Format CD single, airplay Genre Pop, R&B Label Atlantic | Recorded August 1997 Length 4:03 | |
Released March 31, 1998 (U.S. adult contemporary radio)
April 18, 1998 (UK CD single) | ||
"Journey to the Past" is a song from the 1997 20th Century Fox animated feature film, Anastasia. It was written by lyricist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty, and originally recorded by American actress and singer Liz Callaway in her role as the singing voice of the film's title character, Anastasia. A pop rendition recorded by American R&B recording artist Aaliyah is played over the film's end credits, and was released as a single from the film's soundtrack album. "Journey to the Past" is a predominantly pop ballad that is influenced by contemporary R&B music.
Contents
"Journey to the Past" has received mixed to positive reception, many praising Callaway's version, but criticizing Aaliyah's pop rendition. The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 70th Academy Awards in 1998, but lost to "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic. The song was also nominated alongside "Once Upon a December" for a Golden Globe Award in the same category, but again lost to the theme song from Titanic. It became a moderately successful pop hit in the UK. The song did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100; it only received minor adult contemporary airplay in the U.S. It stayed on the chart for only 4 weeks. The song was released to U.S. adult contemporary radio on March 31, 1998 as the soundtrack's second single.
Production
The song was originally dubbed into 28 languages for international release. Along the years, the number of foreign versions has grown, with some new dubs and, beside the official dubs, several local TV stations made their own dub, or re-dubbed an existing version, in local languages (e.g. Albanian, Egyptian Arabic, Czech, Polish, Taiwanese Mandarin, Korean, Slovak, Vietnamese, and so on).
In the Flemish version of the movie, only young and adult Anastasia and Dimitri were dubbed in Flemish. For the rest of the characters, the Dutch dub was used.
Reception
Critical reception for "Journey to the Past" has been generally mixed to positive.
Film version
Erin McCarty of Epinions praised the original Liz Callaway version of the song, saying Callaway "voices Anastasia with a clear-throated exuberance and beauty that reminds me of Jodi Benson from The Little Mermaid." Filmtracks called Callaway's version of the song "attractive". DVDTalk named the song "the film's best tune", and a prime example of "songs that stick with you and beg to be repeated". The Stage wrote "Somewhere Out There from An American Tail, and the titular Journey to the Past from Fox’s Anastasia, demonstrate that Disney did not always hold the monopoly on beautiful standards." Cinematter said "The songs are enjoyable, but only two (Journey to the Past, and Once Upon a December) have any lasting presence."
Single version
McCarty's review of Aaliyah's pop rendition of the song was more mixed: "...as is almost always the case with these animated musicals that produce radio hits, I prefer the in-movie version." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave a somewhat positive review of Aaliyah's rendition, calling it a good version of a song that sounds better in its original form.
Music video
The music video begins in a modern-day American neighborhood on a seemingly warm day. Aaliyah is seen singing in the windows of a small grocery store and on the street where children are playing in an open fire hydrant. Tying in to the theme of going back to the past, Aaliyah goes back and forth from the real modern-day world to the animated world of Russia in the 1920s, the time in which Anastasia is set. She is then seen in several of the movie's iconic scenes such as balancing on a log with Anastasia behind her, out in the snow where the "Journey to the Past" song is featured in the film, in the ballroom in the "Once Upon a December" sequence, ascending the lift in the Eiffel Tower (the "Paris Holds the Key (To Your Heart)" scene) and on stage in the Russian ballet scene. The fountains of Jardins du Trocadéro can be seen briefly. The music video ends with her sitting on the rooftop seemingly overlooking the final scene in which Dimitri and Anastasia kiss and finally on the clouds above St. Petersburg with the children.