The award-winning 1997 animated film Anastasia (not the be confused with the 1956 version) was based very loosely on the fall of Russia's last royal family and the subsequent claim by Anna Anderson that she was the lost Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, one of Tsar's four daughters. The movie wasn't trying to be historically accurate, what with the supernatural elements and all, but for many young adults, Anastasia is what they know about the historical events. You know better, but maybe you don't know the details that went into making Anastasia.
It is well-known that Meg Ryan voices the main character in this film. However, she took some persuading to accept the job. She had just finished filming ‘Sleeping in Seattle’ and was dubious about getting involved with Anastasia due to the dark nature of some aspects of the storyline. The producers persuaded her by taking a clip of her acting in ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and transforming it into an animation.
The animators had the character, Rasputin, fall through an iced river. This was a nod to how the real Rasputin was wrapped in cloth before being thrown into a river when he died in 1916.
Read more about the movie Anastasia at TVOM.