With John Cleese as the first choice for Cat R. Waul,
he was approached in 1989 by one of the film's producers at what Cleese vaguely called "the Italian Oscars".
He accepted the offer based on his enjoyment of the first ''American Tail'' and "I love sound studios anyway – there's none of the hassle and boredom and time wasting you get in television".
Cleese was paid his lowest fee in ten years for the role, however, which made him very unwilling to publicize his involvement with ''Fievel Goes West''.
According to Cathy Cavadini, there was another woman initially planned to voice Tanya but left the project, so Cavadini replaced her. Spielberg met James Stewart at a party asking him to voice Wylie Burp, and all of Stewart's lines were recorded in ten days; his last involvement in a Western was in ''
The Shootist
''The Shootist'' is a 1976 American Western film directed by Don Siegel and based on Glendon Swarthout's 1975 novel of the same name.Swarthout, Glendon (1975). ''The Shootist'', New York, New York: Doubleday. It is John Wayne's final film ro ...
'' (1976).
Animation
Don Bluth's departure from the project resulted in the animation of ''Fievel Goes West'' lacking the Disney-isms of the first film's animation. Instead, its animation is faster-paced and contains more elements of
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
cartoons.
Spielberg instructed his animators to take on a "live-action" method to animating the film, where the characters are affected by parts of the environment such as lighting.
Spielberg also directed for the camera to constantly move in sequences such as the sewer ride sequence and a 360-degree pan shot of the film's desert vista.
These types of
crane and
dolly shot
A tracking shot is any shot where the camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded. In cinematography, the term refers to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly that is then placed on rails – ...
s replicated certain shots in Spielberg's ''
Jaws
Jaws or Jaw may refer to:
Anatomy
* Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth
** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
'' (1975) and ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
'' (1981) and were considered groundbreaking for the time.
Apart from one computer-generated shot of the valley's ground, all of the film was
hand-drawn animated; the process was so intensive that it took at least one week to complete a minute of animation, around sixty artists to paint approximately 230,000 cels,
and a week for a single animator to finish three seconds of animation.
As ''Fievel Goes West'' was a parody of Western films, the animators heavily studied the works of
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
and
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cin ...
.
Sound design
The voices were recorded over a 10-day period at Interlock Studios (now Larson Studios) at
Crossroads of the World
Crossroads of the World is an open-air mall on Sunset Boulevard and Las Palmas in Los Angeles. The mall features a central building designed to resemble an ocean liner surrounded by a small village of cottage-style bungalows. It was designed by ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in 1989; ten takes were tracked for each actor at varying speeds and phrasing.
The voice actors were videotaped during their recording sessions, and the animators used the footage as reference for moving the characters.
The biggest focus was on keeping Cat R. Waul's movement similar to his voice actor's while recording in the studio, as the directors wanted him to feel like Cleese instead of just a cat voiced by him.
Nancy Beiman
Nancy Beiman is a director, character designer, teacher, and animator. She attended the Character Animation program at CalArts.
Career
Animation
In 1986, Beiman cofounded Caged Beagle Productions with business partner Dean Yeagle. She then move ...
originally worked as a regular animator on ''Fievel Goes West'', but became a supervisor on the project six months after she entered Amblimation.
While not assigned to supervise Miss Kitty's animation, she asked for the position and got it.
She enjoying working on Kitty for Irving's
Mae West
Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...
-esque delivery and the "scatterbrained dialogue" giving her freedom in animating the character.
Music
The score was composed by
James Horner
James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music.
Horner's first film score was i ...
, who previously scored for ''
the last movie
''The Last Movie'' is a 1971 metafictional drama film directed and edited by Dennis Hopper, who also stars in the leading role as a horse wrangler named after the state of Kansas. It is written by Stewart Stern, based on a story by Hopper and St ...
'' (1986) also produced by Spielberg. The album was released by
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
and featured 14 tracks, including four original songs written by Horner and
Will Jennings
Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings (born June 27, 1944) is an American lyricist. He is popularly known for writing the lyrics for the songs "Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and has won s ...
, and performed by
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...
and
Cathy Cavadini
Catherine Janet Cavadini is an American voice actress. She is most well known as the original voice of Blossom on Cartoon Network's animated television series ''The Powerpuff Girls'', and as and Tanya Mousekewitz in ''An American Tail: Fievel ...
. The song "Dreams to Dream", was nominated for a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
award and a contender by the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
voters for a
Best Original Song
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
nomination, although it did not receive one.
Marketing and release
''Fievel Goes West'' was initially planned for a fall 1990 release, but it was delayed to a late 1991 date. In 1989, the date was moved again to Christmas 1992 before reverting to Christmas 1991 in May 1990, when the subtitle ''Fievel Goes West'' and a follow-up television series was also first announced. It was moved to the fall of 1991 in November 1990. It made its worldwide premiere at the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
as their big children's theatre recital performance, on November 17, 1991, where 275
inner-city
The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists sometim ...
kids that were guests of
Fannie Mae
The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...
's company attended the event; the children also made their own ''American Tail'' storybook and posed with a costume version of Fievel for pictures. Notable adult attendees includes
Chuck Robb
Charles Spittal Robb (born June 26, 1939) is an American politician from Virginia and former officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the List of governors of Vir ...
,
Lynda Bird Johnson Robb
Lynda Bird Johnson Robb (born March 19, 1944) is the elder daughter of the 36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. She served as chairwoman of the Board of Reading is Fundamental, the nation's largest childr ...
,
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
,
Marvin Bush
Marvin Pierce Bush (born October 22, 1956) is an American businessman. He is the son of former U.S. president George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush and the brother of former U.S. president George W. Bush; former Florida Governor Jeb Bus ...
, Margaret Bush,
Fred Grandy
Fredrick Lawrence Grandy (born June 29, 1948) is an American actor who played "Gopher" on the sitcom ''The Love Boat'' and who later became a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Iowa. Grandy was most recently th ...
,
Elliot Richardson
Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and public servant who was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. As U.S. Attorney General, he was a prominent figure in the Watergate ...
, and
Robert Haft
Robert Michael Haft is an entrepreneur, primarily in health care, and became a household name in the Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, and Los Angeles markets for his Crown Books television commercial tagline, "Books cost too much ...
.
Both ''Fievel Goes West'' and Disney's ''
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...
'' (1991) began their United States theater runs on November 22, 1991; this was the third instance of two animated films being released on the same day, after ''
The Land Before Time
''The Land Before Time'' is an American animated film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous ''The Land Befor ...
'' and ''
Oliver & Company
''Oliver & Company'' is a 1988 American animated musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988, by Walt Disney Pictures. The 27th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the Charl ...
'' in 1988, and ''
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...
'' and ''
All Dogs Go to Heaven
''All Dogs Go to Heaven'' is a 1989 animated musical fantasy adventure comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and co-directed by Gary Goldman (his directorial debut) and Dan Kuenster. It tells the story of Charlie B. Barkin (voiced by Burt Re ...
'' in 1989. ''
Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...
'' noted the clash as "a testimony to the revival of interest in feature-length animation". Along with competing with an unusual number of family films with middling budgets such as ''
The Addams Family
''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...
'', ''
Curly Sue
''Curly Sue'' is a 1991 American comedy drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes, and starring James Belushi, Kelly Lynch, and Alisan Porter. It tells the story of a homeless con artist and his young orphan companion who gain ...
'', ''
My Girl'', and Spielberg's ''
Hook
A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...
'';
both ''Beauty and the Beast'' and ''Fievel Goes West'' were promoted with, as of the films' release date, the most expensive set of film
tie-in
A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...
s ever.
40 brands licensed with Universal to promote the film, including the non-profit
Reading Is Fundamental
Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF) is the oldest and largest non-profit children's literacy organization in the United States. RIF provides books (print and digital) and reading resources to children nationwide with supporting literacy resources ...
, which used the character of Fievel as a mascot for ''Reading Buddies'' kits; and
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...
, which used characters from the film on designs their Pizza Packs and soft-drink cups, a decision influenced by their previous tie-in success with the Disney summer film ''
The Rocketeer
The Rocketeer is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Pacific Comics. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes f ...
'' (1991).
Upon the film's release,
Universal Studios Tour
The Studio Tour (also known as The Backlot Tour) is a ride attraction at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in Universal City, California near Los Angeles. Studio Tour is the theme park's signature attraction. It travels through a worki ...
opened the attraction ''Mouse Trap'', a 2,500-seat interactive version of ''Fievel Goes West''. In the summer of 1992,
Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...
opened ''American Tail: Fievel's Playland'', a playground featuring set recreations of ''An American Tail'' and ''Fievel Goes West''.
Boxtress also released an illustrated book version of the film written by Cathy East Dubowski and Beverly Lazor-Bahr.
Reception
Box office
Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshal ...
previously competed with Disney twice: in 1986 when the first ''American Tail'' competed with a re-issue of ''
Lady and the Tramp
''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American animated musical romance film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The 15th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hami ...
'' (1955) and in 1988 when it released ''The Land Before Time'' around the same time as ''
Oliver & Company
''Oliver & Company'' is a 1988 American animated musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988, by Walt Disney Pictures. The 27th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the Charl ...
''. Amblin won both races;
Fred Mound, Universal distribution president, said: "We've proven in the past that there's room for two animated features".
Tom Pollock
Thomas Philip Pollock (April 10, 1943 – August 1, 2020) was an American film producer and studio executive. He started his career as an entertainment lawyer, before transitioning to a studio executive and film producer. He was the chairman of ...
, a Universal chairman, also had faith ''Fievel Goes West'' would perform well.
Spielberg and Disney's
Dick Cook
Richard W. Cook is an American film entertainment executive, and has served on the Board of Directors of Legendary Pictures since 2011. Prior to joining Legendary Pictures, he was the Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 2002 to 2009. At the ...
suggested both films would be hits, although Spielberg predicted ''Beauty and the Beast'' to make more profits due to having more of an adult appeal than ''Fievel Goes West''. Disney chairman
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg (; born December 21, 1950) is an American filmmaker, animator, and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and CE ...
stated in regards to the competition: "We've competed with Amblin before and learned that there's enough room for both. These movies aren't mutually exclusive. There's a big market out there. The success of one doesn't depend on the failure of the other".
Opening to 1,400 theaters in the United States,
''Fievel Goes West'' has, as of November 30, 2019, the 110th widest G-rated release of all time and the 96th widest G-rated film opening in the United States. It also has the 124th all-time biggest opening weekend for a G-rated film, opening in fourth place with $3,435,625; and has 60th smallest weekend drop for a film in 600-plus theaters thanks to its second week grossing $3,782,080. However, it also holds the record of the 119th post-thanksgiving weekend drops. ''Fievel Goes West'' eventually made just over $22 million domestically, and $18 million overseas, for a total of $40,766,041; making it the 60th highest-grossing film of 1991 in the United States and the 37th highest grosser of the year worldwide. As of December 1, 2019, it is the 141st highest domestic-grossing G-rated film of all time and 123rd worldwide. By contrast, the original film made $47.4 million in the U.S. in 1986, a record at the time for a non-Disney animated one, and a further $36 million overseas, for a total of $84 million.
According to ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''Fievel Goes West'' tied with ''
For the Boys
''For the Boys'' is a 1991 American musical comedy-drama film that traces the life of Dixie Leonard, a 1940s actress/singer who teams up with Eddie Sparks, a famous performer, to entertain American troops.
The film was adapted by Marshall Brickma ...
'' (1991) for "the dubious if unofficial distinction of the fastest failure of a big-budget holiday movie".
Some journalists and film executives attributed the film's weak box office to the intense competition it faced with ''Beauty and the Beast''.
However, it wasn't competing with the Disney production in Canada, and it failed there too according to a Universal executive, who also blamed Spielberg's lack of involvement in the marketing due to being too busy on ''Hook''.
Another official of the company explained that he had little faith in the project, describing it as "charmless" and its animation "pedestrian".
Other writers blamed it on the content. Dennis Hunt suggested "the complex story line and the scary villains didn't quite click with the kiddies", and Bernard Weinraub wrote that "even children were not especially interested in an old-fashioned animated movie".
Steven Hulett of the union
Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists opined that the low performances of both ''Fievel Goes West'' and ''
We're Back!: A Dinosaur Story'' (1993) resulted from the poor quality of their stories, "and animation is a story-driven art form". He attributed this to Spielberg's busy schedule, meaning he didn't have enough time to focus on animation.
Critical response
''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' holds a 60% critical percentage on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 15 reviews. Peter M. Nichols wrote ''Fievel Goes West'' "was panned on the ground that it was not so innovative as other new animated films, notably ''Beauty and the Beast'' from Disney, the leader in animation".
Multiple reviewers lambasted ''Fievel Goes West''
's lack of a cohesive story
and extremely fast pace.
As critics summarized, the film "has constant activity but minimal objectives";
"has little narrative drive or emotional resonance", its climax feeling "perfunctory and tacked on";
and has "so many subplots and digressions" that "they simply failed to develop the central narrative".
Some reviewers were also uncomforted by the Indian mice tribe as being racially insensitive.
''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' opined that, despite its enjoyable comedic relief characters and "fantastic chase scenes", ''Fievel Goes West'' suffered from being "fairly predictable".
One reviewer in contrast appreciated the bits of "sophisticated humor" and
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
undertones in the script,
and another highlighted its gag, such as the scene of Tiger being taken captive by the Indian mice.
Some critics called the songs weaker and not as memorable as those of the first film,
although the
Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...
' version of the song "
Rawhide" was spotlighted by some writers
and "The Girl You Left Behind" by a ''
People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
'' magazine review.
''
Time Out London
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' published an ecstatic review of ''Fievel Goes West'': "Miles better than the overrated ''American Tail'', this laugh-packed sequel boasts all the classic elements so often missing from modern cartoon features: a straightforward zip-zang-boom storyline, clearly etched characters with instantly identifiable flaws, tip-top voice-overs by well-chosen celebrities, and oodles of elasticated slapstick". The ''
Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
'' wrote that the main plot is "left underdeveloped" amid "numerous subplots".
Unlike other critics, Cortney Thekan appreciated the huge amount of subplots: "I mean, we all know the attention span of a 4-year-old. Full-length cartoons need the subplots to hold children's attention". ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' praised it for being "quick, vivid and a real hoot to viewers of any age", but also noted its wonky setup, saying that "the family is tricked into a cross-country quest by a fast-talking fake mouse
..Not only are the marionette's strings fully visible during Cat R. Waul's spiel, but the cat can be seen through a sewer grate. Stupid mice!" ''
Halliwell's Film Guide
Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Film ...
'' labeled ''Fievel Goes West'' as an "enjoyable and high-spirited animated film that borrows plot and attitudes from classic Westerns".
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave it two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote: "There is nothing really the matter with ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', except that it is not inspired with an extra spark of imagination in addition to its competent entertainment qualities".
Most critics found the animation high-quality in general.
The ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
''
's Clifford Terry applauded the "vivid and rich" animation, particularly the "colorful figures and detailed backgrounds".
Solomon highlighted its "tricky point-of-view shots, such as inside a rolling tumbleweed", and the changes to most of the character designs;
while Brenna Kield of the ''
Sun-Sentinel
The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...
'' highlighted the realism in the scenery and character movements.
Roger Hurlburt called its animation "bright and sassy, "colorful backdrops" and "eye-filling uses of exciting angles".
The animation wasn't completely devoid of noted perks in reviews. Solomon criticized the little amount of "nuances of thought and emotion" in the characters;
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' summarized the movie's take on the West as "surprisingly dull";
Kield felt that some scenes, especially those that take place in the West, could've been a bit lighter;
and ''
The Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
'' opined that "the foregrounds are expressive but the backgrounds are bland and uninspired".
The ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'' enjoyed the animation the least, as "the animation could easily have been done in the 1940s, such is its flat traditionalism".
While Terry found most of the characters unmemorable,
he and other reviewers praised the presence of Wylie Burp.
While most reviews applauded the voice cast,
a ''
Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...
'' review was more divided towards it, appreciating Irving and Stewart's performances but finding DeLuise and his character irritating and Cleese "wasted" on the film.
''Empire'' also named Waul "one of the least dastardly animated villains ever, even with the slithering vocal talents of John Cleese".
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' named it one of the best children's films of 1991 alongside ''Beauty and the Beast'' and ''
Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
''Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken'' is a 1991 American drama film directed by Steve Miner. It concerns Sonora Webster Carver, a rider of diving horses. Gabrielle Anwar stars as Carver alongside Michael Schoeffling and Cliff Robertson. It is based ...
'' (1991); and ''
The Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...
'' honored it as one of 1991's "Best arguments for sequels" alongside ''
Terminator 2: Judgment Day'', ''
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
''Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey'' is a 1991 American science fiction comedy film, and the feature directorial debut of Pete Hewitt. It is the second film in the ''Bill & Ted'' franchise, and a sequel to ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989). ...
'', and ''
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear''. In a 1993 newspaper feature about portrayals of females in animated films, journalist Ann Doss Helms disliked how most animated women had no other characters of the same gender to motivate or guide them; the writer criticized how little attention Tanya's parents gave to her aspirations, but praised the advice Miss Kitty gave to Tanya, suggesting "there's hope that things are changing".
Later years
In the late 2010s, ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' was recognized on publication lists of best
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
-available westerns, ranking in the top ten of lists by ''
Paste'' and ''
The Daily Dot
''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometown ...
''. It was also number 24 on ''
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
''
's "25 Best '90s Movies On Netflix", appeared on ''Wonderwall''
's list of best animated sequels, and landed on a ''
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
'' list of "50 Movies You Definitely Watched in the '90s and Forgot About". Including it on a list of "19 Classic Movies That Prove 1991 Was Truly The Best Year For Film", ''
Bustle
A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...
'' described the film as "a fun, action-adventure comedy that gave Fievel's sister Tanya some much-needed screen time". Both ''Fievel Goes West'' and the first ''American Tail'' were tied for the number-five spot of a list of best non-Disney films from ''My Web Times'': "Political and historical, these feature some fab songs and fun voice-over work from the likes of Jimmy Stewart (in his last role), John Cleese, Madeline Kahn and Dom DeLuise". In her book ''Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films (Jewish Lives)'',
Molly Haskell
Molly Clark Haskell (born September 29, 1939)Aitken, Ian, ed. (2006)''Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, Volume 2'' New York: Routledge. p. 541. . is an American feminist film critic and author. She contributed to ''The Village Voice''—firs ...
wrote that both ''An American Tail'' and its sequel ''Fievel Goes West'' were oddly more "personal" for Spielberg than ''
Schindler's List
''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...
'' (1993), "the film that certified the director's rebirth as a Jew, and his much-vaunted evolution into a newfound 'maturity'".
In a 2017 ''
/Film
''/Film'', also spelled ''Slashfilm'', is a blog that covers movie news, reviews, interviews, and trailers. It was founded by Peter Sciretta in August 2005.
Podcasts
Six podcasts have run on the site. ''The /Filmcast'', hosted by David Chen, De ...
'' feature about Amblimation, Dalin Rowell highlighted the "cinematic" scale of its animation and opined that it "should be remembered for its creativity and willingness to be a bit more bold and daring than its predecessor". A 2016 review from Greg Jameson of ''Entertainment Focus'' opined it "has less universal appeal than the original, because the themes aren't as rooted in human experience so it packs less of an emotional punch", but he nonetheless called it a fun film and praised its animation and voice acting.
Home media
''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' received its first
VHS and
cassette
Cassette may refer to:
Technology
* Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback
** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...
release on March 19, 1992.
Nichols and Tower Video's John Thrasher predicted it would do well in sales due to a lack of competition. According to Nichols, three million copies were rumored to be circulated, although MCA/Universal was willing to reveal the real number.
Upon its 1992 VHS release, ''Fievel Goest West'' held the record for shortest theater-to-home-video transfer, previously held in a tie by ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
'' (1989) and ''
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' (1991).
The video for ''Fievel Goes West'' topped the video charts the week it was issued,
and even when it was dethroned by a reissue of ''
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (also simply known as ''101 Dalmatians'') is a 1961 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the 1956 novel ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' by Dodie Smith. The ...
'' (1961), it remained at the number-two spot of the ''Top Kid Video'' chart for several weeks. On April 10, 1992, the
U.S. Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...
began selling envelopes with 29-cent Western-Americana-themed stamps designed by Harry Zelenko to promote the home video of ''Fievel Goes West''; 19 of them were reissued on May 1 using recycled paper. The release was pulled from the shelves in January 1993.
Beginning November 18, 1994,
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
, in a deal with MCA/Universal, offered customers a $2.50 rebate on a video purchase of ''
Jurassic Park
''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...
'' (1993) if they purchased from McDonald's one of the following tapes for six dollars: ''Fievel Goes West'', ''The Land Before Time'' (1988), ''
Back to the Future
''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...
'' (1985), and ''
Field of Dreams
''Field of Dreams'' is a 1989 American sports fantasy drama film written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson, based on Canadian novelist W. P. Kinsella's 1982 novel '' Shoeless Joe''. The film stars Kevin Costner as a farmer who builds a ...
'' (1989). ''Fievel Goes West'' garnered its first American television airing on April 13, 1997, via a
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
"Tune In to Kids and Family Week" promotion of another TV debut, ''
Pocahontas
Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...
'' (1995). On August 11, 1998, as part of Universal Family Features's highly-family-demanded $15-million campaign to relaunch the ''American Tail'' franchise after a six-year
moratorium; digitally-restored versions of ''An American Tail'' and ''Fievel Goes West'' were released on VHS on a 2-tape release. On the issue of October 3, 1998, the set debuted at number 19 on ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
's Top Kid Video chart.
''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' was released on
Video CD
Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical discs. The format was widely adopted in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the ...
in Hong Kong on July 20, 2001, on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
in the United States on September 25, 2003,
Spain on September 29, 2005,
and Denmark on November 15, 2011.
In the United Kingdom, it first appeared on December 6, 2006, on DVD as part of a ''Slim 2'' box set that featured the first two ''American Tail'' films. Similar two-film DVD collections were released in Spain on June 22, 2009, and the United States on August 22, 2010. The film was part of a DVD collection that included all four movies in the franchise on June 13, 2017. ''Fievel Goes West'' was issued to
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on April 4, 2017, in the United States, July 4 in Canada, and September 25 in the United Kingdom. Unlike the previous home media releases, the film has a sequence edited, like the infamous hidden
penis
A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males do n ...
doodle that was briefly seen during Tanya's version of "Dreams to Dream" was removed, thanks to the controversy. On online platforms, the film was released to
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...
on November 11, 2013,
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
on April 1, 2017, and
Movies Anywhere
Movies Anywhere (MA) is a cloud-based digital rights locker and over-the-top streaming platform that allows users to stream and download purchased films, including digital copies redeemed from codes found in home video releases as well as di ...
on October 12, 2017.
Other media
Comics
Between January to February 1992,
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
ran a three-issue series based on ''Fievel Goes West'', written by
D.G. Chichester with art by
George Wildman
George Wildman (July 31, 1927 – May 22, 2016) was an American cartoonist most noted for his work in the comic books industry. From 1971 until 1985 he was a top editor at Charlton Comics, where he also became the long-time regular artist on ...
.
Video games
An
LCD
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but in ...
game
A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...
based on the film was created by
Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics Ltd. (also known as Tiger and Tiger Toys) was an independent American toy manufacturer best known for its handheld LCD games, the Furby, the Talkboy, Giga Pets, the 2-XL robot, and audio games such as ''Brain Warp'' and the Br ...
in 1991, and a computer game was created in 1993. A
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
video game of the same name was released in 1994; it was heavily praised by video game critics for its presentation, although its simple gameplay garnered divided opinions. A
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
video game based on the film called ''An American Tail: Fievel's Gold Rush'' was released by
Conspiracy Entertainment
Conspiracy Entertainment (formerly Conspiracy Games) is an American third-party developer video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or extern ...
in January 2002 to mixed reviews.
Future
Sequels
Two direct-to-video sequels were produced after the series: ''
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island'', released in 1998, and ''
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster'', released in 1999. A piece of dialogue from Fievel in the former appears to retcon ''Fievel Goes West'' as a dream the character had, but many fans would prefer to see both direct-to-video films as prequels that take place before ''Fievel Goes West'', with the dialogue being taken as foreshadowing.
Spin-off television series
On September 12, 1992, the TV series ''
Fievel's American Tails
''Fievel's American Tails'' is an animated television series, produced by Amblimation, Nelvana, and Universal Cartoon Studios. It aired on CBS for one season in 1992, and continued Fievel's adventures from the film '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes ...
'' premiered on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
; it is a follow-up of ''Fievel Goes West'' and features actors such as Glasser, Cavadini and DeLuise reprising their roles. In 2020,
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primari ...
regained rights to the series and is available on
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
, over two decades after being abandoned since the release of the DTV films in the late 1990s.
Legacy
Fievel later served as the
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
for
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
's
Amblimation
Amblimation was the British animation production subsidiary of Amblin Entertainment. It was formed by Steven Spielberg in May 1989, following the success of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988), and after he parted ways with Don Bluth, due to c ...
animation studio, appearing in its
production logo
A production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production company, production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a tel ...
. There is also a Fievel-themed playground at
Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...
, featuring a large water slide and many oversized objects such as books, glasses, cowboy boots, and more. It is the only such playground at any of
NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's theme parks.
The Jimmy Stewart Museum The Jimmy Stewart Museum is a museum dedicated to American actor James Stewart (1908–1997) that is located in Stewart's hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania.
Overview
The museum is located in the actor's hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania on the thi ...
, a museum dedicated to Stewart, has presented ''Fievel Goes West'' four times: on September 6, 2015, January 9, 2016, March 11, 2017, and July 8, 2017. On April 28, 2018, ''Fievel Goes West'' was screened at the
Autry Museum of the American West
The Autry Museum of the American West is a museum in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to exploring an inclusive history of the American West. Founded in 1988, the museum presents a wide range of exhibitions and public programs, including le ...
, a Los Angeles museum of the history of the
American West
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
. Comedy television series such as ''
30 Rock
''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...
'', ''
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...
'', and ''
Rick and Morty
{{Infobox television
, image = Rick and Morty title card (cropped).png
, alt =
, caption =
, genre = {{Plainlist,
* Animated sitcom
* Adult animation
* Science fiction
* Black comedy
* ...
'' have referenced ''Fievel Goes West''.
See also
*
List of animated feature films
These lists of animated feature films compiles animated feature films from around the world and is organized alphabetically under the year of release (the year the completed film was first released to the public). Theatrical releases as well as ...
*
1991 in film
The year 1991 in film involved some significant events. Important films released this year included '' The Silence of the Lambs'', ''Beauty and the Beast'', ''Thelma & Louise'', ''JFK'' and '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''.
Highest-grossing films
...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
An American Tail: Fievel Goes Westat Keyframe: The Animation Resource
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Tail: Fievel Goes West, An
1991 films
1991 animated films
1991 comedy films
1991 directorial debut films
1990s American animated films
1990s English-language films
1990s Western (genre) comedy films
1990s children's animated films
1990s musical comedy films
Amblin Entertainment films
Amblin Entertainment animated films
American Western (genre) comedy films
American children's animated adventure films
American children's animated comedy films
American children's animated musical films
American musical comedy films
American sequel films
An American Tail (franchise)
Animated films about cats
Animated films about mice
British films set in New York City
Animated films set in New York City
British children's films
Films about immigration to the United States
Films directed by Phil Nibbelink
Films directed by Simon Wells
Films produced by Steven Spielberg
Films scored by James Horner
Films set in 1890
Films set in Utah
Films set in deserts
Rail transport films
Universal Pictures animated films
Universal Pictures films
Western (genre) animated films
British musical comedy films
Films about spiders
British Western (genre) comedy films
American Western (genre) musical films
1990s British films