An American Tail (franchise)

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.

An American Tail
Created by
Original workAn American Tail (1986)
Owner
Years1986–1999
Films and television
Film(s)
Animated seriesFievel'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

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

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Films

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An American Tail

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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"Somewhere Out There"

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

"Dreams to Dream"

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

Other

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Fievel's American Tails

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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

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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

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List indicator(s)

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

  • An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
  •  S indicates an appearance as a character's singing voice.
CharactersFilmsTelevision series
An American TailAn 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 MousekewitzPhillip GlasserThomas DekkerPhillip Glasser
Tanya MousekewitzAmy GreenCathy CavadiniLacey ChabertCathy Cavadini
Betsy CathcartS
Papa MousekewitzNehemiah PersoffLloyd Battista
Mama MouskewitzErica YohnJane SingerSusan Silo
TigerDom DeLuise
Tony ToponiPat MusickSilent cameoPat Musick
BridgetCathianne Blore
Honest JohnNeil Ross
HenriChristopher PlummerSilent cameo
Warren T. CatJohn Finnegan
DigitWill Ryan
Gussie MausheimerMadeline Kahn
Wylie BurpJames Stewart
Cat R. WaulJohn CleeseGerrit Graham
T.R. ChulaJon LovitzDan Castellaneta
Miss KittyAmy IrvingCynthia Ferrer
CholenaElaine Bilstad
Leeza MillerS
Chief WulissoDavid Carradine
Dr. DitheringRené Auberjonois
Mr. GraspingRon Perlman
ScuttlebuttJohn Kassir
Police Chief McBrusqueSherman Howard
Nellie BrieSusan Boyd
Madame MouseyCandi Milo
Reed DaleyRobert Hays
TwitchJohn Mariano
SlugJeff Bennett
Lone WoofJohn Garry
Sweet WilliamSilent cameoKenneth Mars

Crew

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FilmDirected byProducerWritten byComposerEditor
An American TailDon BluthDon Bluth
Gary Goldman
John Pomeroy
screenplay:
Judy Freudberg & Tony Geiss
story:
David Kirschner
Judy Freudberg & Tony Geiss
James HornerDan Molina
An American Tail: Fievel Goes WestPhil 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 IslandLarry LathamLen UhleyPatrick Griffin
Michael Tavera
Danik Thomas
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night MonsterMichael Tavera

Critical response

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TitleRotten TomatoesMetacritic
An American Tail71% (28 reviews)[11]38% (7 reviews)[12]
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West60% (15 reviews)[13]
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster

References

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  1. ^ "Reviews – No One Puts You in the Movies Like We Do!". GameFan. Vol. 1, no. 9. August 1993. p. 94.
  2. ^ "An American Tail: 4 Movie Complete Collection". Amazon. June 13, 2017. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  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.