An American Tail (franchise)

Last updated

An American Tail
Created by
Original work An American Tail (1986)
Owner
Years1986–1999
Films and television
Film(s)
Animated series Fievel's American Tails (1992)
Direct-to-video
Games
Video game(s)
Audio
Original music"Somewhere Out There"
"Dreams to Dream"
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s) An American Tail Theatre

An American Tail is a franchise based on the 1986 animated feature film of the same name directed by Don Bluth and produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios/Amblin Entertainment.

Contents

The franchise follows the adventures of Fievel Mousekewitz, a Russian-Jewish mouse immigrant to the United States in 1885. The franchise opened up several attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Florida including "Fievel's Playland" and "An American Tail Show". [1] All four American Tail films were released on a combination pack DVD released on June 13, 2017. [2]

Media

Films

An American Tail

An American Tail is the original 1986 film which follows Fievel and his family as they immigrate from Russia to the United States and how he subsequently gets lost and aims to reunite with them.

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is a 1991 western sequel to An American Tail. This film has been exhibited four times at the Jimmy Stewart Museum since 2015, [3] a dedication to the late James Stewart in his final role.

An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island

An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island is a 1998 direct-to-video prequel as it explores darker themes unlike the past films. This film contributes Elaine Bilstad's final appearance, releasing it posthumously in the United States in early 2000. [4]

An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster

An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster is a 1999 direct-to-video prequel, released in the United States in mid 2000. [5]

Video games

An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends

An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends is a 1993 Microsoft DOS point-and-click adventure game developed by Capstone Software and Manley & Associates, Inc., based on both of the first two An American Tail films.

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is a 1994 Super NES video game based on the film of the same name.

An American Tail Movie Book

An American Tail Movie Book is a 1998 Interactive storybook for Windows and Macintosh developed by Wayforward Technologies and published by Sound Source Interactive.

An American Tail: Fievel's Gold Rush

An American Tail: Fievel's Gold Rush is a 2002 platform game for Game Boy Advance developed by Hokus-Pokus. It received mediocre reviews and is only formatted for younger players. [6]

An American Tail

An American Tail is a 2007 platform game developed by Data Design Interactive and published by Blast! Entertainment based on the film of the same name. It was released exclusively in Europe. [7] The game consists of ten levels and four bonus levels. In each level the player must guide Fievel on a preset path from start to finish. The player can collect stars or pieces of cheese along the way. Gameplay takes different forms in different levels, such as running in a bubble, riding the back of Henri the pigeon, parachuting downwards and others. [8] The game was noted for being a "rip-off" of Nintendo's Super Monkey Ball series and received largely unfavorable reception. [9]

Music

"Somewhere Out There"

"Somewhere Out There" is the theme song of An American Tail, performed by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram.

"Dreams to Dream"

"Dreams to Dream" is the theme song of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, performed by Linda Ronstadt.

Other

Fievel's American Tails

Fievel's American Tails is a 1992 spin-off TV series and continuation of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. This series remained abandoned after the release of the direct-to-video sequels until NBCUniversal regained rights to the series in 2020 and is now available on Peacock. [10]

An American Tail Theatre

An American Tail Theatre was a live stage show based on An American Tail: Fievel Goes West at various Universal Parks & Resorts theme parks that ran from 1990 to 1992.

Cast and characters

List indicator(s)

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.

CharactersFilmsTelevision series
An American Tail An American Tail:
Fievel Goes West
An American Tail:
The Treasure of Manhattan Island
An American Tail:
The Mystery of the Night Monster
Fievel's American Tails
19861991199819991992
Fievel Mousekewitz Phillip Glasser Thomas Dekker Phillip Glasser
Tanya MousekewitzAmy Green Cathy Cavadini Lacey Chabert Cathy Cavadini
Betsy Cathcart S
Papa Mousekewitz Nehemiah Persoff Lloyd Battista
Mama Mouskewitz Erica Yohn Jane Singer Susan Silo
Tiger Dom DeLuise
Tony Toponi Pat Musick Silent cameoPat Musick
BridgetCathianne Blore
Honest John Neil Ross
Henri Christopher Plummer Silent cameo
Warren T. Cat John Finnegan
Digit Will Ryan
Gussie Mausheimer Madeline Kahn
Wylie Burp James Stewart
Cat R. Waul John Cleese Gerrit Graham
T.R. Chula Jon Lovitz Dan Castellaneta
Miss Kitty Amy Irving Cynthia Ferrer
CholenaElaine Bilstad
Leeza Miller S
Chief Wulisso David Carradine
Dr. Dithering René Auberjonois
Mr. Grasping Ron Perlman
Scuttlebutt John Kassir
Police Chief McBrusque Sherman Howard
Nellie BrieSusan Boyd
Madame Mousey Candi Milo
Reed Daley Robert Hays
Twitch John Mariano
Slug Jeff Bennett
Lone WoofJohn Garry
Sweet WilliamSilent cameo Kenneth Mars

Crew

FilmDirected byProducerWritten byComposerEditor
An American Tail Don Bluth Don Bluth
Gary Goldman
John Pomeroy
screenplay:
Judy Freudberg & Tony Geiss
story:
David Kirschner
Judy Freudberg & Tony Geiss
James Horner Dan Molina
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West Phil Nibbelink
Simon Wells
Steven Spielberg
Robert Watts
screenplay:
Flint Dille
story:
Charles Swenson
creator:
David Kirschner
Nick Fletcher
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island Larry Latham Len UhleyPatrick Griffin
Michael Tavera
Danik Thomas
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster Michael Tavera

Critical response

Title Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
An American Tail 71% (28 reviews) [11] 38% (7 reviews) [12]
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West 60% (15 reviews) [13]
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Bluth</span> American filmmaker and animator (born 1937)

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<i>An American Tail</i> 1986 animated film directed by Don Bluth

An American Tail is a 1986 American animated musical adventure film directed by Don Bluth and written by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss from a story by David Kirschner, Freudberg and Geiss. The film stars the voices of Phillip Glasser, John Finnegan, Amy Green, Nehemiah Persoff, Dom DeLuise, and Christopher Plummer. It is the story of Fievel Mousekewitz and his family as they emigrate from Russia to the United States for freedom, but Fievel gets lost and must find a way to reunite with them.

<i>The Land Before Time</i> (film) 1988 animated adventure film directed by Don Bluth

The Land Before Time is a 1988 animated adventure drama film directed and produced by Don Bluth from a screenplay by Stu Krieger and a story by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall. The film stars the voices of Gabriel Damon, Candace Hutson, Judith Barsi and Will Ryan with narration provided by Pat Hingle. It is the first film in The Land Before Time franchise.

<i>An American Tail: Fievel Goes West</i> 1991 animated film directed by Phil Nibbelink

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is a 1991 American animated Western comedy film directed by Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells, with producer Steven Spielberg for Amblin Entertainment and animated by his Amblimation animation studio and released by Universal Pictures. A sequel to 1986's An American Tail, the film follows the story of the Mousekewitzes, a family of Russian-Jewish mice who emigrate to the Wild West. In it, Fievel is separated from his family as the train approaches the American Old West; the film chronicles him and Sheriff Wylie Burp teaching Tiger how to act like a dog.

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<i>Fievels American Tails</i> 1992 animated television series

Fievel's American Tails is an animated television series, produced by Amblin Television, Nelvana, and Universal Cartoon Studios. It aired on CBS for one season in 1992, and continued Fievel's adventures from the film An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. Phillip Glasser, Dom DeLuise and Cathy Cavadini were the only actors from the film to reprise their roles, as Fievel, Tiger and Tanya respectively. One character, Wylie Burp, is written off from this show following the respect of James Stewart's retirement. Another character, Tony Toponi, is written off following Pat Musick's then-current parenting of her daughter Mae Whitman, as Tony could not reappear until the DTV sequels in the late 1990s. He only made cameos in Fievel Goes West owing to that respect.

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References

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  3. "Sunday Matinee – "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West"". The Jimmy Stewart Museum . Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  4. Fitzpatrick, Eileen (December 25, 1999). "'Mummy' Shoots Universal's Sales Over $1 Bil.; Retailers Win with Sight and Sound". Billboard . Vol. 111, no. 52.
  5. Nichols, Peter M. (July 28, 2000). "Home Video; It's a Sequel? O.K., I'll Take It". The New York Times . Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  6. "Fievel and the Lost Treasure". Jeuxvideo.com . Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  7. Cowan, Danny (July 9, 2007). "Release This!". Gamasutra . UBM . Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  8. "Gamespy – An American Tail". Gamespy . IGN . Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  9. "An American Tail (2007) — Backloggd". Backloggd.com.
  10. "Watch Fievel's American Tails on Peacock".
  11. "An American Tail". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  12. "An American Tail". Metacritic . Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  13. "An American Tail 2". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved January 18, 2023.