An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (also known as An American Tail 2) is a 1991 American animated western film produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio and released by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to An American Tail, and the last installment in the series to be released theatrically, also the fourth installment in terms of the series' fictional chronology. It was later followed at the end of the 1990s by another two direct-to-video midquels, both of which took place chronologically before this film. A continuation of this installment, Fievel's American Tails, aired on CBS in 1992.Don Bluth, the original film's director, had no involvement with this film. Instead, it was directed by Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells. Wells went on to do We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, Balto, and The Time Machine, while Nibbelink went on to co-direct We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story and direct his own independent features.The film follows the story of a family of Jewish-Russian mice who emigrate to the Wild West. In the film, Fievel Mousekewitz is separated from his family (again) as the train approaches the American Old West; the film chronicles Fievel and Sheriff Wylie Burp (voiced by James Stewart in his final film) teaching Tiger how to act like a dog. The film performed modestly at the box office grossing $65 million and received mixed reviews from critics.Contents  [show] Plot[edit]It is April 1888 America. While living in The Bronx, the Mousekewitz family find that conditions are not as ideal as they had hoped, as they are still struggling against the attacks of mouse-hungry cats. Fievel spends his days thinking about the wild west dog-sheriff Wylie Burp, while his sister, Tanya, dreams of becoming a singer. Meanwhile, Tiger's wife Miss Kitty leaves him to find a new life out West, tired of the life of an alley cat, and remarking that perhaps she's looking for a cat that is "more like a dog."In the alleys, a regal feline named Cat R. Waul devises a plan to deliver the mice into his clutches. He first launches a full-scale cat attack to drive all the mice to the sewers, specifically ordering his fellow cats to not eat any of them. Using a mouse-cowpoke marionette, he then entices the neighborhood mice, including the Mousekewitzes, into moving to a better life out west. Tiger chases the train, trying to catch up with his friends, but is thrown off course by a pack of angry dogs. While on the west-bound train, Fievel wanders into the livestock car, where he overhears the cats revealing their plot to turn them into "mouse burgers." After being discovered, Fievel is thrown from the train by Cat R. Waul's hench-spider, T.R. Chula, landing the mouse in the middle of the desert. The Mousekewitzes are heartbroken once again over the loss of Fievel and arrive at Green River with heavy hearts.Upon arrival at Green River, the Mousekewitzs begin to find a suitable home, positive that their son Fievel would find them once again. Papa helps his family set up a home under a 120-foot-tall, old water tower, explaining while other mice would scamper for a land to live in, a smart mouse would live closer to water in the dusty country. However, Chula soon blocks up the water tower, drying up the river. Cat R. Waul approaches the mice and proposes to build a better community where cats and mice can live together in peace. Meanwhile, Fievel is wandering aimlessly through the desert, as is Tiger, who has found his way out west as well, and the two pass each other. However, each one figures that the other is a mirage and they continue on their separate ways. Tiger is captured by a tribe of Native American mice and their leader hails him as a deity, after seeing how Tiger looks like a rock formation. Fievel is picked up by a hawk and dropped over the Native American mouse village when their fireworks scare and explode on the bird, making his feathers pop out of his body, reuniting Fievel with Tiger. Tiger chooses to stay in the village while Fievel catches a passing tumbleweed, which takes him to Green River. As soon as Fievel makes his arrival, he quickly reunites with his family. He then tries to expose Cat R. Waul's true intentions, but the mouse inhabitants are oblivious to the danger. Inside a local saloon that is under construction, Fievel learns of the cats' real plan before he is discovered. He confronts Cat R. Waul and is almost eaten in the process. However, Cat R. Waul is distracted when Tanya sings while working and is enchanted by her voice.He sends Tanya to Miss Kitty, who's now a diva, and she reveals that she came out west at the request of Cat R. Waul - an action she now seems to regret. Cat R. Waul tells Miss Kitty to put Tanya on stage. With a little encouragement from Miss Kitty, Tanya performs to positive feedback. Meanwhile, Fievel is chased by Chula and briefly taken prisoner, but escapes. While walking out of town, Fievel stops to talk with an old hound sleeping outside the jail, discovering that the saturnine dog is in fact the legendary Wylie Burp he looked up to back in New York. Fievel convinces Wylie to help the mice's plight. Wylie asks him to find a dog for him to train, but he instead recruits Tiger to be trained as a lawman and as a dog. Tiger is reluctant at first, but relents at the suggestion that a new persona might win back Miss Kitty. After an eventually successful training session to work on Tiger's skills, By Lazy Eye[disambiguation needed] eye on, the trio go back to Green River to fight the cats, who had scheduled to kill the mice at sunset. At Green River, a giant mousetrap has been disguised as bleachers for a ceremony honoring the opening of Cat R. Waul's saloon. But before the trap can be tripped, the three foil the plot using their wits and their slingshots to combat Cat R. Waul's feline henchmen. Tanya and Ms. Kitty soon learn of Cat R. Waul's true intentions and gets the rest of the mice to get off the trap. But towards the end of the fight, Chula captures Ms. Kitty as hostage, threatening to drop her from the tower. Tiger is enraged and overcomes his Arachnophobia he had earlier by unleashing his "inner dog" to save Ms. Kitty and using a pitchfork and Chula's web as a lasso with the spider trapped on it, and then hurtles Cat R. Waul and his gang out of town by using the mouse trap. The cats fly into the air, then land into a mailbag. A passing train picks up the bag and leaves, and Cat R. Waul gets reluctantly adopted by a cat-obsessed female passenger, just as he is about to plot revenge.Enchanted by his new personality, Miss Kitty and Tiger are reunited. Tanya becomes a famous singer (although she also appears to be happy with the way she was before by the end) and the 120-foot-tall water tower flows with 9000 gallons of water again, making Green River bloom with 900,000 flowers. As the mice celebrate their freedom from the cats, Fievel finds Wylie Burp walking away from the party to watch the sunset on the prairie and joins him. Wylie hands Fievel his sheriff badge, although Fievel is unsure about taking it, since he feels he is not a traditional hero, but Wylie reminds him that, if it were not for Fievel, he would still be a washed up dog. He realizes his journey is still not over and that one day that he will be a hero. Before the movie ended, a pink flare flashed making the sun disappear during the sunset.