Some former Walt Disney Pictures employees relocate to Universal for this 1986 animated effort. They should've stayed where they were before. This rather pitiful effort has characters who are not all that likable, weak songs and some of the most shallow animation techniques ever. It all adds up to one really big disappointment of a family oriented film. Rent it only if every other animated film (not counting the even more horrible "Beauty And The Beast") is already checked out.

I have only seen this film once, when I was five years old. I remember almost falling asleep during the film because it was incredibly boring. An American Tail may be 77 minutes long, but it feels twice as long. Parents, only rent this for your child if they have been having trouble going to sleep.

Don Bluth is another animator I love along with Max Fleischer and Hayao Miyazaki, and this film, "An American Tail," is one of my favorites from him; it is a childhood favorite. A reason I like mice (not rats) is because they are the "good beasts" from my books, like the "Redwall" series by Brian Jacques (my favorite author) and also "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien, which was made into another film by Don earlier. Of course, those rats were good, and I could accept that. I love the romantic scene with Tony and Bridget (when they first meet, that is), and besides, I love Bridget, Tony, Tanya, and Fievel himself.

"An American Tail" was Don Bluth's second animated feature since leaving Disney, and, in my opinion, it is his best. It's got the most heart out of all of his movies. It's got the Oscar-nominated song "Somewhere Out There" and the main character of Fievel. This character just warms my heart and I can easily feel for him. Don Bluth has made only three very good animated features: this movie, "The Secret of NIMH", and "The Land Before Time". But "An American Tail" tops them both. No matter how predictable or sentimental the story is, I always get caught up in it. The sequel was good, but it was more like a fast-paced western comedy with some one-liners and such sight gags. The original is the better film in my opinion. Only complaint: one too many chase scenes with Fievel and other mice running from cats.

This movie is a money grab, right along side The Land Before Time. At least the Land-Before Time had one decent emotional scene with the mother dieing, that was somewhat touching. If you want to watch a good animated film, watch The Secret of Nimh, The Toy Story Trilogy, or The Incredibles . All way better films than this.

Okay. I'll admit it. I grew up with this movie and am a little biased towards it. However, this movie doesn't age as well as most of Disney's classics, and today it just comes off as an uninspired, sickly sweet cartoon. Good enough to be a babysitter, but hardly great. Yet another Bluth fizzler.

I was introduced to An American Tail after perpetually reading the 'book' of the second film, Feivel Goes West. I can't say which one I enjoyed more although at the time, I think I was seven, but this one I understood a lot better. The sweet-hearted tale of a family of Russian mouse emigrants who travel to America, the 'land of opportunity' but on their way lose their son, really manages to perk up your day. It has all the classic elements of a family flick: great characters, wonderful score and songs, and of course a happy ending (You can't say you didn't expect that). In some ways it's meant to be almost a satire, a parallel story of many Russian immigrant families who flee to America from the Cossacks: there is actually a scene in the beginning involving the ransacking of a Russian village by Cossacks, aided of course, as most history books conveniently omit, by their vicious slavering cats who destroy the mouse population. This satire is slightly lost once they reach America, but the simple plot of the mouse boy trying to find his family again works very well. It's quite frustrating at times as we see how close they all come to running into each other; a split second here and a well-timed door slamming there, and it could have been all over in thirty minutes of screen time. But where would be the movie in that? Lastly, the voice cast does a great job. While I personally think the sequel had a better cast, An American Tail boasts some fine names as well - Dom DeLuise and Nehemiah Persoff who also did the sequel, Christopher Plummer, and Madeline Kahn all combine for a great effect. It's not necessary to see this to also see the sequel but it definitely deserves to be watched. Touching, light-hearted and with one of the most beautiful theme songs you will ever hear, it's a winner. ***1/2 / *****

As a non-American who has heard so often of The American Dream, I saw this movie as a celebration of that dream. The flight of the poor and oppressed (and Jewish?) from Europe to the proposed Land of Freedom and Wealth (There are no cats in America and the streets are paved with cheese?) to find more poverty and oppression (workhouses, cats and workhouse tout Warren T. Rat), but with the opportunity to do something about it that they did not have in the old country. The song "Somewhere Out There" is quite perfectly matched with Fyvel and his family searching for each other, and the version heard in the movie is rather more expressive than the released single. It is not necessarily fun for the whole family. Children will find it fun. Adults will find it interesting, not so much in fun as in pride and awareness, at least if they are Americans .

I agree that the standards set by Walt and his animators are the only ones that matter when it comes to judging animated films, and I had trouble accepting this to, but there are OTHER ANIMATION COMPANIES!! No one would dare describe "Shrek" (which sucked) as a Disney movie, so let's leave Don Bluth alone, okay? Having said that, this movie is absolutely wonderful. A heartwarming story, beautiful songs (including the now standard "Somewhere Out There") great performances and the animation is stellar. Much darker and grittier than any story Disney would even dream of making, it revolves around an immigrant mouse named Fievel, whose family comes to America to escape oppression ("In America," says Poppa, "There are no cats."). Fievel learns the hard way that America has its problems, too. In my opinion, this movie is worth seeing solely for Dom DeLuise's characterization of the soft-hearted alley cat Tiger. All in all, this is probably the best Don Bluth has ever made.

Trailer—An American Tail