[Originally posted on Tumblr on: November 14, 2018.]
I know that a lot of people have some mixed feelings about the Disney/Fox merger and as far as my stance on the matter, I think that there are pros and cons for both.
But the one thing that I’m a little grumpy about it this little gem right here:
The wonderfully animated and beautifully composed movie: Anastasia (1997).
Most people think that it’s a Disney movie. I mean, how could you not with such beautiful melodies such as Once Upon a December, Journey to the Past, Learn to Do It? The animation is so natural and fluid. The voice acting is on point. They even got Angela Lansbury to play the grandmother for corn’s sake! It’s all so… naturally Disney.
But the thing is Anastasia is, in fact, not a Disney movie.
It isn’t even Dreamworks!
No, this movie is actually a Fox Animation Studios work. Fox Animation Studios only ever produced two films that went to theaters: this, and Titan A.E. (2000) They had a direct to DVD release called Bartok the Magnificent (1999) which was a spin-off of this movie, but these are the only works they ever produced. Fox has created other animated movies such as Ferngully, The Ice Age Series, Rio and Rio 2, The Book of Life, and many others that you may or may not remember, but not under the guise of this particular studio or name. This studio ended up just being a flop that never got an real attention after their first and only popular release, Anastasia. They did, however, contribute to Dreamworks’ The Prince of Egypt animation so, they certainly had skill.
Here’s the thing though:
If Disney purchases 20th Century Fox, Anastasia will come under Disney’s wing and technically, become a Disney movie. It wasn’t made by Disney. But Disney owns it. Kinda like how Star Wars is technically a Disney franchise, even though Disney only made like… 2 movies and really don’t have much say about the lore, or any of the previous movies. That they’re basically taking money for someone else’s hardwork.
So when someone says, “Anastasia is favorite Disney movie,” I can’t correct them anymore.
I can’t flex my animation knowledge and teach them some of the intricacies about the animation industry. I can’t show someone one of the more mislabeled and underappreciated Non-Disney classics. It really robs some of the fun out of being an animation nerd.
So Tl;DR: I’m kinda upset that Anastasia might be a Disney movie now because I can’t be a total dillhole and correct people for being wrong. It sucks.
The Cartoon Archivist 