Feivel, der Mauswanderer

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 / *****