Feivel, der Mauswanderer im wilden Westen

I can TOTALLY see why I liked this more than the first as a kid; it's funnier, brighter, faster, more action-packed and the chaotically entertaining Tiger is given way more. It's also nowhere near as powerful or beautiful as the first; all the strong racial metaphors and immigrant sympathy is gone. Nonetheless, it's simple, cartoon-y fun that holds up...at least with nostalgia, anyway.

I wasn't a huge fan of the original 'An American Tail', but with my curiosity for animated films, I took a look at the sequel, the film I'm reviewing now.

All the voice actors are back, the music, the animation looks pretty damn similar too, but one thing is gone, the director. Don Bluth was replaced by Simon Wells, in his directorial debut. As someone who finds Simon Wells' films to be enjoyable but not top notch (especially in the writing department), this is exactly what we get here.

Many people will complain that there are very few plot similarities to the original, this is true, the film's plot is nothing like the original, which I thought was a good thing in my opinion.

The characters I found to be much more memorable compared to the original, including the villain, played by John Cleese. Dom DeLuise returns as tiger and is much more funny and less annoying than in the original. Feivel the mouse continues to have a lack of a real character but I still thought he was an improvement to the original, possibly because of his maturing voice actor.

The film does not contain nearly the same dark elements as the original, but in my opinion, is more funnier and more fun. The songs are either catchy or not at all, the films signature song 'Dreams to Dream', is as good or possibly better as the original's 'Somewhere out there'. The score by James Horner is a treat, just like the original.

All real complaints come from the writing, there are small plot holes, a pointless subplot revolving around Feival's sister Tanya, and sometimes the plot seems a little too convenient.

Kids will probably like the film, fans of the original may or may not, I personally rate it lower than the original, but by not too much.

Let me get this out of the way - I hate An American Tail (the original) - I think it is a gloomy, morose and overly sentimental piece of tripe. What's more, you try getting a child to watch this trek into unhappiness and gooey emotions... it's not going to happen! Fievel Goes West on the other hand is a much lighter affair, with more cheer and one or two really lovable characters the kids will want to watch and adults won't want to smear the screen with chocolate because of. It is a little two dimensional (no pun intended) and it is also a little episodic and disjointed in places, but it recovers well and bounces back for a great finale. In short, if the kids have been good then let them watch Fievel Goes West (if they've been naughty then you could always punish them by making them watch An American Tail). I have always enjoyed this film and it continues to lighten the day.

Fievel, the cute little mouse from An American Tail, is going west for Fievel Goes West. This is one of very few sequels that really deserve the title of the original classics. Fievel Goes West may not have as many touching moments as the original, but that's because it's more of a fast-paced western comedy rather than a heartwarming, sometimes tragic tale (tail?) as An American Tail was.

A by-product of the comedic approach is the look of the movie. Instead of the dark, dull, forbidding color scheme of the first movie, the sequel is supposed to be bright, funny, and altogether welcoming. Thus, you get bright sunshine (sometimes a bit too bright from the characters' point of view) and varied color. The animation hasn't changed all too much, unlike The Land Before Time's sequels for video. The animation retains a bit of Don Bluth's touch, though still a bit different. Altogether, the animation is just about as good as it could be in 1991.

The film as a whole is a gem, but the one thing truly, wonderfully beautiful thing about Fievel Goes West is James Horner's immortal soundtrack. The songs are just as good as An American Tail, which is saying a lot; besides, you have a brutally edited reprise of "Somewhere Out There" from the first film, sung by Tanya. Speaking of Tanya, she's voiced by someone different, presumably to allow for her great singing. For proof, all you need to do is listen to "Dreams To Dream". Great though the aspiring singer is, the end credits rendition of the song by the crazy Lindstradt lady is beautiful.

In Fievel Goes West, our title protagonist is lost on the way to Green River, where he will supposedly find a new lease on life with his family and lots of other hopeful mice. But the dream is shattered when Fievel explores the train, and finds a bunch of cats and a huge spider, led by the smooth talking Cat R. Waul, plotting to befriend the mice before turning them into mouse-burgers by means of a mysterious "better mousetrap"! But Fievel is found out, and the spider knocks him off the train, leaving him hopelessly lost in the desert. I thought they might have made up something different, not the whole mouse-gets-lost-must-return-to-family routine. I couldn't help feeling they'd done that before. However, Dom DeLuise returns for a bigger part alongside the legendary canine sheriff Wylie Burp.

So, overall, what of this sequel? Well, it certainly does the original justice. Yes, it does lack the heart of the original, but having less heart than An American Tail does in no way mean being heartless. Don Bluth might not have had a hand in this, but Fievel Goes West lives up to Bluth's classic story of a little mouse called Fievel.

Animation-9/10; Story-7/10; Plot-7/10; Comedy-8.5/10 = Overall-8/10

Let me just start by saying I absolutely love "An American Tail", and still consider it one of Don Bluth's better movies. It is dark yes, but it is very poignant and heart warming as well. I never fail to tear up during the song "Somewhere Out There", marvel at the beautiful animation or while the story is admittedly slow it is a beautiful and engrossing one. This sequel is a perfect example of a sequel that is worth watching. In most ways it isn't quite as good as the original, though there are one or two improvements along the way too. It has its flaws, but it is better than the dreadful "Secret of NIMH 2:Timmy To The Rescue" and the mediocre-but-watchable "All Dogs Go To Heaven 2". Also it is one of the better animated sequels out there, and considering how disappointing some of them have been that is saying a lot.

My only real problems with the film are that the plot is a little too episodic, and that the film is too short, if anything it could've done with being 5-10 minutes longer. These aside, I liked the fact the story is cheerier and more fast paced. The animation is not that bad at all, it is colourful and well drawn on the whole, and the editing was above decent. Also the musical numbers are very good here. No, not as good as the ones in the original, and even if they did that is an extremely hard task to come by considering how stunning the music in the original was. "Dreams to Dream" says it all, that song alone pretty much equals the greatness of "Somewhere Out There". "The Girl I Left Behind" is another standout I just loved how upbeat it was. And I would also like to remark that I thought the singing was better here than it was in the original. One of the minor flaws I had with the first film was that I did not like Phillip Glasser's singing voice, I just found it whiny and out of tune. Back to the sequel, Cathy Cavadini does a great job both voicing and singing Tanya, and Linda Ronstadt completely blew me away with her rendition of "Dreams to Dream".

What made the movie though was the voice acting. There was some truly inspired casting, and all involved did wonderfully. Phillip Glasser is still sweet and likable as Fieval, and Dom DeLuise is absolutely hilarious as Tiger and I loved it that Tiger has more to do here. There is one part when he falls into the sea and he comes eye to eye with a fish, and he says rather flatly "Dogfish". John Cleese clearly relishes his role as the villain Cat R. Waul, a villain I preferred over Warren T.Rat, he could be sinister yet funny as well. But the biggest surprise was Jimmy Stewart as Wylie Burp, Stewart was a great actor, evident in films like "Vertigo", "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Rear Window", all classics in my opinion, and he proves once more how talented he was voicing a smaller but wholly relevant character and making the most of witty and sardonic lines. Overall, while not quite as good as the beautiful original, it is a sequel worth watching and was much better than I thought it would be. 8/10 Bethany Cox