Pity the lazy child who writes a history report based on the animated Anastasia. According to its gaggle of screenwriters, the literal ghost of "The Mad Monk" Rasputin is personally responsible for the Russian Revolution, which was itself, we learn, not a societal upheaval but a quick terror of biblical proportions. Revisionism is the name of the game here in an effort to shoehorn a dry folktale into the tried-and-true Disney formula, complete with talking animals, a gangly, bearded villain, and desperately rhymed songs.

Except that Anastasia is not a Disney movie. Rather, it's an envy-fueled production from Fox's family division. In 1982, Don Bluth directed a transporting cartoon called The Secret of NIMH, from which Uncle Walt's minions could still learn a thing or two; with 1997's Anastasia, Bluth declared creative bankruptcy, succumbing to Disney's plucky-heroine template. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, the saying goes. But an artist can do nothing worse.

The Romanov empire is destroyed by the catastrophic Revolution--little Princess Anastasia was rescued from slaughter, but she missed the train that whisked her only remaining relative, grandmother Dowager Empress Marie (Angela Lansbury, in a big step up from talking teapot), to safety. "Anya" (Meg Ryan as a grown-up), rendered amnesiac by the trauma, begins a search for her true identity upon release from an ungodly orphanage years after that fateful day.

Frolicking in what she mistakes for an abandoned royal house, Anya encounters Dimitri (John Cusack) and Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer), two opportunists who have been seeking Anastasia's doppelgänger for some time. (The Dowager, now living the high life in Paris, has promised a hefty reward to anyone able to reunite her with Anastasia.) Unaware that she's the real deal, all, the three tentative friends set sail for France.

Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) wants to eradicate Anastasia before she reaches Gay Paree. The character's sole interesting trait is established in a running gag that sees his body falling, uncontrollably, to pieces, and yet, somewhat contradictorily, he can possess a sleeping Anya and loose on her a horde of green demons with a snap of his flimsy fingers. It's possible that Anastasia would bore the kiddies blind without him, but the spectacles Rasputin provides (including a climax that brazenly copies Sleeping Beauty's--the Disney version) hardly justifies his presence. At least we know why his aide-de-camp, a wisecracking albino bat named Bartok (versitile Hank Azaria), is there: to sell toys at fast food restaurants. (What would you do with a plush Anastasia doll? On second thought, don't answer that.)

The rotoscopic animation (wherein live action footage is meticulously traced onto cels) is darling, however, and a good enough reason to take in the film. Even at that, almost every set piece has a been-there-done-that quality--how many more times will we have to sit through a painted ballroom dance? There is a rigid beauty to Anastasia; our expectations for a gloriously designed film are met but rarely surpassed.

Fox has fashioned a good DVD for Anastasia. The movie has widescreen and pan-and-scan viewing options on the same side of the disc--don't even entertain the latter, for Anastasia has been photographed in Panavision's epic dimensions and you'd be missing over half of the artists' hard work. (Curiously, the "standard" version is slightly letterboxed, too, at 1.48:1, though the thin black bars will be invisible on most monitors due to overscan.) For review purposes, I sampled both, watching only the widescreen version in full. Colour saturation is gorgeous, and compression artifacts are nearly invisible in either presentation. Contrast is balanced and shadow detail is strong even during scenes in Rasputin's gloomy lair. 16x9 owners will be disappointed to learn that the 2.35:1 transfer has not been anamorphically enhanced.

The 5.1 Dolby Digital mix is a real treat between long passages of bad dialogue. The surrounds are active in any sequence involving Rasputin, and the LFE channel pipes up often and deeply. Left-to-right panning effects for the front and rear speakers are common throughout, though the forward soundstage's stereo presence is more aggressive.

Fox has outdone every current "Disney DVD" (save A Bug's Life: Collector's Edition) with Anastasia where bonus material is concerned. Extras: a disposable featurette; a more expansive but still shallow 22-minute making-of documentary--and about 20 of those minutes are taken up by host Aaliyah, warbling, to nobody's benefit, "Journey to the Past"; follow-the-bouncing-ball renditions of "Once Upon a December" and "Learn to do It"; challenging "Interactive Puzzles"--scrambled production stills that must be reassembled; and, finally, trailers for Anastasia and its straight-to-video follow-up, Bartok the Magnificent.

Magnificent.-Bill Chambers