An American Tail

Voices of: Phillip Glasser, Nehemiah Persoff, Amy Green, Christopher Plummer, Dom DeLuise, John Finnegan, Will Ryan, Madeline Kahn
Directed by: Don Bluth
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Family
1986

Times Seen:
Tim: 4

Summary: A young Russian mouse, Fievel (Phillip Glasser) is separated from his family while traveling to America. He travels around New York City, relentlessly trying to reunite with his family, but the more he tries, the less likely it seems that he will ever find them.

Review:

Tim: An American Tail is one of those movies that changed my life when I was a kid. I remember it making such an incredible impact on me. I loved this movie, and now, years later, when I watch it again, I can say that this is indeed an underrated, great movie. I really enjoyed the story, which is much more adult oriented than you would expect from a G rated family movie. The movie will appeal to children, but the themes keep this an intelligent, powerful movie.

This film is really about an immigrant's experience traveling to the United States of America. The story here is about a family of mice, but it is very realistic of a human's experience as well. The movie perfectly captures the idealistic dream of life in America (there are no cats in America, and the streets are made of cheese) and the harsh reality immigrants were confronted with when they finally did reach our shores. Kids probably wouldn't realize the importance of this, but I was appreciative of the film for making this an integral part of the story.

I also like the other themes of the movie- the importance of family, of not giving up, that people can become friends no matter how different, among others. This is a powerful story that actually means something. I also have to mention the film's songs. Generally, I am not a fan of musical numbers in animated features, because it is so easy to make them silly and forgettable. The songs in this film are fantastic, however- James Horner did an amazing job. The aforementioned "There Are No Cats in America" is great, but even that doesn't compare to "Somewhere Out There," a song that I loved as a child and love even more now. The actual singing is a bit off key, but the song is beautiful.

The characters in this film are incredibly memorable as well. Fievel is one of the cutest, most interesting characters I've ever seen in an animated movie. I really like him. The rest of the cast is good as well- Fievel's entire family are strongly written, and I like Tiger as well. Dom DeLuise does a terrific job with him.

An American Tail is a classic family movie that makes a far greater impact than you can imagine. The film is incredibly well written, features some impressive songs, and is very entertaining. This is a great movie.

*Update- it's now been many years since I last saw An American Tail, but I watched it again with my five year-old son. It's so amazing to be able to share a movie like this with him- I loved it when I was a child and very possibly, I watched it at the same age he is now. That's one aspect of movies that I've appreciated the older I got. My dad watched movies with me that he loved as a child, and now I'm able to do the same.

I wasn't quite sure how this would go- would I feel differently about the movie with more years of experience, more wisdom, now being a father myself? It's interesting how consistent my ratings of movies have been at different stages of my life. I loved this movie at 37 years old and loved sharing it with my son. My original review holds up completely.

It was interesting to see the movie through my son's eyes. It has a number of potentially frightening sequences and he usually gets sucked into movies, so has shown some trepidation during intense moments. That didn't happen here. He was riveted to the story from beginning to end. We were both engaged throughout the story and he enjoyed even the intense sequences. At the end of the movie, he whispered to me, "Do you know what I give this movie? 10!" That's high praise from an insightful little boy. I very much still consider this a great movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West