An American Tail

1986 "Meet Fievel. In his search to find his family, he discovered America."
6.9| 1h20m| G| en| More Info
Released: 21 November 1986 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: https://www.uphe.com/movies/an-american-tail
Synopsis

A young mouse named Fievel and his family decide to migrate to America, a "land without cats," at the turn of the 20th century. But somehow, Fievel ends up in the New World alone and must fend off not only the felines he never thought he'd have to deal with again but also the loneliness of being away from home.

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Reviews

AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.
Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing
Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.
Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
hilemandavid I'm sure you know this movie, An American Tail, directed by Don Bluth and produced by Steven Spielberg. Based on a concept by David Kirschner, and a screenplay by Emmy-award winners Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. This movie, I can't really call it a movie. I call it a Masterpiece! One of the finest meals ever prepared by one of the greatest people to make animated movies after Walt Disney died, Don Bluth. Director of The Secret of NIMH. I love this movie!!! I can describe it in two words! WOW! INCREDIBLE!!! Even only one word can describe it! BEAUTIFUL!!! First of all, the animation is nice. Very high-quality traditional animation with scents from Disney's Golden Age. And oh, Gobstoppers, the story! It's a wonderful story about Fievel Mousekewitz and his family as they emigrate from Russia to America to find freedom after an anti-Semitic attack from cats. But Fievel gets washed overboard and ends up in a different part of New York Harbor, and now he has to find a chance to find his family. And the score! This is one of the best scores that James Horner has ever composed before Braveheart and Titanic! Very beautiful! What about the voice acting? ALSO WONDERFUL!!! Like the voice of Phillip Glasser as Fievel. Just adorable! And Amy Green as Tanya Mousekewitz? Also very nice. Nehemiah Persoff? Nice as Papa Mousekewitz! Erica Yohn, also wonderful playing as Mama Mousekewitz. Pat Musick sounds nice as Tony Toponi, the streetwise Italian mouse who helps Fievel out. Dom DeLuise sounds wonderful as Tiger, as if his performance as Jeremy in NIMH wasn't good enough! Nice to hear Dom back in the game! Henri the Pigeon gets wonderful Christopher Plummer's voice. And voicing Gussie Mauseheimer is Madeline Khan, who also acted in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles! We also get Will Ryan who also starred in the Christian radio series Adventures in Odyssey. We also get Niel Ross, Cathianne Blore, and Hal Smith. But it's the songs that kick me twice in the awe-striking area! If we are not getting nice messages in songs like "Never Say Never" and "A Duo," we're getting beautiful tunes and lyrics, like in "Somewhere Out There" OH! MY! GOBSTOPPERS! Oh yeah!!! Right in the tenders!!! Ha ha!!! Wonderful! Incredible!!! Beautiful Singink!!! Wonderful!!! HA HA HA!!! It certainly deserves the two Grammies.I would give this movie 100/10!
Anssi Vartiainen What's up with the 80s and mice. I mean, The Rescuers, The Great Mouse Detective... This movie. Though, come to think about it, Don Bluth worked on two of those movies and left the Disney Studio just as they were beginning to conceptualize Basil of Baker Street. So, Mr. Bluth: What's up with all the mice?Nevertheless, it's not a bad film by any means, and is held as a classic by many who have seen it as children. Personally I saw it for the first time as an adult, and while I can see the pull, I can also notice all the flaws.So what's the story? The family Mousekewitz are Russian-Jewish immigrants on their way to America where there are no cats, or so they have been told. But on the way there Fievel, their son, washes overboard and is believed to have drowned. Naturally our plucky main character simply washes to shore in a bottle, but they don't know that. And from there it's pretty much a story about how they get back together and end up in wacky hijinks while doing so.It works, simply said. The allegory of cats and mice works really well to reflect the dreams of immigrants looking to start anew in America, the land of possibilities, only to find out that their new home is not terribly different from the place they left. The film is also pure gold on the technical level, with Bluth's signatory animation style lending itself really well to the small world of animals living in the lower quarters of our own. The songs are also very good, especially There Are No Cats in America, which is ridiculously catchy. But then the problems. The story is pretty clunky. None of the various plot threads connect all that well, except in that Fievel just happens to influence all of them through forced writing. And Fievel himself is incredibly annoying. I can see the appeal of him, but to me he's easily the worst thing in this film.Still, if you've liked other Don Bluth films, this one is definitely worth a watch. Not his best film, but it has a lot of good stuff in it.
stenholmgabriel This a very good animated movie.The animation is fantastic and it is full of colorful characters. The film is lively and full of adventure and excitement. The majority of the characters are memorable with distinct personalities. And to bring these characters to life some very good actors have been selected like Hal Smith(the original voice of owl in Winnie-the-Pooh). New York City is beautifully brought to life. The animation is really top class.This film is most reminiscent of Pinocchio in structure. What with our innocent protagonist wandering around in a strange new world meeting various characters some good,some bad and like that movie An American Tail is an episodic story. But it is well told with class and finesse.Of course it has bad things about it. And there are some plot conveniences.the character of Tony is relentlessly annoying and you just want him to shut up.Also in the beginning the main character does an incredibly stupid thing involving a hat. but i guess he gets to paid for it big time after.But overall a great film well worth showing your kids or just watch yourself. Also, I'm not a hundred percent sure but I think the Swedish dubbing is very good so if you are a Swedish parent definitely show this film to your children without missing much. However, I have not seen the dubbing myself but I'm pretty sure it's good. So check that out Swedish parents.
astarisborn94 There's something unique to Don Bluth when it comes to animated movie. Despite the wave of sub-par products produced by him in the early-mid 1990s, his works during the 80s showcase his unique capabilities to produce solid animated films that focused on dark elements and have been able to capture to hearts of children who watched the film. An American Tail can be described as a light-heart view of America back in the late 19th century and the result is a satisfying journey that kids will remember years from now.When I was a young child, I remember watching the sequel a few times and really enjoying it. I hadn't even heard of this movie until Summer, 2005 when my grandparents from Odessa got a tape. Having seen it then left a good impression on me and really made the film valuable. It was not until almost six years later when I could finally get my hands on it and it's certainly is something I feel was worth every penny.The story is about Fievel Mousekewitz, an seven-year old Jewish-Russian mice who immigrate to America with his parents and two siblings to America. While on a ship, Fievel gets loss in a storm, causing a separation between his family and must find a way to return to his family.The scores is fantastic to say the least as they do very well to match up with the scenes. It does a commendable job of drawing you in to the scenes and help focus the story; not to mention is very pleasant to listen to. Mood during the story is also helped very well with the music as depressing moments are more efficient with relatively sorrowful music and more upbeat musics accompany the more light tone scenes. I especially loved the first OST, which gave the movie somewhat of a mystical aspect. The songs are more of a mixed bag. "Somewhere Out There" is, to say the least, a brilliant piece of music and has a very strong meaning; that somewhere out there, someone is there for you, but the rest of the offering aren't really that great. "No Cats in America", "A Duo", and "Never Say Never", while not bad, are pretty forgettable and feel pretty forced in just for the sake of more music and could have been forgo.Don Bluth style of animation is unique, but unique isn't always great and Don Bluth's style really isn't that good. The film looks as if it came from a 70s animation movie (quality-wise) and doesn't look all that appealing. Perhaps people weren't too bothered by the animation back in the 80s, but now that twenty-five years has passed, it has aged poorly and while can be overlooked by casual viewing, can be noticed quickly by more critical analysis.I honestly think that the baby shouldn't have appeared in the movie at all. It is barely shown (I can only recall two scenes where it is even visible) and has no relevance to the story. The villain of the story also strikes me as generic and doesn't really do much outside of a typical villain. Fortunately, most of the rest of the characters are great. The family really has a strong bond between each other and shows more love than most families do nowadays with the determinations they go to find Fievel after finding out that Fievel was alive. The tie-in they make to Tanya and Fievel does a great job of showing sibling love between each other and their determination to reunite, not to mention that the affection the parents gave to their children is believable and establishes connection between them very well; especially between Papa and Fievel. Fievel, however, is the best character in the movie. Bluth did a commendable job on making Fievel believable by showing the innocence of a young child, yet balancing it out well with Fievel's determination to find solution and to help others. The scene during the storm and near the end of the movie can make a person sob because of the struggles Fievel goes towards reuniting with his family. It's no wonder why Fievel is my current avatar on the site.What makes the film ultimately a successful film is that it has a strong, consistent story. It does a very good job at having the audience care about the characters in the story and what happens to them. Fortunately, the story doesn't sway to sub-plots after sub-plots and focuses on the main plot of the story. Sub-plots that were made; however, actually related to the story and added more depth to it. The story has a very deep meaning to it as it emphasize the value of family and never giving up to reach your goals. What is also a plus is that it is engaging and had good pacing that kept the film from dragging out too long while not feeling rushed. Finally, the film treats kids as if they are older then they are and doesn't dumb down it's message just to be "appropriate".Overall, the film succeeds at what it does and has raw emotion to it that makes it a strong experience. The scores is wonderful with an mystic feeling to it, "Somewhere Out There" is a beautiful song that capture the hearts of many, the characters are mostly likable and can relate to people in real life in some ways (especially Fievel), and it has a strong, consistent story. Despite a few exception to the rather strong story, the other songs that are forgettable, and the ugly animation, it has a lot of heart to it and this sadly forgotten film deserves more recognition than it has receive in the present day.Final Score: 7.5/10