HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (also known as ''An American Tail 2: Fievel Goes West'' or ''An American Tail II'') is a 1991 American
animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...
directed by
Phil Nibbelink Phil Nibbelink (born June 3, 1955) is an American animator and film director as well as comic book writer and illustrator known for his work on films as the Academy Award-winning ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' and the 1991 cult animated sequel ''An ...
and
Simon Wells Simon Finlay Wells (born 1961) is an English film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great-grandson of author H. G. Wells, and is best known for directing '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (1991), '' Balto'' (1995), an ...
(in their feature directorial debuts), with producer
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
for
Amblin Entertainment Amblin' Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1980. Its headquarters are lo ...
and animated by his
Amblimation Amblimation was the British animation production subsidiary of Amblin Entertainment. It was formed by Steven Spielberg in May 1989, following the success of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988), and after he parted ways with Don Bluth due to crea ...
animation studio and released by
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
. A sequel to 1986's ''
An American Tail ''An American Tail'' is a 1986 American animated musical adventure comedy-drama 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 Phi ...
'', the film follows the story of the Mousekewitzes, a family of
Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...
mice who emigrate to the
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...
. 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. ''Fievel Goes West'' was the first production for the short-lived Amblimation, a studio Spielberg set up to keep the animators of ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...
'' (1988) working. It is also the only Amblimation film to use
cel animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation of the 20th century, until there was a shif ...
, the last in the series to do so, and the last to be released in theaters. While the animation medium was transitioning to computers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Spielberg wanted almost all of the animation of ''Fievel Goes West'' to be hand-drawn, describing animation as "an arts-and-crafts business". He also wanted the animation to have a "live-action" feel.
Phillip Glasser Phillip Alexander Glasser (born October 4, 1978) is an American producer and a former actor. He is best known for providing the voice of Fievel Mousekewitz in '' An American Tail'' (1986), its sequel '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (1991 ...
,
Dom DeLuise Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, director, musician, chef, and author. Known primarily for comedy roles, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows. He is widely ...
,
Nehemiah Persoff Nehemiah Persoff (; August 2, 1919 – April 5, 2022) was an American actor and painter. He appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and theatre productions, and also performed as a voice artist in a career spanning 55 years. His fir ...
, and
Erica Yohn Erica Yohn (October 1, 1928 – January 27, 2019) was an American stage and television actress. Yohn had many bit parts in film and television, such as ''Pee-wee's Big Adventure'', and television shows, such as ''Rhoda'', '' ER'', ''Murphy Bro ...
reprise their roles from the first film for ''Fievel Goes West''. Tanya's original voice actor, Amy Green, was replaced by
Cathy Cavadini Catherine Cavadini is an American voice actress. She is most well known as the original voice of Blossom on Cartoon Network's short series '' What a Cartoon!'' and the animated television series '' The Powerpuff Girls'', and as Tanya Mousekewi ...
, and new characters were voiced by
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...
,
Amy Irving Amy Irving (born September 10, 1953) is an American actress and singer, who has worked in film, stage, and television. Her accolades include an Obie Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award. Born in Palo Alto, Cali ...
,
Jon Lovitz Jonathan Michael Lovitz ( ; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990 for which he was nominated for two Pr ...
, and
James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...
in his final film role.
James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American film composer. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside tr ...
returned as a composer and wrote the film's song "Dreams to Dream", which garnered a
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
nomination. Premiering at the
Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
on November 17, 1991, ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' began its American theatrical run on November 22. This was the same day
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...
' ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'' (1991) was distributed, making it the third instance of two animated films being released on the same date. ''Fievel Goes West'' was promoted with a wide array of
tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...
s and started in the top ten at the
box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
. The film grossed $22 million in the United States against a budget of $16 million. Some film journalists and executives attributed this to having to compete with the Disney film. Upon its release, ''Fievel Goes West'' was panned for a lack of perceived innovation compared to other animated films of its time. However, it found success when it came to home video sales, quickly reaching the top of the video charts when released on tape in March 1992; at the time, the film held the record for shortest theater-to-home-video transfer, and it has since gained a large cult following. In addition to garnering more home media releases, television airings, and video game adaptations later on, the film has made numerous 2010s retrospective best-of lists from online publications, especially best
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
-available Western films. ''Fievel Goes West'' was followed by a short-lived
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
series named '' Fievel's American Tails'' and two direct-to-video films: '' An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island'' (1998) and '' An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster'' (1999).


Plot

In 1890, five years after emigrating to the United States, the impoverished Mousekewitz family are still struggling against the attacks of mouse-hungry cats. Fievel spends his days thinking about a bloodhound-sheriff called Wylie Burp, while Tanya dreams of becoming a singer. Meanwhile, Tiger's girlfriend, Miss Kitty, leaves him to find a new life out west, remarking that perhaps she is looking for "a cat that's more like a dog". A British aristocratic cat named Cat R. Waul launches an attack on the mice, forcing them to flee into the sewers. There, they come across a cowboy mouse, who is in fact a marionette controlled by Waul, who tricks the mice into moving out west. Tiger tries catching up with his friends, but is thrown off course by a group of dogs. While on the train, Fievel wanders into the livestock car and overhears the cats' intentions to eat the mice. After being discovered, Fievel tries to flee but Waul has his hench-spider, T.R. Chula, strand Fievel in the middle of the desert. Devastated over his loss, his family arrives in
Green River, Utah Green River is a city in Emery County, Utah, United States. The population was 847 at the 2020 census. History The city of Green River is located on ancestral Ute lands, in the home locale of the Seuvarits/Sheberetch band of Ute people. The ...
. Upon arrival in Green River, Chula blocks up the water tower, drying up the river. Cat R. Waul approaches the mice and proposes to build a new saloon together, although intending to trick the mice into doing the bulk of the work and eat them afterwards. Meanwhile, Fievel wanders aimlessly through the desert, as does Tiger, who has found his way out west as well, and they pass each other. However, they each figure that the other is a mirage and continue on their separate ways. Tiger is captured by a local mouse
native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...
tribe and hailed as a god. Fievel is picked up by a hawk, dropped over the native village and reunites with Tiger. Tiger chooses to stay while Fievel catches a passing
tumbleweed A tumbleweed is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of plants. It is a diaspore that, once mature and dry, detaches from its root or stem and rolls due to the force of the wind. In most such species, the tumbl ...
, which takes him to Green River. He reunites with his family, but they are oblivious to Waul's plans. At the saloon, Fievel overhears the cats' plan yet again and is discovered once more by Waul. Waul tries eating Fievel, but is thwarted when he hears Tanya singing. He sends Tanya to Miss Kitty, who is now a saloon-girl cat and she reveals that she came at Waul's request. He tells Miss Kitty to put her on stage and Tanya performs for the cats. Meanwhile, Fievel is chased by Chula and taken prisoner, but flees. Despondent, Fievel speaks with an elderly bloodhound sleeping outside the jail, discovering he is actually Wylie Burp. Fievel tries to convince him to help, But the old dog explains (through a series of dog-related idioms) That he feels he has grown old to the point where he is not as good as he was in his younger days. However, he agrees to train Tiger as a lawman and as a dog. Though initially reluctant, Tiger relents at the suggestion that a new
persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...
might win back Miss Kitty. They return to Green River to fight the cats, who attempt to use a concealed giant mouse trap on the mice at sunset during the opening of Waul's saloon. Tiger, Wylie and Fievel fight the cats, during which Miss Kitty and Tanya discover the trap. Tanya rushes to the mice and, using her singing abilities, helps them escape. Seeing this, Waul uses a giant revolver as a makeshift cannon on the fleeing mice, but Fievel intercepts him. As Chula takes Miss Kitty hostage, an incensed Tiger to rescue her, and the heroes use the mouse trap as a catapult to send Waul and his cats out of Green River. The cats fly into the air and land into a mailbag, which a passing train picks up and leaves. Enamored by his new personality, Miss Kitty reunites with Tiger. Tanya becomes a famous singer and the water tower flows with 1,000 gallons again, making Green River bloom with thousands of flowers. Fievel finds Wylie away from the party, who hands him his sheriff badge. Fievel is unsure about taking it but realizes that his journey is not over.


Voice cast

*
Phillip Glasser Phillip Alexander Glasser (born October 4, 1978) is an American producer and a former actor. He is best known for providing the voice of Fievel Mousekewitz in '' An American Tail'' (1986), its sequel '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (1991 ...
as Fievel Mousekewitz *
Cathy Cavadini Catherine Cavadini is an American voice actress. She is most well known as the original voice of Blossom on Cartoon Network's short series '' What a Cartoon!'' and the animated television series '' The Powerpuff Girls'', and as Tanya Mousekewi ...
as Tanya Mousekewitz *
Dom DeLuise Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, director, musician, chef, and author. Known primarily for comedy roles, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows. He is widely ...
as Tiger *
Amy Irving Amy Irving (born September 10, 1953) is an American actress and singer, who has worked in film, stage, and television. Her accolades include an Obie Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award. Born in Palo Alto, Cali ...
as Miss Kitty *
James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...
as Wylie Burp *
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...
as Cat R. Waul *
Jon Lovitz Jonathan Michael Lovitz ( ; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990 for which he was nominated for two Pr ...
as T.R. Chula *
Nehemiah Persoff Nehemiah Persoff (; August 2, 1919 – April 5, 2022) was an American actor and painter. He appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and theatre productions, and also performed as a voice artist in a career spanning 55 years. His fir ...
as Papa Mousekewitz *
Erica Yohn Erica Yohn (October 1, 1928 – January 27, 2019) was an American stage and television actress. Yohn had many bit parts in film and television, such as ''Pee-wee's Big Adventure'', and television shows, such as ''Rhoda'', '' ER'', ''Murphy Bro ...
as Mama Mousekewitz *
Patrick Pinney Patrick Cullen Pinney (born June 30, 1952) is an American singer and voice actor. Early life, family and education Pinney was born in San Francisco County, California. His mother's maiden name is his middle name. He attended college at Univers ...
as One Eye *
Jack Angel Jack Angel (October 24, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American voice actor and radio personality. Angel voiced characters in shows by Hasbro and Hanna-Barbera such as '' Super Friends'', '' The Transformers'' and '' G.I. Joe'' and was involve ...
as Frenchy * Mickie McGowan as Saloon Lady * David Tate as additional voices


Production


Development

A sequel to
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
's ''
An American Tail ''An American Tail'' is a 1986 American animated musical adventure comedy-drama 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 Phi ...
'' (1986) under the working title ''An American Tail II'' was put into pre-production by
David Kirschner David Maxwell Kirschner (born May 29, 1955) is an American film and television producer and screenwriter. His producing credits include Don Bluth's ''An American Tail'' (also wrote) and ''Titan A.E.'' animated features as well as the '' Child's Pl ...
in April 1988 after he finished producing '' Child's Play'' (1988); when announcing the project that same month, he summarized that Fievel will "fight the cat-tle barons. It's like a
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
western with Jewish mice". Kirschner started pre-production as Spielberg was setting up filming for ''
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jone ...
'' (1989) in Europe. He was not involved in the production and post-production, and admitted in 1993 that he disliked ''Fievel Goes West'' as "entertainment without character". The screenplay was written by
Flint Dille Flint Dille is an American screenwriter, game designer and novelist. He is best known for his animated work on ''Transformers'', ''G.I. Joe'', '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', and his game-writing, '' The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape fro ...
, who was led to the position by writing for Spielberg's ''
Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...
'' (1990–92). Spielberg produced the
live-action animated film Live-action animation is a film genre that combines live-action filmmaking with animation. Projects that are both live-action and computer animation tend to have fictional characters or figures represented and characterized by cast members throu ...
''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...
'' (1988), which was the top grossing motion picture of 1988. As a way to keep the movie's animators working, due to the closure of Richard Williams Animation, Spielberg formed
Amblimation Amblimation was the British animation production subsidiary of Amblin Entertainment. It was formed by Steven Spielberg in May 1989, following the success of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988), and after he parted ways with Don Bluth due to crea ...
, a collaboration of
Universal City Studios Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American film production and distribution company headquartered at the Universal Studios complex in Universal City, ...
and
Amblin Entertainment Amblin' Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1980. Its headquarters are lo ...
, whose offices were located in London. ''Fievel Goes West'' was its first production and over 250 crew members from 15 different nations worked on the project starting May 1989. At the time, Amblimation was also developing '' We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'' (1993), ''
Balto Balto ( – March 14, 1933) was an Alaskan husky and sled dog bred by musher and breeder Leonhard Seppala. Balto achieved fame when he was reported to have led a team of sled dogs driven by Gunnar Kaasen on the final leg of the 1925 serum r ...
'' (1995), and a screen adaptation of
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...
's ''
Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
'' which never saw completion. In December 1988, Universal announced that they would release an animated film every eighteen months and begin production on ''An American Tail II'' in early 1989.
Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth ( ; born September 13, 1937) is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He came to prominence working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions before creating his own film studio in ...
, who had partnered with Spielberg on both the original film and ''
The Land Before Time ''The Land Before Time'' is a franchise consisting of American animated film, animated Adventure film, adventure Children's film, family films centered around dinosaurs, including a Movie theater, theatrical movie, various Direct-to-video, st ...
'' (1988), was set to direct and have
Sullivan Bluth Studios Don Bluth Entertainment (formerly Sullivan Bluth Studios) was an Irish-American animation studio established in 1979 by animator Don Bluth. Bluth and several colleagues, all of whom were former Disney animators, left Disney on September 13, 1979, ...
provide the animation; owing to creative differences, however, they parted ways. As Bluth explained, "the business deal wasn't such that it helped our company". With no Bluth in sight for the sequel, Spielberg instead relied on ex-Disney animator
Phil Nibbelink Phil Nibbelink (born June 3, 1955) is an American animator and film director as well as comic book writer and illustrator known for his work on films as the Academy Award-winning ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' and the 1991 cult animated sequel ''An ...
and ex-Richard Williams storyboard artist
Simon Wells Simon Finlay Wells (born 1961) is an English film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great-grandson of author H. G. Wells, and is best known for directing '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (1991), '' Balto'' (1995), an ...
, the great-grandson of science-fiction author
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
, to direct the project. Nibbelink and Wells had both previously worked with Spielberg as supervising animators on ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit''. Bluth said in April 1992 that he regretted his decision, admitting that he disliked the final product of ''Fievel Goes West'' and "maybe we could've helped that film a little more". With John Cleese as the first choice for Cat R. Waul, he was approached in 1989 by one of the film's producers at what Cleese vaguely called "the Italian Oscars". He accepted the offer based on his enjoyment of the first ''American Tail'' and "I love sound studios anyway – there's none of the hassle and boredom and time wasting you get in television". Cleese was paid his lowest fee in ten years for the role, however, which made him very unwilling to publicize his involvement with ''Fievel Goes West''. According to Cathy Cavadini, there was another woman initially planned to voice Tanya but left the project, so Cavadini replaced her. Spielberg met James Stewart at a party asking him to voice Wylie Burp, and all of Stewart's lines were recorded in ten days; his last involvement in a Western was in ''
The Shootist ''The Shootist'' is a 1976 American Western film directed by Don Siegel and based on Glendon Swarthout's 1975 novel of the same name,Swarthout, Glendon (1975). ''The Shootist'', New York, New York: Doubleday. and written by Miles Hood Swart ...
'' (1976).


Animation

Don Bluth's departure from the project resulted in the animation of ''Fievel Goes West'' lacking the Disney-isms of the first film's animation. Instead, its animation is faster-paced and contains more elements of
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
cartoons. Spielberg instructed his animators to take on a "live-action" method to animating the film, where the characters are affected by parts of the environment such as lighting. Spielberg also directed for the camera to constantly move in sequences such as the sewer ride sequence and a 360-degree pan shot of the film's desert vista. These types of crane and
dolly shot In cinematography, a tracking shot is any shot where the camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded. Mostly the camera’s position is parallel to the character, creating a sideway motion, tracking the charac ...
s replicated certain shots in Spielberg's '' Jaws'' (1975) and ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Set in 1936, the film stars Harrison Ford as Indiana ...
'' (1981) and were considered groundbreaking for the time. Apart from one computer-generated shot of the valley's ground, all of the film was hand-drawn animated; the process was so intensive that it took at least one week to complete a minute of animation, around sixty artists to paint approximately 230,000 cels, and a week for a single animator to finish three seconds of animation. As ''Fievel Goes West'' was a parody of Western films, the animators heavily studied the works of
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
and
Sergio Leone Sergio Leone ( ; ; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. Leone's film-making style ...
.


Sound design

The voices were recorded over a 10-day period at Interlock Studios (now Larson Studios) at Crossroads of the World in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
in 1989; ten takes were tracked for each actor at varying speeds and phrasing. The voice actors were videotaped during their recording sessions, and the animators used the footage as reference for moving the characters. The biggest focus was on keeping Cat R. Waul's movement similar to his voice actor's while recording in the studio, as the directors wanted him to feel like Cleese instead of just a cat voiced by him.
Nancy Beiman Nancy Beiman is a director, character designer, teacher, animator, author and comic strip creator. She attended the Character Animation program at CalArts. Career Comic strips Nancy Beiman's first comic strip FurBabies was accepted by Andrews ...
originally worked as a regular animator on ''Fievel Goes West'', but became a supervisor on the project six months after she entered Amblimation. While not assigned to supervise Miss Kitty's animation, she asked for the position and got it. She enjoying working on Kitty for Irving's
Mae West Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known ...
-esque delivery and the "scatterbrained dialogue" giving her freedom in animating the character.


Music

The score was composed by
James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American film composer. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside tr ...
, who previously scored for the last film (1986) also produced by Spielberg. The album was released by
MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...
and featured 14 tracks, including four original songs written by Horner and
Will Jennings Wilbur Herschel Jennings (June 27, 1944 – September 6, 2024) was an American lyricist. He was known for writing the songs " Up Where We Belong", " Higher Love", " Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He was inducted into the Songwriter ...
, and performed by
Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...
and
Cathy Cavadini Catherine Cavadini is an American voice actress. She is most well known as the original voice of Blossom on Cartoon Network's short series '' What a Cartoon!'' and the animated television series '' The Powerpuff Girls'', and as Tanya Mousekewi ...
. The song "Dreams to Dream", was nominated for a
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
award and a contender by the
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
voters for a
Best Original Song The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best ...
nomination, although it did not receive one.


Marketing and release

''Fievel Goes West'' was initially planned for a fall 1990 release, but was delayed to a late 1991 date. In 1989, the date was moved again to Christmas 1992 before reverting to Christmas 1991 in May 1990, when the subtitle ''Fievel Goes West'' and a follow-up television series was also first announced. It was moved to the fall of 1991 in November 1990. It made its worldwide premiere at the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
as their big children's theatre recital performance, on November 17, 1991, where 275
inner-city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...
kids that were guests of
Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New ...
's company attended the event; the children also made their own ''American Tail'' storybook and posed with a costume version of Fievel for pictures. Notable adult attendees includes
Chuck Robb Charles Spittal Robb (born June 26, 1939) is an American former U.S. Marine Corps officer and politician who served as the 64th governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986 and a United States senator representing Virginia from 1989 until 2001. A me ...
,
Lynda Bird Johnson Robb Lynda Bird Johnson Robb (born March 19, 1944) is the elder daughter of the 36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. She served as chairwoman of the Board of Reading is Fundamental, the nation's largest childr ...
,
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
,
Marvin Bush Marvin Pierce Bush (born October 22, 1956) is an American businessman. He is a son of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush and the brother of former U.S. President George W. Bush, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, ...
, Margaret Bush,
Fred Grandy Fredrick Lawrence Grandy (born June 29, 1948) is an American actor who played "Gopher" on the TV series ''The Love Boat'' and who later became a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Iowa. Grandy was most recentl ...
,
Elliot Richardson Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. As a member of the cabinets of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford between 1970 and 1977, Richardson is one of two men in United States history ...
, and
Robert Haft Robert Michael Haft is an entrepreneur, primarily in health care, and became a household name in the Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, and Los Angeles markets for his Crown Books television commercial tagline, "Books cost too mu ...
. Both ''Fievel Goes West'' and Disney's ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'' (1991) began their United States theater runs on November 22, 1991; this was the third instance of two animated films being released on the same day, after ''
The Land Before Time ''The Land Before Time'' is a franchise consisting of American animated film, animated Adventure film, adventure Children's film, family films centered around dinosaurs, including a Movie theater, theatrical movie, various Direct-to-video, st ...
'' and ''
Oliver & Company ''Oliver & Company'' is a 1988 American Animated film, animated musical film, musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is inspired by the Charles Dickens novel ''Oliver Twist''. I ...
'' in 1988, and ''
The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...
'' and ''
All Dogs Go to Heaven ''All Dogs Go to Heaven'' is a 1989 animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and co-directed by Gary Goldman (his directorial debut) and Dan Kuenster. Set in New Orleans in 1939, it tells the story of Charlie B. Barkin ...
'' in 1989. ''
Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...
'' noted the clash as "a testimony to the revival of interest in feature-length animation". Along with competing with an unusual number of family films with middling budgets such as ''
The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...
'', ''
Curly Sue ''Curly Sue'' is a 1991 American comedy drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes, and starring James Belushi, Kelly Lynch and Alisan Porter with Steve Carell in his film debut. It tells the story of a homeless con artist a ...
'', '' My Girl'', and Spielberg's ''
Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...
'', both ''Beauty and the Beast'' and ''Fievel Goes West'' were promoted with, as of the films' release date, the most expensive set of film
tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...
s ever. 40 brands licensed with Universal to promote the film, including the non-profit Reading Is Fundamental, which used the character of Fievel as a mascot for ''Reading Buddies'' kits; and
Pizza Hut Pizza Hut, LLC is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 19,866 restaurants worldw ...
, which used characters from the film on designs their Pizza Packs and soft-drink cups, a decision influenced by their previous tie-in success with the Disney summer film '' The Rocketeer'' (1991). Upon the film's release,
Universal Studios Tour The Studio Tour (also known as The Backlot Tour) is a ride attraction at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in Universal City, California near Los Angeles. Studio Tour is the theme park's signature attraction. It travels through a worki ...
opened the attraction ''Mouse Trap'', a 2,500-seat interactive version of ''Fievel Goes West''. In the summer of 1992,
Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, that opened on June 7, 1990. Owned and operated by NBCUniversal, it features numerous rides, attractions, and live shows that are primarily themed to movies, television, and ...
opened ''American Tail: Fievel's Playland'', a playground featuring set recreations of ''An American Tail'' and ''Fievel Goes West''. Boxtress also released an illustrated book version of the film written by Cathy East Dubowski and Beverly Lazor-Bahr.


Home media

''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' received its first
VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
and
cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...
release on March 19, 1992. Nichols and Tower Video's John Thrasher predicted it would do well in sales due to a lack of competition. According to Nichols, three million copies were rumored to be circulated, although MCA/Universal was willing to reveal the real number. Upon its 1992 VHS release, ''Fievel Goes West'' held the record for shortest theater-to-home-video transfer, previously held in a tie by ''
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
'' (1989) and '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' (1991). The video for ''Fievel Goes West'' topped the video charts the week it was issued, and even when it was dethroned by a reissue of ''
One Hundred and One Dalmatians ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (also known as ''101 Dalmatians'') is a 1961 American Animated film, animated adventure film, adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions with distribution by Buena Vista Distribution. Adapted fr ...
'' (1961), it remained at the number-two spot of the ''Top Kid Video'' chart for several weeks. On April 10, 1992, the
U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
began selling envelopes with 29-cent Western-Americana-themed stamps designed by Harry Zelenko to promote the home video of ''Fievel Goes West''; 19 of them were reissued on May 1 using recycled paper. The release was pulled from the shelves in January 1993. Beginning on November 18, 1994,
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
, in a deal with MCA/Universal, offered customers a $2.50 rebate on a video purchase of ''
Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...
'' (1993) if they purchased from McDonald's one of the following tapes for six dollars: ''Fievel Goes West'', ''The Land Before Time'' (1988), ''
Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...
'' (1985), and ''
Field of Dreams ''Field of Dreams'' is a 1989 American sports fantasy drama film written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson, and based on Canadian novelist W. P. Kinsella's 1982 novel '' Shoeless Joe''. The film stars Kevin Costner as a farmer who builds a ...
'' (1989). ''Fievel Goes West'' garnered its first American television airing on April 13, 1997, via a
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
"Tune In to Kids and Family Week" promotion of another TV debut, ''
Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...
'' (1995). On August 11, 1998, as part of Universal Family Features's highly-family-demanded $15-million campaign to relaunch the ''American Tail'' franchise after a six-year moratorium; digitally-restored versions of ''An American Tail'' and ''Fievel Goes West'' were released on VHS on a 2-tape release. On the issue of October 3, 1998, the set debuted at number 19 on ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'''s Top Kid Video chart. ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' was released on
Video CD Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video), (not to be confused with CD Video which is a type of Laserdisc) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical discs. The f ...
in Hong Kong on July 20, 2001, on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
in the United States on September 25, 2003, Spain on September 29, 2005, and Denmark on November 15, 2011. In the United Kingdom, it first appeared on December 6, 2006, on DVD as part of a ''Slim 2'' box set that featured the first two ''American Tail'' films. Similar two-film DVD collections were released in Spain on June 22, 2009, and the United States on August 22, 2010. The film was part of a DVD collection that included all four movies in the franchise on June 13, 2017. ''Fievel Goes West'' was issued to
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on April 4, 2017, in the United States, July 4 in Canada, and September 25 in the United Kingdom. Unlike the previous home media releases, the film has a sequence edited, like the infamous hidden
penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...
doodle that was briefly seen during Tanya's version of "Dreams to Dream" was removed, thanks to the controversy. On online platforms, the film was released to
Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...
on November 11, 2013,
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
on April 1, 2017, and
Movies Anywhere Movies Anywhere (MA) is a cloud-based digital rights locker and over-the-top streaming platform that allows users to stream and download purchased films, including digital copies redeemed from codes found in home video releases as well as d ...
on October 12, 2017.


Reception


Box office

Amblin Entertainment Amblin' Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1980. Its headquarters are lo ...
previously competed with Disney twice: in 1986 when the first ''American Tail'' competed with a re-issue of ''
Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. Based on Ward Greene's 1945 ''Cosmopolitan (magazine) ...
'' (1955) and in 1988 when it released ''The Land Before Time'' around the same time as ''
Oliver & Company ''Oliver & Company'' is a 1988 American Animated film, animated musical film, musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is inspired by the Charles Dickens novel ''Oliver Twist''. I ...
''. Amblin won both races; Fred Mound, Universal distribution president, said: "We've proven in the past that there's room for two animated features".
Tom Pollock Thomas Philip Pollock (April 10, 1943 – August 1, 2020) was an American film producer and studio executive. He started his career as an entertainment lawyer, before transitioning to a studio executive and film producer. He was the chairman of ...
, a Universal chairman, also had faith that ''Fievel Goes West'' would perform well. Spielberg and Disney's
Dick Cook Richard W. Cook is an American film entertainment executive, and has served on the Board of Directors of Legendary Pictures since 2011. Prior to joining Legendary Pictures, he was the Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 2002 to 2009. At the ...
suggested both films would be hits, although Spielberg predicted ''Beauty and the Beast'' to make more profits due to having more of an adult appeal than ''Fievel Goes West''. Disney chairman
Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...
stated in regards to the competition: "We've competed with Amblin before and learned that there's enough room for both. These movies aren't mutually exclusive. There's a big market out there. The success of one doesn't depend on the failure of the other". Opening to 1,400 theaters in the United States, ''Fievel Goes West'' has, as of November 2019, the 110th widest G-rated release of all time and the 96th widest G-rated film opening in the United States. It also has the 124th all-time biggest opening weekend for a G-rated film, opening in fourth place with $3,435,625; and has 60th smallest weekend drop for a film in 600-plus theaters thanks to its second week grossing $3,782,080. However, it also holds the record of the 119th post-thanksgiving weekend drops. ''Fievel Goes West'' eventually made just over $22 million domestically, and $18 million overseas, for a total of $40,766,041, making it the 60th highest-grossing film of 1991 in the United States and the 37th highest grosser of the year worldwide. As of December 2019, it is the 141st highest domestic-grossing G-rated film of all time and 123rd worldwide. By contrast, the original film made $47.4 million in the U.S. in 1986, a record at the time for a non-Disney animated one, and a further $36 million overseas, for a total of $84 million. According to ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', ''Fievel Goes West'' tied with ''
For the Boys ''For the Boys'' is a 1991 American musical comedy-drama film that traces the life of Dixie Leonard, a 1940s actress/singer who teams up with Eddie Sparks, a famous performer, to entertain American troops. The film was adapted by Marshall Bric ...
'' (1991) for "the dubious if unofficial distinction of the fastest failure of a big-budget holiday movie". Some journalists and film executives attributed the film's weak box office to the intense competition it faced with ''Beauty and the Beast''. However, it wasn't competing with the Disney production in Canada, and it failed there too according to a Universal executive, who also blamed Spielberg's lack of involvement in the marketing due to being too busy on ''Hook''. Another official of the company explained that he had little faith in the project, describing it as "charmless" and its animation "pedestrian". Other writers blamed it on the content. Dennis Hunt suggested that "the complex story line and the scary villains didn't quite click with the kiddies", and Bernard Weinraub wrote that "even children were not especially interested in an old-fashioned animated movie". Steven Hulett of the union Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists opined that the low performances of both ''Fievel Goes West'' and '' We're Back!: A Dinosaur Story'' (1993) resulted from the poor quality of their stories, "and animation is a story-driven art form". He attributed this to Spielberg's busy schedule, meaning he didn't have enough time to focus on animation.


Critical response

''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' holds a 59% critical percentage on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
based on 17 reviews. Peter M. Nichols wrote ''Fievel Goes West'' "was panned on the ground that it was not so innovative as other new animated films, notably ''Beauty and the Beast'' from Disney, the leader in animation". Multiple reviewers lambasted ''Fievel Goes West'''s lack of a cohesive story and extremely fast pace. As critics summarized, the film "has constant activity but minimal objectives"; "has little narrative drive or emotional resonance", its climax feeling "perfunctory and tacked on"; and has "so many subplots and digressions" that "they simply failed to develop the central narrative". Some reviewers were also uncomforted by the Indian mice tribe as being racially insensitive. ''
Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' opined that, despite its enjoyable comedic relief characters and "fantastic chase scenes", ''Fievel Goes West'' suffered from being "fairly predictable". One reviewer in contrast appreciated the bits of "sophisticated humor" and
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
undertones in the script, and another highlighted its gag, such as the scene of Tiger being taken captive by the Indian mice. Some critics called the songs weaker and not as memorable as those of the first film, although the
Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast members of ...
' version of the song "
Rawhide Rawhide may refer to: *Rawhide (material), a hide or animal skin that has not been tanned * Whip made from rawhide Entertainment * ''Rawhide'' (1926 film), a Western directed by Richard Thorpe * ''Rawhide'' (1938 film), a Western starring baseball ...
" was spotlighted by some writers and "The Girl You Left Behind" by a ''
People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'' magazine review. ''
Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' published an ecstatic review of ''Fievel Goes West'': "Miles better than the overrated ''American Tail'', this laugh-packed sequel boasts all the classic elements so often missing from modern cartoon features: a straightforward zip-zang-boom storyline, clearly etched characters with instantly identifiable flaws, tip-top voice-overs by well-chosen celebrities, and oodles of elasticated slapstick". The ''
Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...
'' wrote that the main plot is "left underdeveloped" amid "numerous subplots". Unlike other critics, Cortney Thekan appreciated the huge amount of subplots: "I mean, we all know the attention span of a 4-year-old. Full-length cartoons need the subplots to hold children's attention". ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' praised it for being "quick, vivid and a real hoot to viewers of any age", but also noted its wonky setup, saying that "the family is tricked into a cross-country quest by a fast-talking fake mouse ..Not only are the marionette's strings fully visible during Cat R. Waul's spiel, but the cat can be seen through a sewer grate. Stupid mice!" ''
Halliwell's Film Guide Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...
'' labeled ''Fievel Goes West'' as an "enjoyable and high-spirited animated film that borrows plot and attitudes from classic Westerns".
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave it two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote: "There is nothing really the matter with ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', except that it is not inspired with an extra spark of imagination in addition to its competent entertainment qualities". Most critics found the animation high-quality in general. The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'''s Clifford Terry applauded the "vivid and rich" animation, particularly the "colorful figures and detailed backgrounds". Solomon highlighted its "tricky point-of-view shots, such as inside a rolling tumbleweed", and the changes to most of the character designs; while Brenna Kield of the ''
Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...
'' highlighted the realism in the scenery and character movements. Roger Hurlburt called its animation "bright and sassy, "colorful backdrops" and "eye-filling uses of exciting angles". The animation wasn't completely devoid of noted perks in reviews. Solomon criticized the little amount of "nuances of thought and emotion" in the characters; ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' summarized the movie's take on the West as "surprisingly dull"; Kield felt that some scenes, especially those that take place in the West, could've been a bit lighter; and ''
The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...
'' opined that "the foregrounds are expressive but the backgrounds are bland and uninspired". The ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' enjoyed the animation the least, as "the animation could easily have been done in the 1940s, such is its flat traditionalism". While Terry found most of the characters unmemorable, he and other reviewers praised the presence of Wylie Burp. While most reviews applauded the voice cast, a ''
Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...
'' review was more divided towards it, appreciating Irving and Stewart's performances but finding DeLuise and his character irritating and Cleese "wasted" on the film. ''Empire'' also named Waul "one of the least dastardly animated villains ever, even with the slithering vocal talents of John Cleese". ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' named it one of the best children's films of 1991 alongside ''Beauty and the Beast'' and ''
Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken ''Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken'' is a 1991 American drama film directed by Steve Miner. It concerns Sonora Webster Carver, a rider of diving horses. Gabrielle Anwar stars as Carver alongside Michael Schoeffling and Cliff Robertson. It is based ...
'' (1991); and ''
The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...
'' honored it as one of 1991's "Best arguments for sequels" alongside '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'', ''
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey ''Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey'' is a 1991 American science fiction comedy film, and the feature directorial debut of Pete Hewitt. It is the second film in the ''Bill & Ted'' franchise, and a sequel to ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989) ...
'', and '' The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear''. In a 1993 newspaper feature about portrayals of females in animated films, journalist Ann Doss Helms disliked how most animated women had no other characters of the same gender to motivate or guide them; the writer criticized how little attention Tanya's parents gave to her aspirations, but praised the advice Miss Kitty gave to Tanya, suggesting "there's hope that things are changing".


Later years

In the late 2010s, ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' was recognized on publication lists of best
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
-available westerns, ranking in the top ten of lists by ''
Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...
'' and ''
The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. It was founded by Nicholas White in 2011, and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometown newsp ...
''. It was also number 24 on ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'''s "25 Best '90s Movies On Netflix", appeared on ''Wonderwall'''s list of best animated sequels, and landed on a ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
'' list of "50 Movies You Definitely Watched in the '90s and Forgot About". Including it on a list of "19 Classic Movies That Prove 1991 Was Truly The Best Year For Film", ''
Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skir ...
'' described the film as "a fun, action-adventure comedy that gave Fievel's sister Tanya some much-needed screen time". Both ''Fievel Goes West'' and the first ''American Tail'' were tied for the number-five spot of a list of best non-Disney films from ''My Web Times'': "Political and historical, these feature some fab songs and fun voice-over work from the likes of Jimmy Stewart (in his last role), John Cleese, Madeline Kahn and Dom DeLuise". In her book ''Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films (Jewish Lives)'',
Molly Haskell Molly Clark Haskell (born September 29, 1939)Aitken, Ian, ed. (2006)''Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, Volume 2'' New York: Routledge. p. 541. . is an American film critic and author. She contributed to '' The Village Voice''—first as a ...
wrote that both ''An American Tail'' and its sequel ''Fievel Goes West'' were oddly more "personal" for Spielberg than ''
Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...
'' (1993), "the film that certified the director's rebirth as a Jew, and his much-vaunted evolution into a newfound 'maturity'". In a 2017 ''
/Film ''/Film'', also spelled ''SlashFilm'', is a blog that covers movie news, reviews, interviews, and trailers. It was founded by Peter Sciretta in August 2005. The site's reviews appear on Rotten Tomatoes, and as of 2024, two of its leading film cr ...
'' feature about Amblimation, Dalin Rowell highlighted the "cinematic" scale of its animation and opined that it "should be remembered for its creativity and willingness to be a bit more bold and daring than its predecessor". A 2016 review from Greg Jameson of ''Entertainment Focus'' opined it "has less universal appeal than the original, because the themes aren't as rooted in human experience so it packs less of an emotional punch", but he nonetheless called it a fun film and praised its animation and voice acting.


Other media


Comics

Between January and February 1992,
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
ran a three-issue series based on ''Fievel Goes West'', written by D.G. Chichester with art by
George Wildman George Wildman (July 31, 1927 – May 22, 2016) was an American cartoonist most noted for his work in the comic books industry. From 1971 until 1985, he was a top editor at Charlton Comics, where he also became the long-time regular artist o ...
.


Video games

An
LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not em ...
game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
based on the film was created by
Tiger Electronics Tiger Electronics Ltd. (also known as Tiger and Tiger Toys) is an American toy manufacturer best known for its handheld electronic games, the Furby, the Talkboy, Giga Pets, the 2-XL robot, and audio games such as '' Brain Warp'' and the ...
in 1991, and a computer game was created in 1993. A
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...
video game of the same name was released in 1994; it was heavily praised by video game critics for its presentation, although its simple gameplay garnered divided opinions. A
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
video game based on the film called ''An American Tail: Fievel's Gold Rush'' was released by
Conspiracy Entertainment Conspiracy Entertainment (formerly Conspiracy Games) is an American third-party developer and video game publisher, publishing games from smaller companies that would face difficulties distributing games themselves. The company has also develop ...
in January 2002 to mixed reviews.


Future


Followups

Two direct-to-video followups were produced after the series: '' An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island'', released in 1998, and '' An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster'', released in 1999. A piece of dialogue from Fievel in the former appears to retcon ''Fievel Goes West'' as a dream the character had. The reason for this was due to a number of inconsistencies and to hue the series closer to the first film as much as it can.


Spin-off television series

On September 12, 1992, the TV series '' Fievel's American Tails'' premiered on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
; it is a follow-up of ''Fievel Goes West'' and features actors such as Glasser, Cavadini and DeLuise reprising their roles. In 2020,
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
regained rights to the series and it is available on
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
, over two decades after being abandoned since the release of the DTV films in the late 1990s.


Legacy

Fievel later served as the
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
for
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
's
Amblimation Amblimation was the British animation production subsidiary of Amblin Entertainment. It was formed by Steven Spielberg in May 1989, following the success of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988), and after he parted ways with Don Bluth due to crea ...
animation studio, appearing in its
production logo A production logo, studio logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by Film studio, movie studios and television production company, production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company an ...
. There was also a Fievel-themed playground at
Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, that opened on June 7, 1990. Owned and operated by NBCUniversal, it features numerous rides, attractions, and live shows that are primarily themed to movies, television, and ...
, featuring a large water slide and many oversized objects such as books, glasses, cowboy boots, and more. It was the only such playground at any of
NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...
's theme parks.
The Jimmy Stewart Museum The Jimmy Stewart Museum is a museum dedicated to American actor James Stewart (1908–1997) that is located in Stewart's hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania Indiana is a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county s ...
, a museum dedicated to Stewart, has presented ''Fievel Goes West'' four times: on September 6, 2015, January 9, 2016, March 11, 2017, and July 8, 2017. On April 28, 2018, ''Fievel Goes West'' was screened at the
Autry Museum of the American West The Autry Museum of the American West (Autry National Center) is a museum in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to exploring an inclusive history of the American West. Founded in 1988, the museum presents a wide range of exhibitions and pub ...
, a Los Angeles museum of the history of the
American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...
. Comedy television series such as ''
30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...
'', ''
Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural sitcom television series that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox, and later on NBC, from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...
'', and ''
Rick and Morty ''Rick and Morty'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated science fiction Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadvent ...
'' have referenced ''Fievel Goes West''.


See also

*
List of animated feature films These lists of animated feature films compile animated feature films from around the world and are organized alphabetically under the year of release (the year the completed film was first released to the public). Theatrical releases as well as ...
*
1991 in film The year 1991 in film involved numerous significant events. Important films released this year included '' The Silence of the Lambs'', '' Beauty and the Beast'', '' Thelma & Louise'', '' JFK'' and '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. Highest-grossi ...


References


External links

* *
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
at Keyframe: The Animation Resource * {{DEFAULTSORT:American Tail: Fievel Goes West, An 1991 films 1991 American animated films 1991 children's films 1991 comedy films 1991 Western (genre) films 1991 directorial debut films 1991 adventure films 1990s English-language films 1990s Western (genre) comedy films 1990s children's animated films 1990s musical comedy films 1990s children's adventure films 1990s children's comedy films Amblin Entertainment films Amblin Entertainment animated films American Western (genre) comedy films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated musical films American musical comedy films American sequel films An American Tail (franchise) Animated films about cats Animated films about mice British films set in New York City Animated films set in New York City British children's films Films about immigration to the United States Films directed by Phil Nibbelink Films directed by Simon Wells Films produced by Steven Spielberg Films scored by James Horner Films set in 1890 Animated films set in Utah Animated films set in deserts Universal Pictures animated films Universal Pictures films Western (genre) animated films British musical comedy films Films about spiders British Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) musical films 1990s British films Rail transport films Films produced by Robert Watts Animated films set in the 1890s Animated films set in the American frontier Animated films set in the Western United States English-language Western (genre) comedy films English-language musical comedy films 1991 musical films