Duckyworth's Thoughts: Bartok the Magnificent~1999

Hello my friends, and welcome to my next Duckyworth’s Thoughts review!

As you may have heard from me, soon, I’ll soon be moving from the Don Bluth films that I enjoy to the ones I…. don’t enjoy. But first, I’d like to review which will most likely be the LAST good Don Bluth film that I’ll review… Well, by GOOD, I mean on the upper part of the okay category – one of those films that can be a bit ‘meh’, but I am still happy I saw it – much like Rio 2. The film is the ONLY one of the sequels to Don Bluth’s works that was directed by Don Bluth himself, interestingly enough…. Actually, it’s not a sequel, more a prequel, technically speaking – the prequel to the 1997 film Anastasia, the direct to video film that shows what Bartok did before he started working for Rasputin…. So roll up, everyone, and get in line to see… BARTOK THE MAGNIFICENT!

For those of you who have read my review of Anastasia that I reviewed a short while ago, you may remember that I commented a little bit on what I think about sequels where the comic relief becomes the main character. ‘I feel that unlike Timon and Pumbaa and Mater, three comic reliefs that are… less than tolerable… Bartok, like Tigger, actually has potential to carry a film on his own. One, he’s actually a CHARACTER and not a mere JOKE, two, he isn’t in the focus so much he outstays his welcome, and three, he actually possesses some depth to his character.’ In Lion King 1 ½, Timon and Pumbaa didn’t really lend themselves to their own story, you know, because their characters aren’t as enjoyable as comic reliefs should be, so their film pretty much just had them be shoehorned into every single scene from the first film and completely disrespects the original film in the process. If you want to make a sequel where the comic relief from the first film is the main character, you need to actually give them an actual REASON to have their own film, and make it a film that is actually entertaining…. In that respect, Bartok has ALREADY got the upper hand on Timon and Pumbaa because I actually LIKE Bartok as a character, and his film is much more than just inserting Bartok into every single scene in the first movie… Interestingly, this film ISN’T a sequel, but rather a prequel to Anastasia – detailing Bartok’s adventures before he served Rasputin. Yes, it may be a direct to video prequel, but it WAS directed by Don Bluth himself – so I would say it has more promise than Secret of NIMH 2, All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 and the Land Before Time sequels combined. Okay – the film isn’t… SPECTACULAR, but it is still something that I’m happy I watched. So, how does this film go? Well, let’s find out.

The film begins a strange montage of the inside of the house of a Russian witch named Baba Yaga. Now, just to start off with – I really enjoy the fact that Don Bluth uses actual Russian folklore – and works in parts of it into this opening song, basically singing about how mean and terrible Baba Yaga supposedly is. It mentions that she flies travels in a pestle and mortar, has iron teeth, and steals children in the night . This IS actually very respectful to traditional folklore - In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. Baba Yaga flies around in a mortar, wields a pestle, and dwells deep in the forest in a hut usually described as standing on chicken legs (or sometimes a single chicken leg). Baba Yaga may help or hinder those that encounter or seek her out. She sometimes plays a maternal role, and also has associations with forest wildlife. According to Vladimir Propp's folktale morphology, Baba Yaga commonly appears as either a donor or villain, or may be altogether ambiguous. In addition, there are some other similar figures in other European folklore - In Eastern Europe, these figures include the Bulgarian Gorska Maika ('Forest Mother'); Gvozdenzuba ('Iron Tooth'), and Baba Roga (used to scare children in Croatia and Bosnia).

So, the Russian people are all terrified of the threatening Baba Yaga – and are looking for a hero. Who could save them? ….Bartok, of course! Before the events of the first Anastasia film, Bartok, once again voiced by Hank Azaria, is a street performer on the streets of Moscow who entertains the crowds with bold tales of daring-do and such. So, he’s pretty much like a bat version of Oscar Diggs from Oz the Great and Powerful. Now, before I continue, let me just comment on the animation in this film – YES, I’m aware that it’s not as good as most of Don Bluth’s other works, but it’s still Don Bluth animation, which is always good animation. True, some of the CGI animation is a bit… distracting in this, but comparing it to Beauty The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas and the CGI in Hunchback of Notre Dame 2, it is better in comparison. But one thing that is a bit noticeable is that in the scenes where Bartok is on his little stage, he’s animated in a cleaner way than the crowd… It’s not the worst I’ve seen, but it is a tad distracting at times. But then again – when I compare it to The Nuttiest Nutcracker, which probably has the worst animation I’ve ever seen…. It looks extremely forgivable.

Bartok sings to the crowd about the supposed feats he’s carried out in different countries, and the song isn’t BRILLIANT, but it is a catchy little number. The royal coach arrives, with Prince Ivan, voiced by Phillip Van Dyke, inside, praising the performance. However, it turns out that his royal advisor, Ludmilla, voiced by Catherine O’Hara, finds Bartok annoying and tries to order a Cossack to stop the performance… Ludmilla’s design is something I just have to comment on – it looks rather… caricatured, to be honest. Many people complain about when Don Bluth tries to animate humans realistically – for example, most of his human characters look EXACTLY alike – but Ludmilla has a much more caricatured design which allows the animation to be…. Animated, if you know what I mean. But I do find her design a bit… odd at times – especially how thin her arms and how long her chin is… As the show comes to a close, a bear suddenly attacks the townspeople…. I will be honest here, I do like the cartoony way that the bear roaring blows everyone away, and the way that Bartok ties up the bear by the legs. I will admit, the way that the bear flew up into the air into Bartok’s wagon confused me a little bit the first time I saw this film, but the second time, after I remembered what happens later, it makes more sense… Speaking of this scene, this is some pretty good animation in this scene. The crowd showers Bartok with money for his performance, including a ring from Ivan himself – which gets to Ludmilla. She tries to tell him that commoners should not be allowed to be in possession of rings that she says belong to the Romanov, but Ivan, saying that it may be time for a change so that the lower classes may share the riches of the royals, refuses. I do find it rather funny seeing Ludmilla try to remain composed here, but clearly being outraged by it…

Back at the palace, Ludmilla continues to show disdain for Ivan throwing rings to the poorer people, especially to street performers, saying they may begin taking advantage of Ivan’s charity, and demanding more riches. Ivan, on the other hand, likes seeing his subjects having fun, and he takes interest in Bartok’s performance. Sharing his interest is the Cossack Captain Vol (played by Diedrich Bader) who I swear is a relative of Oaken, that hilarious Trading Post Owner from Frozen. ‘Ooohoo – big summer blowout!’    Once again, I really do enjoy the costume and set design in this film. In this film, it seems to be a bit more bright and colourful in places than the last film – in my opinion, it seems to have more of a storybook feel to it by having more bright colours present. And I feel it works to the film’s advantage – true, the last film involved Rasputin summoning demons, but it didn’t involve as many mythical beings as this film does, so I feel it works to the film’s favour. Ivan, probably feeling that Ludmilla is being too pushy with her ‘advising’, says that she shouldn’t keep telling him to change his ways – as he’ll soon be Tsar, and Ludmilla should respect the crown. You know, why do rulers in animated films always manage to pick the WORST people to advise them? The sultan from Aladdin had Jafar as his adviser, Arthur from Quest For Camelot had Ruber as a fellow knight, Tsar Nicholas II in Anastasia had Rasputin, and now Ivan in this has Ludmilla…

Meanwhile, in a rather… dreary looking shack outside Moscow, Bartok is counting his earnings from the show, and the bear comes out of the wagon… However, it turns out that all this was just an act, being delivered by Bartok’s companion, Zozi, a rather theatrical bear, voiced by Kelsey Grammer. You know, with all the Kelsey Grammer voices I’ve been hearing recently, I’m really beginning to respect him as a voice actor – like with when I started hearing quite a few of Alan Tudyk’s voicework in succession. While I will ask why Zozi has a clown nose (yeah, his nose is PERMANENTLY red – when I first saw this, I thought it was part of his costume ), he is a rather cool character. In a way, Bartok is the Rasputin to Zozi in this film – Bartok, at the start of the film, seems to be a bit absorbed in the profits he’s raking in from the street performances he delivers, and Zozi seems to take on the role of Bartok’s voice of reason, like feeling a bit guilty for Bartok holding the ring of a royal, and thinking he should give it back, even though Bartok says it was a gift. But to be fair on Bartok, he STILL gets some good laughs here, and there are some clever jokes, like when Bartok stands on the scales to make it seem like Bartok and Zozi’s sides are evenly balanced, and then Zozi spins around the scales to grab the larger pile.

But dark forces are afoot, as that night, a dark shadow comes into Prince Ivan’s bedroom, and kidnaps Ivan – leaving behind an iron tooth – going back to the mythology I mentioned earlier. Ludmilla, the next morning, finds the iron tooth which supposedly belongs to Baba Yaga, and asks for a hero to help save the prince. By the way, there is a rather funny running joke where the characters are constantly assaulted by the trumpets blown by the palace guards. The way that they’re animated and they try to maintain their composure gets some laughs out of me. Two children in the crowd suggest that Bartok could be the one who could help out the people of Moscow…. Which may be problematic, as Bartok and Zozi are leaving Moscow together… By the way, I think I finally realised the character that Zozi reminds me of – he reminds me a bit of Francis from Oliver and Company, especially with how theatrical he is throughout many scenes of the film – like this scene where he dresses up as a pirate and stands atop Bartok’s ship wagon. However, before they can leave, a gang of Cossacks is sent by Ludmilla to bring them back to Moscow. Ludmilla tells Bartok that he has been asked to confront Baba Yaga and retrieve Prince Ivan…. By the way, Ludmilla throws the iron tooth at Bartok… just narrowly missing him… Okay, this goes above just finding him annoying, she flat out DESPISES him… for some reason… Maybe she’s just not a big fan of street performers? But Bartok, understandably scared of Baba Yaga, and being egged on by Zozi, tries to make excuses as to why he doesn’t have time to save Prince Ivan. His schedule has apparently been filled up with beating up other monsters, like hydras…. Trust me, Bartok, Hercules was barely able to do it, and he’s the son of ZEUS – somehow, I don’t think you’d do very well… Once again, this seems to have Oz The Great and Powerful vibes to it. However, it turns out that puppy dog eyes from two little children in the crowd is Bartok’s breaking point…

After leaving Moscow, Zozi, who is at first angry at Bartok for saying he’ll go and confront Baba Yaga, soon realises that it may be good character building for Bartok to go and confront Baba Yaga, and, just like Vlad in Anastasia being an advice giver to Anastasia on numerous occasions , Zozi seems to be like Bartok’s equivalent. Wow – Kelsey Grammer, when you’re not playing stinky prospectors, you sure have a thing for giving out advice, don’t you? And another thing Zozi has in common with Vladimir is that he has a song where he gives out this advice and training – this song is a simple little song, but it is still enjoyable. It seems a little bit like Bartok’s version of ‘Journey To The Past’, in my opinion. And I do find it funny how Bartok shakes his wings to the music in one part…. Also, the line ‘no more tricks, no more false pretences from the back of a wagon - maybe I’ll save a life someday or slay a dragon’ may just seem like a bit of a standard line for a character wishing to overcome their lies in the past and commit real heroic deeds instead of faking it, but this line, in my opinion, is actually a little bit clever, as will be revealed later on.

Coincidentally, as the song ends, they arrive at the Iron Forest where Baba Yaga is… and I will admit, that is a rather awesome creepy setting – it kind of looks like the outskirts of Maleficent’s Castle got tainted by Hexxus. They eventually come across the guardian to Baba Yaga’s castle, a talking Skull voiced by Tim Curry. And let me say right now, after the character Tim Curry was forced to voice the LAST time I came across one of his characters, I’ll have to say that Tim Curry got a MUCH better character here. True, the CGI on the Skull is still dated a little bit – but considering the fact this is direct to DVD, it actually looks better than Forte in my opinion. And plus, this Skull does NOT sing, which means that we won’t get any horrible songs from Tim Curry here. How did the lyrics in his song in The Enchanted Christmas go again? ‘Love takes the wildest heart and makes it tame… If you’re turned on, then just turn off!’ …… No, this time, Tim Curry’s character gives some much more impressive wordplay – riddles! So, he’s kind of like a less drunken version of the skeleton from The Last Unicorn. Speaking of riddles, there are some rather funny moments delivered here from the riddle scenes – the first one gets some laughs out of me, especially with how he throws in a horde of arithmetic and then throws the actual riddle. Zozi solves the riddle for him, but he gets his clown nose stuck between the Skull’s teeth, as he’s not allowed to enter… Seriously, his nose looks like a CLOWN NOSE… Maybe he gets it so red because he gets it caught between giant skulls’ teeth….

Bartok carries on alone to Baba Yaga’s house…. And I’ll say right now, her back garden has landscaping which looks an awful lot like Planet Insectica from Earthworm Jim…. Fitting, considering that Baba Yaga herself is voiced in an impressive performance by Andrea Martin, who voice Queen Slug-For-A Butt in the Earthworm Jim TV series. Speaking of impressive, I like the bit of mythology worked in here, as Baba Yaga’s house stands up on two chicken legs when Bartok approaches, respectful to mythology about Baba Yaga.

As Bartok flies up to Baba Yaga’s house, he hides as Baba Yaga enters, sensing an imposter. She looks quite a bit like Mad Madam Mim…. And speaking of which, she seems to be like Mad Madam Mim mixed together with Merlin – the looks of Mad Madam Mim mixed together with Merlin’s powers of manipulating household items. Speaking of which, the song she sings has some tones of Merlin in it, and it is a rather catchy little song. Now, onto something that I’m sure is a bit of an elephant in the room…. In my Brave review, I complained about the witch being a generic bland witch which I barely saw any point in, other than making one appearance without an explanation and never learning her real name. I will admit that Baba Yaga may come across to some people as a hodgepodge of Disney witches like Mad Madam Mim and the witches from The Black Cauldron, but she does actually have a quite a good point, unlike the witch from Brave who COULD have been written out of the film entirely – she gives Bartok three tasks to prove himself worthy of saving him. Three items she wishes for lie within her forest, and Bartok must retrieve them to find out where the prince. And most importantly, Zozi can’t assist Bartok in any way, as he has to carry out these tasks on his own. So, in a strange kind of way, this film is almost like a magical road trip film, with the road trip experiences being these three tasks.

So, Bartok and Zozi travel to the ice quarry, where Piloff, the first thing Baba Yaga requires, is. And.. *looks at Piloff’s design* what IS Piloff, exactly? I… personally have no idea… She looks like a…. snake? A fur boa? Anthropomorphic silly putty? WHAT IS SHE?! Well, I will tell you WHAT she is – ADORABLE. Yep, being voiced by one of my favourite voice actresses, Jennifer Tilly – who also voiced Grace from Home on the Range and Celia from Monsters Inc, certainly helps, but to add onto, she is an incredibly ditzy little thing – in an attractive kind of way. Whatever she is, Tilly's voice makes her seems gentle and funny – while also being impervious to whatever Bartok does to get her off the boulder that she’s stuck on…. and it’s a rather strange looking bolder too—looks more like a construction girder to me…. I can’t help but giggle at the bit where Piloff tickles Bartok, and the way she almost has an air of Ibuki Mioda from DanganRonpa 2 to her… Eventually, Bartok manages to tie up weights to the… girder, I’ll call it (even if they call it a boulder for some reason, it’s clearly a GIRDER), and manages to dislodge the girder… The girder goes flying, Piloff yells ‘WHEEE!’ in a way that reminds me why I love Jennifer Tilly’s voice so much , and I love the way that Zozi is animated when he narrowly ducks from the girder flying towards him. Getting Piloff back to the skull, she just pops off as soon as they arrive – the way she says ‘I pop off ten feet from the house! That’s funny!’ makes me chuckle… Here’s something relating to Piloff I’ve heard – people ship Bartok and Piloff together, and… even though I’m not entirely sure which one is the most popular pairing, pairing him up with Banette from Anastasia, or with Piloff, but I think both pairings are rather adorable. And Piloff is a great example of a character who, even though she may not appear in the film that much, but her appearance is enough to make me love her nonetheless… just like Felicity from Felidae.

Another riddle from the skull later, Bartok gets back to Baba Yaga house, where Baba… uses magic powder from Piloff (her dandruff, maybe? ), and then gives Bartok his next task – to seek out Oble, the metalworker, to retrieve his crown. Oble (pronounced Oh-blee)…. Hmm… Odd name.

Meanwhile, back at Moscow, Ludmilla vows that she will take control of the throne while Ivan has been kidnapped. I’ve just noticed it – what is up with her weird arm movements? The way she just keeps her arms bent outwards at times looks a tad awkward at moments – she looks like she’s flapping her arms slowly at times? What is she, a DUCK? Anyway, back to Oble – where it looks like Bartok and Zozi have entered a Dragon’s Lair game – Oble does look a bit like a Dragon’s Lair enemy, in my opinion. Oble is a strange kind of troll metalworker who looks and sounds a bit like a giant Boxtroll who lost his box and replaced it with armour – and it seems like he’s been eating tons of chilli, as he has a constant fiery aura around him – and he literally has a rather FIERY temper as a result – much like his metalwork.

Me pants are on fire! Me underwear’s on fire! I’M on fire!

Cornering Bartok, Oble is suddenly distracted by Bartok trying to hold some heated rocks to throw at Oble, but ends up juggling them. Successfully stealing Oble’s crown, Bartok and Zozi escape Oble’s metalforge, and Oble, being a rather dim barbarian, actually reminding me of one of Maleficent’s Minions, now that I think about his design and his voice, follows them – ACROSS A WOODEN BRIDGE. Needless to say, he falls into the moat beneath the bridge…. And quite literally cools off, evaporating the whole lake as a result.

*douses flames* Oooooh.. yeah…

Arriving back at Baba Yaga’s house, Bartok gives Baba the helmet from earlier, and surprise surprise, she throws a jewel from the helmet into her potion. But the hardest trial is yet to come…. At the idea, Bartok drops off asleep. The next morning, one of my favourite bits of voice acting from Hank Azaria comes out, as Baba Yaga throws the helmet down to the floor, waking him up. The way he goes ‘haiyaiyaiYAH!?’ makes me laugh. The third task is to use the helmet and the girder to retrieve a Magic Feather, floating in the sky above a clearing – but on top of that, Bartok can’t use his wings to grab the feather. Being like an enjoyable prankster, Baba Yaga uses a raincloud to wake up Bartok – ah, nothing like a nice cold shower to wake you up…. Say what you will about the way you were woken up, Bartok, it’s much more appealing than Beast’s wake up call in Belle’s Magical World – being surrounded by tons of flowers and getting hayfever… In the clearing with the magic feather - which looks like Nicodemus accidentally lost his quill – Bartok tries to grab the feather, but begins to feel that it’s pointless trying. As he flips the helmet into the girder, heating it up, Zozi convinces Bartok with reverse psychology to help Bartok to with retrieve the feather – once again, I do like this little bit of role reversal here, as like with Monsters University reversing the teacher/pupil role with Sulley and Mike had in Monsters Inc, here, Zozi acts as Bartok’s voice of reason, much how Bartok is Rasputin’s in Anastasia. And Zozi’s convincing gets Bartok to get a brainwave, by changing the girder, which fell into pieces, with the heat from the helmet causing pressure to build up and popping all of the parts off, into a large tower, which is tall enough to allow him to get the feather…. Wow, is Bartok secretly one of the long lost Master Builders from The Lego Movie? It certainly seems like it.

Returning the feather to Baba Yaga, she pops it into the cauldron, which I think is rather well animated with the colour changes by the way, Baba Yaga says that she needs one more thing from Bartok. Bartok tries giving some of his belongings to Baba Yaga, including a… signed portrait of Ivan the Terrible… Yeah, THAT must have been one HELL of a portrait to get, considering what Ivan the Terrible did in his free time… I guess that Bartok has a thing for making friends with corrupt figures of power… First Ivan the Terrible, and then Rasputin… You don’t have much luck with picking company, do you Bartok? But it turns out that the thing that Baba Yaga wants is something from within…and when he thinks she means a hair from atop his head, Baba Yaga bursts out into laughter. I don’t know why, but something about Andrea Martin’s laughter sounds just like a great witch’s cackle… her voice just seems to suit the part REALLY well. Even when she was voicing Queen Slug For A Butt in Earthworm Jim, I thought that her awesome evil laughter sounded a bit like a witch’s cackle.

But with Baba Yaga, I feel that a really great scene is delivered next… As Bartok tells Baba Yaga to stop laughing, he calls her a cheat, liar, and a babbling old woman, and says it’s no wonder everyone hates her. This clearly upsets Baba Yaga, who starts crying…. And, I’m going to be perfectly honest, the music tied together with Baba Yaga’s crying actually does tug on my heartstrings a bit here…. ;cries: To this, Bartok lifts up her hands covering her face, in a shot that makes Bartok look adorable, to be honest, and Baba says that she’s just being a ‘silly old woman’… And, to be the credit of the film, this not only helps make Baba Yaga a more sympathetic character, but I also see where Bartok got his ideas about her too. What separates this from badly made scenes where one character harshly calls out another, like in Little Brother Big Trouble and Eight Crazy Nights? Well… simply put, those films aren’t anywhere NEAR as good as Bartok the Magnificent. But in all seriousness, unlike those two films, this film has got its bases covered when it comes to a scene like this. Unlike Davey Stone and Niko, Bartok was NOT in the wrong for berating Baba Yaga, because this scene conveys that these myths that the people of Moscow, and Bartok for that matter, have been hearing paint her in a less than flattering light. If these are all that Bartok has been hearing about her, this explains why he thought she was nothing more than an evil witch. However, as well as the myths portraying her as an evil being, other myths about Baba Yaga portray her as a more maternal being. I like this idea here, as usually, witches in children’s films tend to be villainous, but Baba Yaga has a more sympathetic side here, which I personally enjoy the idea of. Speaking of sympathetic, Bartok apologizes for what he said, he starts crying and Baba gets the most important ingredient: tears which are from Bartok's heart. Yeah, yeah, say what you will about it being sappy, but I find it touching, personally – it shows that a hero doesn’t only require intelligence, strength and dexterity, which Bartok showed earlier in the three tasks, but a good hero requires compassion as well – and Bartok’s sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others here, where he feels sympathy for Baba Yaga. Speaking of sappy, for those of you out there who complain about the so-called ‘sap’ in Bartok The Magnificent, Bambi 2, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Home on the Range and such, I personally don’t mind emotional scenes like this as long as it’s not overly done and forced. Speaking of which… if you think that those films suffered from so-called ‘sap’…. Just wait until you see what Don Bluth film I’m reviewing NEXT time… Oh yeah, we’re GOING THERE.

After placing Bartok’s tear in the potion (wow, that’s one potent tear ), Baba Yaga knows that Bartok is now worthy to save the prince, so she shows him the place where he is…. The tower back in Moscow… Realizing that Baba Yaga never kidnapped any children, Bartok hears from Baba Yaga that she’s simply happy to live a solitary life, away from those who hate her for no real good reason and not be bothered. However, she gives Bartok the magic potion she made - the potion she made was meant for Bartok himself. Baba Yaga explains that when Bartok drinks the potion, whatever he is in his heart will show ten times in his exterior. Before he leaves, Bartok offers Baba Yaga a hug (looks like we have a hugger on our hands! Join the club, Bartok – I’m a hugger too ), but Baba Yaga ushers him out of her house before he can push his luck. Heading back to Moscow, Zozi tries to get into an appropriate character, and after going through a very odd assortment of costumes, he settles with a very strange costume…. CABBAGE. Well, he somehow looks more dignified than the vegetables in The Nuttiest Nutcracker… I love Bartok’s reaction to it – ‘a big 6 foot tall cabbage guy.’ But oh wait, it gets better – as he decides to take the drag route, and dresses up in a costume that I swear he stole from Esmerelda in Hunchback of Notre Dame… I love the way he just tosses the tambourine aside…

Bartok goes in to the palace, and reveals to Ludmilla and the townspeople (after being bombarded by trumpets ), after a summary of his story – after coming across a woman who I SWEAR is related to Gnorga from A Troll In Central Park.... eeggh… Flashbacks… He reveals the potion to everyone, including Ludmilla, who takes an interest in the potion, and then reveals that Ivan is in the tower. However, it turns out that, surprise, surprise, Ivan was locked up in the tower by Ludmilla herself. She ordered Vol to ‘put Ivan out of the way’, and to leave the iron tooth to frame Baba Yaga for it. So… she’s a little bit like Jafar in that sense – an evil advisor who wanted to steal the throne for herself. I will admit that’s she’s not the most memorable villain out there – but I do feel that she did some things that puts her quite a few notches above a villain like Ruber from Quest For Camelot. For a start off, Ruber was pretty damn obviously the villain from the very first SECOND he was on screen… When I saw Bartok the Magnificent, I actually didn’t think Ludmilla WOULD be the villain – sure, she was a bit of a douche at the start, but she could just be an advisor who is a bit of a killjoy. Now, I know that that’s a bit strange, because there are some other obvious villains that I really LIKE in media, which brings me to my second point – Ludmilla is nowhere near as ANNOYING as Ruber was. Once again, I LOVE Gary Oldman as an actor, but they just BOTCHED his voice in this film…. His voice was WASTED on that character. Catherine O’Hara, on the other hand, doesn’t feel like she was held at gunpoint to deliver the voices – I can sense some very definite effort to her voice work here, like she actually DID have some personal enjoyment in it. Also, there’s something coming up later which makes her more… interesting than Ruber – I say that now, but the SENSE in which I mean it is rather unexpected… Also – Ruber was a complete and utter idiot in his film, in the ways that he let Kayley escape, and in how he somehow couldn’t avoid Kayley and Garrett’s obvious attacks. Ludmilla’s takeover plot seems to at least have some brainpower to it – framing Baba Yaga as a culprit, putting the prince out the way, covering her tracks – see, Ruber? She may not be the most ORIGINAL villain, but at least, unlike YOU, she has BRAIN CELLS! Also – something interesting I noticed here – in a way, part of Ludmilla's motive was wanting to usurp a prince she didn't feel was taking his royal responsibilities seriously. So, it may not just be a villain that wants power just because…

She locks up Vol and Bartok with Ivan, and then steals Bartok’s potion from him. Ludmilla drinks Bartok’s potion, believing her beauty will become tenfold. And as she starts descending the tower, she sings a song about becoming the new ruler of the kingdom. However, this scene becomes a tad… awkward in places… As she descends the tower, she begins transforming into her true self, a monstrous dragon. Now, before I continue, I’ll address the elephant in the room – why do some pieces of media portray all dragons as being evil?! Don’t get me wrong, I find evil dragons cool and all, for example, Maleficent as a dragon, but it does seem to be a bit of a vicious stereotype when dragons are often portrayed as being evil. Luckily, in recent years, we have had some more heroic dragons, like Spike, Mushu, Falkor, Spyro and Toothless, but in quite a few pieces of media that I’ve heard of, dragons are often portrayed as being evil beings…. Or worse, as I heard when I looked up Eragon…. Anyway, back to the scene at hand. This transformation scene where Ludmilla turns into a dragon gets a bit….weird and disturbing in places. At first, it isn’t too bad, when she gets a tail and dragon paws, but it gets more awkward as the scene goes on…. It starts when she suddenly gets a…. boob expansion…. Errrrrrrr….. Apparantly, that piece of animation was one of the filmmakers’ favorite parts of the film, as it appears yet again in the ending credits…. And when she’s just a human head attached to a dragon body, it looks a bit…. Weird… I know that there’s a whole fetish about people slowly turning into animals, and I have nothing against people who have that fetish, but this scene just felt like it was made for them….. If you’re going to do transformation scenes where a character turns into an animal, take notes from Jafar and Maleficent – they transformed in ONE GO, rather than in a sequence which seemed very awkward…. Actually - an interesting little thing about the song I've thought up here - 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 song, 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 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. And there's a funny little part with the prisoners that have been tied up - some of them, who have been sentenced to death, just lie back and accept it, happy that they won't have to live under Ludmilla's rule. That's a clever little bit of humour there.

Wait a minute….. I just realised something…. Remember that one line I mentioned earlier? The lyric in ‘A Possible Hero In You’? ‘No more tricks, no more false pretences from the back of a wagon - maybe I’ll save a life someday or slay a dragon’. Hrm… so, that lyric wasn’t just a fleeting lyric? I’m actually impressed!

Ludmilla storms into the palace, believing that everyone will bow to her, but… surprisingly enough, no one stays to listen to the words of a huge 30 foot dragon who just burst through the palace walls… Realising that Bartok’s potion has turned her into a dragon, she becomes enraged and starts using her new fire breathing ability to wreak havoc throughout Moscow. Meanwhile, Zozi comes to the rescue, and pulls Bartok’s cage upwards to free him….. but ends up breaking through the door and ending up in trouble himself… Falling downwards towards where Ivan and Vol are at danger of drowning, he is able to do what many unfortunate cases of new characters in direct to video sequels get denied – a chance to prove himself. Yeah, I’ve lost sight of how many times I’ve come across lame characters introduced in direct to video sequels that never do anything of substance – like those three new characters in Belle’s Magical World, Obby in Atlantis 2 and Madeline and Zephyr in Hunchback of Notre Dame 2…. Luckily, Don Bluth knew how to make new characters introduced in this sequel to have an actual PURPOSE. Zozi, who has been Bartok’s voice of reason and emotional support during the film gets quite a good bit of strength, as he opens the cage that held Ivan and Vol. Now, before there are some people out there who yell ‘But Bartok could have opened the cage, seen as how he was able to build a tower from a girder by himself earlier’ – he was in a cage himself earlier, and he had to go and stop Ludmilla because he’s the only one who can fly… Sorry if it seems like I’m defending something that seems a little bit trivial – but for the first time quite a while, I’ve come across a direct-to-video sequel that does seem to get a bit of unfair bashing by some people, and I just feel like defending it. It may only be a little thing, but it’s the kind of thing I’ve seen some people rip apart in this film, so I felt like giving it my personal opinion on it.

Speaking of Bartok proving himself, he goes to try to fight Ludmilla, but finds that he can’t simply pull her eyelids like Mike Wazowski did to his own. I do love Ludmilla’s smug grin there, as if to say 'nah nah nananaaa'. The whole climax of this film actually seems to resemble a Dragon’s Lair level, in my opinion. Can’t you just imagine the flashing objects popping up as Bartok notices stuff to use? Bartok, in a rather clever move, manages to catapult a boulder into Ludmilla’s mouth, stopping her from breathing fire. Speaking of fire, I do enjoy the running joke here, with a villager who constantly yells to Bartok, begging for water to put out the fires, and Bartok keeps yelling ‘I’m working on it!’ Also – Bartok seems to be a rather smart bat in this, as he remembers the water that Ludmilla used to try and drown Ivan and Vol, and lures Ludmilla towards the tower with his juggling act which… hypnotises her. Wow, talk about a spellbinding performance… Meanwhile, Zozi, while reciting lines from famous playwrights, manages to pull Ivan and Vol up the tower, as Bartok shows that a hero doesn’t always need to land a KILLING BLOW to be a hero, just be enough to outsmart the villain. He lures Ludmilla up the tower, after tricking her into attacking the tower, causing the water to come out, and as Ludmilla climbs up the tower, the tower collapses, where Ludmilla gets crushed by the tower on her way down… And the man who yells ‘where’s the water?’ suddenly gets swept away by the tidal wave of water being released, which puts out the fires. You want water, mate? Well here you go! In fact, EVERYTHING Bartok does during the climax is a reference to something he claimed he had done in his show at the beginning of the movie, from defeating a dragon to dousing a city in flames…. Wow, well, he’s certainly proven that he can do those things now!

Looking back on their adventures, Bartok and Zozi realize that indeed, Baba Yaga was not the wicked witch that Ludmilla set her out to be – in fact, it was her tasks which prepared Bartok for the task of becoming a becoming a hero. Bartok feels bad that he can’t return anything to her, but Zozi reminds him that he gave her his compassion. It also feels like Bartok’s personality has changed for the better as well, as after he scrapes the floor with his foot rather cutely, he proceeds to give Ivan his ring back. Just then, Baba Yaga and Piloff fly overhead in their mortar and pestle, writing the name ‘Bartok the Magnificent’ in smoke in the skies. You know, something about Baba Yaga actually reminds me a bit of Aughra from The Dark Crystal – the way she seems to be a rather curmudgeonly hag at times, but deep down, she really does have some great knowledge and inner warmth to her. Of course, Baba Yaga can’t take her eyes out, but… still… Bartok flies up to say goodbye to them, and – I know this is something I haven’t really commented on TOO much, as it’s not often something I need to go into much detail with if I already praised the animation, but the backgrounds are GREAT in this film – I don’t know why, but this last background in particular, the sunset sky, just looks GORGEOUS in my opinion. It reminds me of that boss battle against the Spellican in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. Baba Yaga congratulates Bartok for succeeding, Bartok thanks Baba Yaga, and then – Bartok manages to give Baba Yaga the hug he asked for earlier, with Piloff excitingly joining in. And this hug manages to warm Baba Yaga up to the idea – yes, I knew it! The power of the huggers shall overcome even the most crotchety person! As well as compassion, a hug is the best gift you can give – one size fits all! Plus, the way Piloff says ‘I love hugs’ is especially adorable. Baba Yaga and Piloff fly off into the gorgeously animated sunset, and Bartok says goodbye to the audience. *sees what I’m reviewing next time* Sigh… considering what’s coming next… I may be saying goodbye to the good Don Bluth films as well…. Well, at least if I’m not going to find any other good Don Bluth film, at least this is a pleasant surprise of a film to end the good Don Bluth films on.

  I watched it frequently when I was young, and again during the summer I think - maybe nostalgia gets in the  way but I find it charming, I also really like the villain song though the scene made me kind of uncomfortable when I was a kid. Great animation as to be expected, please don't write it off as a comic-relief movie - I really hate certain tropes and lines taken from some things said by a critic or two, because it gets skewed into some cliché, non-existent category. It's centered around a comic relief character, and he does have his comic relief lines but they also gave him appropriate characters to work off of (I like the bear especially). It takes quite a few elements from Russian fairy tales that I can name - Baba Yaga and her house with the ostrich legs, as well as the villain's transformation into a stereotypically slavic-looking dragon (fat body and smaller head). There's likely more but I'm no expert.

Well, it's a comic-relief movie, and those usually don't work. But I haven't seen it, nor seen anyone (not even Mr.Enter) review it yet.

My favorite part of the film is when the villainess Ludmilla is slowly transforming into a dragon as she is still singing and doesn't even know what's happening. Also it was fun seeing a movie based on Bartok and Jennifer Tilly voicing Pilof, the same gal who voiced Celia and Grace.

I've watched it once. When I first started watching it, I thought it was supposed to be a short, so I was wondering why it was so long... XD But, yeah, I liked it. It was fun.

I saw Bartok the magnificent, and I think it's a good film. While the continuities of this film and Anastasia seem oddly connected, it did have a good story, great animation, and a great cast of characters played by actors such as Hank Azaria, Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer tilly, and Catherine O'hara among others.

i watched it once when i was a kid and havent seen it since, so i barely remember it, great cast though

Hank Azaria back as Bartok

Kelsey Grammer this time voicing a bear

Catherine O'Hara, Jennifer Tilly, Deidrich Bader

and Tim Curry this time NOT voicing a gay pipe organ

 I suppose this film is a perfect example of a film which shows that people should stop clumping ‘direct to video’ films into the same category and just leave them to the side to be forgotten and gather dust, as if ALL direct to video films are going to be rubbish… I mean, I’ve come across quite a few of these ‘direct to video’ films, and I’ve actually given them more praise then they’re usually given. Just because it’s direct to video doesn’t necessarily mean its low quality – it just means it wasn’t able to secure the budget or cinematic release that the more mainstream films received. Take a look at Bambi 2, Pocahontas 2, the Aladdin sequels, Lilo and Stitch 2, and Lion King 2 – these so called ‘low quality direct to video’ films proved that films don’t HAVE to have cinematic releases to be good. And in a few cases, they can be just as good, or actually even BETTER than some of those cinematic released films. And Bartok the Magnificent is another example of a direct to video film which proves that ‘direct to video’ is not an automatic definition of the film’s quality. I enjoyed this film quite a bit. It’s not AS good as Anastasia, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s, to sum up in one word, fun. As well as being a much BETTER comic relief film than Lion King 1 ½, the film seems to be a much better version of films like Rock-A-Doodle and A Troll In Central Park. In those two films, Don Bluth tried to create films that were more light-hearted, but in trying this, he sadly ended up making them insulting to the audience’s intelligence. In Bartok the Magnificent, he seems to have learned his lesson, and improved with making more light-hearted films than he’s used to. This film is a bit like Home on the Range, Aristocats and Emperor’s New Groove, in that respect – it’s one of those films that may receive a lot of bad slack from some people for being more ‘lighthearted’, but I personally enjoy films like these, because they’re strangely nostalgic for me. Even the first time I watch films like this, they remind me a lot of films I watched with my family together when I was younger – it may seem a bit sappy and a bit odd, but I personally do value family films like that, if they remind me of things I watched together with my family when I was younger.

Even if it may not have the production values of cinematic releases, this film has a LOT of things to offer. The animation is as impressive as Don Bluth’s animation always has been, the characters are entertaining, the villain may not be the most in depth villain, but for what she’s worth, she is an enjoyably hammy villain (I mean that in terms of her actions, not how she puts on a lot of weight later on in the film ), the voice actors put some great effort into it, especially Kelsey Grammer, Tim Curry, Jennifer Tilly and Andrea Martin, the songs, while nothing ESPECIALLY memorable, are still enjoyable, and even though the story may not have any particular twists and turns in it, it’s still a very entertaining story. And as for Bartok himself – as I said earlier, I feel that Bartok can carry a film by himself rather well. Best of all, unlike Timon and Pumbaa, I feel that his film was much better in how it gave him much MORE than just… inserting him into every other scene in the original film, like Lion King 1 ½ did….

If you haven’t watched this film for yourself, I personally recommend it to you – because I was pleasantly surprised by it. Luckily, the film is on Youtube in full. If this is going to be the last Don Bluth film that I’ll enjoy, then I personally don’t mind – I was pleasantly surprised to find it, and I’m happy to end my positive Don Bluth film reviews on it. Must be another heroic feat from Bartok the Magnificent.

(BTW - sorry if this review is a tad shorter. Part of this may be due to the film being shorter than some of the others I've reviewed, but hopefully, the things I've written make sense. Please tell me if there's anything I haven't commented on. )

As for my NEXT film review…. I think it’s time for me to start reviewing the Don Bluth films which received pretty negative reception… And to start off with, I think I may get the worst one out of the way first…. So, next time, I shall be reviewing……

*gulp* …..A Troll In Central Park…

UPCOMING REVIEWS

163. A Troll In Central Park

164. Thumbelina

165. Labyrinth

166. Freddy Got Fingered

167. The Wolf Children

168. Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks

???. The Pebble and The Penguin

???. Rock-A-Doodle

???. The Ice Age Movies

???. Some More Disney Sequels

???. The True Story of Puss ‘n Boots