An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
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A family of Russian-Jewish mice travels to the American Old West, where a young mouse must navigate a desert journey and a scheme by a villainous cat.
The story
In 1890, five years after emigrating to the United States, the impoverished Mousekewitz family continues to struggle against mouse-hungry cats. While Tanya dreams of becoming a singer, Fievel spends his days thinking about a bloodhound-sheriff called Wylie Burp. Their lives are upended when a British aristocratic cat named Cat R. Waul launches an attack, tricking the mice into moving out west. During the journey, Fievel is separated from his family and stranded in the desert. The film follows his arduous trek across the wilderness as he eventually reunites with his family in Green River, Utah, while facing the cats' sinister plans.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1890, the Mousekewitz family, Russian-Jewish mice struggling in the U.S., are tricked by a cat named Cat R. Waul into moving to the Old West. During the trip, Fievel is separated from his family and stranded in the desert by Waul's hench-spider, T.R. Chula. Meanwhile, Tiger the cat is captured by a native mouse tribe and hailed as a god. Fievel eventually reunites with Tiger and makes his way to Green River, Utah, where the family has arrived. Waul intends to trick the mice into building a saloon before eating them. Fievel overhears the plan and is captured, but is saved by Tanya's singing. Fievel then meets Wylie Burp, an elderly bloodhound, and convinces him to train Tiger as a lawman. Tiger, hoping to win back his girlfriend Miss Kitty (who is now a saloon girl), agrees. The mice, Tiger, and Wylie Burp fight the cats during the saloon's opening. Tanya helps the mice escape a giant trap, and the heroes use the trap as a catapult to send Waul and his henchmen away. Miss Kitty reunites with Tiger, Tanya becomes a famous singer, and the river flows again. Fievel receives a sheriff badge from Wylie Burp.
- First release year
- 1991
- Runtime (minutes)
- 75
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Phil Nibbelink; Simon Wells
- Writers
- Flint Dille · screenplay; Charles Swenson · story
- Cast and characters
- Phillip Glasser · Fievel Mousekewitz; Cathy Cavadini · Tanya Mousekewitz; Dom DeLuise · Tiger; Amy Irving · Miss Kitty; James Stewart · Wylie Burp; John Cleese · Cat R. Waul; Jon Lovitz · T.R. Chula; Nehemiah Persoff · Papa Mousekewitz; Erica Yohn · Mama Mousekewitz
- Genres
- animated; Western; musical; comedy
- Themes
- Immigration; Identity; Heroism
- Tone and mood
- Comedic; Adventurous; Musical
- Premise and plot tags
- Sequel; Western; Animated; Musical; Family
- Source material / true-story basis
- An American Tail
- Franchise connections
- An American Tail
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews, with praise for its animation, score, and voice performances, but criticism for its story and pacing. It was a commercial disappointment at the box office due to competition with Beauty and the Beast but became a success on home video and gained a cult following.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 59% · scale: percentage · review count: 17
- Production trivia
- It was the first production for the short-lived Amblimation studio.; It was the only Amblimation film to use cel animation.; John Cleese was paid his lowest fee in ten years for the role.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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