FIEVEL’S
AMERICAN TAILS
(CBS, September 12-December 5, 1992)
Amblin Television, Amblimation, Nelvana Limited, Universal
Cartoon Studios
MAIN CAST:
Dan Castellaneta – T.R. Chula, Mr.
Schimmel, Slim, Felonious
In 1984, Don Bluth, Steven
Spielberg and Universal
Pictures united to create an animated film designed to rival the beauty of
Bluth’s earlier effort, The Secret of NIMH. It
would have been Universal’s first animated feature since 1965’s Pinocchio in Outer Space
and Spielberg’s first animated film ever. The film was An American Tail, conceived by producer David Kirschner.
Originally, Spielberg wanted an
all-animal world like Disney’s Robin Hood, but
Bluth showed him Disney’s The Rescuers and
convinced him to make the animal world a hidden society amongst the human world;
a format that was more successful theatrically than purely animal. Bluth and
Spielberg worked out incidents for the script that would be penned by Tony Geiss and Judy Freudberg, frequent
contributors to Sesame Street and who
had just completed the script for the film Follow That Bird.
The main character of the film was a little mouse named Fievel, after Spielberg’s
grandfather. Bluth was initially against the name, believing its foreign sound
would put off American audiences, but a compromise was reached and Fievel was
given the nickname “Filly.”
While the script was being written,
Bluth began developing the character designs. The look of Fievel was the most
important, especially to Sears who had a
large marketing campaign in place around the film. As nostalgia was at an
all-time high amongst baby boomers, and being that there were so many mouse characters
out there, Bluth decided to go retro and used the round and soft cuddly style
that was prevalent around the time of Disney’s Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs.
Bluth worked on the storyboards with
assistance from Larry Leker
and sent them over to Spielberg for changes or approval. During the production,
Don Bluth Studio began using a valuable tool that would help trip their
animating time: a video printer. By recording actions, they could print them
out frame-by-frame to use as reference or, in some cases, a traceable guide. Unfortunately,
any time benefits were lost when scenes constantly had to be approved by both Amblin
Entertainment and Universal. They were also working with a significantly
smaller budget than other animated features at the time (causing frequent
disputes with the union), and Spielberg’s desire to incorporate as many songs
as possible. In compromise, many scenes were trimmed or dropped and replaced
with shorter ones, resulting in some errors and a jumbling in the overall
narrative. Animation also had a tendency to come back needing fixing, and
turnaround for overseas coloring was slower than expected.
Finally, An American Tail came together for its preview screening in October
of 1986, and was released theatrically on November 21st after a
heavy marketing campaign by Universal. The film, set in 1885, followed the
Mousekewitze family on their journey to a “cat-free” America. They were driven
from their home in Shostka, Russia when Cossacks firebombed the house of the
human family they lived with. Boarding a tramp steamer in Germany, the
Mousekewitzes began their perilous journey to a new home when Fievel (Phillip
Glasser) was washed overboard and seemingly lost at sea. Fievel ended up saved
by a bottle and in America anyway, and set out to reunite with his family
amongst the new perils his new country had to offer.
Despite mixed reviews, the film
opened in second place only to Crocodile Dundee. Positive
word of mouth led to an increase in subsequent weeks. While it became the
highest grossing animated feature upon first release, the fact that the
independent film went toe-to-toe with Disney re-released films The Song of the South and
Lady and the Tramp and
was not obliterated was the most noteworthy accomplishment. Sears made a
killing on Tail merchandise, and the
song “Somewhere Out There”
was an immediate hit. The song, the film, and the score by James Horner were nominated for
multiple awards. Worldwide, the film ended up grossing over $150 million and
was one of the top-selling VHS tapes when it was released in 1987.
In 1989, Amblin and Universal
entered a partnership to form their own London-based animation studio, Amblimation. Fievel served
as the company’s mascot and appeared with its logo. One of Amblimation’s first
projects was a sequel to An American
Tail. Bluth and his new Ireland-based Sullivan Bluth
Studios were set to work on the film again with Spielberg, but creative
differences caused them to bow out. Former Disney animator Phil Nibbelink
and Simon Wells, the
great-grandson of H.G.
Wells, were brought on board to direct the project. As a result, the
animation style was markedly different from the first and several characters
underwent minor cosmetic changes. Horner returned to score the film.
An
American Tail: Fievel Goes West was released on November 22, 1991—exactly five
years and one day after the original—and was once again up against a Disney
film: Beauty and the Beast.
The film followed the Mousekewitz family as they left a hard life behind in New
York for a supposedly better life in the west. However, Fievel discovers the
move was a plot by Cat R. Waul (John
Cleese) and his cronies to turn the mice into mouse burgers and is thrown off
the train. Fievel, along with his friend Tiger the Cat (Dom DeLuise) and
Western legend Wylie Burp (James
Stewart in his final film role) set out to thwart the cats’ plans and
rescue the mice.
Like the original, the film
generated mixed reviews from critics but still performed well at the box
office; however, not as well as its predecessor. The film was a financial
success, but only managed to gross over $40 million worldwide. Undaunted by the
drop-off, Amblimation moved forward with another sequel; this time in the form
of an animated series. Fievel’s American
Tails would pick up directly from where Goes
West left off and was co-produced by Nelvana,
Ltd. and Universal
Cartoon Studios.
Phillip Glasser, who was cast for
the original movie after being overheard auditioning for an Oscar Mayer commercial, returned to voice
Fievel, as did DeLuise as his best friend, Tiger, and Cathy Cavadini as his
older sister, Tanya (Cavadini replaced original actress Amy Green in the sequel). The
rest of the characters were recast: Nehemiah Persoff
was replaced by Lloyd Battista as Fievel’s father; Erica Yohn by Susan Silo as
Fievel’s mother; Amy Irving
by Cynthia Ferrier as Tiger’s
girlfriend, Miss
Kitty; Cleese by Gerrit Graham as Cat R. Waul; and Jon Lovitz by Dan Castellaneta
as Cat’s sidekick, T.R. Chula. Cavadini also gained the additional role of
Yasha, the baby of the family. New to the series was Fievel’s other nemesis,
Sweet William (Kenneth Mars), and his dimwitted henchmen, Slim and Felonious
(both Castellaneta).
Fievel’s
American Tails debuted on CBS on
September 12, 1992. The show continued Fievel’s adventures in the west, often
spoiling the schemes of Cat and Sweet William using his wits and guile.
Otherwise, he helped his family in their violin shop as they dealt with the
other immigrant families in the community of Green River. The series was
animated by Wang
Film Production Co., Ltd., Bardel Animation
and The Hollywood Cartoon Company.
The series’ theme was composed by Hank
Saroyan and Robert Irving, while
Milan Kymlicka handled the
rest of the music. When Fievel was selected as
the spokesmouse for Reading is Fundamental
in 1992, little segments called “Reading Buddies” showcasing reading were
tacked on to the end of the episodes of the series. Fievel’s ability to read
also helped him out of some troubles in the show proper as a further tie-in to
the campaign.
The series failed to capture an
audience the way the films, particularly the first, had and the ratings
dwindled as it went on. At the conclusion of its sole season, CBS quietly cancelled
American Tails and it was off the
schedule by the fall of 1993. MCA/Universal
Home Video released six VHS
collections containing two episodes each, as well as two laserdisc volumes.
The United Kingdom saw a similar release in 1995, but with a different episode
order and swapped one of the episodes for the one not released in the United
States. Episodes have also been released to DVD
in France, Germany and Italy.
Amblimation was dedicated to making
more subdued and high-brow entertainment than what was currently being offered
in animation at the time. Unfortunately, that didn’t attract American audiences
and the studio’s few projects underperformed at the box office. It was shut
down in 1997, but Universal went ahead with two more direct-to-video American Tail movies: 1998’s Treasure of Manhattan Island
and 1999’s Mystery of the Night Monster.
Fievel and the American Tail mythology
live on at Universal Studios Theme
Park in the form of Fievel’s Playland;
a playground that allows visitors to pretend they’re the size of mice. It
outlasted the live
show that opened around the same time in 1989, and is currently one of the
oldest attractions at the park.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Fievel,
the Lonesome Ranger” (9/12/92) – When other cats kidnap Tiger, Fievel becomes
the Lonesome Ranger in order to save him.
“Law
and Disorder” (9/19/92) – Being late for school ends up getting Fievel banned
from seeing Tiger until his work is done, just as Tiger needs his help to
perpetuate a ruse.
“Little
Mouse on the Prairie” (9/26/92) – Fievel accidentally loses his friend’s
boomerang to Cat R. Waul and sets out to get it back.
“The
Gift” (10/3/92) – Fievel gets a violin for his birthday and accidentally breaks
it.
“A
Case of the Hiccups” (10/10/92) – Fievel is tricked into giving the townspeople
the hiccups so an unscrupulous “doctor” can sell them the cure.
“The
Legend of Mouse Hollow” (10/17/92) – Cat R. Waul disrupts the school play by
kidnapping their teacher.
“The
Babysitting Blues” (10/24/92) – Papa and Mama leave Fievel to babysit Yasha as
they prepare for a photograph.
“The
Lost Mother Lode” (10/31/92) – Fievel and his friends set out to find a
supposedly haunted gold vein, but Cat R. Waul plans to get there first by
giving them a phony map.
“A
Mouse Known as Zorrowitz” (11/7/92) – Cat R. Waul plans to steal the cheese
delivery, but is thwarted by the mysterious Zorrowitz.
“Mail
Order Mayhem” (11/14/92) – A mail order catalogue causes chaos in the village
through the items ordered from it.
“Aunt
Sophie’s Visit” (11/21/92) – Fievel wants to participate in the rodeo, but
can’t because his aunt is coming to visit.
“That’s
What Friends Are For” (11/28/92) – Chula becomes Fievel’s friend when Tiger
believes he can no longer be it.
“Bell
the Cats” (12/5/92) – Fievel ties bells to the cats’ tails so that their
movements can alert the mice, unfortunately the plan backfires.
No comments:
Post a Comment