Anastasia

Anastasia (1997) was one my favorite movies back in the day. It was made by our old pal Don Bluth and came out on November 14th 1997 under 20th Century Fox. In many ways this film is the definitive princess movie and people sometimes mistake it as Disney movie as it uses that sweet, sweet Disney formula and did well at box-off as well garnered two Academy Awards nominations for the music. But is the movie good or is it bad? It’s a little bit of both.

Dmitri, Anya and Vlad Anastasia  picture image

Dmitri, Anya and Vlad

PLOT! The film tells us that everything in 1916 Russia was just peachy (sure movie) that is till creepy-pants Rasputin gets fired from being best pals with Tsar Nicholas II and curses him and his family as he sold his soul because he is pissed off. The curse makes the “spark of unhappiness in Russia fan into a flame” that destroyed Imperial rule and ushered in communism. The movie doesn’t use that word and blames it all on Raspy. The night of the attack on the Romanovs, Anastasia goes back to her room with Grandmama Marie to get a music box and young boy gets them out a special exist. Rasputin tries to stop Anastasia but is killed when he falls through the ice. Anastasia and Marie then get separated and Anastasia gets Amnesia.

Ten years later, Marie is offering a lot of money for Anastasia’s return as the rumor goes she survived the February Revolution and gossip is the only thing to entertain the Russian because communism isn’t any fun…? Dmitri and Vlad are two conmen who plan on getting that money by hiring an actress to play Anastasia. Dmitri thinks he has an in as he has Anastasia’s music box, though he thinks it’s a jewelry box. As this is happening Anastasia is now called Anya and is getting released from an orphanage. Anya decides to go to Paris intend of going off to a job at some fish place as she has necklace that says “Together in Paris” and believes that is where her family is located. She first heads to St Petersburg along with her new puppy Pooka that she met on the road. She is told that to get to Paris she needs travel papers and she should speak to Dmitri at the Old Palace.

She goes to the Old Palace to meet him and has deju-vu moment. Dmitri, who isn’t having much luck hiring an actress thinks Anya could pass as Anastasia so he convinces her to join them. As she just wants to get to Paris, she agrees. Rasputin’s bat minion, Bartok is hanging out with source of Raspy’s power, a reliquary when he notices that the reliquary is stirring in Anya’s presence which convinces him that she is Anastasia and then the relic plunges Bartok into the underworld where Rasputin is in limbo because the curse failed.  Raspy the plans to kill Anya as he has the source of his with his power back.

Rasputin tries to axe Anya a few times on the journey and fails but he does cause a lot of collateral damage. While Raspy fails, Dmitri and Vlad transform into Anya into a proper lady and teach her how to prove she is Anastasia, via song montage.

The gang reaches Paris and the meets Sophie, Marie’s cousin and Vlad’s old flame. Sophie interviews Anya and she proves to Dmitri that she is really Anastasia as he was the one who helped Anastasia and Marie out of the Palace as a kid. This bums Dmitri out since he is in love with her after all the bickering they did. They go to ballet to have Anya meet with Marie, however Anya overhears Marie chewing out Dmitri as a conman and this whole thing was just about the money, so Anya slaps him and decides to peace out of Paris that night, at least she got her Paris fun song montage.

Dmitri then kidnaps Marie and takes her to Anya’s room and shows her the box. Anya’s memories re-surface with the power of smell and the music box, which her keepsake necklace opens and the two are reunited.

Dmitri is offers the reward but doesn’t accept and peaces out. Anya then forced into her showdown with Rasputin which results is a lot of damage to both a nice bridge and her princess gown, that bastard. But Dmitri comes back and helps Anya defeat him and Raspy bits the dust, literally. Anya and Dmitri then elope and Grandmama is cool with it.

Anya and Pooka against St Petersburg Anastasia  picture image

Anya and Pooka against St Petersburg

Let’s not mince word here, the reason why Anastasia is bad is because it takes a very bloody tumultuous period of history and fantasizes it. This movie is only accurate to people’s names and nothing else. To enjoy this movie you pretty much have to forget this is based on historical figures. Really they didn’t get anything right. It’s not like Romanovs or Rasputin haven’t been depicted in films before but the movie really makes light of the historical climatic of Russia. I mean it’s a sad when a disco song is more historical accurate about Rasputin (it’s a fun song though).

To the film’s somewhat credit, they know this was fantasy and in classic Disney fashion follows their clues from a classic movie, in this case the 1956 Anastasia
movie starting Yul Bynner and Ingrid Bergman. However reading stuff on the film from The Art of Anastasia, it says that they wanted a My Fair Lady type story where a girl is transformed from something ordinary to something glorious and apparently the world princess got kicked around a lot so this was the story they decided on.

Would it have been better to not include this period of Russian history and instead have a clearly fictitious story with clearly fictitious characters with a Russian setting? Hard to say because the Anastasia myth captured the world’s imagination for a long period time. It’s an impossible story to tell cleanly for kids but clearly the people who worked on the film loved it tried hard even if it is  grossly inaccurate. Should we pass it because it’s children movie? No, that shouldn’t reason pass off this kind of stuff. It’s historically inaccurate, it’s just fact.

Vald, Anya, Pooka and Dmitri Learn to do it Anastasia  picture image

Vald, Anya, Pooka and Dmitri

If you can for 90 minutes tell your purist part of your brain to shut-up, Anastasia is a good movie. It has great pacing, a solid script, lovely animation, some great songs and some memorable characters. Vlad is likable, Pooka is adorable, Dmitri while a snarky lair does get a decent arc, Bartok thinks Raspy’s plan is dumb and Marie is somewhat harsh but kind. You understand them and that is something you don’t often get in movies.

Rasputin though is weak. I know we turned off our purist brains but the real Rasputin was a really intriguing figure and this movie doesn’t even try to capture him except one part of his death, the ice.

Rasputin and Bartok Anastasia  picture image

Rasputin and Bartok

This Rasputin is pissed off for getting fired or something so he tries to kill the royals. I mean Nicholas shouldn’t have fired crazy but really that is his motivation for selling his soul to the Dark Forces? Side note, movie can’t say Communism or evil or demonic. They can say comrade and dark forces though, so lame.

Rasputin as the antagonist is both obvious and contrived. He always took the indirect methods to kill Anya. Once made the train go crazy and destroyed a bridge, second to sneak in her dreams and tried to get her to jump off a boat, and the third to drown her by destroying another bridge. Rasputin doesn’t like bridges apparently, but likes water. He could used his dark minions to stop her heart or something but he had to go for theatrics and cause infrastructure damage. If you want  to watch a movie about Rasputin either watch Agony (which is a communist propaganda movie and he is a gross figure) or if you find it, Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, staring Alan Rickman.

Anya journey to the past  Anastasia  picture image

Anya

Anya/Anastasia is great character. She’s tough and no-nonsense but she is compassionate and fun. She knows exactly what she wants; family and a home so she can know her past so she understand herself.

This makes her follow Ariel in a way, as Ariel knew what she wanted; the people world. The other Disney Princesses (and most of the non-Disney Princesses, looking at you Yum-Yum) are more vague in their wants and desires. Anya, unlike the more classic Disney Princesses works at what she wants. She seeks out Dmitri for help but he needs her more than she needs him, she helps with getting out Raspy’s train plan and she kills Raspy, twice. Girl even fights in her princess gown. Anya is probably the closet to Mulan in activeness and Ariel is knowing what she really wants from life but she never feels like she it directly copying the Disney Princesses.

Anya and Dmitri being snarky train scene Anastasia  picture image

Anya and Dmitri being snarky

Anya and Dmtri’s romance is interesting. They spend enough time together to form an attraction that starts off as snarky but over time they come to respect each other. It is formulaic but enjoyable.

Anya singing Once Upon a December Anastasia picture image

Anya singing Once Upon a December

The animation is really good for the most part. The CG work looks dated and forced but hand-drawn stuff is lovely. They do repeat animation but you hardly notice.

The songs run the gambit from amazing to ok. Once upon a December is the best song in the movie. It’s beautiful and haunting. Journey to the past is a good I want song and did get an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. In the Dark of the Night is a cool enough song but the bugs should have been skeletons or demons or something cool and creepy and there is some silly lyrics. The rest of the songs are ok. No complaints on the music it’s solid. And like Thumbelina the music numbers are all theatrical which is fun and memorable.

Some fun little Trivia- Helene Segara of Notre Dame de Paris, sang a cover of Once upon a December for the French Soundtrack and I used play Once upon a December on the Piano, I had the sheet music, it was my jam in the day.

Anya and Pooka Anastasia  picture image

Anya and Pooka

Anastasia suffers for its gross historical white washing but otherwise it’s a good entertaining movie. Did I mention this movie has a fucking puppy in it? PUPPIES! And not one but THREE PRETTY DRESSES!

Disney Princesses/Characters are  common choices for costumes but usually one or costume is chosen more than what that character wears in the movie. But let us see which costumes of each character is the most cosplayed. Characters must have at least two costume changes in the movie. I will go through the first 100 cosplay pictures of the character  in google images.  I will search them by their name and word “cosplay” and in Jane and Anna case, Disney was added. Keep in my mind Google Images change a lot.

 

Snow white picture image

Snow white

 

Snow White

Yellow – 100
Rags – 0

 

 

 

 

Cinderella

Cinderella

 

Cinderella
Casual -1
Pink Gown – 0
Ball Gown -99

 

 

 

 

 

Aurora

Aurora

 

Aurora
Briar Rose -29
Pink Gown -50
Blue Gown -21

 

 

 

 

Ariel Disney The Little Mermaid picture image

Ariel Disney The Little Mermaid

 

Ariel
Mermaid – 50
Ship wreak – 3
Pink Gown -11
Blue Dress – 36
Wedding – 0

 

 

 

 

Belle

Belle

 

 

Belle
Casual -13
Green dress – 0*
Pink – 1
Yellow Gown -86

 

 

 

 

Jasmine

Jasmine

 

 

Jasmine
Casual -93
Disguise -0
Purple Dress -1
Slave – 6
Purple End – 0

 

 

 

 

Esmeralda as a Disney Princess picture image

Esmeralda as a Disney Princess

 

 

Esmeralda
Casual – 84
Red dress -12
Prisoner – 0

 

 

 

 

mulan

Mulan

 

Mulan
Casual – 15
Gown  – 61
Warrior 24

 

 

 

 

Jane

Jane

 

Jane
Yellow -70
Jungle -2
(all I saw)

 

 

 

 

 

Tiana

Tiana

 

 

Tiana
Waitress – 9
Almost there dress -0
Princess costume 1 – 0
Princess costume 2 kiss – 8
Ball Gown -83
Wwdding- 0

 

 

 

 

Elsa picture image frozen

Elsa

 

Elsa
Coronation Gown -16
Snow Queen -84

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anna, Frozen, picture image

Anna

 

Anna
Coronation Gown- 7
Snow Dress – 93
Ending Dress – 0

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not surprised by the common costume but some of the numbers are surprising. I thought Belle would have more for her Blue Dress.

*saw 1 under Jane

Which Disney Princess Matches Your Zodiac Sign? If you’re a Scorpio,rejoice you’re Esmeralda according to ChaCha.com.  here is the write up;

Esmeralda Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Esmeralda Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame

Scorpio is known as The Fascinator, a secretive sign, like Esmerelda from ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame.’ You are passionate, emotional, loyal and determined, and you love solving puzzles! Silvermist from ‘Tinker Bell’ would also be a Scorpio.

 

You can find your Disney Princess Zodiac here;

Which Disney Princess Matches your Zodiac Sign

Which one Princess is your Zodiac? I got Cinderella

Disney characters Cosplay  is a major presence at Fan Conventions (Anime, Gaming, Video Game, Comic etc). Groups of with these classic characters are big attention grabber but a group can deviate from it the characters traditional to make their both fun and a stand-out.

Here are some Ideas of what you can  do to jazz up any Disney Princess/Heroine group. Some have been done before and some haven’t.

Princesses to Extreme

Yaya Han as Mulan

Yaya Han as Mulan

Basically, you take basic design of the Disney Princesses & Heroines  dresses and make them even more opulent. You can use beading, fancy fabric anything you want to push it in to super ultra fancy.

Bollywood
Rework the  costumes into a chiffon sari. Don’t forget the bangles, tika and lots of kohl.

Steampunk
Put a Victorian spin of the costumes and then add a leather corset and googles.

Zombies

Zombie Disney Princesses

Zombie Disney Princesses

Shred the costumes, add blood and ghoulish make up.

Hipster

Hipster Jasmine, Ariel, Alice and Snow White ComicCon2012

Hipster Jasmine, Ariel, Alice and Snow White ComicCon2012

Modernize the costumes, add big black framed glasses and a clever phase about how you were ahead of the mainstream or just cooler in general.

Can Can

Can-Can dancers’ costume are all about the skirt that is covered with colorful ruffles on the inside. It’s a costume that is both fun and sexy.
FFX-2 Dress Sphere

Disney in Final Fantasy X-2 Dress Sphere inspired costume

Disney in Final Fantasy X-2 Dress Sphere inspired costume

The Dress Sphere was the Battle System in Final Fanatsy X-2. Basically the main characters change their clothes and they have a different set of abilities. The group was based of Fan-art by  Skirtzzz but given the variety of Disney Characters and Dress spheres the options are endless. What would a songstress Esmeralda look like?

Mermaids

Rework the Disney Princesses & Heroines costumes into mermaids like Ariel. Tails would match skirts, So, for explain, Esmeralda would have a purple skirt (if based on her normal look) and a white top. But how would you add her corset? There is a lot of creativity  with the details with this idea.

Warriors

Instead of dainty and pretty costume toughen up the Disney Princesses & Heroines into ass-kicking ladies.

Superheroes

Superhero Disney Princesses by Heykannaya

Superhero Disney Princesses by Heykannaya

Like the Warriors idea the Disney Princesses & Heroines would be more Kick ass looking but with capes and masks.

Sexy

Sexy Disney Princesses

Sexy Disney Princesses

Shorten the hems and drop the neckline and you can sex up the Disney Princesses & Heroines costumes.

Haute Couture

Designer Disney Princess Cosplay Collection by Street Angel

Designer Disney Princess Cosplay Collection by Street Angel

Instead of big poofy gowns rework the costume is sleek and elegant fashion inspired creations. http://street-angel.deviantart.com/art/Designer-Disney-Princess-Cosplay-Collection-335017438
Gender benders

Tinkerbell in more boyish clothes

Tinkerbell in more boyish clothes

Rework the Disney Princesses & Heroines costumes into male-ish costumes.

Magic Girls/ Sailor Scouts

Manon Yapari did a Fan-art of the Disney Princesses & Heroines as Sailor Scouts (from Sailor Moon), this would be an attention grabber at any Anime Con but you could take the classic Magic Girl Costume tropes and apply them to Disney Princesses & Heroines costumes.

Wedding

Rework the Disney Princesses & Heroines costumes into wedding gowns. I know Disney has  dolls of the Disney Princesses in wedding gowns but pending of you own style you can make an amazing gown for the princesses and/or the heroines What would Esmeralda wedding gown look like?
Ballerinas

Rework the Disney Princesses & Heroines costumes into Ballerinas.  You can design wo get a pancake tutu, a classic or a bell. This would a great group for those who can stand on pointe or just fans of ballet.

If you do any of these ideas with or without Esmeralda send them to me ^^.

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