Pop quiz: which director said the following? “I have much more fun making an animated movie. You can make an $18 million animated feature look like a $100 million live-action movie. You can animate anything — the universe, all of creation. It’s the last frontier of the imagination.” The answer isSteven Spielberg, the producer of box office sensationsAn American Tail(directed byDon Bluth),Who Framed Roger Rabbit?(directed byRobert Zemeckis), andThe Land Before Time(also Bluth). The answer towhen Spielberg made this statementis in 1991 to The Morning Call, when he was promoting the upcoming sequel toAn American Tail,An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. This second installment in the misadventures of Fievel Mousekewitz (Phillip Glasser) was thedebut animated feature from Amblimation, Amblin Entertainment (which Spielberg co-founded) and Universal Pictures’s joint animation studio.
WithBluth declining to returnforFievel Goes West, the movie’s tone shifted. Now co-directed byPhil NibbelinkandSimon Wells, ifAn American Taildaringly used anthropomorphized animals as vessels for sociopolitical commentary,Fievel Goes Westdecided it wanted to pay tribute tobeloved live-action Westerns. AsDavid Kirschner, one of the franchise’s main ideators,summarized things for the South Florida Sun Sentinelin 1988, “It’s like aJohn Fordwestern with Jewish mice.” And who better to play a pivotal role inFievel Goes Westthan one of the Western genre’s last living kings,Jimmy Stewart? According to a1991 profile pieceStewart did for the Los Angeles Times, Stewart’s work ethic (“a habit he treasures”) and his decades of “learned craft” experience prompted “Steven Spielberg to zero in on the tallish actor at a party.” Stewart agreed, “with one condition: Spielberg had to be in the studio directing him.”
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
Fievel’s family decides to move out to the West, unaware that they are falling into a trap perpetrated by a smooth-talking cat.
Who Is Jimmy Stewart in ‘An American Tail: Fievel Goes West?'
The basic premise ofAn American Tail:Fievel Goes Westsees the Mousekewitz family move from New York to Utah in search of better financial prospects. The precocious Fievel likes to daydream about his hero, Sheriff Wylie Burp (Stewart). He imagines dramatic shoot-outs with nefarious villains in the sandy town streets at high noon. Tumbleweeds roll by. The sun blazes down. For as much asFievel Goes Westis more irreverent and less original than its heartbreaking predecessor, Amblimation understands theiconography of an appealing Western.
WhenFievel meets the real-life Wylie, not the hero he’s concocted in his mind, it proves a startling disappointment. Wylie is despondent, preferring to sleep his days away. He can hardly form a coherent sentence without falling back asleep. Stewart’s weakened yet indelibly laconic drawl muttering nonsensical sentences filled with dog puns makes for an amusing introduction. It’s also a perfect example of voice actors and animators working together: a distressed Fievel tells this lazy old dog (he isn’t aware of Wylie’s identity) how much he wishes Wylie Burp were here to help him. He wipes his tearful eyes and runny nose; a disbelieving Wylie can’t believe what he’s heard. Wylie cries joyfully, wearing a delighted grin big enough to hurt his bloodhound cheeks. “Well, then,” Stewart’s comforting voice says with a career’s worth of cordial altruism, “he’s right here.” Fievel’s instantly comforted by the promise, as anyone would be withJimmy Stewart on the case.
Once Wylie overcomes another bout of depressive self-doubt, he sets upon his final noble task: teaching Fievel’s friend, the incorrigible cat Tiger (Dom DeLuisein fine form), how to act like a dog. You see, Fievel’s facing a deadly problem.A villainous British catby the name of Cat R. Waul (an impossibly campyJohn Cleese) runs the town where Fievel and his family live. Cat R. Waul has tricked the entire mice population with an elaborate scheme, promising them riches and a place where cats and mice can live in harmony.
Wylie knows he’s too feeble to successfully defeat Cat R. Waul himself; enter Tiger, their only option and only hope. Let’s just say that Tiger doesn’t excel as a student at first. Stewart orders him to fetch, bark, and “roll, ya varmit, roll”; the actor’s intonations are as wry and dry as the sun-baked desert itself. Justthe way Stewart mocksTiger’s pithy attempt at a bark by dragging out the syllables “bow…wow?” with absolute disdain is worth the price of admission. Stewart sounds like he enjoyed himself, which warms the heart.
How Did Steven Spielberg Influence ‘An American Tail: Fievel Goes West’?
True to his promise, Steven Spielberg personally worked with Jimmy Stewart forAn American Tail: Fievel Goes West. According to the LA Times, “Stewart and the other voices […] were recorded as many as 10 times each session at different speeds and with different phrasings. Spielberg chose the acceptable take and the animators then had to match the action to the voice.” Stewart wasn’t a stranger to working in a recording booth; the process spanned just 10 days.
Naturally,Spielberg’s contributions didn’t end there. Spielberg told The Morning Call: “This movie has more style than the first one. The characters are affected more by their surroundings — by the lighting and the sunsets. It’s stylized without being arty. It has a rich, deep style.“Cynthia Woodbyrne,Fievel’s production manager, added: “Steven really pushed us to use more live-action techniques. He looked at our storyboards and said, ‘There are too many cuts.Save your cuts for when you want to build tension.’ He wanted us to keep the camera moving all the time.”
An American Tale: Fievel Goes Westearned some critical pushback upon its release. The peril and stakes aren’t as intense as Bluth’s typical fair, but that’s not automatically a quelling strike against the film. It’s an overlooked movie with beautifully animated sequences, impressive framing, and personable animation. The highlight, naturally, is the delicate tribute the filmmakers pay to one of the last Hollywood greats.
‘An American Tail: Fievel Goes West’ Celebrates Jimmy Stewart’s Career
Jimmy Stewart’s gently unassuming charisma and piercing nobility garnered him critical acclaim and public adoration in equal measure, not to mentionfive Academy Award nominations. He personified idealism in films likeMr. Smith Goes to Washington, made the “everyman” truly representative of humanity throughIt’s a Wonderful Life, and collaborated withAlfred Hitchcockin widely recognized masterpieces. Then, Stewart took a sidetrack into moral ambiguity with a string of Westerns includingWinchester ‘73,Broken Arrow, andThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
In his profile for the LA Times, Jimmy Stewart expressed gratitude to the Western genre for “[giving]new direction to his careerat a time Hollywood itself was changing.” It’s fitting, then, thatAn American Tail: Fievel Goes Westis Stewart’s last film before his passing. Returning to the Western is a full circle moment. Playing a wise, charming, and trustworthy figure in a Western (Stewart refused “grouchy grandfather” roles) synthesizes both halves of Stewart’s impressive career.
Why Hasn’t Steven Spielberg Made a Western?
The directing auteur still has worlds to conquer.
Overall, Stewart’s performance as Wylie Burp is perfectly touching. He inserts hissignature humility and bleeding heartinto the role even though he sounds understandably more subdued than the triumphs of his youth; Stewart was in his mid-80s. The film’s setting and the character are a tribute to his legacy and overflowing with love. What might be too sentimental in different hands makes for an ideal meeting of meta-commentary and performer:Fieveltilts its metaphorical hat to Stewart’s past movies by having him play a trifecta of the “aw, shucks” sweetheart, the Western mentor, and a former hero rediscovering why it’s important to always protect the innocent.
Directors Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells demonstrate gentle reverence in Wylie’s final scene, which doubles as the last scene Stewart performed before his retirement. Wylie walks away into the sunset with Fievel literally following behind in his giant shadow. Wylie gives Fievel his sheriff’s badge and the two share a brief but tender conversation that’s especially poignant since the closing lines are Stewart’s final words onscreen. “One man’s sunset is another man’s dawn,” he wisely tells Fievel. “I don’t know what’s out there beyond those hills. But if you ride yonder, head up, eyes steady, heart open, I think one day you’ll find thatyou’re the hero you’ve been looking for.” Then, quietly, Wylie and Fievel watch the sunset together. Stewart ending his career by symbolically passing the torch and musing about heroism’s difficult truths is the kind of heartfelt poignancy deserved for one of Classic Hollywood’s most beloved and influential performers. And we have Steven Spielberg to thank for it all.
An American Tail: Fievel Goes Westis available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.
