An American Tail (franchise)
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| An American Tail | |
|---|---|
Official franchise logo | |
| Created by | |
| Original work | An American Tail (1986) |
| Owners | |
| Years | 1986–1999 |
| Games | |
| Video game(s) | |
| Audio | |
| Soundtrack(s) | |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Theme park attraction(s) | An American Tail Theatre |
An American Tail is a children's film franchise based on the 1986 animated feature film of the same name directed by Don Bluth and produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios/Amblin Entertainment.
The franchise follows the adventures of Fievel Mousekewitz, a Russian-Jewish mouse immigrant to the United States in 1885. The franchise opened up several attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Florida including "Fievel's Playland" and "An American Tail Show".[1]
Following the two films produced with Spielberg's involvement, Universal Pictures continued the franchise with two direct-to-video sequels, An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. All four American Tail films were released on a combination pack DVD released on June 13, 2017.[2]
An American Tail (1986)
| Film | U.S. release date |
Director(s) | Screenwriter(s) | Story by | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An American Tail | November 21, 1986 | Don Bluth | Judy Freudberg & Tony Geiss | David Kirschner and Judy Freudberg & Tony Geiss |
Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy |
| An American Tail: Fievel Goes West | November 22, 1991 | Phil Nibbelink & Simon Wells | Flint Dille | Charles Swenson | Steven Spielberg and Robert Watts |
| An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island | February 15, 2000 | Larry Latham | Len Uhley | Larry Latham | |
| An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster | July 25, 2000 | ||||
An American Tail is the original 1986 film which follows Fievel and his family as they immigrate from Russia to the United States and how he subsequently gets lost and aims to reunite with them.
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is a 1991 western sequel to An American Tail. This film has been exhibited four times at the Jimmy Stewart Museum since 2015,[3] a dedication to the late James Stewart in his final role.
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island (1998)
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island is a 1998 direct-to-video sequel not involved with Amblin Entertainment and is noted for exploring darker themes unlike the past films. Released in the United States in February 2000.[4]
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster (1999)
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster is a 1999 direct-to-video sequel not involved by Amblin Entertainment, released in the United States in July 2000.[5] The film series was subsequently discontinued to focus work on direct-to-video sequels based on Balto.[6]
Television
| Series | Season(s) | Episodes | Originally released | Showrunner | Executive producer | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | ||||||
| Fievel's American Tails | 1 | 13 | September 12, 1992 | December 5, 1992 | Columbia Broadcasting System | David Kirschner | Steven Spielberg | Ended |
Fievel's American Tails is a 1992 spin-off TV series and continuation of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. This series remained abandoned after the release of the direct-to-video sequels until NBCUniversal regained rights to the series in 2020 and was available on Peacock[7] until its removal in 2025.[citation needed]
Cast and characters
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.
- An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
- S indicates an appearance as a character's singing voice.
| Characters | Films | Television | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An American Tail | An American Tail: Fievel Goes West |
An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island |
An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster |
Fievel's American Tails | |
| 1986 | 1991 | 1998 | 1999 | 1992 | |
| Fievel Mousekewitz | Phillip Glasser | Thomas Dekker | Phillip Glasser | ||
| Tanya Mousekewitz | Amy Green Betsy CathcartS |
Cathy Cavadini | Lacey Chabert | Cathy Cavadini | |
| Papa Mousekewitz | Nehemiah Persoff | Lloyd Battista | |||
| Mama Mouskewitz | Erica Yohn | Jane Singer | Susan Silo | ||
| Tiger | Dom DeLuise | ||||
| Tony Toponi | Pat Musick | Silent cameo | Pat Musick | ||
| Bridget | Cathianne Blore | ||||
| Honest John | Neil Ross | ||||
| Henri | Christopher Plummer | Silent cameo | |||
| Warren T. Cat | John Finnegan | ||||
| Digit | Will Ryan | ||||
| Gussie Mausheimer | Madeline Kahn | ||||
| Wylie Burp | James Stewart | ||||
| Cat R. Waul | John Cleese | Gerrit Graham | |||
| T.R. Chula | Jon Lovitz | Dan Castellaneta | |||
| Miss Kitty | Amy Irving | Cynthia Ferrer | |||
| Cholena | Elaine Bilstad Leeza MillerS |
||||
| Chief Wulisso | David Carradine | ||||
| Dr. Dithering | René Auberjonois | ||||
| Mr. Grasping | Ron Perlman | ||||
| Scuttlebutt | John Kassir | ||||
| Police Chief McBrusque | Sherman Howard | ||||
| Nellie Brie | Susan Boyd | ||||
| Madame Mousey | Candi Milo | ||||
| Reed Daley | Robert Hays | ||||
| Twitch | John Mariano | ||||
| Slug | Jeff Bennett | ||||
| Lone Woof | John Garry | ||||
| Sweet William | Silent cameo | Kenneth Mars | |||
Production
| Film | Crew | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composer(s) | Editor(s) | Production companies | Distributing company | ||||
| An American Tail | James Horner | Dan Molina | Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Sullivan Bluth Studios |
Universal Pictures | 1 hr 21 mins | ||
| An American Tail: Fievel Goes West |
Nick Fletcher | Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Amblimation |
1 hr 15 mins | ||||
| Fievel's American Tails |
Hank Saroyan & Robert Irving and Milan Kymlicka |
Rob Kirkpatrick | Universal Cartoon Studios, Amblin Television, Nelvana Studios |
Columbia Broadcasting System | 6 hrs 30 mins (30 mins/episodes) | ||
| An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island |
Michael Tavera and James Horner |
Jay Bixsen & Danik Thomas | Universal Family & Home Entertainment Productions, Universal Cartoon Studios, TMS-Kyokuichi Corporation |
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment | 1 hr 19 mins | ||
| An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster |
Jay Bixsen | Universal Family & Home Entertainment Productions, Universal Cartoon Studios, Tama Productions |
1 hr 18 mins | ||||
The character of Fievel Mousekewitz was named after the Yiddish name of Steven Spielberg's grandfather, Philip Posner.[8] Fievel also served as the mascot for Amblimation, Spielberg's short-lived animation studio, and was featured in its production logo.[9]