An American Tail

Before there was "Finding Nemo", there was this movie. Director Don Bluth left the Disney studio in 1979 in order to ironically bring back classic animation that Walt Disney was known for. His first solo feature film, "The Secret of NIMH", made only a modest amount of money and that was one factor why Don Bluth Productions went bankrupt. Bluth created a new studio and then Steven Spielberg came knocking with his frequent collaborators, producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, in tow. Spielberg wanted to start making animated films and thus "An American Tail" came into being. As I will explain, most of the credit for this film's success belongs to Spielberg. Even though he was new to the process of creating cartoons, Spielberg's focus was on the story and I believe that made this movie a hit. You can also give credit to the music, themes and drama of this animated film. I did get to see this show in a theater as an adult because of a weekly screening of classic family films. I am thankful for that. Even though I enjoy "The Great Mouse Detective" almost as equally, "An American Tail" just barely qualifies as my favorite movie from 1986.

This film is aptly named because it deals with many American themes of faith, optimism and taking risks. Kids also learn that one person can make a difference regardless of size. "An American Tail" also informs children about an important time in the history of this continent. It is done effectively by using animated mice that leave the old world just like their European counterparts in order to have a better life in the New World. With the luxuries that our society enjoys today, we easily forget our forbearers who risked a lot to create such a society. Our immigrant ancestors probably accepted the reality that they themselves wouldn't become rich but at least they could live in a land where it was possible for their descendants. "An American Tail" portrays why many people took such a risk. The inequality in Europe helped to feed the exaggerated image of a prosperous America. In this children's version of history, cats are a big problem for mice living in Europe and America is rumored to have no cats at all. The mice in Europe also can't even speak the word "cat". This is part of the story perfectly illustrates for kids the hope that drove immigrants as well as the unreasonable aspirations they sometimes had. All kids who watch this film know that there are in fact cats in America and so they get an insight to the plight of those who came to this continent in the late 19th century. Children also come to realize how wonderful freedom is and how it can lead to better things. There may be cats in America but the mice now have the freedom to say "cat" as well as "down with cats". The mice seek to create a better world for themselves using to the freedom they didn't have before in their former lands. It is true that freedom doesn't mean instant prosperity but it does create hope for such a fate because it guarantees the pursuit of happiness. Freedom also doesn't mean an absence of inequality and corruption. The cats in "An American Tail" symbolize the misuse of freedom. As a child watching this movie, it was one of the first times I experienced a plot twist with Warren T. Rat. Fievel's idea of a better world is finding his family. By not giving up and due to his curious nature, he and his fellow mice achieve their goals. It is noteworthy that the Mousekewitz children have American accents because they have to be relatable for the children in the audience. Many of the characters in "An American Tail" have European accents and it is a great illustration of how North America is mostly comprised of people and cultures that originated from across the ocean. Fievel and Tanya embody anyone who has foreign ancestors. Tony reminds me of the Artful Dodger from "Oliver Twist" for some reason. The only plot hole I can see with the story has to do with the original plan that the mice have to get rid of the cats. It is ten minutes to the departure of the boat but they are still sleeping for some reason. Shouldn't they have gone to lure the cats by this point? I am not questioning the importance of the arrival of the cats at exactly 6am but rather why the mice were still asleep at 5:50. When I was young, I fully felt the anxiety of the secret weapon being released too early. The mice do everything they can to stop the secret weapon only to have an even harder time reversing their course. That is a well-done part of the movie. Also as a child, it drove me nuts whenever Fievel would come so close to running into his family. This however creates a very dramatic climax that even as an adult can bring tears to my eyes. The animated performance of Fievel was also quite dramatic throughout the entire show.

The voice cast did what they were hired to do quite well. Nehemiah Persoff as Papa Mousekewitz provides the best vocal performance out of all the actors. He also is the source of much of the heart of "An American Tail". John P. Finnegan as Warren T. Rat should also be mentioned. He won the role by quoting Shakespeare as if he were a Brooklyn taxi driver. This ended up becoming part of the character. The best character in the whole movie though is Tiger as voiced by Dom DeLuise. He voiced a total of four characters for Bluth over the course of twelve years but I consider his performance as Tiger to be my favorite performance of his entire career that I have seen to date. As a fun fact, the song "A Duo" stops during the back scratch at the suggestion of DeLuise. Christopher Plummer provides the voice of Henri and his performance of the song "Never say Never" makes me question why his singing voice wasn't used in "The Sound of Music". Will Ryan is the voice of Digit and he would later provide a memorable performance in "The Land Before Time". Ryan appears in six Bluth movies by they way. Many people forget this but the Grammy-winning and Oscar nominated song "Somewhere Out There" was the "Let It Go" of the late 80's. I may have been young but I don't forget its popularity at the time. I can't figure out what movie first introduced me to composer James Horner but it is either this show, "The Land Before Time" or "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids". The opening credits were so amazing at establishing the mood of the film and it is mostly thanks to Horner's score. This was Spielberg's first animated film as a producer and he was not used to the length of time it takes to make a cartoon. Spielberg attention was on the story while Bluth took charge of bringing the story to life through animation. Bluth felt that a foreign name like Fievel would be hard for kids to remember but Spielberg insisted, having named the character after his grandfather. As a young child when this show came out, I can testify that Spielberg was right because Fievel was not hard to remember at all. The appeal of this character is what makes the name memorable. Spielberg's grandfather, as a young Jewish boy, would have to sit outside his school in the snow with the window open because he was not allowed inside. This story is referenced in the movie when Fievel watches the other young mice reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This movie saw the return of such animation techniques such as rotoscoping. For the ship and Giant Mouse of Minsk, models were made and photographed. The Disney studio used methods like this previous to and during the 1960's but were no longer employed during the early 80's. The design of "An American Tail" references Disney animation from the 1940's but what doesn't fully appeal to me is Bluth's signature use of earthy colors and fright. As with "The Secret of NIMH", I could hear a child screaming in the theater during a frightening scene in "An American Tail". In my opinion, a children's movie should never scare children to this extent. It could have been a more intense movie if it wasn't for Spielberg, who cut some scenes he felt were too scary. People can argue that Disney movies have a dark side too but Don Bluth's movies go a little too far. To illustrate my point, watch Disney's "The Great Mouse Detective" (which was also released in 1986).

David Kirschner, who created the initial concept of this story, would go on to produce many other enjoyable family films. He would again collaborate with Don Bluth on "Titan A.E." There are many comparisons that can be made between "An American Tail" and other movies such as "The Rescuers" and Spielberg's future masterpiece: "Schindler's List". I would go so far as to say that "An American Tail" is one of the most important non-Disney animated films ever made. Bluth and his former employer went head-to-head in 1986 and even though "The Great Mouse Detective" did moderate at the box office, it was "An American Tail" that broke the records. It was painful for those at Disney Animation to see a deserter triumph over them. It led up to another showdown between "The Land Before Time" and "Oliver and Company", which arguably ended in a tie. None can deny however that the films of the Disney Renaissance overshadowed the movies that Bluth created without Spielberg in the 90's. If it hadn't been for "An American Tail", Disney wouldn't have been motivated to start bringing their A-game to their craft. Bluth was the king of Hollywood animation for most of the 1980's but it is in large part thanks to Spielberg. While a few of Bluth's later films have became cult classics, most of them though either did moderate or poorly at the box office and I feel it is because of his style. Thanks to all those involved in making this movie and not just Bluth, "An American Tail" has an inspirational story with great music and drama. It also let to a franchise.

4 Stars