An American Tail

Overview

"The Don Bluth-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced An American Tail, a lighthearted animated look at immigrants, comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer. Closed-captioned English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. Spanish and French soundtracks have been recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround, respectively. Spanish and French subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a singalong section for the film's famous song ""Somewhere Out There"" and a handful of interactive games to entertain children. While the disc offers nothing of interest for those who want to learn about the animation process, kids will enjoy the extras on this Universal release. The DVD was released the same day as three of the film's sequels, including the theatrically released An American Tail: Fievel Goes West."

Product Details

Release Date:	01/20/2004
UPC:	0025192449826
Original Release:	1986
Rating:	G
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:21:00
Sales rank:	43,073

Special Features

Sing-along -song; Interactive fun; -Counting with digit game; -Fievel and Tiger's duo dance; -Rewease the secwet weapon game

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Phillip Glasser	Feivel Mousekewitz,Fievel Mousekewitz
Amy Green	Tanya Mousekewitz
John Finnegan	Warren T. Rat
Cathianne Blore	Bridget
Dom DeLuise	Tiger
Madeline Kahn	Gussie Mausheimer
Pat Musick	Tony Toponi
Nehemiah Persoff	Papa Mousekewitz
Christopher Plummer	Henri
Erica Yohn	Mama Mousekewitz
Will Ryan	Digit
Hal Smith	Moe
Neil Ross	Honest John
Thomas Dekker	Actor
Barry Mann	Composer
James Horner	Composer

Technical Credits

Judy Freudberg

Tony Geiss

Don Bluth	Director,Producer
Gary Goldman	Producer
Kathleen Kennedy	Executive Producer,Producer
David Kirschner	Executive Producer,Producer
Frank Marshall	Executive Producer,Producer
John Pomeroy	Producer
Steven Spielberg	Executive Producer,Producer
Judy Freudberg	Screenwriter,Producer,Screenwriter
Tony Geiss	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

In the early 1980s, Don Bluth led a team of animators away from Disney to pursue the kind of ambitious feature-length fare that the House of Mouse seemed to have forgotten. The defectors' sophomore effort was the impressive An American Tail, a film that maintains the Disney touch for filmmaking but leaves some of the sugar-coating behind. The film tackles the American immigrant experience, and doesn't shy far away from showing either the hardships that caused émigrés to leave their homelands or the hardships they faced on upon arrival. Despite this occasional, and welcomed, earnestness however, the lively animation, spirited voicing (Dom DeLuise in particular) and James Horner's score (including the lovely "Somewhere Out There" ) keep this an uplifting, and often touching, experience. Steven Speilberg produced the movie, but his and Bluth's talent for storytelling occasionally falters, and the film never quite achieves the Disney polish. Moreover, while the story follows what is clearly a Jewish experience of flight from Russian pogroms, it never makes specific reference of the Mouskewitz family's ethnic background, a decision that some saw less as an attempt to ensure universal appeal, and more as a cowardly cultural duck. In general, though, Bluth and company display the same willingness to explore serious themes as they did in their first feature, The Secret of NIMH. Though highly enjoyable, the film is definitely darker than most kids' fare. But with serious themes comes the potential for lasting impact, and as such, An American Tail offers much more than just an hour and a half of mind-candy.