Plot
A family of Emigre mice decide to move out to the west, unaware that they are falling into a trap perpetrated by a smooth talking cat.
Release Year: 1991
Rating: 6.1/10 (8,326 voted)
Director:
Phil Nibbelink
Stars: James Stewart, John Cleese, Amy Irving
Storyline Some time after the Mousekewitz's have settled in America, they find that they are still having problems with the threat of cats. That makes them eager to try another home out in the west, where they are promised that mice and cats live in peace. Unfortunately, the one making this claim is an oily con artist named Cat R. Waul who is intent on his own sinister plan. Unaware of this, the Mousekewitz's begin their journey west, while their true cat friend, Tiger, follows intent on following his girlfriend gone in the same direction.
Writers: David Kirschner, Charles Swenson
Cast: Phillip Glasser
-
Fievel
(voice)
James Stewart
-
Wylie
(voice)
Erica Yohn
-
Mama
(voice)
Cathy Cavadini
-
Tanya
(voice)
Nehemiah Persoff
-
Papa
(voice)
Dom DeLuise
-
Tiger
(voice)
Amy Irving
-
Miss Kitty
(voice)
John Cleese
-
Cat R. Waul
(voice)
Jon Lovitz
-
Chula
(voice)
Jack Angel
-
Additional Voices
(voice)
Mickie McGowan
-
Additional Voices
(voice)
(as Mickie Mc Gowan)
Fausto Bara
-
Additional Voices
(voice)
Larry Moss
-
Additional Voices
(voice)
Vanna Bonta
-
Additional Voices
(voice)
Nigel Pegram
-
Additional Voices
(voice)
Taglines:
Look out pardners, there's a new mouse in town!
Release Date: 22 November 1991
Gross: $22,166,041
(USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
"Dreams To Dream" was originally recorded by Céline Dion, but the producers favored Linda Ronstadt, who sang the theme song, "Somewhere Out There", in
An American Tail.
Goofs:
Anachronisms:
At one point in the movie, T.R. Chula is chasing Fieval and singing a taunting, masochistic version of the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song. The song was first published in the form most commonly used today (with water spout, etc.) in 1962, and it's earliest publication was in 1947. It's not likely the song was sung circa 1875, when the movie was set.
Quotes: Cat R. Waul:
Let the saliva flow!
User Review
A worthy sequel to a great classic
Rating:
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.
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