An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

As old Sheriff Wylie (James Stewart) reminds us, “One man’s sunset is another man’s dawn” — and it is Fievel’s (Phillip Glasser) dawn that breaks in the zippy animated gem An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. The son of new American immigrants, little Fievel dreams of being a cowboy, while his family, the Mousekewitzes, and thousands of other equally desperate mice are looking for a way out of miserable life in New York, a city filled with the very cats they fled in their mass emigration from Europe. Promised a prosperous new life out West — where, apparently, peaceful co-existence between mice and cats is possible — they allow scheming, masterminding feline Cat R. Waul (John Cleese) to move them across the country to the Wild West frontier town of Green River. Unbeknownst to the mice, a giant mousetrap awaits them there, and it’s up to the plucky Fievel to bring together friends and foes — canine, feline, and rodent — to save the day. An all-star voice cast keeps the laughs coming, with Cleese, Dom DeLuise, Jon Lovitz, and Amy Irving shining in their respective roles. Colour, 35mm. 75 mins.