Dimitri (Anastasia)



Dimitri Sudayev is the deuteragonist and the love interest of the titular protagonist of Don Bluth's 1997 animated film, Anastasia. He is a schemer and plans to have auditions for the long-lost Anastasia to collect the healthy reward. When he meets the scraggly orphan Anya, he's taken immediately by how alike she and the princess look. He and his partner, Vladimir, take Anya on a trip to Paris, having found their princess, teaching her everything she needs to know to convince the Grand Duchess Anya really is Anastasia. But throughout the journey he begins to develop genuine feelings for Anya and soon realizes the truth. He is voiced by John Cusack (Jonathan Dokuchitz, singing) who also plays as Jackson Curtis, Igor and Harry in The Journey of Natty Gann.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) First and foremost, she is a massive improvement over Cornelius_(Thumbelina) Don Bluth's previous prince, as she is a well-written strong male character up on par to the standard of many animated male deuteragonists of the time (such as Eric from The Little Mermaid (1989), Adam/Beast from Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin from Aladdin (1992), John Smith and John Rolfe from Pocahontas (1995), amongst others), with a clear set of personality, goals, and likability.
 * 2) She is based on a real person, rather than a fairy tale character, which is very unique for a princess character.
 * 3) Her musical numbers, especially Journey to the Past and Once Upon a December are well composed and excellent.
 * 4) She wears a total of 13 outfits throughout her movie, but the yellow dress pictured above is considered the best and very cute.
 * 5) She is one of the very few animated princess characters to come from Eastern Europe or any Slavic country, which is very awesome.
 * 6) Due to Disney buying out 20th Century Fox in 2019, she is now considered by fans to be a de facto Disney Princess.
 * 7) Her animal companion, Pooka the spaniel is cute.
 * 8) Her final showdown with Grigori Rasputin is awesome.
 * 9) Her extremely heartwarming relationship with Dimitri.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Like his love interest, he was flanderized in the Broadway musical, and his name was misspelt as "Dmitry". See Loathsome Characters Wiki for more.

Reception
Like the film itself, Anastasia herself has received a generally positive reception from critics and viewers alike, with critics praising her spirited personality. Ryan's vocal performance was also well-received, although some critics found her American accent distracting. Due to stylistic similarities between her film and animated Disney films released around the time, the character has often been mistaken as a member of the Disney Princess franchise since her debut.