An American Tail

An American Tail is an animated film produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and directed by Don Bluth. It was originally released in movie theatres on November 21, 1986 by Universal Pictures.

Related Topics:
Animated - Film - Steven Spielberg - Amblin Entertainment - Don Bluth - November 21 - 1986 - Universal Pictures

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This film is the story of a family of Jewish-Russian mice who emigrate to New York City, believing that there are no cats in America. Once there, they immediately discover that there are indeed cats in America, and take up in typical late 19th/early 20th century immigrant style: working in a sweatshop, living in horrible conditions, and paying the cats tribute as an alternative to being eaten. The film follows Fievel Mousekewitz, who is separated from his family as the boat approaches America; the movie chronicles Fievel's search for his family.

Related Topics:
Jew - Russian - Mice - Emigrate - New York City - Cat - America - 19th - 20th century - Immigrant - Sweatshop

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The film is an allegory for the terrible conditions immigrants to America faced at the turn of the century (the mice represent the Jewish immigrants, and the cats their Anti-Semitic tormentors), and is similar in this respect to Art Spiegelman's Maus.

Related Topics:
Allegory - Anti-Semitic - Art Spiegelman - Maus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fievel was voiced by Phillip Glasser, who later did the voice of one in Bebe's Kids. The voices of Mama and Papa are Erica Yohn and Nehemiah Persoff, who had no other roles in animation. Other voice actors include Dom DeLuise, who also heard on Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH and All Dogs Go to Heaven, as the voice of Tiger, a fat but friendly vegetarian cat that Fievel befriends.

Related Topics:
Phillip Glasser - Bebe's Kids - Erica Yohn - Nehemiah Persoff - Dom DeLuise - Don Bluth - The Secret of NIMH - All Dogs Go to Heaven - Vegetarian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The film was followed by its theatrical sequel ', the television series Fievel's American Tails, and two direct-to-video sequels ' and ', but most viewers consider the first film to be the best in the series.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fievel later served as the mascot for Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio, appearing in its production logo.

Related Topics:
Mascot - Steven Spielberg - Amblimation - Production logo

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Note that while all of the animal characters were animated from scratch, the human characters are portrayed using the rotoscoping technique, in which sequences were shot in live action and then traced onto animation cels. This provides a realistic look for human characters, and distinguishes the cartoonish animal characters from the more realistically-animated humans. ROtoscoping is frequently employed in Don Bluth films, including The Secret of NIMH and Anastasia.

Related Topics:
Rotoscoping - The Secret of NIMH - Anastasia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~