An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

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

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.

Well, this is one of those films that seems about a step-and-a-half away from being truly great. You have undeniable star power in John Cleese, James Stewart, and Don Bluth regular Dom deLuis. You have a handful of snappy tunes. You have bright colors and technically brilliant animation. Yet I watched it and came away from it thinking, "There was something wrong with this flick. What was it?" After due deliberations, the answer came to me: the writing.

The script is little more than a clothesline on which to hang a series of visual gags and opportunities for Cleese to give his character a few Pythonian scenes. It takes a promising premise for an entertaining sequel and burdens it with instantly forgettable songs (snappy though they were) and an insufferably cute protagonist. It's great for kids, don't get me wrong. If you're childless, however, save it for video and watch it for the quality of the animation. While astounding, it can't make up for the lack of story.

This episodic sequel to "An American Tail" is worth seeing if for nothing more than to hear James Stewart's voice as Sheriff Wylie Burp. Stewart is my favorite actor of the past times, and it's always a delight to hear him. The rest of the movie is mediocre and forgettable at best. Some people thought it was an improvement over the first film, but I wonder why? Sure, the original was sentimental and predictable, but it had the classic song "Somewhere Out There" written by James Horner, and also a much better, straight-forward story. The second movie seems more of a Saturday-morning cartoon style western comedy. There's very little story or heart. I guess more people prefer the light-heartedness of this movie than the sentimentality of the first. Now I won't knock this movie for some who like it, but I wish the first film was more appreciated by people. See this only for James Stewart's voice. Note: I also liked the main character of Fievel better as an immigrant from the first movie.

For whatever reason, The American Tail films were two of the films I was brought up on. I still own both of them on video and still watch them from time to time. In most ways, this sequel is worse than the original. The brief story of Feivel being separated and lost from his family again is really underplayed in comparison to the first one, which revolved purely around this plot. In Feivel Goes West it's almost as though the family are a bit blasé about losing their only son. It's also hard to top the musical score of the first one. There is a repeat singing of "Somewhere Out There" that is rudely cut short but without the whole song, it doesn't have the same warming effect. The feature song of this film, "Dreams to Dream" is very beautiful, however it and the other songs of FGW can't match up to those of AAT.

Despite these flaws, there is quite a lot more to enjoy in this film. If you're a fan of westerns as I am, you will enjoy an animated take on the theme, particularly the very enjoyably cartoonist showdown at the end. Secondly, the voice cast of FGW is far superior to that of AAT. Not content with Dom DeLuise as the loveable cat Tiger, they add to that cast for the sequel the likes of John Cleese, Amy Irving, Jon Lovitz and none other than the great James Stewart himself playing the sheriff of a one-horse western town. They're all impeccably cast and pull off a wonderful job.

All this said and done, is the sequel better or worse? I have to say I think it's completely equal. Still the same level of childish fun and heartwarming moments, wonderful voice talents and great musical score. Definitely worth showing your kids. ***1/2 / *****