Creation

Anastasia is loosely based on the urban legend that the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II,^[3] survived the execution of her family.^[4][5][6][7] The character Anya is based on Anastasia herself.^[8][9] Although Anastasia was in fact murdered alongside her family in 1918 at the age of 17,^{[10][11][12][lower-alpha 2]} rumors of her having escaped the assassination persisted for several years, which prompted numerous impersonators to claim to be her.^[14][15] The most famous imposter was Anna Anderson,^[10][16][17] whose claims were adapted into several retellings,^[18] including a 1956 film (also produced by 20th Century Fox) starring actress Ingrid Bergman as Anastasia.^[14][19]

Considered to be an animated remake of the 1956 film,^[20][21] the previous film's plot was primarily used as the premise and inspiration for the animated character,^[19][22] with the idea of a confused young woman "who doesn't know who she is and discovers she's a princess" inspiring Fox Animation Studios to develop a fairy tale version of the myth.^[23] Despite acknowledging Anastasia's heritage and upbringing,^[23] the character is largely fictionalized; according to Russian culture researcher Kate White, the ideas that "a lot of people wanted Anastasia to be alive, and a lot of women over the years have claimed to be her" are some of the few historically accurate aspects about Anya.^[24] The character also takes several liberties with Anderson's story,^[25] who researchers had already determined was not related to the Romanovs by 1994.^[26]

While researching the Grand Duchess, director Don Bluth discovered she was a young woman capable of "light[ing] up the whole house"^[5] and incorporated transformative elements from the plays My Fair Lady and Pygmalion into her storyline.^[14][27] Agreeing that a documentary-style film would be too dark for its intended audience, the filmmakers opted for a more fantastical re-telling but incorporated some mature elements nonetheless, such as the heroine struggling with an inner conflict,^[5] while focusing on the developing romance between Anya and con-man Dimitri.^[28] Screenwriter Bruce Graham, who was not particularly fond of the film's tragic origins, felt the character would benefit from a female writer.^[29] Eventually, writer Susan Gauthier was recruited, with whom Graham re-worked Anya's somber story into a coming-of-age romance.^[29] Actress Carrie Fisher ghostwrote the scene in which Anya begins her journey to Paris, with songwriters Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty recalling that at least 13 writers worked on this particular scene in order to capture Anya's psyche convincingly.^[30]

Design and characterization

Bluth understood that, by the 1990s, animated heroines had begun to be written as strong, driven heroines, as opposed to simply beautiful princesses yearning for a romantic relationship.^[31] He envisioned Anya as tough enough to survive an orphanage, yet regal enough to convincingly pass for royalty.^[31] Most of Anya's early concept art was drawn by Bluth himself.^[32] Bluth originally struggled to create a suitable design for Anya, re-drawing the character hundreds of times until settling on one he felt embodied her mysterious, strong-willed nature.^[6] The director discovered that Anya herself could have a comedic personality, comparing her to actress Goldie Hawn.^[33]

According to his notes, Bluth felt the character's eyes were originally drawn too close together, in addition to finding her hair too red and boots too large.^[34][35][36] Writing for Animated Views, Ben Simon observed that some early drawings conveyed a "softer and more visually appealing version" of the heroine.^[21] Other early iterations included a T-shirt and baggy men's trousers inspired by actress Marlene Dietrich.^[37] Bluth designed Anya based on actresses Audrey Hepburn and Julia Roberts.^[19][38][39] According to character designer Len Simon, Anya "physically looks like a princess, but has a more common way of behaving, as she doesn't remember that she belongs to a royal family".^[39] Some of Bluth's drawings of Anya were exhibited at the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2017.^[32]

Critics believe that Bluth, a former animator for Fox's then-rival studio Disney, was inspired by skills he had learned while working for them; Refinery29's Elena Nicolaou cited Anya's strong resemblance to Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989) as an example.^[40] Film critic David Sterritt of The Christian Science Monitor described Anya as "a close cousin to all the genre's classic heroines".^[41] The yellow court gown Anya wears towards the end of the film is almost an exact replica of one the Grand Duchess herself had worn.^[42][43]

Voice

Anya's adult speaking voice is provided by actress Meg Ryan.^[44][45] Fox Filmed Entertainment CEO Bill Mechanic was a fan of Ryan's previous as spunky yet sweet characters, and expressed a strong interest in casting her as the film's lead from the beginning.^[14] Although Ryan had always been the filmmakers' first choice for the role,^[46] she was initially concerned about the film's dark subject matter.^[29][47] With Graham, Bluth and his co-director Gary Goldman persuaded Ryan by showing her a brief original sequence animated to dialogue from one of her films, the romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle (1993).^[29][46] Ryan immediately accepted,^[46] emotionally moved by the amount of effort they had put into convincing her.^[31] The first main cast member to sign onto the project, Ryan was cast in 1995.^[15][48] Once she was cast, animators also based Anya's expressions and mannerisms on Ryan's performance in Sleepless In Seattle.^[49]

Her first voice acting role, Ryan found the recording process to be very easy.^[46] She worked on the film sporadically for approximately three years for a total of 10 hours,^[46] most of which was done prior to animation,^[50] and reportedly felt guilty about how little she contributed to the film in comparison to its animators.^[49] Ryan claims she would offer 500 readings of a particular line, from which Bluth would choose his favorite.^[46] The actress recalled that she originally approached her performance "way [too] over the top", until she listened to herself and adjusted her approach accordingly.^[46] Bluth credited Ryan's performance with helping them create an admirable heroine.^[31] For mechanical reasons, Ryan recorded most of her dialogue isolated from actor John Cusack, who voices Dimitri, her character's love interest.^[46] The co-stars were allowed to record in neighboring sound booths on only one occasion, which Goldman credits with benefiting their performances and chemistry.^[46] Ryan and Cusack briefly dated shortly after working on the film together.^[51][52] Producer Maureen Donley spoke highly of Ryan's performance and sense of humor.^[53] Despite the character being Russian, Ryan voices Anya using her own American accent.^[54]

When Ryan was first cast in 1995, the studio did not immediately disclose to the press whether or not she would be singing her character's songs.^[48] Singer Liz Callaway recorded Anya's songs in lieu of Ryan, including the film's two signature songs, "Journey to the Past" and "Once Upon a December".^[55][56] By this time, Callaway had already performed similar dubbing duties in several other animated films during the 1990s, including The Swan Princess (1994) for Michelle Nicastro, the Aladdin sequels The Return of Jafar (1994) and King of Thieves (1996) for Linda Larkin, and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) for Neve Campbell.^[57][56] Callaway attributes her success as a voice actor to possessing a "young-sounding singing voice", admitting that she typically voices 18-year-old girls.^[57] A last-minute addition to the cast, Callaway was originally recruited on a temporary basis solely to record demo tracks of Ahrens and Flaherty's songs when the original demo singer hired became unavailable.^[42][58] Ahrens personally asked Callaway to substitute.^[59] Initially, Callaway had only hoped to secure a job as a backup singer,^[47] as she had done for Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991),^[59] but the producers were so impressed with her singing that they decided to hire her for the entire film.^[42][58] Before Callaway, the studio had considered hiring Ryan's own sister or a Norwegian singer as Anya's singing voice.^[59] While working on Anastasia, Callaway did not hear anything Ryan had recorded, nor was she instructed to sound like the actress.^[56] However, she did record a few scenes from Sleepless in Seattle on her Walkman, to which she would sometimes listen while traveling to the recording studio.^[56] Callaway believes their voices possess "a quality that was similar enough" to be convincing.^[56] She did not meet Ryan until the film's premiere, and considers Anastasia to be a highlight of her career.^[56]

Actress Kirsten Dunst, who was 15 years-old at the time, provided the speaking voice of Anastasia as a child,^[60] while actress Lacey Chabert provided the singing voice for this version of the character.^[43][61] Mexican voice actress Dulce Guerrero dubbed the character's dialogue^[62][63] and Mexican singer Thalía dubbed the character's songs in the Latin American Spanish dub of the film.^[64]

Film

Banished by Nicholas II for treason, Grigori Rasputin, a former royal advisor, sells his soul and curses the Romanovs to die,^[65] leading to a political uprising against the Imperial family.^{[66][67][68][69]} With help from a servant boy,^[22] eight-year-old Anastasia escapes across a frozen pond with her grandmother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, while Rasputin seemingly drowns in pursuit of them.^[1] However, she is separated from Marie at a train station and knocked unconscious,^[19] losing her memory.^[68][70] Raised in an orphanage,^[71] the only clue Anastasia retains about her past is a locket inscribed "Together in Paris" her grandmother had gifted her.^[19] 10 years later,^[72] a now eighteen-year-old Anastasia – now going by "Anya"^[73][74][58] – decides to travel to Paris, France, to recover some semblance of her family. Meanwhile, rumors circulate that Anastasia may have survived the fateful execution,^[41] prompting Marie to offer a ₽10 million reward for the safe return of her granddaughter. Upon arriving in Saint Petersberg, Anya meets Dimitri and Vladimir, a pair of con artists who, upon noticing her striking resemblance to the Romanovs,^[75] convince Anya to let them present her as Anastasia to the Dowager Empress in Paris. Under the ruse that they are simply trying to reunite the Grand Duchess with her family,^[76] they do not disclose the reward money,^[75][76] and initially fail to realize that Anya is, in fact, Anastasia.^[77] Anya's presence alerts an undead Rasputin,^[78][79] who has been trapped in limbo due to failing to kill Anastasia.^[80] He pursues Anya relentlessly to fulfill his curse,^[81] but his attempts are unsuccessful.^[82]

While learning to behave like royalty, some of Anya's memories begin to return, and she grows fond of Dimitri.^[19][81] Dimitri finally realizes Anya is truly Anastasia when she correctly answers how she escaped the palace, revealing to Vladimir that he was the servant who helped her. Marie, having grown despondent from interviewing numerous imposters,^[83] accuses Dimitri of only being interested in her money, and vehemently refuses to meet Anya.^[68] Overhearing Dimitri's original intentions for the first time, a furious Anya decides to leave Paris, but her plans are interrupted when Marie, having finally been convinced by a relentless Dimitri, visits her hotel room. After a sincere conversation in which Anya recalls intimate memories and reveals the locket, Marie finally declares that she is Anastasia, and the pair emotionally reunite. Realizing he has fallen in love with Anya,^[84] Dimitri refuses the Dowager's reward money and intends to return to Russia, while Anya is conflicted between her loyalty to Marie and feelings for Dimitri. After defeating Rasputin in a final confrontation,^[85] Anya ultimately elopes with Dimitri with her grandmother's blessing, promising they will meet again.^[8][86]

Stage

Anya appears in Anastasia on Ice, an ice show adaptation of the film, which premiered in 1999.^[79] Ice skater Florentine Houdinière performed as Anya,^[79] but Ryan's original dialogue from the animated film was re-used for the ice show, to which Houdinière lip synced.^[83] A stage musical adaptation of the film premiered on Broadway in 2017, in which the role of Anya was originated by actress Christy Altomare.^[87] The actress claims to have felt immediately connected to Anya, having grown up as a fan of the character.^[88] Altomare was nominated for a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award for her performance.^[87]

Other media

Anya is featured in the video game Anastasia: Adventures with Pooka and Bartok, based on the events of the film.^[89]