History WesternAnimation / AnAmericanTail

%%* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: See FakeRussian in the Trivia tab.

%%* PepTalkSong: "Never Say Never"

%%* ScarecrowSolution: The Giant Mouse of Minsk

Saw a sequel five years later with ''[[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailFievelGoesWest Fievel Goes West]]'', in which the Mousekewitz family, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome still dirt poor and at the mercy of ever-more-sophisticated cats]], flee New York for the Wild West (made without Bluth's involvement, but with Spielberg still on board), and a[[ShortRunners short-lived]] TV series in the same setting (''WesternAnimation/FievelsAmericanTails''), and two additional [[DirectToVideo DTV]] sequels (''[[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailTheTreasureOfManhattanIsland The Treasure of Manhattan Island]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailTheMysteryOfTheNightMonster Mystery of the Night Monster]]'') that played fast and loose with the established continuity, and had no involvement from the original creators.

* AnachronismStew: A group of children are shown reciting the Pledge of Allegiance which wouldn't be invented until 1892, and they add 'Under God', which wouldn't be added until 1951. And they have their hands over their hearts (due to UnfortunateImplications they couldn't have had them using the original salute, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute which was co-opted by the Nazis in the 1930's and '40's]]). "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is played in the phonograph even if the song wasn't published until 1897. The majority of the movie takes place in 1885-86.

* {{Bookends}}: The film begins with Papa giving Fievel his NiceHat as a Hanukkah present, with the hat being too big to fit him and Mama telling him he'll grow into it. The film ends with Papa giving it to him again after they're reunited and this time it fits him, signifying that he's grown from his experiences throughout the film.

* NiceHat: Fievel is given one for Hanukkah at the beginning. Because it's his [[OrphansPlotTrinket only link to his family]], many an IndyHatRoll ensues. One of the first causes him to be swept off the ship.

Such is the plot of the most popular animated film of the 1980s that doesn't involve a [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 singing crab]]. It was a [[SleeperHit surprise hit]] at the box office in 1986, and it became the highest grossing animated film of all time, much to Disney's sheer horror. It would keep this title until the debut of the ''next'' Creator/DonBluth film, ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime''. The popularity of both these films continued in Bluth's efforts in [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH his previous film]] to reinvigorate classical animation into the public consciousness at a time when the industry was in a slump, convincing Disney to step up its game in face of the competition, making this film one of the biggest contributions to UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation.

Tellingly, more people remember the song "[[AwardBaitSong Somewhere Out There]]" than, say, the immigrant struggle aspect.

Almost as well known is the LighterAndSofter ContestedSequel, ''[[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailFievelGoesWest Fievel Goes West]]'', in which the Mousekewitz family, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome still dirt poor and at the mercy of ever-more-sophisticated cats]], flee New York for the Wild West (made without Bluth's involvement, but with Spielberg still on board), but largely forgotten is the [[ShortRunners short-lived]] TV series in the same setting (''WesternAnimation/FievelsAmericanTails''), and two additional [[DirectToVideo DTV]] sequels (''[[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailTheTreasureOfManhattanIsland The Treasure of Manhattan Island]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailTheMysteryOfTheNightMonster Mystery of the Night Monster]]'') that played fast and loose with the established continuity, and had no involvement from the original creators. Have we mentioned that Creator/DonBluth films tend to suffer from [[{{Sequelitis}} this sort of thing?]] [[note]][[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime Let's just be glad the number of movies made never reached double digits]][[/note]].

* UnnamedParent: Fievel's parents are known only as "Mama" and "Papa".
** An episode of ''Fievel's American Tails'' in which Fievel's Aunt Sophie comes to visit gives Papa the name Bernard. That's ''if'' you count anything from the TV series as canon, because it even contradicts ''Fievel Goes West'' at times...

** [[JustifiedTrope This is 1885 we're talking about.]] Sewers in New York were that big because they needed to be large enough for maintenance people to move around down there.
** Also justified in that the characters are mice and cats so everything is bigger than what a human would experience.

* AlcoholHic: Honest John.

* BeneathTheEarth: The Mott Street Maulers' hideout.

* BreakTheCutie

* [[CityOfGold City of Cheese]]: What the mice believe America must be like. Unfortunately, once they get there, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.

* DisneyVillainDeath: Well, sort of.

* GrassIsGreener: [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries In America!]]

** That's somewhat debatable, even in comparison to the mice and the cats it looked to be about seven to eight feet tall at the very least.

* MouthCam

** Most viewers probably assumed that the "T" stood for "the."
** Perhaps a pun on the word "warranty" that he is definitely a rat. Ha, irony!

** Funny thing is, the hat seems to vanish and reappear on occasion. It's a pretty important object to have so many continuity errors.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: See FakeRussian in the Trivia tab.

* PepTalkSong: "Never Say Never"

* SadTimesMontage

* ScarecrowSolution: The Giant Mouse of Minsk

* TokenRomance: Tony and Bridget

* MaleFrontalNudity: During the two scenes in which Fievel is bathing. [[NonhumansLackAttributes You don't see anything.]] Though we're treated to an extended shot of Fievel's bare little behind as he bends over to look into a storm drain with his pants falling down.

* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Basically the reason Mama and Papa Mouskewitz don't bother to look for Fievel. Falling overboard into a stormy sea would most definitely mean certain death, especially a small child mouse like himself.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[{{Tagline}} ''Meet Fievel. In his search for his family, he discovered America.'']]]]

* PantyShot: Tanya has a tendency to show off her white bloomers - though arguably in an innocent manner (except in her saloon getup in ''Fievel Goes West'', where they seem to serve as a G-rated substitute for the more revealing garments worn by real-life saloon girls).
** ''Fievel Goes West'' averts this when she's in her usual outfit. [[http://screencaps.us/199/1-fievel-goes-west/full/fievel-goes-west-disneyscreencaps.com-860.jpg Yep,]] [[HalfDressedCartoonAnimal nothing underneath her skirt.]]

* SewerGator: Used [[MouseWorld proportionally]] with a regular lizard. [[AlwaysABiggerFish It eats the cockroaches attacking Feivel, allowing him to escape.]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Fievel is escaping the cat's mouth, you can see [[AWormInAnApple a worm in an apple slice]] the instant he climbs.

* GenderEqualsBreed: Averted. The Irish mouse sings this during "There Are No Cats In America: "A calico, ''he'' caught us by surprise!" Nearly every calico cat is female, so calico males are actually very rare. Then again, the calico he encountered may have been one of those rare male calicos.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: A mild one, but the Irish mouse sings this during "There Are No Cats In America: "A calico, ''he'' caught us by surprise!" [[AnimalGenderBender Nearly every calico cat is female, so calico males are actually very rare.]] [[JustifiedTrope Then again, the calico he encountered may have been one of those rare male calicos]].

* AdultFear: While they focus on Fievel, a kid being separated from his family just SCREAMS this trope.

* TooDumbToLive: Most of Fievel's hardships are his own fault for being over-curious and careless. During the storm, he throws his beloved hat up to an open door to give himself an excuse to go see more fish, which is hardly necessary because some just washed in. The film itself does nothing to disguise how bad an idea this is, what with ominous music, DramaticThunder, and [[AdultFear Papa's horrified reaction when he sees what his son is doing]]. Fievel almost drowns because of his mistake and thereafter finds himself in America alone. Of course, being JustAKid and considering [[BreakTheCutie what he goes through]], one cannot help but feel sorry for him.

* HumanoidFemaleAnimal: Bridget is the best example in the first movie (even having flesh-colored, very human-looking hands), the sequels do it more though. Female characters tend to have much smaller hands and feet in the series.

* VotOcksent?: Gussie Mausheimer from ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' has ElmuhFuddSyndwome, and pronounces the word "rally" as "wowie". After Honest John asks what a "wowie" is and she explains it to him, he figures out that she meant "rally". She replies irritably "Zats vhat I said! A wowie!"

* Bookends: The film begins with Papa giving Fievel his NiceHat as a Hanukkah present, with the hat being too big to fit him. The film ends with Papa giving it to him again after they're reunited and this time it fits him, signifying that he's grown from his experiences throughout the film.

* AnachronismStew: A group of children are shown reciting the Pledge of Allegiance which wouldn't be invented until 1892, and they add 'Under God', which wouldn't be added until 1951. And they have their hands over their hearts (due to UnfortunateImplications they couldn't have had them using the original salute, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute which was the original form of the Nazi salute]]). "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is played in the phonograph even if the song wasn't published until 1897. The majority of the movie takes place in 1886-ish.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: A mild one, but the Irish mouse sings this during "There Are No Cats In America: "A calico, ''he'' caught us by surprise!" Nearly every calico cat is female, so calico males are actually very rare. [[JustifiedTrope Then again, the calico he encountered may have been one of those rare male calicos]].

* LandmarkSale: Near the Castle Garden immigration center in New York, a salesman is selling the Brooklyn Bridge.

* AvianFlute: After the confrontation with Warren T. Cat and his gang and a subsequent fire, Fievel finds himself at an orphanage where he begins to lose hope that he'll ever find his family. As the scene shifts from a dark, rainy night to morning, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmYG_IlFpv4&list=PLH9C08qrQ7S5EwhmKRn77BQ-kZneJ18y3&index=13 a light piccolo]] begins playing as a flock of small birds flies in and begins splashing around in the puddles left from the night before.