When the evil Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) curses the Romanov family, Princess Anastasia and the Dowager Empress (Angela Lansbury) manage to escape. Years later, the Empress is offering a reward for anyone who can find Anastasia. Two conmen, Dimitri (John Cusak) and Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer), begin holding auditions in order to find someone they can pass off as the Princess and receive their award. So when they find Ana (Meg Ryan), an orphan with no memory of her past, who looks like Anastasia and happens to be heading in the same direction as they are, Dimitri and Vladimir decide to teach her to be Anastasia so that they can get the award. Together, the three of them and Ana's dog Pooka travel to Paris to confront the Dowager Empress and find out if Ana really is Anastasia.