An American Tail

An American Tail is a 1986 American animated musical comedy-drama movie directed by Don Bluth. It was the first animated movie that was presented by Steven Spielberg.

Story

In Chostka, Russia, in 1885, mice were increasingly threatened by the feline race. The Souriskewitz family decides to put an end to their sad fate by emigrating to the United States, a land full of promise where, it is whispered, there are crumbs of bread on all the cupboards and there are no cats. During the boat trip, the family's son, Fievel, is unfortunately separated from his family during a storm and disappears at sea. Thinking that the latter has drowned, the other members of the family arrive in New York.

Meanwhile, Fievel arrives in New York in a floating bottle. After being rescued and advised by a French pigeon named Henri, he embarks on a quest to find his family. He is assaulted by Boniface de Rat, a con man who gains his trust and sells him to a sweatshop. He manages to escape with the help of Tony Toponi, an Italian mouse, and meets Bridget, an Irish mouse who tries to trick his fellow mice into resisting the cats. When a gang of cats called the Mott Street Maulers prey on them, the immigrant mice realize that the truth of a country without cats is quite different.

Bridget then takes Fievel and Tony to see Honest John, a drunken and reliable politician who knows all the mice in New York. But, since the Souriskewitz are not yet registered to vote, he cannot help Fievel find them. Meanwhile, Fievel's sister, Tanya, has a feeling that her brother is still alive, but her parents insist that this feeling disappears.

Led by the rich and powerful Gussie Sourisfeller, the mice organize a rally to decide what to do about the cats. No one has a clue what to do, until Fievel whispers a plan to Gussie. The mice then take possession of an abandoned building on Chelsea Pier and begin to build their plan. On the day of the launch, Fievel gets lost and falls into the lair of Boniface de Rat. He discovers that he is actually a cat in disguise and the leader of the Maulers. They capture Fievel and imprison him in a cage, but a clumsy, soft-hearted cat named Tiger befriends him. Eventually escaping, Fievel returns to the pier, while the cats are after him. Gussie then takes the opportunity to order the secret weapon to be dropped. A huge mechanical mouse, inspired by Papa Souriskewitz's tale, the "Giant Mouse of Minsk", chases the cats to the bottom of the pier and throws them into the water. A carrier bound for Hong Kong picks them up and takes them away.

During the battle, Fievel gets lost again and ends up in the slums among orphans who amuse themselves by persecuting him and advise him to give up on finding his family one day. Papa Souriskewitz catches Bridget and Tony looking for Fievel, but he is convinced that there may be another "Fievel", until Mama Souriskewitz finds their son's hat. They get together to find him and, thanks to the sound of Papa's violin, bring Fievel back to his family's arms. The journey ends on the back of Henri wanting to show everyone his recently completed project, the Statue of Liberty, and a new life begins for the Souriskewitzes in America.

Voice cast

• Phillip Glasser as Fievel Mousekewitz. While "Fievel" is a generally accepted spelling of his name, the opening credits spell it as "Feivel", the more common transliteration of the Yiddish name (פֿײַװל Fayvl) (Cf. Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz and Feivel Gruberger). The main protagonist, he is the only son of Papa and Mama Mousekewitz. A high-spirited, daring yet naïve Russian-Jewish mouse, Fievel becomes a frightened child when he is separated from his family. The strength and the encouragement from his new American friends from Henri to Tony and Bridget give him the fortitude to reach his goal in reuniting with his family while starting a new life in America. Fievel was the same name of Steven Spielberg's grandfather, whose stories as an immigrant influenced the film (the ending credits spell his name as "Fievel"). However, many English-speaking writers have come to adopt the spelling Fievel, especially for this character; it was this spelling that was used on the film's poster, in promotional materials and tie-in merchandise, and in the title of the sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. His last name is a play on the Russian-Jewish last name "Moskowitz", the name of the human occupants of the house his family is living under in the beginning of the film.
• John Finnegan as Warren T. Rat, a small Havana Brown who disguises himself as a rat. He is the leader of the Mott Street Maulers, an all-cat gang which terrorizes the mice of New York City. Conniving and a schemer, he misleads the gullible Fievel at one point. Later on, he gets his comeuppance when Fievel discovers and later exposes him as a cat to the Mouse community. He is accompanied everywhere by his accountant Digit, a small English-accented cockroach.
• Amy Green as Tanya Mousekewitz (singing voice provided by Betsy Cathcart), Fievel's older sister, whom he mutually adores. Optimistic and cheerful, less daring but more obedient than her brother, she alone believes (correctly) that he survived being washed overboard en route to the United States. She is given the American name "Tillie" at the immigration point at Castle Garden.
• Nehemiah Persoff as Papa Mousekewitz, the head of the Mousekewitz family who plays the violin and tells stories to his children.
• Erica Yohn as Mama Mousekewitz, Fievel's mother. Countering Papa's dreamy idealism, she is a level-headed pragmatist, besides being stricter with their offspring than he is. She also has a fear of flying.
• Pat Musick as Tony Toponi, a streetwise teenage mouse of Italian descent. His "tough guy" attitude suits his New York surroundings. The name "Toponi" is a play on "topo", the Italian word for "mouse". He hits it off with Fievel, acting as a surrogate big brother to the younger mouse, whom he calls "Philly". In a subplot, he falls in love with Bridget.
• Dom DeLuise as Tiger, the most physically imposing member of the Mott Street Maulers, whom he serves as an enforcer, and often as the brunt of their cruel jokes. This bushy-tailed, orange long-haired tabby stands 3 feet tall on his rear legs. Although not especially intelligent, Tiger is very friendly, and his warm nature endears him to mice and birds. He is mostly vegetarian, aside from the occasional bit of fish. Tiger becomes Fievel's best friend. He enjoys card games like poker and gin rummy, despite being terrible at them. Tiger's singing voice also helps him stand out; he sings Lyric and Dramatic Bass and Lyric and Dramatic Baritone, from D2 or E2 to F4 or G4.
• Christopher Plummer as Henri le Pigeon, a pigeon of French descent, who oversees construction of the Statue of Liberty.
• Cathianne Blore as Bridget, an attractive, elegant Irish-born mouse and Tony's significant other. Her parents were slain and devoured by the Mott Street Maulers, making her an advocate in speaking out against the cats. Kind, passionate yet soft-spoken, she acts as a surrogate big sister to Fievel.
• Neil Ross as Honest John, a local Irish-born mouse politician who knows every voting mouse in New York City. An ambulance-chasing drunkard, he takes advantage of voters' concerns to increase his political prestige. John is a caricature of real-life Tammany Hall boss John Kelly (also nicknamed "Honest John") and other 19th-century New York City politicians.
• Madeline Kahn as Gussie Mausheimer, a German-born mouse considered to be the richest in New York City, who rallies the mice into fighting back against the cats. Despite being against cats, she later accepts Tiger for helping to reunite Fievel with his family.
• Will Ryan as Digit, Warren's British cockroach accountant who has a fondness for counting money but is plagued by frequent electrical charges in his antennae whenever he gets nervous or excited.
• Hal Smith as Moe, a fat rat who runs the local sweatshop. Fievel is sold to him by Warren.
• Dan Kuenster as Jake, Warren's burly aide-de-camp. Among the Mott Street Maulers, he alone enjoys listening to his leader's violin music. Jake catches Fievel after a chase through the sewers. After Tiger takes pity on Fievel and sets him free, Jake and his fellow Maulers pursue the young mouse to the Chelsea Pier, only to face the "Giant Mouse of Minsk".