#dimitri x anastasia

[darklinaforever]

I'm really confused about the musical's changes to the Dimitri & Anastasia relationship. Yes, they couldn't keep the Dimitri saves her child aspect. But they could keep the part where he worked at the palace and suggest that he and Anya had known each other as children and mayne liked each other, like an echo of the original movie which suggested that Dimitri probably had a little crush on her when he was small. But no. Instead we get : Oh they saw each other once as a kid at a parade and he greeted her in the crowd and their eyes met leading to a love at first sight that lasted their whole lives... Wtf seriously ? It's rubbish ! Especially since Dimitri lost a lot of his anti-hero substance in the musical. Yes, he's still a scammer but he's much more tender and smooth than his film counterpart ! For what ? Again, transform Anya's personality, I can still understand, to make her more like a Disney princess. But why Dimitri ?! My god... the musical is great to listen to and the character of Gleb fantastic, but they massacred my darling Dimitri. I love Gleb, but facing Dimitri from the original film, there is no match. But against the Dimitri of the musical, yes, Gleb wins. Why every time a villain in love is created, people prefer to invent a bland love interest ?!

[thephantomofanastasia]

Photos from the Tuacahn Center for the Arts production of Anastasia

[hawklightt]

[randomfandomblabdom]

I have so many issues with the Anastasia musical...

It seems to me that the writers put certain moments in the musical simply because moments like that happened in the movie but instead of comprehending why those moments worked in the first place, they made what they most likely assumed would be small insignificant changes that only ended up fucking with the narrative as a whole.

One of the best examples of this is Dimitri and Anya's dance lesson during Learn to Do It. This takes place far too early in the show for it to mean anything substantial. The dance lesson happens at a very specific point in the film and has an equally specific purpose narratively. It is only after a time jump montage during Learn to Do It where it's implied Anya, Dimitri, and Vlad spend anywhere from several days to several weeks traveling together, that Dimitri and Anya's dynamic naturally shifts into something warmer than what it was several scenes ago. You, as the audience, do not question this shift because you know, subconsciously, that they've been spending a lot of time together and have developed a deeper relationship and possible romantic feelings for each other as a result. It's given its due time to make sure you as well as the characters understand that. The musical has no deeper meaning or realization attached to it as the two characters haven't spent a substantial amount of time together where those subconscious blanks would be filled in for you. Trust me, I understand that time jumps can be difficult to do convincingly in a stage production but this is live theater, you need to get creative about these things... or move Learn to Do It further back in the show. Yes, there's a line of dialogue that implies that it's been at least a couple of days but that's harder to grasp when there are no visuals to support it. It feels like Learn to Do It happens over the course of several hours. Instead of two people who have been traveling together for implied days/weeks and have become friends realizing their feelings towards each other may have shifted into more romantic territory, it feels like acquaintances realizing they merely find the other person attractive or perhaps not as bad as they thought. The musical takes all of the build-up and context and mashes it into one number that doesn't end up working the way I think the writers thought it would. I wouldn't mind the dance being so early on if Dimitri and Anya were given any other moment of realization that was allowed to breathe. And don't say In a Crowd of Thousands...

Speaking of, I love that song. It's gorgeous. It's become one of my favorite Broadway love songs of all time, I've been listening to it non-stop for the past week. Does that mean I'm peachy about the changes that were made just because it's connected to a pretty song? Hell no. I have sooooo many problems with that scene as a whole. I'm not gonna waste my time talking about the changed backstory, I'm sure that and how it completely diluted the story has been discussed at length and I'm fully aware that changes must be made when transferring media from one medium to another - animated movie musical to live stage production in this case - but these changes are just absurd to me. Dimitri literally just told Anya to essentially make up her side of his story as if she truly was the princess Anastasia riding by in that parade all those years ago. His bowing could very easily be something she just made up on the spot and convinced herself it was a real memory, Dimitri's reaction to it would be enough to tell her it was. They've been trying to convince her she is Anastasia, she may be just convincing herself things she learned actually happened to her at this point. Not to mention, yes, Dimitri didn't tell her that detail of the story but of course, a commoner would bow to royalty, how does that prove anything to him? It doesn't help that he just told her his side of the story which could easily influence her line of thinking. In the film, not only is Anya's memory of the boy opening a wall something she couldn't have guessed or made up even if she tried, proving beyond all doubt to Dimitri that she's the real deal but the subject of the princess's possible survival is not something that has come up before as evidenced by Vlad and Dimitri's nervous reactions when Sophie (Lily) asks that question. Nothing is influencing her thinking there. The whole interaction in the stage production makes it seem like Dimitri just suddenly falls in love with her because he just found out she's the princess when the film makes it abundantly clear that he is so far gone for her long before that information comes to light, their romantic tension fuels the dramatic tension once that's revealed. Both adaptations have an almost kiss and unfortunately, only one of these adaptations puts it before that revelation. In the film, it follows the dance lesson sequence. In the musical, it’s placed directly after that big revelation and it just feels… kinda wrong.

I think I'm gonna stop there. I have so many thoughts written out that I could probably write a multi-page essay on this and maybe I'll make a full post on it but I needed to get at least some of my thoughts out before my head exploded and those are some of the things that were most prominently sitting on the tip of my tongue. I could go on for hours about how the music box was entirely misused, the total misunderstanding of the song Once Upon a December, how the Empress's choice given to Anya towards the end is almost explicitly about Dimitri instead of how it's explicitly about her granddaughter's happiness in the film, and don't even get me started on how Anya realizing she's Anastasia at the same time as Dimitri kinda fucks with the last 15-30 minutes of the story...

It's all so disappointing honestly because this musical had all the groundwork to become a phenomenal show - good songs, a good story, a good romantic duo, fans who grew up with the film - and, in the right hands, I truly think it could've become a Best Musical winner but instead, it turned out to feel like an amateur production on a Broadway stage with two really likable lead actors that had really good chemistry together and ended up doing most of the legwork for getting people to look over the fact that it wasn't nearly as good as it could've been. In all honesty, I did not realize how tightly written the film is until I started picking apart the musical and now I think the film is one of the best-written animated films in Western media.

This isn't meant to bash anyone who enjoys the musical. You don't have to agree with me. I do genuinely enjoy parts of the show and think it did certain things well. Christy Altomare and Derek Klena were absolutely perfect casting, I like some of the added songs, Journey to the Past happening when they get to Paris and Meant to Be happening before the ballet are outstanding placements for both songs, the costume design was more or less gorgeous, and I do think excluding all of the supernatural aspects was the right call...etc. but those are just some of my scrambled thoughts on why I have such an issue with the writing in this show.

[beautyinsteadofashes]

‘princesses don’t marry kitchen boys....’

anastasia dream cast (x)

[foxchainships]

If you want me to draw your favorite ship, send over a DM :)

[sparkygurly227]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Anastasia (1997) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dimitri | Dmitry/Anya | Anastasia Romanov (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway) Characters: Dimitri | Dmitry (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Anya | Anastasia Romanov (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway) Additional Tags: Married Couple, Teasing, Domestic Fluff Series: Part 34 of SparkyGurl's Multifandom 100 ways to say I Love You Summary:

Multifandom 100 ways to say I love you

#34 - Dimitri x Anastasia - That's Okay, I Bought Two

[nooowestayandgetcaught]

Fic: "I Can't Tell"

read on AO3

Fandom: Anastasia (1997)

Rating: G

Category: F/M

Relationship(s): Anastasia/Dimitri

Summary: Anya slips on an icy patch of road on their way to Paris and hits her head. The dreams afterward feel familiar.

[darklinaforever]

I think I have a type of ship...

[thephantomofanastasia]

😍😍😍

Greek non-replica production of Anastasia

[yourartmatters-itswhatgotmehere]

wow, love this, also hot damn, I'm so bisexual, they're all so beautiful

reminder that these four exist around the same time and would totally live it up together

[animations-daily]

dimitri.exe has stopped working

[elephantlovemedleys]

never dreaming what we'd have to go through now here we are, and i'm suddenly standing.....at the beginning with you

[kabishkat19]

Dimitri’s parenting🖤

Of course Dimitri is going to teach his babies basic (important) life skills…

None filter version :

[murasaki-cha]

"Fictional crush this" "Fictional crush that" OH YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT FICTIONAL CRUSHES SURE!!

I HAVE WANTED DIMITRI FROM THE 1997 ANIMATED "Anastasia" MOVIE BIBLICALY SINCE I WAS 6 YEARS OLD!!! I WANT HIM AND I WANT WHAT HE AND ANYA HAVE DAMN IT!!

[ariadnethedragon]

ANASTASIA (1997)

Dir. Don Bluth + Gary Goldman