JUKEBOX: “Journey to the Past” from Anastasia

Anya and the dog she meets on her "Journey to the Past"

Hi everybody! It’s Kimberly here for my thirty-third post for the genre “Children’s Music.”

I think we all have those movies that we fondly remember from our childhood. As we get older, we talk about those movies with our friends and ask, “Do you remember (Insert your favorite childhood film here)?” Anastasia is NOT one of those movies for me. My friends would talk about it and I wouldn’t know what they were talking about. Finally, I was able to watch it for the first time last week, so I thought I’d review the song that impressed me the most. Without further ado, I would like you to join me in this “Journey to the Past.”

A popular thing that moviemakers do for animated movies is getting one actress to do the character’s speaking voice and another person to do the character’s singing voice. Meg Ryan provides the speaking voice for Anastasia. Some of you may know Meg Ryan for her roles as Annie Reed in Sleepless in Seattle and as Sally in When Harry Met Sally. Liz Callaway provides the singing voice for Anastasia. Her most notable in the singing voice roles were in the movies as Princess Jasmine in the Aladdin sequels and Kiara in The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride.

If you’re like me and haven’t watched Anastasia yet, you might not want to read the rest of the review.

*MINOR SPOILERS*

I’m just going to give a summary of the very beginning of the movie. Anastasia is part of a royal family in Russia called the Romanovs. Royalty has its costs so as luck would have it a man named Rasputin vows to kill all the Romanovs. As Anastasia and her grandmother were trying to escape via train, Anastasia falls off the train. Fast forward to when Anastasia is an adult, it turns out that she has amnesia and that she ended up in an orphanage. The only clue that Anastasia, or Anya as she is now called, has to her past is a necklace that her grandmother gave her which says, “Together in Paris.” Naturally, to find out more about her past Anya decides to go to Paris. When Anya first makes her decision to go to Paris, she sings the song “Journey to the Past.” “Journey to the Past” reminds me a little bit of “First Time in Forever” because both feature two red heads ladies, Anya and Anna, singing about something that they finally get to do. For Anya, it’s finding more about the family she once had and for Anna it’s getting to greet people at the palace that has been closed to the rest of the world for most of her life. What I like about “Journey to the Past” is its very catchy melody, which sounds just like snowflakes falling (fitting because it’s snowing when Anya sings the song.) I also like that the lyrics change throughout the song and connect to the line “Journey to the Past” because it prevents the song from becoming repetitive and also helps move the story along. Unfortunately, because the lyrics are always changing it isn’t a song that kids will remember easily. I like the beginning melody in the verses, but the melody overall isn’t strong enough for kids to remember “Journey to the Past” in its entirety. It isn’t like “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” which has lyrical changes, but the lyrics and melody are consistent and memorable enough to remain a favorite for many children. I’m giving “Journey to the Past” 4 stars because it’s a great song as far as moving the story along and having a playful melody but the lyrics don’t make it a perfect song in terms of the genre “Children’s Music.”

Thank you for support and please come back to JUKEBOX soon! Until then, I hope you all can enjoy a pleasant “Journey to the Past.” J

Below is the scene that features “Journey to the Past.”