Rasputin is the main antagonist in the 1997 Fox Animation Studios film, Anastasia.
Role in Anastasia
Rasputin is an evil megalomaniac sorcerer, and the self-proclaimed "most mystical man in all Russia". In 1916, he was killed after breaking up a grand ball in the royal palace, during which he attempted to kill the Romanov family, including then eight-year-old Anastasia.
Ten years later, it is revealed that he survived in Limbo as a living corpse, unable to die until Anastasia is killed. Abino White Bat, his bat servant, explained that Anastasia was still alive in St. Petersburg. Abino also provided Rasputin with his magical reliquary, thus restoring his old powers. Rasputin summons a legion of demons to kill Anya and complete his revenge, resulting in two failed attempts. This includes a narrow escape from a separated train in Poland that Anya, Vladmir, and Dimitri jump off to avoid falling to their deaths, and a nightmare aboard a ship en route to Paris from Stralsund,Germany, where Anya nearly sleepwalks overboard until Dimitri rescues her, alerted by Pooka. These failures make Rasputin realize he must kill her in person.
Rasputin takes advantage of Pooka leading Anastasia into a garden maze, and traps her there to reveal himself. He then tries to kill her on the Alexander Bridge over an icy Seine River. Dimitri returns to save her, but is injured and knocked unconscious. Anastasia manages to destroy Rasputin's reliquary by crushing it under her foot, causing him to disintegrate into dust, his soul awaiting eternal damnation with his hunger for revenge unfulfilled.
Role in Bartok the magnificent
Although he doesn't appear in Anastasia's spin-off, in the scene tha Bartok explains his adventure to the people of Moscou, a man that looks a lot like him appears trying to touch the potion
Gallery
The Yuri is killed by Benedict
Trivia
- Character animation supervised by Len Simon.
- Rasputin shares many similarities with Dr. Facilier from the 2009 Disney film, The Princess and the Frog. Both have a magical amulet that if destroyed will result their deaths (Rasputin's reliquary and Dr. Facilier's talisman), both are sorcerers, both end up bein destroyed by their own minions (Rasputin's demons and Dr. Facilier's "friends"
- Rasputin is the most evil of the Don Bluth villain's
- In reality, the real Rasputin died of homicide on December 29, 1916 and he had no magic powers to end the Russian Empire.
- Christopher Lloyd also worked on the films "Back to the Future" (his most well-known work), and in Who Framed Roger Rabbit as the sadistic ruthless Judge Doom.
- Grigori's last name is Rasputin.