Please don't spend money on this.

Crappy film

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I would give Don Bluth credit for making such an exquisite masterpiece, which is becoming one of my favorite franchises, alongside with "Tom and Jerry" and "Frozen". This film has classic theme characters, especially that Tony Toponi character who is definitely my favorite. Even the plot is excitingly fantastic. The second film "Fievel Goes West" is okay, but kind of sucked when Tony only makes minor background appearances (which is possibly the worst thing that would happened in movies/shows) and Tanya is more of a teen diva stereotype. There are direct-to-video sequels that are criticized, but are considered worth watching since they're back to the original formula, as well as bringing back Tony as a main character and Tanya back as an independent preteen. Out of the four "American Tail" films, the original is always best. Yet, it's sad that Universal Studios ceased production on the "American Tail" franchise, but rather continue working on the "Land Before Time" franchise instead. Sad.

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.

There's something unique to Don Bluth when it comes to animated movie. Despite the wave of sub-par products produced by him in the early-mid 1990s, his works during the 80s showcase his unique capabilities to produce solid animated films that focused on dark elements and have been able to capture to hearts of children who watched the film. An American Tail can be described as a light-heart view of America back in the late 19th century and the result is a satisfying journey that kids will remember years from now.When I was a young child, I remember watching the sequel a few times and really enjoying it. I hadn't even heard of this movie until Summer, 2005 when my grandparents from Odessa got a tape. Having seen it then left a good impression on me and really made the film valuable. It was not until almost six years later when I could finally get my hands on it and it's certainly is something I feel was worth every penny.The story is about Fievel Mousekewitz, an seven-year old Jewish-Russian mice who immigrate to America with his parents and two siblings to America. While on a ship, Fievel gets loss in a storm, causing a separation between his family and must find a way to return to his family.The scores is fantastic to say the least as they do very well to match up with the scenes. It does a commendable job of drawing you in to the scenes and help focus the story; not to mention is very pleasant to listen to. Mood during the story is also helped very well with the music as depressing moments are more efficient with relatively sorrowful music and more upbeat musics accompany the more light tone scenes. I especially loved the first OST, which gave the movie somewhat of a mystical aspect. The songs are more of a mixed bag. "Somewhere Out There" is, to say the least, a brilliant piece of music and has a very strong meaning; that somewhere out there, someone is there for you, but the rest of the offering aren't really that great. "No Cats in America", "A Duo", and "Never Say Never", while not bad, are pretty forgettable and feel pretty forced in just for the sake of more music and could have been forgo.Don Bluth style of animation is unique, but unique isn't always great and Don Bluth's style really isn't that good. The film looks as if it came from a 70s animation movie (quality-wise) and doesn't look all that appealing. Perhaps people weren't too bothered by the animation back in the 80s, but now that twenty-five years has passed, it has aged poorly and while can be overlooked by casual viewing, can be noticed quickly by more critical analysis.I honestly think that the baby shouldn't have appeared in the movie at all. It is barely shown (I can only recall two scenes where it is even visible) and has no relevance to the story. The villain of the story also strikes me as generic and doesn't really do much outside of a typical villain. Fortunately, most of the rest of the characters are great. The family really has a strong bond between each other and shows more love than most families do nowadays with the determinations they go to find Fievel after finding out that Fievel was alive. The tie-in they make to Tanya and Fievel does a great job of showing sibling love between each other and their determination to reunite, not to mention that the affection the parents gave to their children is believable and establishes connection between them very well; especially between Papa and Fievel. Fievel, however, is the best character in the movie. Bluth did a commendable job on making Fievel believable by showing the innocence of a young child, yet balancing it out well with Fievel's determination to find solution and to help others. The scene during the storm and near the end of the movie can make a person sob because of the struggles Fievel goes towards reuniting with his family. It's no wonder why Fievel is my current avatar on the site.What makes the film ultimately a successful film is that it has a strong, consistent story. It does a very good job at having the audience care about the characters in the story and what happens to them. Fortunately, the story doesn't sway to sub-plots after sub-plots and focuses on the main plot of the story. Sub-plots that were made; however, actually related to the story and added more depth to it. The story has a very deep meaning to it as it emphasize the value of family and never giving up to reach your goals. What is also a plus is that it is engaging and had good pacing that kept the film from dragging out too long while not feeling rushed. Finally, the film treats kids as if they are older then they are and doesn't dumb down it's message just to be "appropriate".Overall, the film succeeds at what it does and has raw emotion to it that makes it a strong experience. The scores is wonderful with an mystic feeling to it, "Somewhere Out There" is a beautiful song that capture the hearts of many, the characters are mostly likable and can relate to people in real life in some ways (especially Fievel), and it has a strong, consistent story. Despite a few exception to the rather strong story, the other songs that are forgettable, and the ugly animation, it has a lot of heart to it and this sadly forgotten film deserves more recognition than it has receive in the present day.Final Score: 7.5/10

The Mousekewitzes, a family of Russian mice (whose junior members' broad American accents curiously bear no resemblance to their parent's guttural Russian tones) are forced to flee their homeland after being torched from their modest home by marauding felines. Having already sung the praises of America ("there are no cats in America"), it is only natural that Papa Mousekewitz leads his clan to the land of the free, and it is not long before they are ensconced in the hold of an ocean liner. During a storm, Fievel, the youngest of the children, is washed overboard and is believed to have perished by his parents, although sister Tanya never gives up hope of finding him alive. Of course, Fievel survives against the odds and, with the help of an assortment of creatures, embarks on a voyage to relocate his family.Back in '86, when the now rejuvenated Disney corporation was languishing in the doldrums and churning out sub-standard fare like The Great Mouse Detective, Don Bluth briefly looked as if he might be the man to speed off with the baton the Mouse Factory had so badly fumbled. Sadly for him, it wasn't to be, and on the evidence of this movie it isn't hard to see why. While An American Tail is acceptable enough entertainment for children, and is superior to Disney's output of the time, it still falls short of the standards to which Disney had – and occasionally still do – reach. Fievel is an adorable enough little character, and his predicament leaves you little choice but to root for him, but at the end of the day, he's just another cute cartoon mouse with little to distinguish him from all the other cartoon mice.The film's storyline is simple enough, and the historical perspective of the emigrant rush to the States in the 1880s is a unique and interesting one in which to place it. Bluth's writers attach symbolic significance to many aspects of the story – particularly the role of the cats – which will fly right over the top of the kid's heads but which should be easy enough for most adults to pick up on. And while this subtext is welcome in what is overtly a sentimental kiddie flick, it is still a poor substitute for the knowing adult jokes we have come to enjoy (and expect) from cartoon films today. The fact is, there isn't much of a storyline here, even for a film with a kiddie-friendly running time of 80 minutes, especially as Bluth shoves in a half-dozen or so tunes that are as out of place as they are unmemorable. Only 'Somewhere Out There' stands out, but that's too slushy for most adults.While the animation is, again, of a commensurate standard to Disney's at the time, it looks a little 80s-dated today: too recent to hark back to the Disney glory days, yet too old for the major animators standards of today. While the grimy background is in keeping with the period in which the movie is set, its subdued tones means it fails to catch the eye. So we focus more on the characters, and realise we're watching Disney clones – which might have been considered unavoidable to a degree back in the eighties, but doesn't really stand up today.An American Tail.is a respectable, workmanlike effort that won't leave anyone angry at having invested eighty minutes of their time in it. But it lacks the vibrancy and texture required to capture both the audience's attention and imagination. Youngsters will be uncomplaining, but few over seven will commandeer the DVD player to watch it over and over again – which, after all, is the only true benchmark of a cartoon's worth..