Anastasia "Anya" Romanov

Anya is a character in Warner Bros' animated film Anastasia (1997). A Russian orphan with amnesia, Anya travels to Paris in hopes of re-discovering her past and family, collaborating with a pair of con artists who scheme to use her likeness to Russia's Imperial family to win a lucrative reward. Although largely fictionalized, the character is loosely based on two historical figures: Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, the youngest daughter of Nicholas II, and Anna Anderson, an imposter famous for claiming to be the Grand Duchess. Plot elements from the film Anastasia (1956), in which the title character is played by actress Ingrid Bergman, served as a primary source of inspiration for Anya. Created by director and animator Don Bluth, Anya is based on the urban legend that Anastasia survived the Romanov family's execution in 1918, with writers omitting most of the tragic elements about her life in favor of a more optimistic re-telling. Basing her appearance on actress Audrey Hepburn, Bluth re-designed the character several times in order to achieve a design he felt best embodied her personality. Anya is voiced primarily by actress Meg Ryan. Despite being the filmmakers' first choice for the role, Ryan was wary about the film's dark subject matter, and only committed after the directors animated an original sequence to dialogue from her film Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Singer Liz Callaway provides Anya's singing voice, while actresses Kirsten Dunst and Lacey Chabert provide the speaking and singing voices, respectively, for a younger version of the character.