Yesterday, I decided to watch one of my favorite childhood movies, the 1997 animated movie Anastasia. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this movie, it’s loosely based on the story of Anastasia Romanov, the last Russian princess, back in 1916. She and her grandmother, the Dowager Empress Marie, had a very special bond, and a secret lullaby, which at her grandmother’s request was put into a music box for little 8 year old Anastasia to listen to when her grandmother was away in Paris, with a matching necklace with the words “Together in Paris” on it. But their world of security, palaces, and family was suddenly taken away when their enemy Rasputin gave his soul to evil spirits to curse the entire Romanov family with death. In an attempt to escape the palace and Russia, the Dowager Marie took Anastasia to the train station, but Anastasia was unable to get on the train, lost her grip on her grandmother’s hand, and fell unconscious. Ten years later, young and feisty Anya emerges, a young woman who remembers very little about her past, and her only clue is a necklace that says, “Together in Paris.” Embarking on a journey with two men to Paris, posing as the Grand Duchess Anastasia without realizing that that was her true identity, she finally reunited with her grandmother, vanquished the awoken Rasputin once and for all, and even found romance along the way.
As I was
watching this, I started asking myself why I love this movie so much. Part of
it was nostalgia, I’m sure. I watched this movie over and over again as a child,
and I had the picture book, and toys resembling Anya and her dog Pooka. But as
I looked even deeper, I realized that there’s something in this mostly
fictional story that we can all connect with: the quest to discover who we
truly are. Anya had very few memories of her past – we have very few memories
(if any) of who we were before we were born on this earth. Anya’s one clue to
her past was her necklace – we have patriarchal blessings and personal
revelation. But she still had moments when something would seem almost familiar,
like when she entered her abandoned palace, or when she found the music box her
grandmother had given her several years before. We have moments like that too,
when we hear a truth of the gospel that particularly resonates with us –
because our spirits remember learning the same truths before this mortal life.
The people
in Anya’s life—both those who wanted to help, and those who sought to harm—can also
be paralleled in our own lives. Rasputin, the once-holy man who turned out to
be a fraud, is awfully similar to the adversary. Both are power-thirsty, cunning,
dangerous, and both were willing to sell their souls to seek to destroy those
who oppose them. They also would stop at nothing until they reach their destructive
goals, attacking us in any way they possibly can. However, neither of them will
win in the end. Rasputin was defeated, and Satan will be too. Anya’s travel
companions Dmitri and Vlad represent our loved ones, leaders, and teachers,
whoever they may be. Dmitri and Vlad, although they were far from perfect,
taught Anya about who she once was, and they never gave up on her. If it weren’t
for them, she never would’ve found her grandmother, her past, and her identity.
Finally, the Dowager Empress Marie, I believe, represents our Heavenly Parents.
The only difference is that Marie didn’t know if her granddaughter was still
alive. Our Heavenly Parents not only know that we’re alive, but They know each
of us perfectly, and like Marie, just want us to return, to be “Together in
Paris (or heaven),” never to be separated again. And that reunion will be every
bit as sweet if not sweeter than the reunion between Marie and Anastasia.
Though our
stories may not be like Anastasia’s, there are many connections between her
fictional life and ours. We are all travelers “on this journey to the past” to
find who we once were so that we can move forward to find our future. We’re all
looking for “home, love, [and] family,” and we’ll “never be complete until [we]
find [them].” I hope we can each find what we’re looking for, just like Anastasia
did.