Fievel au Far West

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.

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

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 / *****

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.

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.