An American Tail (1986) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The American Dream is hard to achieve when being a stranger to the world you enter, but when you set your mind to it, anything is possible.


PLOT


1986’s An American Tail takes place in 1885 Shosta, Russia, and follows a family of mice, the Mousekewitzes. The family includes: Papa (Nehemiah Persoff), Mama (Erica Yohn), their baby Yasha and their older children Tanya & Fievel. On Hanukkah, Papa vows to take his family to America where it is claimed to be free of their main threat that are cats. The family moves forward with it after losing their home as a result of human Cossacks causing an anti semitic arson attack. They board a tramp steamer in Hamburg, Germany, that’ll set sail in New York City. The family does reach their destination, but Fievel gets separated from them all during a violent thunderstorm. He is able to make it by floating on a bottle and despite feeling alone, a pigeon named Henri encourages him to look for his family. As he begins his search, he gets sold by con artist Warren T Rat into a sweatshop, but he escapes with another mouse named Tony Torino and they align with a female mouse named Bridget (Cathiann Blore) who is trying to convince other mice to fight off cats who are in fact terrorizing them all in New York. Bridget takes the two to meet politician Honest John (Neil Ross) for any kind of help in reuniting Fievel with his family, only for him to admit he can’t help those who aren’t registered to vote. The trio then attend a rally held by mouse aristocrat Gussie Mausheimer (Madeline Kahn) who still believes something must be done to deal with the cats. Fievel whispers an idea to her onstage, but his family do not recognize him at the back of the audience. All the mice take over an abandoned museum at Chelsea Piers and begin constructing their secret plan. On the day of the launch though does Fievel get lost again, discovering Warren’s a cat disguising himself as a rat. He does get captured by his gang, the Mott Street Maulers, but is freed by one fluffy cat named Tiger who identifies as a vegetarian. When the rest of the gang chases the young mouse, Fievel still lures them to the pier where he reveals Warren’s secret to all the mice. They then use their weapon against them which is a giant mechanical mouse reminiscent of Papa’s bedtime story, ‘Giant Mouse of Minsk’. All the cats jump into the water, only to be picked up by a tramp steamer bound for Hong Kong. All the mice then have to disperse when a pile of leaking kerosene goes off and ignites the pier. The human fire department extinguish it, but Fievel gets separated again which results in him being on his own in an alley with other mice orphans. Just when he prefers giving up, his family find him with the help of Tiger, Bridget, Tony & even Gussie. The film ends with Henri and another pigeon taking Tiger, Tony and the Mousekewitzes to the Statue of Liberty where their new lives will officially begin together.


THOUGHTS


It’s easy to say Walt Disney is the be all end all in the animation department, until seeing he ain’t the only one who brought immortal classics for the genre itself. You can give credit to Steve Jobs buying Lucasfilm’s Computer Graphics division that became Pixar or give credit to anime icon Hayao Miyazaki, but you gotta share some of that to Don Bluth as well. His experience in working with Disney is what paved the way for him to tell his own stories that are non-formulaic yet still bring their own amazement and An American Tail is a fine example. Again, the animation is quite surreal with all the life that is put for the mice and cats, but it is the production design for New York that is surreal to look at. It was like seeing a textbook come to life and I respect that. Besides impressive detailing, the true core of this movie is that it teaches viewers how to never lose adversity because it can save you from the roller coaster that comes in life, immigrant or not. You click with this message quickly when following a protagonist who sure had that feeling of a journey and despite having moments of doubt, he still had enough will to survive. Philip Glasser has us adore Fievel very much to this day because we relate to let his curiosity do the thinking which has its ups & downs, but become ultimate learning lessons for him. With every day that passed by, all he could do is keep wondering how he can reunite with his family and be free of terror roaming around him everywhere he goes. Of course he had to pitch something grand because no one else around him were even sure what to do until he stepped up. It’s one of those moments where you will never know the end result until after trying, which goes without saying it sure paid off in the long run. You also got to give credit to his sister Tanya because Amy Green showed to match his optimism in trying times. Their duet ‘Somewhere Out There’ truly defined the whole point of the movie of longing for better days. Had she not been consistent in wanting to find him whereas their parents gave up, I highly doubt they’d ever reunite. Before said reunion gave me a big smile, it was a big relief Fievel was able to gain a mix of unconventional friends. You don’t exactly get a lot of time with Henri Le Pigeon, but Christopher Plummer makes him memorable for the right reasons as he portrays him to be most debonair as he's the first to Fievel to maintain optimism through his song ‘Never Say Never’. Pat Musick makes Tony likable because he shares that adventurism with him, hence tagging along with him and hitting it off with Bridget so fast. Then the time to smile peaks when Tiger enters the story because Dom DeLuise makes him one who is a bit of a coward since he doesn’t really stand up to other cats, he is ultimately still good hearted since he never saw the point in eating mice to begin with. He hits it off well with Fievel as well through his song ‘A Duo’ because he neither sees a reason to not befriend with someone different. Had he not shown his big heart, the mice would’ve sure been doomed. As for having villains, I think Warren still hits the checkmarks in being an intimidating mastermind because John Finnegan assures us he was one who thought ahead better than everyone else would anticipate. A cat disguising himself as a rat for financial gain is a plan too crazy to hear because no one would believe it until it’s done. The fact he did for however long proved it was good while it lasted. Without the need of seeing the direct-to-video sequels I like to believe Fievel sure had an incredible life moving forward with settling into New York because your life truly begins once you get used to somewhere new. This film is quite fine on its own, but there were still a few things I couldn’t help question about as I rewatched it. For starters, ain’t it crazy humans don’t ever notice active mice doing human things like making music? I mean I feel like I’d freak out if I heard that. The same can be said when Fievel and Papa don’t hear each other before meeting Gussie. My only takeaway about showing off Lady Liberty ain’t even it winking at the end, but it would how it was halfway done by the time Fievel gets there which ain’t near being close to historical accuracy. And what exactly did Henri think it was a good idea for Fievel to be left to Warren? He can’t be that behind with what’s going down on the ground so that’s on him leaving him to a dead end. It’s even crazy Fievel never got any clothes that fit him throughout his journey. I know the hat fitting is supposed to represent his growth, but the same didn’t have to apply for the rest of what he wore. Lastly, there was no point in seeing the orphans be bullies to Fievel even if they had some kind of validation with their anger. Other than that, this movie still works out with what it’s going for. In short, An American Tail pays off in giving the right amount of warmth you expect in adventures meant to be ecstatic. If you like that out of animated movies, check this out.