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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Don Bluth's An American Tail is based on the story of a young Russian mouse who is separated from his family in America and who later heads with his reunited kin out to the American West. It's pleasant, though not spectacular, and has its greatest problems in story development. Steven Spielberg produced with an eye toward creating animation hits outside of Disney, and he and Bluth certainly took a big step in that direction here. Kids like it a lot, and adults will warm to the sound of various familiar voices, such as Dom DeLuise as Tiger and Madeline Kahn as Gussie Mausheimer. It's also the source of the pop single "Somewhere Out There." --Tom Keogh
Product Description
Follow the humorous and dramatic adventures of Fievel, a little boy mouse who journeys from Russia to America with his family in the late 19th Century to seek a new life free from cat persecution.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 64 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
How do you feel when you learn that one of your favorite films is to be released on DVD?
Of course, you feel very happy.
And what is your reaction when you finally got it? Well, there can be two:
1) This is great! A remastered version presented in widescreen! And all is just like I remember it, only better! And look at all those special features!
2) What... what is this?!
My reaction with An American Tail DVD was #2. Because what I got was a #2 job.
Here is a short and easy-to-follow guide for every studio out there, that is planning to release a movie on DVD:
1. Do not make unnecessary changes.
2. Do not make unnecessary edits.
3. If it was a theatrical feature, present it in widescreen.
Do you think Universal followed those easy steps?
Nope.
Here is an incomplete list of changes (without spoilers):
-New "humorous" sound effects were added to scenes where originally there weren't any. It's not funny.
-New voices were added to scenes without dialog (or any noise, for that matter).
-The alley mice's voices were re-dubbed. Why???
-The cover art was changes from a beautiful theatrical poster by Drew Struzan, only to be replaced with... something MUCH less appealing.
As I said, this small list of changes is incomplete. There is more.
It should be mentioned that there is also no widescreen. Enjoy your fullscreen! And do not forget to also enjoy the complete lack of any real special features to speak of!
An American Tail is a film that combines the talents of Steven Spielberg and Don Bluth. It was the first animated feature ever to out-compete Disney. It won several awards, including a Grammy for "best song". It was screened at the Jewish Film Festival in Atlanta in February 2011 to celebrate its 25 year anniversary. It was a film that grossed $84,000,000 worldwide (a record for animation at that time).
And THIS is how you treat such a film, Universal?! I cannot hear you, Universal!~!
Of course, you feel very happy.
And what is your reaction when you finally got it? Well, there can be two:
1) This is great! A remastered version presented in widescreen! And all is just like I remember it, only better! And look at all those special features!
2) What... what is this?!
My reaction with An American Tail DVD was #2. Because what I got was a #2 job.
Here is a short and easy-to-follow guide for every studio out there, that is planning to release a movie on DVD:
1. Do not make unnecessary changes.
2. Do not make unnecessary edits.
3. If it was a theatrical feature, present it in widescreen.
Do you think Universal followed those easy steps?
Nope.
Here is an incomplete list of changes (without spoilers):
-New "humorous" sound effects were added to scenes where originally there weren't any. It's not funny.
-New voices were added to scenes without dialog (or any noise, for that matter).
-The alley mice's voices were re-dubbed. Why???
-The cover art was changes from a beautiful theatrical poster by Drew Struzan, only to be replaced with... something MUCH less appealing.
As I said, this small list of changes is incomplete. There is more.
It should be mentioned that there is also no widescreen. Enjoy your fullscreen! And do not forget to also enjoy the complete lack of any real special features to speak of!
An American Tail is a film that combines the talents of Steven Spielberg and Don Bluth. It was the first animated feature ever to out-compete Disney. It won several awards, including a Grammy for "best song". It was screened at the Jewish Film Festival in Atlanta in February 2011 to celebrate its 25 year anniversary. It was a film that grossed $84,000,000 worldwide (a record for animation at that time).
And THIS is how you treat such a film, Universal?! I cannot hear you, Universal!~!
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD
Since I have already written a review back in spring of 2001 that touches on the brilliance of this animated treasure, this review will focus primarily on the newly released DVD of the film.
I for one, was certainly thrilled to learn that Universal was finally giving Fievel the coveted DVD treatment, and anticipated its release on the format each day since. Yes, features are scarce, and yes, the film is presented in full frame only, but the way I see it, having An American Tail on DVD at all is a milestone for me, since it is a title I have yearned for since the early days of the format. Do not get me wrong, I am a VERY strong supporter of original aspect ratio on home video, but An American Tail is not exactly a film that cries out for the anamorphic widescreen treatment. In this case, its omission does not really detract from the experience. But then again, maybe I am being slightly biased about this film, having seen it once as child, loved it, and becoming hooked on it ever since.
As far as the picture quality is concerned, aside from the image being full frame, I was actually rather impressed. I was not expecting the image to be quite so crisp and clear. There were a few more speckles of film dirt then I thought should have been there, but for a film nearing twenty years old, it was still a good deal better than I was expecting. Clarity was most definitely improved over the VHS versions, and colors were strong and nice-looking.
The sound is also pretty great. I listened to the DTS 5.1 soundtrack on my surround system, and it is, without a doubt, the best I have ever heard this film. However, those of you who have seen American Tail numerous times over (as I have) are bound to notice changes in some of the dialogue as compared to past video releases. In the opening titles, for example, as we approach the Mousekewitz home, laughter is now heard inside the humans' cottage where, on the VHS release, all that can be heard is James Horner's soundtrack. Also, new or never-before-heard lines of dialogue have been spliced into the film throughtout. The most noteable instances of this are during the scenes when Fievel is trapped in a birdcage crying, just before he meets Tiger. Also, when the cats are being anchored up onto the ship headed for Hong Kong, Warren T. now utters an additional line from offscreen, which I will leave you to discover. Anyone who has seen the film a good many times is bound to notice these changes.
While this altered/re-dubbed dialogue does not necessarily hurt the film, it is still fair to question why these changes were needed. Perhaps Universal felt the need to offer something new to DVD buyers who would be purchasing this film again? There is no sense in correcting something that was never broken to begin with. Be that as it may, the changes do not take away from one's enjoyment of the film, or certainly not mine, at least.
Bottom line, American Tail lovers who are not particularly picky about aspect ratio should find this DVD well worth acquiring. Like I said, I am big on widescreen myself, but in this case, found the movie too irresistable to turn down, especially at its low list price. Full frame and re-recorded dialogue aside, An American Tail is still the classic that it was nearly 20 years ago. So buy it before you are stuck trying to find an out-of-print copy "somwhere out there."
I for one, was certainly thrilled to learn that Universal was finally giving Fievel the coveted DVD treatment, and anticipated its release on the format each day since. Yes, features are scarce, and yes, the film is presented in full frame only, but the way I see it, having An American Tail on DVD at all is a milestone for me, since it is a title I have yearned for since the early days of the format. Do not get me wrong, I am a VERY strong supporter of original aspect ratio on home video, but An American Tail is not exactly a film that cries out for the anamorphic widescreen treatment. In this case, its omission does not really detract from the experience. But then again, maybe I am being slightly biased about this film, having seen it once as child, loved it, and becoming hooked on it ever since.
As far as the picture quality is concerned, aside from the image being full frame, I was actually rather impressed. I was not expecting the image to be quite so crisp and clear. There were a few more speckles of film dirt then I thought should have been there, but for a film nearing twenty years old, it was still a good deal better than I was expecting. Clarity was most definitely improved over the VHS versions, and colors were strong and nice-looking.
The sound is also pretty great. I listened to the DTS 5.1 soundtrack on my surround system, and it is, without a doubt, the best I have ever heard this film. However, those of you who have seen American Tail numerous times over (as I have) are bound to notice changes in some of the dialogue as compared to past video releases. In the opening titles, for example, as we approach the Mousekewitz home, laughter is now heard inside the humans' cottage where, on the VHS release, all that can be heard is James Horner's soundtrack. Also, new or never-before-heard lines of dialogue have been spliced into the film throughtout. The most noteable instances of this are during the scenes when Fievel is trapped in a birdcage crying, just before he meets Tiger. Also, when the cats are being anchored up onto the ship headed for Hong Kong, Warren T. now utters an additional line from offscreen, which I will leave you to discover. Anyone who has seen the film a good many times is bound to notice these changes.
While this altered/re-dubbed dialogue does not necessarily hurt the film, it is still fair to question why these changes were needed. Perhaps Universal felt the need to offer something new to DVD buyers who would be purchasing this film again? There is no sense in correcting something that was never broken to begin with. Be that as it may, the changes do not take away from one's enjoyment of the film, or certainly not mine, at least.
Bottom line, American Tail lovers who are not particularly picky about aspect ratio should find this DVD well worth acquiring. Like I said, I am big on widescreen myself, but in this case, found the movie too irresistable to turn down, especially at its low list price. Full frame and re-recorded dialogue aside, An American Tail is still the classic that it was nearly 20 years ago. So buy it before you are stuck trying to find an out-of-print copy "somwhere out there."
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Melissa
Format:DVD
From director Don Bluth (The Secret of NIMH) this beautiful animated film comes a "tail" like no other. This story is about a little mouse named Fievel taking a "once in a lifetime" journey to America from Russia to escape the cats. They think by going to America there are no cats and can have a better life for their families. Upon their travels poor little Fievel becomes seperated from his family while arriving in New York.
During his adventures he meets up with wonderful characters such as: Tiger (Dom DeLuise), Tony Toponi, Bridget, Honest John, Gussie Mausheimer (Madeline Kahn), Digit, Henri (Christopher Plummer) & more!
This film also had some wonderful feature and ground breaking award winning songs such as:
There Are No Cats in America
Never Say Never
Somewhere Out There
Somewhere Out There - James Ingram & Linda Ronstadt
Duo
Before Disney's beautiful Pixar films came to the big screen, there was the breathtakingly beautiful and realistic animation by Don Bluth and Steven Spielberg productions. It may be a little out dated for most, but it's truly a classic animated film with wonderful song's & colorful characters told in an original story.
The DVD: Is very sweet as well it has sing-a-long song's, cute triva games for the kids, and more!
During his adventures he meets up with wonderful characters such as: Tiger (Dom DeLuise), Tony Toponi, Bridget, Honest John, Gussie Mausheimer (Madeline Kahn), Digit, Henri (Christopher Plummer) & more!
This film also had some wonderful feature and ground breaking award winning songs such as:
There Are No Cats in America
Never Say Never
Somewhere Out There
Somewhere Out There - James Ingram & Linda Ronstadt
Duo
Before Disney's beautiful Pixar films came to the big screen, there was the breathtakingly beautiful and realistic animation by Don Bluth and Steven Spielberg productions. It may be a little out dated for most, but it's truly a classic animated film with wonderful song's & colorful characters told in an original story.
The DVD: Is very sweet as well it has sing-a-long song's, cute triva games for the kids, and more!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic
great movie from Don Bluth that has a lot of historical alot when teaching about the 1800's but also a great fun movie
Published 1 day ago by Umizoomi fan
3.0 out of 5 stars
Cute movie
Bought this for my grandson, but maybe he is too young right now to "get it". In another 6 months or so I will have him watch it again with me.
Published 2 days ago by Nancy Johnson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good old classic movie
Haven't seen this movie in years so I bought it to share with my kids. Forgot how cute it was. The kids enjoyed it even though it isn't like the cartoons today.
Published 1 month ago by Anne M. Tiernan
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favorite all time cartoon movie. Love Fievel
This is a real Speilberg classic! Owned it on VHS. IT CAN BE USED TO TEACH THE Jewish experience an is entertaining and poignant. Teaches love of family and culture!
Published 1 month ago by Dreajk
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don S
I didn't watch this DVD, but based on the reaction of our grandchildren it is great entertainment for children through the age 9.
Published 2 months ago by D. Schaufelberger
4.0 out of 5 stars
Classic
I grew up on this movie as a kid and bought it to share with my nieces and nephews. They love it! Great cartoon with a great story.
Published 2 months ago by Jackjeanh
5.0 out of 5 stars
Memory lane
I bought a few of my childhood favorite movies to reminisce and they came in a matter of days. I'm very happy
Published 2 months ago by Mary Delgado
5.0 out of 5 stars
This classic really takes me back....
This item was exactly what we expected. No issues or problems and it arrived very quickly. This is a must have.
Published 3 months ago by Chipito
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nostalgic
My son had this when he was small, and it was his favorite. Arrived shortly in perfect condition, and now it's my grandson's favorite too.
Published 3 months ago by SomaKindaWonderful
5.0 out of 5 stars
NO.1
THIS IS WHERE IT ALL STARTED!! when my first grandaughter was born she watched this alot, she even has the large "FIVAL" in storage,he will come out soon for a revival ,of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by CURTIS SIMMONS
