An American Tail (1986)

68% of critics liked it
(25 reviews)
68% of users liked it
(239,126 ratings)

An American Tail is a beautifully rendered animated flim that tells an overly familiar story in terms children can easily understand. Fievel Mousekewitz and his family of Russian-Jewish mice escape from their homeland in the late 1800s, boarding a boat headed toward America to evade the Czarist rule… More An American Tail is a beautifully rendered animated flim that tells an overly familiar story in terms children can easily understand. Fievel Mousekewitz and his family of Russian-Jewish mice escape from their homeland in the late 1800s, boarding a boat headed toward America to evade the Czarist rule of the Russian cats. Fievel, however, is separated from his family upon his arrival in New York City, and he discovers to his horror that there are cats in America too (his father said there weren't). Fievel meets his share of friendly and hostile mice, and he eventually befriends a cat as well. Former Disney animator Don Bluth co-produced and directed this often heartwarming yarn, the first animated feature presented by Steven Spielberg, and it has its charms despite a number of cliché situations. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 20 min.
Directed By: Don Bluth
Written By: David Kirschner, Judy Freudberg, Tony Geiss
Genres: Action & Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family

In Theaters: Nov 21, 1986 Wide
On DVD: Jan 20, 2004
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Cartoons with ambitions even this noble are as rare as Steven Spielberg films that lose money, but every character and every situation presented herein have been seen a thousand times before.
Pat Graham, Chicago Reader
The overall quality of the animation -- baroquely executed if rather conventionally conceived -- makes it worth a look
Vincent Canby, New York Times
Witless if well-meaning.
Paul Attanasio, Washington Post
It may be that the truly American tale here is the spectacle of an artist squandering his awesome gifts on the way to becoming a Hollywood institution.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
he movie has such vague ethnic grounds, however, that only a few children will understand or care that the Mousekewitzes are Jewish. And few of those are likely to be entertained by such a tragic, gloomy story.
Rita Kempley, Washington Post
A bright-eyed tale of Jewish triumphs that will find a place in many young hearts.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Adorable, heartwarming tale of immigrant mouse.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
Its sappiness is unmissably sincere, and such aching, embarrassing sincerity is never an evil thing in a movie.
Richard Luck, Film4
There's nothing particularly special about An American Tail, save for Bluth's slick animation.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
The story is moving, and the animation includes some powerful images, although some of the early scenes depicting the suffering of the mice in Russia may be too frightening for younger viewers.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
For all its state-of-the-art animation techniques, Spielberg's production remains resolutely conservative: visually it's virtually indistinguishable from Walt at his wimpiest.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Like other Spielberg-produced features, this one pays homage to old movie traditions (live-action Westerns) and icons, but the film has been made mechanically.
Staci Layne Wilson, StaciWilson.com
Click to read the article.
Michael A. Smith, Nolan's Pop Culture Review
Can't resist any film with singing mice. Truly Bluth's best film.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Ethnic mice plus fascist cats in groundbreaking animation.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
I liked it as a kid, and have liked it less and less every year since.
John Urbancich, Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
No Mickey, but a nice mouse.

Read all 17 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

John M

Don Bluths An American Tail has its haters and lovers. A quirky movie with some memorable songs.
Lady D

A tale of immigration told through a cartoon world. This plays on a few Classic tales and re-watching the film at the age I am now you can really pick up on metaphors in relation to the human world. Despite all of the modern effects such as CGI, this film still works as a timeless… More
A tale of immigration told through a cartoon world. This plays on a few Classic tales and re-watching the film at the age I am now you can really pick up on metaphors in relation to the human world. Despite all of the modern effects such as CGI, this film still works as a timeless piece of animation.
Alexander D

Awful
Jennifer X

I think I missed out on the appeal of this film because I never saw it when I was younger. I could never get over the Russian accents.
Michael E

good songs, but its just so dang depressing
AJ V

I saw this movie when I was a kid, I remember it being a fun cartoon adventure, but I hardly remember it now. Maybe I'll see it again some day.
Chris W

I remember I saw this once, like a million years ago. I remember basically nothing about it, but it was probably good. Perhaps I need to rewatch it?
Jennifer D

I am fairly certain that there are no bad Don Bluth films. This included. Though I think I liked the sequel better.
Dean !

An ok cartoon film.
Alexander W

Pretty old animation which has a nice story reminisant of a Charles Dickens story
danny d

one of the all time great animated films, a must watch for all
Curtis L

Been a while.
Jon L

Great old style animation. I hope it doesn't fade away.
Rachel F

Really cute animated film.
Tim S

Great aminated film that will make you cry like a pussy.
Lafe F

It was a classic in its time. There are some memorable scenes as Fieval the mouse and his family immigrate to America from Europe. "There are no cats in America!" It's a strong story. Excellent Don Bluth animation. Things get less interesting once they arrive. It's… More
It was a classic in its time. There are some memorable scenes as Fieval the mouse and his family immigrate to America from Europe. "There are no cats in America!" It's a strong story. Excellent Don Bluth animation. Things get less interesting once they arrive. It's a great reminder why America is such a good country. A classic of the 80's, when we had Disney putting out stuff like "The Black Cauldron" and "Oliver and Company".
Megan S

I was obsessed with this movie when I was younger. I wanted a Fievel doll for my birthday soooo bad. There are pictures of me rolling around on the floor clutching the doll because I was so happy that I got him. Sadly he ended up naked and then lost.
Jason S

A great animated movie. If only they were all like this one.
Matthew Y

Like most Don Bluth films of the 80's An American Tail is sharply animated and doesn't hesitate to add darker elements and scenes into it's family friendly immigrant story. One of the few non-Disney classics of the 20th Century An American Tail is a familiar story that… More
Like most Don Bluth films of the 80's An American Tail is sharply animated and doesn't hesitate to add darker elements and scenes into it's family friendly immigrant story. One of the few non-Disney classics of the 20th Century An American Tail is a familiar story that is smartly crafted and doesn't pander to its audience. It even has a memorable song with "Somewhere Out There". FYI: Upon it's release An American Tail become the highest grossing non-Disney film of all-time (it even outgrossed the Disney film of that year The Great Mouse Detective). Don Bluth's films dominate the 80's and forced Disney studios to invest more money and creativity into their products resulting in the Disney Renaissance era of the 90's.
Gavin C

After the darker and epic masterpiece "The Secret of NIMH", he teams up with Steven Spielberg (who directed the heartwarming E.T. and the shark monster "Jaws" and would later direct the adaptation of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park) along with David Kirschner… More
After the darker and epic masterpiece "The Secret of NIMH", he teams up with Steven Spielberg (who directed the heartwarming E.T. and the shark monster "Jaws" and would later direct the adaptation of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park) along with David Kirschner to direct the idea he came up with known as "An American Tail". It takes place in Russian in the year 1885 where a family of mice gets chased out of their homes by the cats. On the way to America, a land where they think has no cats, a young mouse named Fievel Mousekewitz gets separated from his parents on the way. When he arrives alone in the New World, however, he keeps up hope, searching for his family, making new friends, and running and dodging the cats he thought he'd be rid off. Since this is Bluth/Spielberg's first team up to make an animated film, it's an amazing effort from the greatest directors in the history of cinema. The story was so touching while having funny moments, scary moments, and very sad moments. The animation is breathtakingly beautiful and so are the colorful backgrounds. The characters are likable and so is the excellent voice acting. The James Horner music score/songs were so catchy you would leave the theater humming "Somewhere Out There" for about four minutes. An American Tail is another masterpiece not only from Don Bluth, but from Steven Spielberg as well and would recommended to fans of traditional animation and Bluth fans. 5/5