As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
The animated film
- Dimitri saving Anastasia and the Dowager at the beginning of the movie. He was a young boy, who would have every incentive to let the Romanovs fall while the insurgents invade the palace. What does he do instead? Open a door to the servants' quarters when Anastasia returns to her bedroom to get her music box, with Marie in tow, and order them to go through while he fends off the revolutionaries. While there isn't much an unarmed kitchen servant with a vase can do, he does buy them time and convince the insurgents to look in another room. As Marie says later, when realizing that Dimitri as an adult was the same boy, he saved both of their lives and has her gratitude.
- Marie's gift to Anastasia ends up saving both their lives. She gave her favorite granddaughter a music box, specially commissioned with their lullaby and figurines of Nicholas and Alexandra, so that no matter how apart they are, they would always be together. During the siege, Marie tells Anastasia not to go back for the music box...but that little action allows Dimitri to find them and send the two royals through the servants' quarters, missing the insurgents by a matter of seconds. Ten years later, Dimitri uses the same box to convince Marie that Anya is not an impostor, let alone willingly part of his con, and Marie's face lights up when Anya remembers how to wind it and sing the melody. Talk about The Power of Love.
- One thing about Marie: she is pure Silk Hiding Steel. During the siege on the palace, her main priority is for her granddaughter's safety, and despite hearing her family getting shot — you can see the shock on her face when gunshots ring through the air— she keeps a clear head while ordering Anastasia to go through the servant's quarters first and keep moving. As they walk across a frozen river, you can see her taking careful steps to make sure the ice doesn't crack beneath their feet. Then she grapples with Rasputin when the latter grabs Anastasia, pulling with all her might and ensuring that neither of the royals drowns when the ice cracks under the man's body. Being raised in the lap of luxury doesn't rob a person of all their survival skills.
- The escape from the train. Namely, the bit where Anya and Dimitri realize that they have to work together if they want to get off safely. When Dimitri enters the cab and sees no sign of the locomotive's engineer and fireman and they're too high to jump off, he says they need to uncouple the baggage car from the locomotive and its tender. Cue Rasputin's minions fusing the cars' hook and chain couplings, as Dimitri tries using Vlad's metal pick to hammer them apart. Anya finds a crate full of dynamite thanks to Pooka's help, lights a stick, and hands it to Dimitri. He says, impressed and scared, "That'll work" and moves to get everyone to a safe distance from the blast and ensuing shockwave.
- After much effort to return Anya to Marie purely so he can con her out of the reward money, Dmitri abandons this crusade when he realizes she's the real deal and instead turns down the money when Marie offers him the reward. Having fallen in love with Anya, it truly was a remarkable change of heart, and Marie confides to an embittered Anya of Dmitri's noble gesture.
- Depending on your mileage, Dmitri's Crowning Moment comes either when he disproves Rasputin's "No one can save you now!" by punching him in the face, or earlier in the film when he steals Dowager Empress Marie's limo, kidnaps her, and argues her into going to see Anya mostly by pure stubbornness, all in the name of making his beloved happy.
- Anya and Dimitri vs. Rasputin.
- Dimitri coming to Anya's rescue.
Rasputin: Say your prayers, Anastasia! NO ONE CAN SAVE YOU!
Dimitri: WANNA BET?! (punches Rasputin in the face)- The scene right before the above one, when Anya lunges at Rasputin, attempting to take his reliquary. When she approaches him, the look in her eyes tells the viewer that she is seriously pissed and could easily beat the living shit out of him.
- And Anya's lines when she's destroying Rasputin's reliquary:Anya: This is for Dimitri! (stomps the reliquary)
Rasputin: Give it back!
Anya: This is for my family! (stomps again)
Rasputin: I’ll tear you to pieces!!
Anya: And this? This is for YOU!
Rasputin: No!
Anya: Do svidaniya! (stomps one last time, destroying it- and Rasputin- entirely)- Let's pause and linger a bit on this. While Anya has been somewhat a Damsel in Distress prior to this due to being at the mercy of Rasputin's magic, here she is ABSOLUTELY in charge and has no fucks left to give, which only fits her overall Deadpan Snarker, take-charge nature throughout the rest of the movie. Then to further underscore the moment, she's Kicking Ass in All Her Finery (albeit rather tattered and damaged), and the iconic shot of the moment is a high-heeled shoe coming down on the reliquary. It's as if the whole moment is written to emphasize as much as possible how much Anastasia is a princess but also one who badassedly saves herself. Keep in mind this is years before modern animated heroines like Elsa/Anna, Princess Fiona, Moana, or (to a lesser degree) Rapunzel, and more in keeping with the earlier 90's heroines like Esmeralda and Pocahontas. In some ways ahead of its time, and something which arguably earns Anastasia a place among badass animated heroines.
- A sort of understated one for Bartok, but his refusal to participate in the final battle could be seen as one of these. He knows that the odds are in neither his nor his master's favor and his tone in which he says the following line is about as close to "defying" Rasputin as the little guy is gonna get.Bartok: You're on your own, sir! This can only end in tears!
- Kelsey Grammer pulling off an entirely convincing performance as Vladimir, and he is COMPLETELY unrecognizable.
- The same goes for Christopher Lloyd as Rasputin. He plays a brilliant villain, and you'll hardly tell it's him most of the time (except when he's shouting; that's when you can hear his hammier characters like Doc Brown and Kruge).
- Anya's magical costume change from her orphan's dress to her iconic yellow ballgown just before the bridge of "Once Upon A December" is this for the animators. Even though it's in the film for less than a minute, it's easily one of the most recognizable costumes in the film.
The musical
- Dmitry gets into a fight with some of his "friends". Anya joins in, and chases one of them off the stage.Anya: I didn't walk half-way across Russia without learning how to take care of myself.
- Anya's entire unflinching "Break Them by Talking" lecture to Gleb. Regardless of whether she was suicidal (wanting to join her family in death) or bluffing with her life, it takes an impressive amount of courage to deliver that speech with a gun pointed at her face (which would probably have triggered her - literally - without the Character Development and the recovery of her memories).Gleb: (almost in tears) For the last time, who are you?!
Anya: I am the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova!
