Anastasia Cartoon circa 1995

[GD Alexandra]

I think this was a lovely movie as well, though it only helped to perpetuate the romantic myth of survival.

Out of all things this movie brought, I was particularly fond of a music box that was marketed; it had the dancing figures of Tzar Nicholas II and the Tsarina. One only just had to turn the key on the side to see them dance at the compass of "Once Upon a December." Really cute AND touching.

[LisaDavidson]

I don't really know where to begin with this.

I sense that alot of the posters on this thread are much, much, younger than we historians who post here and thus do not realize how much pain and heartache that perfectly awful cartoon cost Anastasia's real family and other adults who care about her. It's the only explanation I can think of - if any of you know of a better one, please enlighten me.

None of us who had to deal with the move - Bob and I, who had our work stolen by a vendor of Fox and had to hire attorneys to get them to stop stealing our work - her first cousin once removed, Marina Vasilovna - would have minded if they had used a fictional Russian princess (as did The Prince and Me) to tell a fairy tale. It was the mixture of the two - historical fact and fairy tale - with liberal doses of outright lies - that made this entire project so odiously offensive to everyone who truly cares about the real Anastasia Nicholievna.

So, no, I don't find "Once Upon a December" haunting or worthy - I find it offensive to the memory of the real grand duchess. What Bob did with this was to create the "My Name is Anastasia" website. No cute bats and no drooling Rasputin - but an honest without being cloying tribute - to the young lady who died so tragically young.

Just what would you think if someone came up with their own twist like this on the imagined life one of the little children murdered by the Islamic terrorists in Russia this week? Wouldn't you be utterly revolted?

Now let's see if I can answer the questions:

1. See above. What really happened needs to be respected enough by a film-maker so that the memory of the dead person is not damaged. The way to explain it to a small child is what we did with the website OR make it a complete fairy tale with no real details.

2. I'm glad you're interested in the family, but I hope to God that you give them a smidge more respect than the filmmakers - who were very clear with us that they had no respect whatsoever for the real Anastasia or her family - and told us so many times.

[LisaDavidson]

I re-posted my comments from 7 years ago because it summarizes what happened to Anastasia's family when they made modest efforts to set the record straight. And when Bob and I fought back against web developers who stole our work.

I think a benefit of the film that we didn't see at the time was that in spite of the ghastly ways the filmmakers disrespected the real Anastasia, there were still kids who saw the cartoon and learned something positive about the Imperial Family.

[Sunny]

I used to love it so much when i was a little girl, and still loves the songs, but i had no idea of what they (the filmmakers) had done. When my romanov interest increased, i thought it was not respectful (not only full of mistakes) and labeled it as a "movie for children".
Now that i know that things, Lisa, i'm ashamed.

[LisaDavidson]

Please don't be ashamed, Sunny. You did nothing wrong!

The filmmakers who treated the real grand duchess' memory so shabbily ought to be ashamed for ignoring her family and their wishes, but they are apparently shameless so it is best to just let it be. The real grand duchess is, I believe, in a place where this nonsense cannot harm her, and that is the good in all of this!

[Sunny]

You're right, Lisa. even if she could listen to that nonsense, she would laugh...

[LisaDavidson]

Yes, I do believe she would!

[Olga Bernice]

The filmmakers who treated the real grand duchess' memory so shabbily ought to be ashamed for ignoring her family and their wishes, but they are apparently shameless so it is best to just let it be. The real grand duchess is, I believe, in a place where this nonsense cannot harm her, and that is the good in all of this!

Oh, yes, I agree. Before I heard all of this, though, I saw the movie and thought it was a cute movie - and I still think it is. I haven't lost respect for the movie, because I think it was a pretty good adaption to Anastasia's myth, *but* I have lost all respect for the filmmakers who disregarded all fact and who insulted the GD's memory. *That* is what I was appalled with hearing.  >:-(

You're right, Lisa. even if she could listen to that nonsense, she would laugh...

Oh, yes, Sunny, I believe they would laugh - and perhaps admire their creativity. Maybe she would be plotting about what kind of movie to make about the filmmakers!

[Sunny]

I'm sure Anastasija would laugh AND make faces, like she does in "Romanov - the imperial family" 

[Olga Bernice]

I'm sure Anastasija would laugh AND make faces, like she does in "Romanov - the imperial family" 

Of course! AND she'd probably be happy with all her publicity!

[Archduchess Zelia]

I adore the soundtrack of this movie and the story is absolutely beautiful, when that's said I really think it's a ridicules movie. Just the other day I had my little sister coming up to me after watching it for the first time, telling how sad the story was but that she was happy that at least Anastasia survived the revolution. And that is not the first time I've had to explain that, sadly, it's a semi-fictional story. It's beautifully made though.

[Olga Bernice]

Definitely!! I really like it, once I get past all the historical innaccuracies (which ususally isn't that hard). The only reason I got the movie is because I became interested in Anastasia herself, so I've never had to explain to anybody in my family that some of it isn't true. The first time I watched it, I would tell hem everything that wasn't true, then, later, I would just be quiet and enjoy it, because in all honesty it's a pretty good movie (leaving off everything said after the movie was filmed, the disrespect for the Romanovs, etc. I DID NOT like that at all, but the movie itself was not bad). 

[Archduchess Zelia]

Yeah, the story itself is really enchanting and you can understand why people love it so much, too bad it isn't the truth ):

[Olga Bernice]

Exactly! But if it was, then . . . I really wish it would have been the truth, but it isn't. It would have been wonderful if Anastasia had survived.

[ImperialxTwilight]

My personal opinion of this movie is that it's made for children - the idea is not to be historically accurate, but to have a good story for children.

I do find myself ranting about historical inaccuracies when I watch it, but that's because of a personal need to showcase my knowledge rather than anger for the inaccuracies of it. It was actually watching this movie as a child that had me interested in researching the 'real' Anastasia, and finding out more about the Romanovs. At the age of eleven, I had been sitting in class reading Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra, just to get a better understanding of everything - and that came from this movie. Ten years later, my sister and I still watch it, and know even more about the reality of everything than we do now - especially since the remaining two skeletons were discovered several years ago. But my point is that the movie is for children, and clearly you cannot always portray a children's movie accurately to keep it interesting for them - after all, has anyone read the real story of The Little Mermaid? If children want to make the effort to know the reality behind it, they will - my sister and I are proof of that. The songs are catchy, and the characters are wonderful, and at least they made the effort to keep in some parts of the real history (such as Anastasia's painting) so that it's not 100% inaccurate.

I do understand why there are negative opinions about it, and I can see where Lisa was coming from. But that doesn't change that the movie has made a difference - if it weren't for that movie, I'm not even sure I'd have such a passion for history as I do now, and my entire life could've turned out differently than it is. I'm sure I'm not the only one in the world who feels that way.