In 1986, Steven Spielberg released the first ever animated feature he had ever been apart of, An American Tail. Directed by animation legend Don Bluth, this film would beat out Disney's The Great Mouse Detective financially and would soon form Bluth as Disney's biggest competitor in the 1980s. So much so that Disney not only boosted up their game, but would soon create the Disney Renaissance and even beat Bluth out with classics like The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast and The Lion King. But with that out of the way, how does this movie hold up?Right off the bat, this movie never pulls any punches when it needs to. The story centers around a Russian jewish mouse named Fievel Mouskewitz in the search for his family in New York City after getting washed ashore. While the movie does get really sad by constantly letting down poor Fievel whenever he thinks he's one step closer to seeing his folks again, it also has quite an optimistic feel to it. It's not hard to root for Fievel on his journey due to how determined he is to find his loved ones, especially with the help of others. The film lets Fievel down so much that when he finally reunites with his family at the end, it's an incredibly happy and heart melting moment that really makes all those hardships worth it.The characters besides Fievel are more of a mix, with some either being good supporters or being rather unnecessary. Obviously Fievel's family is the main goal of the film, but the kind spirited father, worrisome mother and sweet sister give the right amount of closure to make the audience want to see them back together with their little boy. The ones Fievel meets in America like Henri, Tony and Bridget do their best to help the poor guy out, but they tend to get caught up in their own situations. The most amusing characters are Honest John and Gussie Mausheimer due to their caricatured personas of rich folk in the 1880s and witty vocal deliveries from Neil Ross and Madeline Kahn. Of course there's Tiger voiced by Dom DeLuise, but he tended to be more annoying than funny and he could have done more in the film to make me remember him. In addition to James Horner's emotionally captivating music score, the songs are simply phenomenal. From the highly entertaining There Are No Cats in America, to the whimsically optimistic Never Say Never, to the comical and upbeat Duo, these songs really emphasize both the optimistic tone and the false belief that America is entirely free of criminals. However, the real stand out is Somewhere Out There; it perfectly captures the theme that even through the most difficult and dark times in life, it's important to look on the bright side because there's a good chance things will turn out for the better very soon. Not to mention, it's enough to even make an old man cry it's so emotional.The animation is the usual Don Bluth wonderment with the lovable character designs and animation, and some exceptionally well crafted colors and lighting depending on the scene (the dramatic ones stand out most). The backgrounds also have a very photographic aesthetic that really recreate the belief that the film takes place in New York during this time period. Rotoscoping was also used for the humans and some contraptions, and they do look quite lavish and smooth. The only complaint with the animation is that it's pretty obvious when some shots are reused, although that's more a fault of the small budget the film had. In terms of negatives, I think the film's story kinda went all over the place some of the time. I understand this is meant to be a series of escapades in one big city for a little mouse, but the side characters' goal to get rid of the cats doesn't even conclude at the very end and is kind of forgotten about by the time the third act begins in favor of wrapping up Fievel's arch. Also, I think the film would have been better without the inclusion of Warren T. Rat. While I get the intent to portray him as a conniving conman who lies even with his appearance, the dangers Fievel encounters in New York are villainous enough, and he could have easily been apart of the rest of the antagonistic felines. Nonetheless, I still think An American Tail holds up as an emotional albeit optimistic tale that helps prove Don Bluth's belief that children can handle just about anything as long as you give them a happy ending in return.

Don Bluth Has Done It Again, After Seeing "The Secret Of NIMH" (One Of My 2 Favorite Animated Movies) I Now Have To Make Room For "An American Tail" ... The Story Of Immigration Seen Through The Eyes Of A Young Mouse Is The Story Of All Our Fore-Fathers ... The Story Is A Wonderful Imagery Of "Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness" ... Fievel Is Mesmerized With Wonderful Stories Of His New Home America Only To Find Danger, Loneliness, Fear, Hunger And Desperation ... Yet Fievel Has Faith And A Never Erring Sense Of Belonging To Something Much Much Bigger Than Himself ... In The End He Finds That Yes The Streets Are Paved With Cheese (Gold) In America Only When We Realize That The Cheese (Gold) We Came Looking For Is In The Form Of Family, Friends, Opportunity And Happiness ... Dom Deluse (Also Does A Voice In The Secret Of NIMH) And Madeline Kahn As Well As Christopher Plummer Bring Believability To The Cartoon Characters They Portray ... The Simple Animation Is A Don Bluth Trademark, Leaving The Wonder To The Story Telling And Not The Animation ... I Am Flabbergasted That I Waited This Long To See This Movie And I Am Glad I Didn't Miss Out ... I Will Be Giving Fievel Another Shot At Bringing A Tear To My Eyes (Did I Really Say That) ...

This is a somewhat adorable little animated movie about a Russian mouse named Fievel who immigrates to the United States with his family to be away from cats. He gets separated from his family during the process and tries to survive in his new country and to reunite with his loved ones, all the while discovering cats exist in the United States as well.This film has its good moments, from Fievel dealing with getting lost to him and his new friends conjuring plans to defeat the band of cats. However, large parts of the film didn't generate much suspense or intrigue to keep the story 100 percent engaging, as I thought many of the scenes were rushed through and the characters were too childish or "cute." The songs, especially "There Are No Cats in America" and "Somewhere Out There" were too whimsical and pretty annoying - somewhat painful to listen to.I've seen much animated films than this one; however, this one may be a winner for little children.Grade C

It's 1885 Shostka, Russia. The Mousekewitzes are a Jewish mouse family suffering from attacks by Cossacks and cats. The father assures everyone that there are no cats in America. In Hamburg, Germany, the family boards a ship bound for America. Fievel falls overboard and is lost at sea. He survives in a bottle and arrives at the Statue of Liberty. He goes off to find his family who arrived in NYC assuming he's dead.Fievel needs a comedic sidekick. Tiger (Dom DeLuise) the cat comes closest to what the movie needs. Essentially he's mostly by himself and that wears on the movie. It needs more fun and more joy. It has a great song in 'Somewhere Out There' but the movie has the characters sing it out of tune. It's cute to start it off that way but I think it would be much better to build to a great Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram duet in that scene. The animation is nice but they have it grimy and smoggy for industrial NYC. It's a nice animated movie tapping into the American immigrant lore.