An American Tail: Fievel Goes West - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

[bernard]

Notably that Fievel's line in one scene "Have no fear, Filly the Kid is here." has "Filly" involved. Fievel's name is altered by Tony Toponi as "Filly" in An American Tail (1986), even though Tony's role is arguably limited as a background cameo in this film.

[miriam]

This film was released on the same day (November 22, 1991) as the Walt Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991).

[kenneth]

Owing to creative differences, Don Bluth parted ways with Steven Spielberg, with whom he had directed the original An American Tail (1986), as well as the first of 13 Land Before Time films. With no Bluth in sight for the sequel, Spielberg instead relied on Phil Nibbelink, a former Disney animator, and Simon Wells, the grandson of science-fiction author H.G. Wells, to direct the project.

[jim]

When Fievel asks Tiger to help him and Wylie save the mice, Tiger freaks out when he's told he must "be a dog" as though his worst nightmare has come true. Ironically, he technically has been a dog before as his voice actor Dom DeLuise previously voiced Itchy, a dachshund, in All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).

[janice]

Tony Toponi's role was somewhat limited as a background cameo, arguably due to his voice actress, Pat Musick, was voicing other characters more than 10 shows during the film's production around 1990 and 1991. Tony was arguably written out from Fievel's American Tails (1992) since Musick was unable to do any characters on different media during that period, as Universal Studios couldn't find a replacement voice for the character. Tony had yet to reappear until later in the infamous direct-to-video sequels, An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island (1998) and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster (1999), but controversially without Bridget.

[darrell]

Originally, another voice actress was going to play Tanya. However, after auditioning and singing the song "Dreams to Dream" Steven Spielberg decided to cast Cathy Cavadini as both Tanya's speaking and singing voice. The unknown actress' dialogue was removed from the film and Cathy re-dubbed all the lines.

[gabriel]

Celine Dion was originally going to sing Dreams to Dream and even recorded a demo for Steven Spielberg. Unfortunately, it was rejected which prompted Dion to be terminated. Devastated by this, Celine Dion would later went on to record Beauty and the Beast with Peabo Bryson after listening to Angela Lansbury's rendition, also released on the same year as this film. Dion would later reunite with Will Jennings and James Horner on the 1997 hit 'My Heart Will Go On' from Titanic.

[darrell]

During the song "Dreams to Dream", a book is shown with a scene from the Beauty and the Beast fairytale. Disney released their animated version of Beauty and the Beast (1991) on the same day as An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991).

[maureen]

Bridget and Tony (along with their baby) make four unspoken cameos in the film under role limitations without their voice actors' involvement. The first is escaping in a roller skate during the cat attack, the second is in the crowd at the sewer as the mouse marionette offer them to move out west, the third is moving in a discarded teapot when the mice first settle in the West, and the fourth is Tanya warning them (their baby is partially seen) and the crowd about the mousetrap they're in before getting squished.

[miriam]

Steven Spielberg personally came to James Stewart's sound booth to direct him. He is uncredited as a voice-over director, though.

[kyle]

One of the flyers in Miss Kitty's dressing room lists scene planner Harald Kraut as the manager of the "Pine Street Theatre."

[linda]

The only Animated Sequel distributed by Universal to release Theatrically up until Illumination's Despicable Me 2 (2013) 22 years later.

[ethel]

Don Bluth and his animation studio, Sullivan Bluth Studios, were originally going to make the film, as they had done with An American Tail (1986). Universal agreed, under the condition that it would cost no more than $9.6 million, similar to the budget of the first film, but $3 million less than The Land Before Time (1988), which Bluth was already directing for them. Faced with the prospect of having to lay off employees at his studio, Bluth declined the job, and parted ways with Universal after finishing their commitment with An American Tail (1986). Ironically, the film was made for roughly $25 million, twice as much as "Land" had cost to make.

[fred]

Miss Kitty, Tiger's love interest, was voiced by Amy Irving, who was previously married to Spielberg and this film was released in 1991, the year he married Kate Capshaw, who had worked with him on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).

[wallace]

In An American Tail (1986), Papa Mousekewiz is a tailor, according to the sign over the front door of his house as seen during "Somewhere Out There". In this movie, however, he is a violin maker.

[kenneth]

Though undetected for decades, there is a penis doodle hidden in the film. It's visible in the DVD and VHS versions. At the 46:20 mark of the film, while Tanya is singing Dreams to Dream, a penis doodle appear's in front of her face for one frame. It is very obvious that when the animator was tracing Tanya from the animation paper onto the cel paper, he messed up on her nose, mussel, and mouse teeth, turning the cel paper on backwards to retrace her without clearing the mistake (as the mark was in ink), didn't bother discarding the cel paper due to product expenses, leaving this boo-boo looked like such. However, it was removed on Blu-ray release.

[charlie]

Several of the storefronts and signs in Green River are named for members of the crew: "Ph. Nibbelink Eyeglasses" and "Wells' Dentistry" (directors Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells); "P. Rappas Clothing", "Dunnet's Bread and Cakes", and "Saint Brendan Holy Chapel" (layout artists Panagiotis Rappas, Dave Dunnet, and Brendan Houghton); and "Woodbyrne Knickers & Garters" (for production manager Cynthia Henrich-Woodbyrne). In addition, one façade in the "Way Out West" sequence reads "Mardegan" (for layout artist Giorgio Mardegan).

[carl]

This one of only two sequel's to one of Don Bluth's films to release theatrically, with the other on being All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996). Other sequels to his films were simply released straight-to-video/DVD.

[gerald]

When Fievel is riding on the tumbleweed, the "Theme from Rawhide" is being played in the background. It is the version sung by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd from The Blues Brothers (1980) which features a cameo appearance by Steven Spielberg in it.