There's nothing particularly special about An American Tail, save for Bluth's slick animation.
An American Tail (1986)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:24
Fresh:15
Rotten:9
Average Rating:6.2/10
Runtime: 81 mins
Genre: Childrens
Synopsis: In Don Bluth's animated fable AN AMERICAN TAIL, when a mouse family leaves Russia and emigrates to America, they believe the New World is a land without cats. The film, a heartfelt homage to the... In Don Bluth's animated fable AN AMERICAN TAIL, when a mouse family leaves Russia and emigrates to America, they believe the New World is a land without cats. The film, a heartfelt homage to the countless real stories of immigrants who came to the United States at the turn of the 20th century, follows the humorous and dramatic adventures of Fievel (Phillip Glasser), the family's innocent son who ends up arriving alone in New York only to have to stay clear of the cats he thought he'd never see again. AN AMERICAN TAIL is a beautifully rendered film, complete with catchy songs and cute characters, that is appropriate for the whole family. [More]
Starring: Phillip Glasser, Madeline Kahn, Nehemiah Persoff, Christopher Plummer
Starring: Phillip Glasser, Madeline Kahn, Nehemiah Persoff, Christopher Plummer, Dom DeLuise
Director: Don Bluth
Director: Don Bluth
Composer: James Horner
Reviews for An American Tail
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.
Its sappiness is unmissably sincere, and such aching, embarrassing sincerity is never an evil thing in a movie.
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.
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.
The overall quality of the animation -- baroquely executed if rather conventionally conceived -- makes it worth a look
Like other Spielberg-produced movies, this one pays homage to old movie traditions (live-action Westerns) and icons, but the film has been made mechanically, without any conviction or feeling.
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