“Celebrating Family and the American Dream”
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What You Need To Know:
AN AMERICAN TAIL is beautifully made, heartwarming, exciting, and funny. It supports a strong family dynamic and has elements of patriotism. AN AMERICAN TAIL not only celebrates family, it also celebrates the American Dream. In one scene, a classroom of mice recite the Pledge of Allegiance. That said, the mice are clearly only in one of two classes, rich or poor. AN AMERICAN TAIL also has some scary violence. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children under age 10.
Content:
Very strong moral worldview celebrates family and the American Dream focuses on a family of Jewish mice from Russia who emigrate to the United States, but some immigrant mice are carrying crosses, plus there is a bit of a Romantic worldview when side mouse characters fall in love
No foul language, but cat is a sensitive word, and the mice get scared when they hear the word
Movie starts off with a village being raided by humans, gunshots are heard as the first of multiple fires are started, this leads to the first of multiple cat chases where the mouse protagonist escapes, a fire ember falls to the ground and burns a human’s foot, the mice also make a secret weapon that shoots fireworks and rams cats off a dock, and while a boat is at sea, the ocean takes the shape of a man and attacks a boat
No sex scenes or sexual immorality, but two side characters kiss after just meeting, and then hold hands, and from there, they are dating and kiss at the end of the movie
No nudity, but a mouse takes a bath twice, and both times is seen getting dressed
There is a mouse drinking glasses of champagne who gets drunk
Two times characters are seen smoking; and,
Strong miscellaneous immorality includes children disobey their parents multiple times, the protagonist is kidnapped and sold into slave labor, some characters are very greedy (they are mad about not making as much money as the day prior, but they were only down 50 cents), the mouse mayoral candidate writes in a dead person’s name as a vote for himself, and cats are seen gambling.
More Detail:
The movie starts off in Russia in the late 1800s. The Mousekewitz family is celebrating Hanukkah. Suddenly, their house starts shaking. Outside, the village is being attacked by people. Gunshots go off as a house is being lit on fire. The mice are forced to go outside, where they are confronted by none other than a group of cats. They get chased around but escape. With no home left, they decide to go to America, because they believe there are “no cats in America.”
The family jumps on a boat to America. On the boat, Fievel learns more and more about the world. He gets a little too curious and wanders outside the boat. A terrible storm sweeps Fievel away, off the boat.
The family makes it to America, but Fievel washes ashore in a glass bottle. He soon starts off on his quest to find his family.
Sadly, Warren T. Rat finds Fievel and sells him into labor. Fievel finds a way to escape during the night and leaves. Leaving with him is a mouse named Tony. Together, they try to find Fievel’s family.
On their journey, they run into Bridget, a well-dressed lady mouse. Tony and Bridget fall in love and Tony fills Bridget in on Fievel’s situation after a cat attack. Bridget agrees to take them to the mouse mayor because he knows everyone in town. They find the mayor, but he doesn’t know Fievel’s parents because they just immigrated.
Then, a rich mouse named Gussie walks into the room. She is talking to the mayor about the cat problem in America. They host a rally about the cat problem, and Fievel shares an idea to get rid of the cats.
They start to set up for their secret plan when Fievel gets sidetracked. He accidentally stumbles upon a cat lair. In the lair, he discovers a secret about Warren T. Rat. Before he can escape, Fievel is captured.
Happily, Fievel meets a nice cat named Tiger who helps him escape. The cats chase after Fievel toward the ambush area set up by the mice to trap the cats. The mice ambush the cats, forcing them onto a boat sailing toward Hong Kong. While the mice celebrate, a fire breaks out, and Fievel disappears during the conflagration.
Can Tony find Fievel? Will Fievel ever find his family?
The animation in AN AMERICAN TAIL is beautifully done. Though it’s a little bit dated, it has the same quality as classic Disney cartoons. It should be no surprise, then, to know it also has some fantastic musical numbers. In fact, the music was nominated for an Oscar.
AN AMERICAN TAIL has a strong moral worldview celebrating family and the American Dream. The movie’s beginning establishes that the Mousekewitz family is Jewish, as they celebrate Hanukkah. Family is clearly important to the Mousekewitzes. The movie also celebrates the American Dream. The mice long to travel to America from the very beginning. Once they get rid of the cats, they see no problem with America. There is also a scene where a classroom of mice recite the Pledge of Allegiance. That said, the mice are clearly only in one of two classes, rich or poor. While this doesn’t take up much of the movie, it is still there.
AN AMERICAN TAIL has some scary violence and a scene of drunkenness. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children under age 10 or so.
