I have recently been watching some of the more questionable in quality Don Bluth films in an effort to both say that I have seen them and to learn more about his change in style over time. One of these films was Bartok the Magnificent, a prequel to the 1997 film Anastasia, that follows Bartok, the minion of Rasputin in the original film. Watching Bartok the Magnificent, I observed that it was clearly a below average animated film but, more importantly to me, it was a terrible prequel. Realising the difference between the quality of the movie and its purpose as a prequel, I decided to take a look at what makes a good prequel and a bad one.
Having brought up Bartok the Magnificent, let’s begin by analysing this film. The structure of the film isn’t terrible even if it is very generic. Bartok is an entertainer who works with a bear called Zozi, voiced by Kelsey Grammer with the character being a clone of Fraser Crane. They visit Moscow and Bartok finds himself responsible for rescuing the child Tsar who has been kidnapped by Baba Yaga. He encounters Baba Yaga, must perform some tasks for her in return for the location of the Tsar and there is a twist, albeit a predictable one at that, near the end of the film. While not a good film in my humble opinion and it’s certainly not one that I could imagine myself rewatching in my spare time, there is some pleasant animation, the characters are voiced well and there are moments of entertainment from time to time.
Its status as a prequel on the other hand is appalling. While certainly set before Anastasia, it completely fails to link up to the film. For one, Bartok is the only character in Bartok the Magnificent that also appears in Anastasia and we don’t get to see his transition from entertainer/hero to minion of Rasputin. The young Tsar he rescues is clearly an ancestor of Anastasia as they are not only from the same royal family but also have incredibly similar hair. However, this has no relevance to the story of Anastasia as it is never brought up. Worse still, the worldbuilding completely confused me. In this film, none of the humans are confused by the fact that a bat is capable of talking to them. I don’t recall the world of Anastasia being one in which humans expect animals to be capable of human speech (with the obvious exception of Rasputin himself who wields all sorts of magical powers and clearly has no problem speaking to bats or insects). This, to me, is Bartok the Magnificent’s ultimate failure, that it fails to connect or contribute anything to the original film.
Of course, there are also plenty of other ways to do a terrible prequel. A common problem that often crops up is that of retconning. This is when you change or twist facts in the original in order to fit a new entry. While by no means exclusive to prequels, they are well known for introducing these issues. The more complicated a backstory you develop, the more holes that may appear when you examine the original media.
So what makes a good prequel then? Clearly, the prequel must connect to the original in a satisfying manner, expanding the world and giving the audience valuable information that enhances the original. While there are plenty of prequels that I have enjoyed over my lifetime, one that I particularly adore is Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. Set prior to the events of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, the story covers the political situation in Side 3, a space colony that is dissatisfied with their treatment by the Earth Federation and demand autonomy and, ultimately, independence. For the most part, we follow Casval Deikun and his sister Artesia, incredibly important characters in the original series, as they struggle with the changing politics around them. Eventually, we begin to see other characters from the original series and how they ultimately ended up in the original.
To me, the true success of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is not that it’s a brilliant story, it is by the way, but that it successfully enhances the cast and universe of the original. It expertly manages to develop the universe of Universal Century, giving us new information about both the conflicts leading up to the One Year War and the background of many of the characters without, as far as I’m aware, resorting to retconning. By the time that you watch or rewatch the original, you realise that you have an appreciation for the politics of the Principality of Zeon, the Zabi family and Char and Sayla in a way that you could not have prior to The Origin.
If nothing else, watching Bartok the Magnificent has given me a greater appreciation for what makes a great/terrible film and what makes a great/terrible prequel. Let me know your thoughts on the difference between a great and terrible prequel, what prequels you’ve enjoyed/hated and why, what you think of prequels in general and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!