An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) Phillip Glasser, James Stewart, Erica Yohn, Cathy Cavadini Movie Review

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)   3/53/53/53/53/5


An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)

Fievel West

Having headed to America to make a fresh start the Mousekewitz's discover that things are not so different with trouble in the form of cats, with the exception of Tiger their friend. When they hear that the West is the place to go as mice and cats live in harmony they pack up their few possessions and head west unaware that it is a con and there is a sinister plan a foot to build a mousetrap. Of course along the way young Fievel gets himself lost and involved in an adventure all of his own.

I mentioned when I reviewed "An American Tail" that as a kid I loved the movie but didn't feel the same when many years later I watched it as an adult with some of the things I had adored as a child now grating on me. But it was a different experience when it came to "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West"; firstly because by 1991 I had grown out of animations so didn't watch it until many years later and as a western fan I liked that the storyline took Fievel West.

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)

Now expectedly "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West" has an easy and familiar storyline with Fievel once again becoming lost and trying to return home to his family. But instead of just being a rehash of the first movie it is actually more traditional as Fievel uncovers the truth about what is going on as they travel by train to the West when he finds a group of cats discussing a mousetrap and they try to get rid of him. It is almost classic western and it becomes even closer to a classic western with Tiger having more to do as a good old fashioned comedy sidekick.

But the storyline is simple so that children can follow and the focus is of course more on the comedy which there is plenty of from a scene involving Fievel, a tumbleweed and the famous "Rawhide" music to the creativity of seeing the mice building their homes using a cuckoo clock as a way to get high enough to hit a nail, okay you need to see it to appreciate its creative, fun side. But what is definitely a case is that you are only ever a few seconds from a moment of comedy which keeps this sequel entertaining and in truth a lot more entertaining for grown ups.

What this all boils down to is that "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West" is for me an improvement on "An American Tail" because there is a lot more comedy and a lot less sentiment. Maybe it is just with the western comedy angle it simply works better for adults.


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