Based on the legend of the real-life daughter of the last Russian czar, ANASTASIA combines imaginative animation and lively songs to tell the story of a princess who escapes a horrible execution and mysteriously reappears after being thought dead. When a team of swindlers, Dimitri (John Cusack, THE SURE THING) and Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer, FRASIER), recruit Anya (Meg Ryan, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE), a spunky amnesiac orphan, in their plot to defraud the Dowager Empress (Angela Lansbury) with a faux Romanov heir, little do they know their carefully coached fake is the real thing. But the resurgence of the long-lost Anastasia also attracts the attention of the scary Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd), who, with his hilarious sidekick, Bartok the bat (Hank Azaria), schemes to do in the last Romanov. Though much lighter than the 1956 Anatole Litvak-directed ANASTASIA adapted from Marcelle Maurette's play, this movie is still packed with thrills, chills, and romance. The first animated feature from 20th Century Fox, the film is directed by long-time collaborators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. Also includes the full length sequel BARTOK THE MAGNIFICENT, in which the bat returns in his own animated musical adventure. Propelled on a hero's journey, Bartok must rescue the young heir to the Russian throne, Prince Ivan. However, he must first deal with the shady Ludmilla, who wants the throne for herself, and face a series of tasks and adventures set for him by the wacky--and possibly evil--witch of the Iron Forest, Baba Yaga. Bartok's odyssey is marked by imaginative scenery, catchy songs, comedic characters, and, most of all, the bat's own funny and neurotic commentary.

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