Line #38 WesternAnimation/BartokTheMagnificent


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6	''Bartok the Magnificent'' is a 1999 DirectToVideo semi-{{prequel}} to Creator/DonBluth's ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}''. This film is interesting for a couple of reasons:
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8	# On the Creator/DonBluth trope page, we mentioned that he does not own the rights to the films he directed. Bluth had absolutely nothing to do with any of the sequels to [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail any of]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime his movies]]... except this one. This is the only sequel he directed. (If you're wondering, if it isn't "better" than most sequels spawned off Bluth films, then at least it is [[DerangedAnimation a lot weirder]].)
9	# And, funnily enough, it barely counts as a prequel to ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}''. It's really more of a {{Spinoff}} that has its own canon (Bluth himself put it "somewhere between a movie and a very expensive video"). The only things connecting ''Bartok the Magnificent'' to the previous film are the Russian setting and Bartok himself.
10
11	The plot follows Bartok as a traveling entertainer and conman traveling Russia with a bear named Zozi, pretending to be a great hero and adventurer. His facade as a hero backfires when Tsarviech Ivan Romanov disappears, kidnapped by the mysterious Literature/BabaYaga. Ludmilla, Ivan's advisor, hires Bartok to get him back, and the bat finds he can't say no. So the pair set off, and Bartok might become a hero yet.
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13	Has nothing to do with the composer Music/BelaBartok.
14
15	----
16	!!Examples:
17
18	* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: The Skull entrance to Baba Yaga's home is rendered in early [=CGI=] compared to the trfidioanlly animated cast, which creates a slightly eerie effect due to its jolting motion when speaking.
19	* AccidentalTickleTorture: During one of his attempts to get Piloff free from being frozen in place, Bartok simply tries pulling her off, only for her body to stretch without being released. As he's doing so, Piloff giggles and lampshades this trope.
20	* AdaptationalHeroism:
21	** Bartok was [[MinionWithAnFInEvil hardly a villain to begin with]] in his debut, but here he becomes a straight up hero, with some mild trickster elements.
22	** Baba Yaga in mythology can be helpful and even benevolent on occassion, but most tales have her as a sadistic witch who has [[BlueAndOrangeMorality strange morals]] at best and really ''does'' kidnap and eat children. Here she is portrayed in a much more sympathetic light and her reputation as a child kidnapper and eater is unfounded. She even (indirectly) helps Bartok save Ivan.
23	* AmbiguousTimePeriod: It is difficult to determine in what period the film takes place, since it seems to combine aspects of different periods, but it's still implied to be at least long before the events of ''Anastasia''.
24	* AntiHero: Bartok starts off as this. He's a traveling performer who brags about feats he's obviously never done, and uses Zozi (who acts like a feral bear out of control) as part of his act to trick people into thinking he's a hero, conning the townspeople out of a great deal of money, and Ivan of a ring. By the end, he ends up becoming a hero for real and actually does feats similar to what he bragged about in the opening.
25	* AnachronismStew: The setting is supposed to be pre-revolutionary Russia, but it mixes Imperial Russia (18th-19th centuries) with Russian folklore from the first millennium AD, features a fictional Romanov prince based on a fairy tale character from said folklore, a witch who sings jazz (which wasn't invented until either the late 19th or early 20th century).
26	* AnimalMotif: Ludmilla has two motifs.
27	** The first is the Dragon with her [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon form]], as well as having traits such as being destructive, overtly greedy, and wrathful being overall behind her facade.
28	** The second is noticeable, but more subtle. Rats. Her song initially is accompanied by rats, her lyrics include lying and sneaking about- which are common rat traits, the first stage of her BitByBitTransformation is a bulbous rat like tail, and she comes across as a rat hiding in place sight, with her transformation revealing her true nature, which Bartok then has to exterminate her as a oversized vermin at that point.
29	* AppliedPhlebotinum: The stuff Baba Yaga puts in the potion. Especially that mysterious glittery liquid she wrings out of Piloff.
30	* AscendedExtra: The main character was nothing more than a comic relief PunchClockVillain in ''Anastasia''.
31	* AxCrazy: It's not immediately obvious as Ludmilla comes across as merely a SmugSnake at first, but gradually through her VillainSong, it's revealed she's not only sadistic, but also aspires to be like Attila The Hun of all people when comparing the figure she wants her rule to aspire to.
32	* BadBadActing: Ludmilla upon "discovering" Ivan has gone missing, giving forced and over the top reactions to hide that she truly doesn't care for him.
33	* BadBoss: Ludmilla leaves Vol to drown with Bartok and Ivan when she discovers that he merely locked the latter up in a tower instead of killing him and that he [[EvenEvilHasStandards had no intention of killing Ivan]].
34	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Ludmilla wrings a rat during her VillainSong.
35	* BatDeduction: Puns aside, when Bartok sees the dragon rampaging outside the castle, he immediately and correctly deduces that its Ludmilla having been transformed by the potion.
36	* BearyFunny: Zozi, a hammy thespian actor whose humor comes from his over enthusiasm into his roles.
37	* BecomingTheMask: Bartok starts off as a performing traveller who brags about being a hero who has performed several grand feats such as slaying a dragon, over the course of the story and with the encouragement of Zozi, Bartok actually ends up becoming a hero and saves Moscow by slaying a Dragon.
38	* BigBad: Baba Yaga is set up to be the main villain, but that [[MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold turns out to be a charade]]--Ludmilla turns out to be the real villain, having Ivan kidnapped with the intention to kill him, and framing Baba Yaga for kidnapping him, all as part of her plan to usurp the throne.
39	* BitByBitTransformation: Ludmilla transforms into a dragon this way.
40	* BizarreBelching: In the climax, Ludmilla drinks a magical potion in the belief that it will make her even more beautiful - and immediately lets out a very loud, unladylike belch, coughing up a cloud of multicolored smoke in the process. Unfortunately, the potion actually brings out the drinker's true nature, and this initial belch is just the first symptom in Ludmilla's BitByBitTransformation into a dragon.
41	* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: True to Slavic folklore (or rather the mangled translation thereof), Baba Yaga's dingy old hut is seated right on top of two giant chicken legs.
42	* BlatantLies: When the Cossacks arrive to escort Bartok back to Ludmilla, he denies being himself even though his wagon has a sail with his name and face proudly displayed on it behind him. He notices and hastily paints over the A in his name with an E to pass himself off as someone else. The Cossacks don't buy it for a second.
43	* BondOneLiner: Just before the water tower collapses with Dragon Ludmilla on it, Bartok quips to her "Have a nice trip, see you next fall!"
44	* BoobBasedGag: When Ludmilla is transforming into a dragon, one of the parts of her BitByBitTransformation is a set of [[BreastExpansion ludicrously large breasts]]. They even get a comedic "bwoing" sound effect.
45	* BraggingThemeTune: The opening musical number, "[[https://youtu.be/UHpBCaj5exM Bartok the Magnificent]]".
46	* BrickJoke: After getting the potion from Baba Yaga, Bartok asks Baba for a hug for the heck of it, and she warns him not to push his luck and shoos him off. In the end, Baba shows up and grudgingly lets Bartok hug her, since he saved the day.
47	* ButtMonkey: Bartok, even more so than his debut movie. He's often abused by Baba Yaga whenever he talks back or wants a break.
48	* CallBack: Everything Bartok does during the climax is a reference to something he claimed to have done in his show at the beginning, from defeating a dragon to dousing a city in flames.
49	* TheCameo:
50	** Rasputin... Possibly. When Bartok returns from Baba Yaga with the potion and begins talking about its effects, an old man who bears a striking resemblance to Rasputin (albeit less evil-looking) comes over to him. Considering ''Bartok'' is a prequel to ''Anastasia'', perhaps this is how Rasputin and Bartok first met?
51	** [[CreatorCameo The villager]] crying for more water during the climax appears to sport Bluth's mustache.
52	* CaptainOblivious: Ludmilla somehow fails to notice she's turning into a dragon.
53	* CardCarryingVillain:
54	** Baba Yaga calls herself evil when she first meets Bartok, but it's revealed later that she was just doing that to roll along with her bad reputation and test Bartok's character.
55	** Ludmilla compares herself to UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun when singing about what kind of ruler she'll be.
56	* CartoonCreature: Piloff has a face that vaguely calls to mind a rodent, but she has the limp body of a ragdoll snake. Her species is completely indeterminate.
57	* ChekhovsGun: The potion Baba Yaga makes and gives to Bartok. It was supposed to help him rescue Ivan, but Ludmilla steals it and uses it for her own end. Ironically, the potions effects on her indirectly end up leading Bartok to saving the day.
58	* ChekhovsSkill:
59	** Baba Yaga's "magic intuition" is briefly mentioned in her song number "Someone's in my House", and seems like it was just there to justify her knowing Bartok was hiding in her house. After Bartok completes her challenges and shows her compassion, she uses the same intuition to reveal that not only did she ''not'' kidnap Prince Ivan, but that he ''never even left the castle''.
60	** A lot of Bartok's early showsmanship skills come back to him in important ways later. A good direct example being when he accidentally starts juggling hot coals and ends up distracting Oble the Metalworker, which he later intentionally uses to distract dragon Ludmilla.
61	* ChoresWithoutPowers: Baba Yaga casts a grounding spell on Bartok the bat just before sending him to fetch a magical feather hovering above the ground. He succeeds after building a tower made out of iron scraps.
62	* ClassicallyTrainedExtra: Zozi. Of course, he's [[Creator/KelseyGrammer voiced by]] [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Sideshow Bob]].
63	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Ludmilla seems to shop at the same store as [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] and [[{{WesternAnimation/Aladdin}} Jafar]], as much as her color scheme (not to mention the SpikesOfVillainy) just screams villain.
64	* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Given that the film is either a prequel or spinoff, Ludmilla contrasts Rasputin beyond just gender with their [[ObviouslyEvil obviously evil]] [[EvilChancellor chancellor ]] roles and how they interact with Bartok.
65	** Rasputin is associated with dark clothes such as browns, greens, and grays. He was cast out from his position of confidant early on by Nicholas, who realized his treacherous and evil nature early on, causing Rasputin to make a DealWithTheDevil to enact a curse to wipe out the lineage, including several attempts on the sole survivor, Anastasia. He's a lich slowly rotting away with demonic powers aiding him and alternates between depressed and maniacally malicious. Bartok was his emotional support until he's become too consumed by {{Revenge}} for Bartok to try to redeem him.
66	** Ludmilla is associated with gold, pinks, and blacks, and is a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity somewhat favored regent in spite of her visible villainous traits]]. The Prince is annoyed with her, but trusts her until her true colors are revealed and she decides to take the throne for herself once he proves too unruly to be a mere PuppetKing. She's a normal person with high political power until taking Baba Yaga's potion to become a dragon, a physical threat due to her fire breathing and strength, with her [[FauxAffablyEvil refined facade hiding her sadistic, ill-tempered, and ambitious nature]]. She uses Bartok as an UnwittingPawn to be [[SnipeHunt sent on mission to rescue Ivan from Baba Yaga to both eliminate the annoyance and to divert attention away from her own misdeeds]].
67	* CoolOldLady: Baba Yaga turns out to be this. She gets a jazzy number to herself, and even helps Bartok save the day.
68	* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover art proudly proclaims "The lovable hero from ''Anastasia'' is back!" Bartok was the sidekick to that movie's villain and while he was [[MinionWithAnFInEvil hardly what you'd call "evil"]], he didn't really do anything heroic either, unless you count him abandoning Rasputin in the end.
69	* DarkIsEvil: Ludmilla dresses in black, is drawn in an [[EvilIsAngular angular]], bony physique as cold as her vain personality.
70	* DarkIsNotEvil: Baba Yaga is a witch, [[{{Gonk}} mildly gruesome looking]] and lives in a dingy old house on chicken legs within a far, totally out of the way area, but it turns out she's not evil, just an antisocial person with a bad reputation.
71	** The Skull guarding Baba Yaga's house. Despite being legitemately frightening and creepy he's not actually evil and he's kinda helpful.
72	* DavidVersusGoliath: Bartok, an albino bat barely a couple inches tall, fighting the downright titanic Dragon Ludmilla in the climax.
73	* DeadpanSnarker:
74	** Some of Ludmilla's prisoners ''sing'' snark in her direction during her VillainSong.
75	-->"More than just the peasants are [[DoubleEntendre revolting!]]"\
76	"Hide, run away or go on a vacation!"\
77	(''while about to be killed and presumably thinking of the idea of [[AxeCrazy Ludmilla]] being queen'') "Gee, [[LesserOfTwoEvils the future]] looks great!"
78	** Bartok himself, who is constantly making nervous but snarky asides.
79	--> (after Baba Yaga gives him the FetchQuest)\
80	'''Bartok:''' Quick question - totally hypothetical of course - what if I can't?\
81	'''Baba Yaga:''' You can or you can't, but if you can't you will die and Moscow will never see its prince again.\
82	'''Bartok:''' Sounds like a real win-win.
83	** Baba Yaga has some moments, especially towards Bartok.
84	-->'''Baba Yaga''': [[BlatantLies Oh, I am so sorry. How insensitive of me.]] Are you still tired ?
85	-->'''Bartok''': Honestly? Yes. Yes, I am.
86	-->'''Baba Yaga''': (''she summons a small cloud with lightning that strikes Bartok, who screams in pain''): Are you awake now ?
87	* DerangedAnimation: Ironically, in spite of the creator being infamous for including this element in his direct works, it's rather low-key on this aspect within the narrative itself outside of [[CartoonCreature Pilof]], [[TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects the Skull entrance]], and one infamous moment near the end.
88	** The aforementioned Ludmilla's BitByBitTransformation which transforms her into a dragon, but does so by exaggerating her usual thin proportions into grotesquely obese with eventually only her face looking like a mask being plastered on a dragon body until it too vanishes.
89	* DisneyVillainDeath: Dragon Ludmilla is lured to the top of the castle by Bartok, and the watertower can't support her weight and comes falling down, crushing her to death under it.
90	* DomesticOnlyCartoon: A rare example of a direct-to-video sequel being produced in-house at the studio that created the original. Supposedly, the project was meant to keep the staff preoccupied before they had to start on ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE''.
91	* TheDreaded: As the opening song tells, Baba Yaga has this reputation among Russian folk, but that turns out to be out of gossip more than anything else.
92	* EatsBabies: Baba Yaga has a reputation for kidnapping and eating children, but that turns out to be false.
93	* EatTheCamera: Ludmilla as she drinks Baba Yaga's potion.
94	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Vol merely locks Prince Ivan in a tower instead of killing him, and he makes it clear he has no intention of killing the prince. This prompts Ludmilla to leave him to drown.
95	* EverythingDances: Baba Yaga's introduction song, [[https://youtu.be/P6tsGEdJSQE Someone... is in... my house.]]
96	* EvilAllAlong: Ludmilla is revealed to be this to Bartok and co., as she is a treacherous and ambitious advisor, [[ObviouslyEvil not that it wasn't hard for the audience to piece it together anyway]].
97	* EvilChancellor: Ludmilla is this to Ivan [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter with the latter assuming she's merely just being rigid and bossy with his best intentions rather than being genuinely evil with ambitions to either turn him into a puppet king to impose her rule through or have him assassinated to rule herself]].
98	* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: The first thing we learn about Ludmilla is she hates casual entertainment for the people, and wants to have Bartok shut down. It's implied through her song that the entertainment she truly enjoys is [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming the intense suffering of others]].
99	* EvilIsHammy: Ludmilla. She even drinks dramatically. She even hams up sitting down on a throne. Her VillainSong takes this trait up to eleven, with her forced subdued nature being cast aside to embrace her inner villainy. Ironically, she loses this trait as a dragon, becoming apparently bestial in thought.
100	* EvilIsPetty: Besides the convenient smokescreen of sending a local hero on a quest to save Prince Ivan, it's implied Ludmilla sent Bartok off on his quest out of spite against him due to not liking his style of entertainment.
101	* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: Ludmilla expects Baba Yaga's potion, which makes people ten times on the outside what they are on the inside, to make her [[ObliviouslyEvil ten times more beautiful]]. What she actually turned into was dramatically different- [[KarmicTransformation that being a dragon that reflects her destructive, rotten, and wrathful nature]].
102	* EvilWitch: Subverted with Baba Yaga. She has all the hallmarks of one at first and does have a mean streak, but she was framed for kidnapping Prince Ivan--she's not evil, just a loner.
103	** Ironically, Ludmilla has the narcissistic personality and typical elegant enchantress appearance of one in spite of being a normal human and her stock draconic OneWingedAngel is a product of an outside source, unknowingly becoming a dragon that she soon is enraged by not turning her into the even more beautiful version of herself she envisioned.
104	* ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow: Ludmilla wears this to make herself appear more beautiful, but it highlights her evil nature even more.
105	* {{Expy}}: Oblie is a hairless [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Tasmanian Devil]], complete with similar facial structure and babbling talk.
106	* FanDisservice:
107	** For most, Ludmilla's transformation into a dragon is intentionally made to be bizarre, if not downright grotesque, to watch with her thin features becoming exaggeratedly obese.
108	** During the climax, Zozi crossdresses as a peasant woman disguise, and it is not a pretty sight.
109	* FakeUltimateHero: Bartok when the story starts. Ludmilla exploits this by sending Bartok on a quest to save Ivan from Baga Yaga, solely because she believes it would mean a nuisance would be out of her way and would smokescreen her secret kidnapping of Ivan.
110	* FauxAffablyEvil: Ludmilla fashions herself as polite and graceful, but barely hides the fact that she's an extremely unpleasant person with implied [[{{Sadist}} sadistic]] traits, a [[HairTriggerTemper short temper]], and [[AxCrazy psychotic ambitions]]. Her VillainSong is entirely about tossing aside her elegant facade to embrace her inner bombastic villainy and bestial sadism while unknowingly becoming a monstrous dragon to reflect the change in a more visual manner.
111	* FetchQuest: The middle act is Bartok being sent by Baba Yaga to go fetch three objects around the area, which she uses as part of a potion that she gives to Bartok.
112	** Ludmilla's demand to rescue Ivan is a [[SnipeHunt a subversive smokescreen]] to draw attention away from her own kidnapping and assumed assassination of the prince, being enraged when the latter was committed.
113	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: After Ludmilla drinks the potion, she throws the bottle on the floor; a rat then drinks some of the potion's remains, causing it to transform into a rat-dragon hybrid. It foreshadows that Ludmilla will become one on a much larger scale with her consumption.
114	* FlyingBroomstick: Baba Yaga makes her first appearance riding on one, but her classic flying mortar and pestle also make an appearance in the end.
115	* ForTheEvulz:
116	** This is about the extent of Ludmilla's characterization; she's sadistic, vain and wants to usurp the throne from Ivan by kidnapping and assassinating him in order to rule in a tyrannical manner similar to Attila the Hun.
117	** The visuals and some of the lyrics to Baba Yaga's song "Someone's in My House" imply that she knew all along that Bartok was there and decided to toy with him a little before capturing him. Subverted in her case as she's not actually evil.
118	* FrameUp: Ludmilla has Vol kidnap Ivan while disguised as Baba Yaga, and leaving behind a piece of bark from the Iron Forest, so that she could conveniently frame the witch for Ivan's kidnapping and subsequent assassination.
119	* GagNose: Baba Yaga has the largest nose of all characters.
120	* GenreShift: ''Anastasia'' was a historical fantasy with some romantic elements (albeit its ties to history are very, very loose) while this is a straight-up magical fantasy with comedic elements.
121	* GoodAllAlong: Baba Yaga is revealed to just be a witch with a bad reputation, and not actually evil.
122	* GoodShapeshiftingEvilShapeshifting: Bartok is given a potion that can essentially reveal the drinker's true self, and it's indicated that it will make Bartok into the hero he should be. Unfortunately, Ludmilla drinks it, convinced that it will make her the gloriously beautiful queen she believes she should be... and instead, it transforms her into a comically obese dragon with purple scales, a reflection of her greedy, destructive, power-hungry true nature.
123	* GoOutWithASmile: During "The Real Ludmilla", three men sentenced to death just lie back and accept it, happy that they won't have to live under Ludmilla's rule.\
124	[[Film/{{Waterworld}} "Oh thank god..."]]
125	* GratuitousAnimalSidekick: Played with. Bartok, who was a sidekick himself In Anastasia, becomes the hero and gets his own sidekick, Zozi, a talking bear who is fascinated with acting. Ironically, Bartok is barely an couple inches high, while Zozi is very large.
126	* HartmanHips: Taken to ridiculous proportions when Ludmilla transforms into a dragon; the result with the "gag boobs" above is very similar to one of those ancient fertility goddess figurines. Though even when Ludmilla is skinny, her hips are quite a bit wider than the rest of her.
127	* HeelRealization: Not a full example, but Ludmilla is clearly very surprised that "the real Ludmilla" is a hideous fire-breathing dragon as opposed to a beautiful queen or something else beautiful that she narcissistically envisioned herself to be.
128	* HiddenHeartOfGold: When he meets her, Baba Yaga calls herself evil and threatens to kill Bartok if he doesn't get what she needs or relies on Zozi for help. Of course, her behavior turns out to be a SecretTestOfCharacter so she could see if Bartok was capable of saving Ivan from Ludmilla, and, while still grumpy and antisocial, she turns out to be a much nicer person than she lets on.
129	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Dragon Ludmilla is crushed to death under the same water tower she intended to drown Bartok and Ivan in.
130	* IAmBecomingSong: "[[https://youtu.be/OMu6G5asFm0 The Real Ludmilla]]", although Ludmilla isn't aware of her transformation until after the song ends and sees her reflection.
131	* IdenticalGrandson: Ivan looks like a male version of Anastasia, so he must be one of her predecessors since this takes place before Bartok even met Rasputin.
132	* ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Ludmilla temporarily during her BitByBitTransformation. At one point her breasts erupt to dragon-sized proportions, and seconds later her butt and thighs follow suit.
133	* {{Jerkass}}: Baba Yaga. While it's revealed she's not actually evil she's also very mean and harsh and seems like she takes very sadistic pleasure in bullying Bartok.
134	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Bartok is a shameless thief and rather whiny and sarcastic, but he's good natured at heart.
135	* JumpScare: The Skull scares Bartok and Zozi by suddenly roaring and causing them to fall in a pond.
136	-->'''The Skull''' (''chuckling''): I'm terribly sorry. Did I startle you?
137	* KarmicTransformation: Ludmilla's transformation into a fat, purple dragon, which reflects her destructive, cruel and wrathful nature.
138	* KickTheDog: After Bartok finds out about Ludmilla's scheme and kidnapping of Ivan, she locks him up in a cage, steals his potion, smashes the tower floor so he, Ivan and Vol can drown, and she rubs the situation right in their faces before closing the door.
139	** She also strangles a rat, slaps a prisoner to the point his head snaps backwards, and it's implied [[{{Sadist}} she's been torturing innocent men behind Ivan's back on flimsy charges for years]].
140	* LargeHam: Baba Yaga during "Someone's in my House" sequence.
141	* LeanAndMean: Ludmilla, except for the hips, but this gets subverted in her BitByBitTransformation in which her proportions becomes exaggeratedly obese until she ends up as a plump, pink dragon.
142	* {{Leitmotif}}: An instrumental of "Bartok the Magnificent" plays pretty much every time Bartok does something heroic, or gets a heroic idea.
143	* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: Bartok is a TalkingAnimal, his [[GrotesqueGallery grotesque]] bear companion is ''almost'' [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic]], there are a couple of monsters and [[CartoonCreature oddities of indeterminate species]], and everyone else is human.
144	* LighterAndSofter: The film is considerably less dark than ''Anastasia'' in both tone and aesthetic, the leads are cartoon animals and explicitly fictional characters, and the comedy and fantasy elements are played up a lot more.
145	* LongLived: Bartok, apparently, going by the fact that this would take place ''long'' before the first film.
146	* MeaningfulName: Piloff is frozen to the top of a boulder, and it's Bartok's job to "peel" her "off".
147	* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody:
148	** Sort of happens to Ludmilla at the end. Baba Yaga's potion makes anyone who drinks it "ten times the person" they are inside. Ludmilla drinks it thinking it will turn her into what she thinks she is: beautiful, sweet and graceful as a flower, but since inside she's rotten and villainous she instead turns into a monstrous dragon. Her manner of speaking noticeably becomes much less sweet and controlled -- and more manic and aggressive - over the course of her VillainSong, but she doesn't even realize anything's changing until she gets a look at herself in the mirror. Up until that point she was still talking about how she's going to be the golden ruler to the people of Russia - by the time Bartok gets to the city she's a mindless, rampaging beast setting everything on fire, and she doesn't talk at all or act like anything but a feral monster for the rest of her appearances. Since she's the villain anyway it's less noticeable - and it's more of a "''mind is a plaything of the body which is a plaything of the inner self''" type deal - but it's definitely an example.
149	** If you interpret the events to mean that Baba Yaga knew Ludmilla would steal the potion and therefore she made it a "turn into dragon" poison from the outset, then it's a completely straight version of the trope.
150	* MinionWithAnFInEvil: Vol. When Ludmilla told him to "get [Ivan] out of the way" he didn't realize she meant "kill him" and instead locked him in the tower.
151	-->'''Ludmilla:''' Why didn't you do what I said?\
152	'''Vol:''' I did! I dressed up like the witch, left that tooth and took the prince.\
153	'''Ludmilla:''' And what about him?\
154	'''Vol:''' Well, you told me you wanted him out of the way.\
155	'''Ludmilla:''' Well, what's he doing here?!\
156	'''Vol:''' Well, I put him in that cage in the tippy-top of the tower! How much more out of the way could he be?\
157	'''Ludmilla:''' ''DEAD'', you imbecile! Dead is what he could be! '''''DEAD!''''''\
158	'''Vol:''' ''Dead? But he's the prince.''
159	* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: Baba Yaga turns out to be this. The film sets her up to be a villain, but she's really just a solitary witch with a bad reputation. At worst, she's just a jerk to Bartok.
160	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Again, sort of. Ludmilla's last words are a shocked "oh, my goodness" and gasp when she realizes that Baba Yaga's potion is turning her into a monster, but by then it's far too late.
161	* MythologyGag: In the ''Anastasia'' trailer, there's a throwaway line about Bartok doing karate. Here, Bartok shows he actually can do a karate chop.
162	* NoodlePeople: Ludmilla, sort of. Everything above her shoulders is normal and the rest of her body is noodly, which looks... Odd.
163	* NonActionGuy: Zozi the Bear, Bartok's business partner and sidekick contributes almost nothing to the plot, and otherwise just serves as comic relief--he's even specifically forbidden from helping Bartok by Baya Yaga's orders. The only plot relevant scenes he has are contributing to Bartok's fake hero charades in the opening, and later freeing Bartok and then rescuing Ivan from the watertower while Bartok deals with Dragon Ludmilla.
164	* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Ludmilla attempts to usurp the throne after calling Ivan out on not taking his royal duties seriously. While she is right about Ivan, she really wants to take over the kingdom for her own benefit to rule as a tyrant.
165	* ObviouslyEvil: Ludmilla dresses in wasp like colors, is drawn very lean and angular, and has a cold, condescending personality. Even before TheReveal, it's clear that she's a villain. Her OneWingedAngel into a dragon makes it even more obvious, casting away what little subtleties she had to engage in bestial villainy.
166	* OhCrap: Ludmilla has this reaction when Bartok tells her Ivan is in the tower. Up until then she thought he was dead. She also has this reaction when she realizes she's turned into a dragon.
167	** Then of course her death, when she realizes that Bartok tricked her into causing her and the water tower to fall to her death.
168	* OhGodWithTheVerbing: As in the original film, Bartok is prone to this. ''A lot.''
169	* OneWingedAngel: Played with. During Ludmilla's VillainSong, she downs a potion Baba Yaga gave to Bartok (it was supposed to turn him into a heroic creature capable of saving the day) and turns into "the real Ludmilla" [[KarmicTransformation a giant purple dragon]]. However, she had no idea this was going to happen, wasn't even aware it was taking place, and apparently had no control over herself once it finished - so stopping her ends up less like fighting the BigBad as a monster and more getting rid of a dangerous animal remnants of a foolish SmugSnake's ill-thought out decision.
170	* PepTalkSong: "[[https://youtu.be/bJubfBPOo1g A Possible Hero]]", where Zozi encourages Bartok when he doubts finishing the mission.
171	* {{Prequel}}: The film is supposed to be a prequel to ''Anastasia'', though Don Bluth himself has admitted it could easily be seen as its own story. Both are a HistoricalFantasy based on Russian history, but ''Anastasia'' is clearly set in the 20th century and depicts the end of the Russian monarchy, while ''Bartok'' appears to be set in the Middle Ages.
172	* PublicDomainCharacter: Baba Yaga, the famous witch of Slavic folklore.
173	* ReusedCharacterDesign:
174	** Piloff bears a passing resemblance to a character from an unfinished project of Bluth's called ''Jawbreaker''.
175	** As does Dragon!Ludmilla to the dragon from ''VideoGame/DragonsLair''.
176	* RedHerring: Ludmilla has her lackey kidnap Ivan while disguised as Baba Yaga and locked up in the tower (with the intent to kill him), framing Baba for the kidnapping and planning to claim the throne from Ivan in his absence. She sends Bartok out to find Yaga and retrieve Ivan just to get him out of her way, honestly believing he wouldn't come back.
177	* ScaledUp: Ludmilla transforms into a dragoness as a result of Baba Yaga's potion and rampages through Moscow.
178	* SecretTestOfCharacter: Baba Yaga puts Bartok through four challenges, which seem like what he has to do to get Prince Ivan back from her, but are revealed to be a test of his good nature, necessary to make a potion that will allow him to save Ivan from his real kidnapper, and teaching him skills he will need to beat Dragon Ludmilla.
179	-->'''Bartok:''' Wait a minute. You mean, the whole time I was doing all that stuff for me?\
180	'''Baba Yaga:''' Mm-hmm. Now, leave me and save the prince.
181	* ShapeshiftingSound: The climax features Ludmilla taking a potion that she believes will reveal her inner beauty... only for it to bring her monstrous true nature to the surface by transforming Ludmilla into a dragon in a grotesque BitByBitTransformation, her [[LeanAndMean slender build]] suddenly [[BreastExpansion expanding into huge breasts]] and a massive belly with a comical "BWOING" sound effect.
182	* ShoutOut:
183	** A couple to ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': The scene of Bartok attempting to get Piloff off of the boulder is clearly borrowing a few ideas from WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner cartoons, right down to the backgrounds resembling Maurice Nobel's paintings. The ogre they later encounter is a spoof of the Tasmanian Devil.
184	** A musical shout-out doubling as a GeniusBonus: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMu6G5asFm0 The Real Ludmilla]]" lifts its tune from Alexander Borodin's "[[https://youtu.be/QWU1uj9WmOM?t=230 Polovtsian Dances]]".
185	** During the final battle, Bartok cat-calls Ludmilla by going "[[Creator/JerryLewis Hey dragon LAY-dee!]]"
186	* SmugSnake: Ludmilla has the overtly FauxAffablyEvil aspect of one including being assured that her plans are infallible only to throw a fit when they don't work out. Her inadvertent OneWingedAngel into a dragon is another of her ill-thought out decisions, assuming that it make her even more beautiful than she already is, rather than becoming something that reflects on her true rotten nature.
187	* SpinOff: Ostensibly a prequel, but its setting and tone has few ties to ''Anastasia'', that it really feels more like this.
188	* SpikesOfVillainy: Ludmilla has several superfluous spikes over her wardrobe, just in case you didn't realize she was the villain.
189	* StockSoundEffect: For some reason, Baba Yaga's flying uses the same sound effect as [[WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle Rocky the Squirrel's flying]].
190	* SuperSerum: Baba Yaga's potion, which turns whoever uses it into their inner self, can be either depending on who drinks it. If taken by a repressed hero like Bartok, it would have supposedly made him into a heroic superbat. However, when taken by Ludmilla - a repressed murderous sadist - it instead turns her into a violent fire-breathing dragon. This noticeably surprises her, but not Bartok or the audience.
191	* SwissArmyTears: The final ingredient Baba Yaga wanted for her potion is Bartok's tears, shed because of "compassion". Awww...
192	* TakeThat: On the side of his wagon, Bartok has him standing victorious on top of a familiar-looking [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 warthog]].
193	* TookALevelInBadass: Bartok by the end. He succeeds in distracting and taking down a dragon on his own, and without even laying a finger on her.
194	* ToiletHumor: A mild example, but after wolfing down Baba Yaga's potion, Ludmilla makes a very loud, vulgar burp, complete with expelling a technicolor odor to go with it.
195	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailer spoils Ludmilla's transformation into a dragon.
196	* TransformationExhilaration: In the climax Ludmilla drinks a potion that she believes will make her more beautiful than ever. Unknown to her, it's actually meant to bring out her true self, and it results in her undergoing a BitByBitTransformation into a dragon; however, Ludmilla clearly finds the process enjoyable, exalting at every stage of the transformation over the course of her show-stopping VillainSong. Indeed, she's ''so'' carried away with excitement that she doesn't even notice what she's becoming until after the transformation is complete.
197	* UncannyValley:
198	** To emphasize its otherworldly nature, the Skull is rendered in early [=CGI=] and looks unnatural compared to the traditionally animated cast.
199	** Ludmilla seems pretty at a first glance, but her proportions are too thin to be natural with her face being slightly exaggerated with her nose being slightly serpentine with an enlarged mouth that is forced to be smaller than it actually is. Her transformation prior to the completed [[{{Narm}} clownish and cartoonish dragon form]] invokes this with her elegant features juxtaposed with the gradually obese reptilian form, initially with her tail, then cartoonishly large hands, wide reptilian bosom/hips to her beautiful head, then her face plastered like a mask over the dragon's head. Leading to several surreal moments.
200	* TheUnintelligible: Oble, with the exception of a few key words, like "crown"... or "buggler".
201	* VainSorceress: Ludmilla, downplayed as she doesn't have inherent magical powers on her own and her OneWingedAngel comes from outside sources (Baba Yaga's potion) and she's oblivious to the transformation until she's seen the completed transformation in a reflection, which she reacts negatively to. Aside from this, she's so vain that she pictures herself to be already a beauty with the potion likely making her beauty up to eleven, so self-absorbed that she doesn't notice the transformation until she sees a reflection and throws a narcissistic fit of rage on Moscow when it turns out it turned her into an ugly dragon to reflect her rotten heart.
202	* VillainousBreakdown: When Ivan turns out to be alive, her overall overtly polite facade briefly breaks as she briefly engages in SuddenlyShouting before recomposing herself. Her VillainSong is her gradually entering a permanent one in which she changes from her faux polite self into her true bestially violent self as a near-mindless dragon.
203	* TheVillainSucksSong: The opening number, "[[https://youtu.be/Ne3Z3dEP8i4 Baba Yaga]]", which of course turns out to be a fakeout.
204	* VillainSong:
205	** "[[https://youtu.be/OMu6G5asFm0 The Real Ludmilla]]". A jaunty and happy song in a [[SoundtrackDissonance torture chamber where Ludmilla sings how she will subjugate Russia]]. The song revels in BlackComedy and has some especially surreal visuals as Ludmilla turns into a dragon.
206	** "[[https://youtu.be/P6tsGEdJSQE Someone's in My House]]" would seem like one on first viewing, until it's revealed that Baba Yaga isn't a villain.
207	* WaterTowerDown: How Ludmilla meets her end, being crushed by the falling water tower.
208	* WhamLine: When Baba Yaga reveals that she never kidnapped Ivan, and that he never even left his castle.
209	-->'''Bartok:''' (''seeing the tower of Ivan's castle'') Whoa, whoa. The tower...Uh, you never took him, did ya?\
210	'''Baba Yaga:''' I never said I did.
211	* WickedCultured: Ludmilla, she's aware of Attila the Hun and in fact inspires her rule to resemble his.
212	* WidelySpacedJailBars: The cage Bartok is locked in is clearly given wide enough bars for him to slip through, yet he never does. It also appears [[spoiler:Ivan]] could squeeze through his cage, though to be fair in his case it be harder and he would have to be good at contortions.
213	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: The whole point of "A Possible Hero" is Zozi telling Bartok he really can be a hero.

Context WesternAnimation / BartokTheMagnificent