Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-23 23:11:34

Bartok

I purchased this to have onhand for times when my grandkids visit. I think the character is cute and entertaining to children.

2012-05-23 01:01:44

Well-written and Very Colorful

Get this movie for kids and adults. It's very funny and charming. The animation has the quality of a feature, not a direct-to-video. The cast is first rate: Hank Azaria, Kelsey Grammer, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara.

josh lech 2012-05-21 22:39:19

Don's 1st sequel so far!

Bartok The Magnificent is Don Bluth's 1st sequel. Actually it's aprequel to Anastasia. Bartok in Anastasia was a sidekick to the villainto Rasputin. In this film, he's a street performer with a bear namedZozi. In the village where he is performing, Tsarevich Ivan Romanovgets kidnapped and his adviser, Ludmilla, believes it's the witch BabaYaga. Bartok is soon on a quest to Baba Yaga to find Ivan. Baba Yagasoon make Bartok on errands so she could tell him where Ivan is. Bartokis the only character from Anastasia but Hank Azaria is the only voiceactor from Anastasia to voice in the film. The other 2 are KelseyGrammar and Andrea Martin. Defiantly a good film to watch. HopefullyDon Bluth can do another sequel or prequel to another on of his films.10 out of 10!

2012-05-21 12:48:08

Great!

My DVD arrived two days after placing the order, and it was in great condition! I will be purchasing more in the future!

TheOneManBoxOffice 2012-05-20 18:33:18

An innocent animated family musical.

Bartok the Magnificent is the animated spin off of the 1997 motionpicture "Anastasia", which made a lot of money at the box office andwas a financial success for animation veteran, Don Bluth, director ofAll Dogs Go to Heaven, The Land Before Time, and The Secret of NIMH.This direct-to-video spin off, also directed by Don Bluth, isn't up topar with its original predecessor, but it's pretty good in terms ofdirect-to-video movies.Bartok, if you remember, is the little white bat that aided the mainvillain, Rasputin, from Anastasia, who was just there for comic reliefand nothing more. The events in the film, according to Wikipedia, takeplace before he became Rasputin's sidekick. In this film, Bartok is astreet performer who works with a wise bear named Zozi, who are given atask to rescue Prince Ivan from the clutches of Baba Yaga, by order ofLudamilla, Ivan's adviser. They were discovered during the openingmusical number after they arrived in Moscow.As I said, in terms of direct-to-video spin offs and sequels, Bartokthe Magnificent is a pretty damn good movie for all ages. In fact, it'sone of the better ones. Even if you're not a fan of the original movieAnastasia or even liked it, you can get a lot of enjoyment out of thisfilm, and kids will definitely get a kick out of it.7/10

profgandalf 2012-05-20 02:23:22

Bartok originally seen in Anastasia goes on a quest against his natural inclinations to save the Russian Prince.

As an earlier commentator noted, "Bartok the Magnificent" is a prequelto "Anastasia". I guess animated bats live for a REALLY long time. Butif you are going to quibble about dates then just what will you sayabout the existence of talking bears, musical witches and a hugeanimated riddle asking skull—just go with it. For all the sequentialfuzziness, I find this film a real joy.The voice talents of Kelsey Grammar as the Russian Dancing (andclassical theater loving) bear Zozi is wonderful as are also TimCurry's, as the Huge Talking Skul and Jennifer Tilly's role as Piloff.I have no idea what Piloff is, She looks life a living fur boa somewomen might wear around their necks. Whatever she is, Tilly's voicemakes her seems gentle and funny (and a little ditsy but in anattractive kind of way) while also being impervious to whatever Bartokdoes to get her off the bolder (and a strange looking bolder it istoo—looks more like a construction girder) as demanded by Baba Yaga.Indestructible gentle femininity is a good thing. Of course Bartok(voiced by Hank Azaria) is himself a hoot. Also Kelsey Grammar's voicein song is as full of life and warm as is his speaking voice. I love tolisten to him even when he's the bad guy as in "Toy Story 2" as StinkyPete. This film is one of the straight to video ones which should havebeen given a shot as a theatrical run. Both the video and the DVD comeswith the songs separate with sing along lyrics--nice touch.

metlmike 2012-05-19 04:32:23

Best Animated Feature I've Seen In A Long Time!

I just finished watching Bartok and I must say I was thoroughly impressed.This movie had all the ingredients for a superb animated feature that somany cartoons these days lack.The cast was excellent and the whole story was downright hilarious. HankAzaria as Bartok is a wonderful, loveable and a funny little characterpeople can't help but love. I myself chuckled everytime he opened hismouth.Kelsey Grammer also turns in a great voice performance as Zozi the bigbear.The voiceovers are something else to comment on. Very seldom these days doIsee cartoons taking time to match up the words of the character with theproper lip movement, but Bartok the Magnificent pulled it offwonderfully.I can't say enough about this fantastic movie that hasn't gotten enoughrecognition. I recommend it to people of all ages. There is enough contentand humour throughout to entertain adults and the fluent and colourfulanimation will be awe-inspiring to kids, no matter what their interestsare.

2012-05-18 12:01:00

Why Bartok's story is something special.

I would never have expected, even with family sequels so prevalent nowadays, that anyone would think of making a movie to track the life of Rasputin's tiny sidekick in Anastasia. I guess I'm not alone in what character traits appeal to me, however. Interestingly enough, some days before I saw Anastasia I woke from a dream in which the villain and sidekick from Disney's Aladdin, Jafar and the parrot Iago, were floating on an abandoned raft during a nighttime lightning storm and lamenting their mistakes together. It seemed foolish when I woke, because those characters were nothing like what my dream made them to be... but when I saw Anastasia, I was amazed at how well Rasputin and Bartok fit the bill. I didn't think anyone else would be so charmed at how the helpful bat-like creature offered sensible advice to his evil liege even while dragging back his fallen-off body parts and displaying a general sort of affection. What a great little guy, I thought, and what a pity he's fallen into such bad company. It was heartwarming to see him turn to the aid of good at the end. All that is why Bartok the Magnificent charmed me so much. It's certainly not a sequel to Anastasia, and I'm sorry the previous reviewer was expecting it to be. It's a spin-off, rather, for anyone curious whether that little whitebat managed to make anything of his life after abandoning his master. What fun to see that he's pursued the life of street showman, which seems oddly appropriate. This movie is casual and makes little effort to establish a setting, which groups it with other sequels/spin-offs and is why I give it only four stars, not five. Chronologically, the characters shown on the Russian throne make no sense and beg the question of what happened to Princess Anastasia. Yet, when we view this Moscow as something of an unreliable fairytale land (and the movie does follow certain tenets of fairy-tales), it seems quite believable. Bartok is obviously the hero of his movie, and he lives up to the role well. He is immodest, an unusual trait among genuine heroes, but it works on him. Of especial note is the fact that while his integrity is questioned at times, hardly anyone ever points out that Bartok is quite small--so how could he make anything of himself? Naturally, this issue itself has been explored time and again in children's movies and books, and is properly treated as a sidenote here. For his part, Bartok is all the more inspiring by how he resourcefully makes use of the physique he has. He is never shown doing anything unrealistic for his size or strength, and neither is there much of the inordinate luck small characters in movies like this often have in besting those larger than them. In my opinion, that implicit honesty makes this movie a real treasure. Bartok is more than just an amusing voice and more than just another unlikely hero--he is an inspiration for those who must confront tasks they know appear far beyond their means to carry out. The tools at hand are determination, perseverance, and ingenuity, all of which are put fully to the test in Bartok the Magnificent, and all of which succeed.

2012-05-18 15:37:47

Great movie. The colors and the animation are wonderful

I got this movie thinking it was going to be one of those saturday morning cartoons and was very impressed with the quality of animation and the colors of it. It's very entertaining and funny. My kids absolutely loved it. I hope they make another Bartok movie. He became one of my favorites characters and my kids too.

2012-05-18 07:10:03

Great for kids!!!

Seen a sneak preview of this movie, really good for young kids, even has sing-a-longs after the movie. - should keep any child happy. Not as good as Anastasia but great animation for a straight to video release.

PlanecrazyIkarus 2012-05-17 00:40:17

Ugh.

I liked Anastasia. It wasn't the best animated movie ever, but it wasnice.And Bartok was my favourite character, so........ I was all the more disappointed with this movie. The idea of givinghimhis own story to star in is great. But please, please, give the movie astory! This one mixes an old Russian fairy tale about a witch (in theoriginal she lives in a house with 4 chicken legs, so the house can walkaround, I believe) with a PC-game-alike plot:1) Go on quest. Get item2) return from quest. bring item to whoever requested it.3) get sent on another quest to get another item....4) repeat until you feel sickFirst quest: find the kidnapped prince. Then the witch sends him on 3 or 4quests of her own before being willing to help him. Etc.etc.Add in some poor songs, some really really obvious morals, and you've gotone of the worst direct-to-video sequels ever devised for a major animatedfeature. Only Lion King 2 comes off worse, from those that I've seen sofar...

Buffy Summers 2012-05-16 12:13:50

The Sequel that's a Prequel

Bartok the Magnificent, contrary to previous report, was not an actualsequel. If you watched Anastasia, and know anything about history, youalready know that the the Czar has not only abdicated, but has alsobeen killed, with the exception of Anya. While companies are not fullytrue to history, at the time Anastasia was made, it was believed thatthe infamous Romanoff was still alive, and going by the name Anya,later disproved. Bartok the Magnificent is the sequel prequel, lol.Make sense? It was made after Anastasia, but judging from thepalace(The palace was destroyed in Anastasia), and the fact that theRomanoff line is still alive, it is most likely a prequel. However,this doesn't destroy the beautiful animation and storyline it has. Ihonestly was not thinking highly of this movie at first glance,however, after watching it, I LOVED it. This movie is adorable and theanimation of Baba's Skull Guardian thing, is well, magnificent. This isdefinitely a cute movie for the whole family to watch, and isundoubtedly worth your while, despite the lack of hubbub about it.

2012-05-16 16:09:32

Not since Secret of NIMH has Don Bluth been this wonderful.

A true delight to watch. Not since Secret of NIMH has Don Bluth been this wonderful. A new studio at his command; one financed by Rupy's 20th Century Fox. An animted film that will be fun for the entire family, including young children; either boy or girl. Check this one out!

TheOneManBoxOffice 2012-05-16 08:21:51

Pretty good for a direct-to-video film.

A 20th Century Fox PictureDirected by Don Bluth and Gary GoldmanStarring Hank Azaria, Catherine O'Hara, and Kelsey GrammarRated GBartok the Magnificent is the animated spin off of the 1997 motionpicture "Anastasia", which made a lot of money at the box office andwas a financial success for animation veteran, Don Bluth, director ofAll Dogs Go to Heaven, The Land Before Time, and The Secret of NIMH.This direct-to-video spin off, also directed by Don Bluth, isn't up topar with its original predecessor, but it's pretty good in terms ofdirect-to-video movies, so I'll make this one short.Bartok, if you remember, is the little white bat that aided the mainvillain, Rasputin, from Anastasia, who was just there for comic reliefand nothing more. The events in the film, according to Wikipedia, takeplace before he became Rasputin's sidekick. In this film, Bartok is astreet performer who works with a wise bear named Zozi, who are given atask to rescue Prince Ivan from the clutches of Baba Yaga, by order ofLudamilla, Ivan's adviser. They were discovered during the openingmusical number after they arrived in Moscow.As I said, in terms of direct-to-video spin offs and sequels, Bartokthe Magnificent is a pretty damn good movie for all ages. In fact, it'sone of the better ones. Even if you're not a fan of the original movieAnastasia or even liked it, you can get a lot of enjoyment out of thisfilm, and kids will definitely get a kick out of it.7/10

2012-05-09 06:25:44

Bartok the Magnificant

Great movie! Sure, it wasn't the same as the original Anastasia, but oh well. The songs in Bartok are catchy and enjoyable (esp: Someone's in my House, which is sung by the witch Baba Yaga). The overall visual style is much like that of Anastasia (only brighter!) so it's familliar to the eye. The story line was innocent and appealing to older people too. Hats off to Don Bluth! I hope Bartok takes the same route as The Land Before Time (multiple, and enjoyable, films) because I want more of Bartok!

Mightyzebra 2012-05-08 18:03:25

Entertaining for the young and possibly the old

This film, about a circus bat in Russia, off to save the prince fromthe "evil" Baba Yaga, will no doubt have a great appeal on children. Itis sure to entertain them and they will be likely to sing and dancealong with it as soon as they know the words of the songs.As an older person, such as a grown-up or teenager, this film may fallflat on its face. It is quite babyish and the animation - including thebackgrounds, could possibly do with a little bit more work. However,this film is likely to entertain the older anyway. The songs are verycharming and so is the plot. The characters are also very lovable. Onething that can be said happily, is that they use a very English actorto voice - not a baddie - but a goodie, a thing which many Americanfilms do not have (including "The Lion King")! The other voices aregood too. So, enjoy "Bartok The Magnificent", who is the specifically,terrifically magnificent!

TheLittleSongbird 2012-05-05 23:37:21

Not as good as Anastasia but still entertaining!

Anastasia is my personal favourite Don Bluth movie, but this filmactually does it justice if not as good.The animation is mostly good, bright and colourful, that falls a tadflat in the scarier bits. The story is a bit noisy, but well told,considering that the film itself is too short. The dialogue is good,the best coming from Zozi, and the morals are admirable.The songs are quite good, but not as beautiful as Anastasia. All ofthem are lively, and atmospheric, but could have been better timed. Thevoice talents are impeccable, Bartok is a little annoying but HankAzaria voices him well, but Kelsey Grammar is perfect as Zozi. AndreaMartin is convincing as Baba Yaga, and Catherine O'Hara is a suitablyover the top villain, a bit too OTT perhaps. Tim Curry is also verygood as the skull who was brilliantly animated, and Jennifer Tilly isgreat as Pilaf .An entertaining movie! Look out for it! 7/10. Bethany Cox

celestial_moongoddess 2012-05-05 07:19:07

I was expecting it to be bad...but not this bad!

I'll come out and say it, this movie sucks! I thought it would be goodsince Don Bluth directed it, but not even he could save this crap! Setin a fantasy wonderland (It's supposed to be Russia, but it doesn'teven come close to looking like it was in the first movie.). Bartok(the irritating, and quite frankly, unfunny obnoxious sidekick from thefirst movie) returns for a movie (sequel, prequel, horrible alternatereality? I don't know what the heck it was supposed to be) all abouthim....oh joy....Despite being a short film, it felt like it dragged on for hours.The animation was horrible,the dialogue was horrible, and thecharacters (minus the bat) were bearable(I loved Pilaf).The plot was really dumb, and the annoying bat is put in the spotlightas this good guy and a hero.Yeah, sure....I was disappointed because Don Bluth directed it, all of his movies aregood, but this one was horrible.

2012-05-05 02:42:12

Broken

This review is from: Bartok the Magnificent (DVD) This arrived as a Christmas present for my girlfriend, I was sad to find that after opening the package the DVD box is rattling a loose inside and I cant ask for a replacement only a return. So I will be ordering another one and hoping this one comes in tact, It is still unopened in the plastic wrap.

2012-05-04 09:53:49

One for all Bartok fans!

Firstly if you're a fan of Anastasia don't feel threatened by this film! It has nothing to do with the original, other than having Bartok as its central character, and as such its really one for Bartok fans. The film tells the story of Bartok, a bat who really wants to be a hero but has nothing but made-up stories of heroism to tell to the admiring street crowds, and his quest to save the kidnapped Prince Ivan from the sinister witch Baba Yaga, whose home is guarded by a riddling skull voiced by Tim Curry! Hey, if its got Tim Curry in it, how bad could it be! :-) Has some great lines from Bartok and good, even if not the excellent artwork and animation of "Anastasia". I think this is also the first direct to video production made by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and their team.