I really disliked Rasputin in this film. He was a pathetic villain.

Yeah I think the problem with Rasputin that he was a kind of cheap rip-off on Jafar, just another slender elegant man with a beard who cackles and complains about his failures, nothing really original. His motives for trying to kill Anastasia are so ridiculous that Bartok is right in saying he should "get a life" because Anastasia didn't really do anything to him. Her family banished him and now he's so anxious to get his revenge on her; he's so anxious as though she was the one who ruined him. He also speaks of bringing a curse on the family that would destroy them, yet it was the Bolsheviks that killed the family, that's all the film elaborates on. It was the Czar's own ineffective rule that inspired hatred in the revolutionaries and brought about his abdication and later his death, a curse from Rasputin makes no significance in the family's murder. Rasputin had little to do with their deaths other than his bat minions opening the gates to let the Bolsheviks storm the palace.

This Rasputin is also nothing like the real guy who was really just a crazy monk who kept giving advice to the Romanovs that was ill-used and appeared to have visions and special powers that could help heal the youngest child Alexei through his hemophilia. To me, that kind of person is more interesting to learn about because he was a man of mystery and intrigue, some people believing he was a crazy blasphemous monk and others thinking he was a savior and a radical idealist for religion. With Don Bluth's Rasputin, he's just another evil villain who keeps cackling and complaining about killing a girl he barely knew and making very cheesy puns like "Care for a little swim under the ice" and "How enchanting, together again...for the last time!" Is that anything new for a villain because Jafar had better jokes and vocabulary than this loud-mouthed nutball.

i remember when i saw this in the theater, a russian couple behind me kept on laughing. I was about 8 years old when it came out, but i later became a history major and understood the story more when i took courses on russia and other similar subjects. Now I see why they were laughing lol. it seemed like he was used for comedic relief.

"And all I loved, I loved alone." -Edgar Allan Poe

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When I watch this movie as a little kid I thought Rasputin was very very frightening. I was very afraid of him. He just looked creepy and it was really sad what he did. He doesn't remind me of Jafar, I never even thought to compare them, he reminds me of Pitch Black from Rise of the Guardians and the evil dude from Hercules.

Yeah, he seems pretty unnecessary, and his character is probably a weak point of the film. But I'm glad he's in it for two reasons: First, "In the Dark of the Night." That is one sweet villain song! Second, the boat "sleepwalking" scene, which just seemed very chilling and well done to me.

I did laugh at his first reaction though, and Bartok's "Wow" in response.

He was quite helpless, only made powerful by the demons/spirits he sold his soul to. The vial filled with them is the real villain in the movie. Without them, it's made pretty clear Rasputin can't do anything.

I watched this a long time ago and just today for the first time in awhile. I found it really boring and humorless. The only laughs you could get are possibly from Rasputin, he's the comedic element. Or the bat, but neither is particularly funny.

The other characters are very stuffy and cliche, and the songs are not engaging. Scenes of turmoil are annoying, the ending too perfect and sugary. Not a fan.