An American Tale

What can I say about An American Tale that has not been said by other, more competent, more Nostalgia Chick commentators? Her various reviews of Don Blueth's career is a key piece of background to this story that I am just going to not touch because her reviews are so good. Nonetheless I must carry on, for the sake of the project, and because I think, as a Jewish history enthusiast, I do have something to contribute here, maybe.

This is another one of those movies I missed (I was 2 when it came out) and never saw despite various recommendations. It is somewhat surprising that I was never forced to watch it on one of the many Jewish youth outings I endured, given that this is the tale of a family of Jewish immigrants, but religious youth activities seem, in retrospect, carefully calculated to make me loath everything in all creation, so exposing me to a well made film instead of a shitty suburban comedy was probably never in the cards.

For those of you who haven't seen the movie, a short summary. Fievel and his family are Jewish mice living in Russia. their home is destroyed in a Pogrom and they decide to move to America, a land where there are reportedly no cats and the streets are paved with cheese. Fievel is washed overboard during the crossing, but washes up on the shores of Liberty Island. Once on land Fievel sees the good and the bad in New York, being sold into child slavery, making new friends, getting attacked by cats, and falling in with a streetwise native and a middle class reformouse. They come up with a plan to rid New York of the cats, which succeeds, and Fievel is reunited with his family.


This story is predictable in many ways, especially for those who grew up on the east coast as part of the culture of the New York City region. The story is populated by stereotypes and caricatures that are familiar, and often telegraphed before even showing up onscreen. For example, as soon as a character said "lets go see Honest Tom downtown, he knows everyone!' I knew I was about to meet a drunken, corrupt Tammany type with an Irish accent. And yet this movie works really really well. The movie is honest to an amazing degree about the history of the groups involved, and neither sugar coats dark realities nor plays them for laughs. 
The example often used is the Pogrom in Russian, wherin shadowy shapes of men and horses shoot people down in the streets and burn houses as cats chase down mice. This is indeed a very dark way to begin a movie, and despite the somewhat fantastical inclusion of anthropomorphic mice represents a stunningly realistic view of the lawlessness and chaos that characterized Tzarist Russia's relationship to the Jews. From a narrative standpoint the direct juxtoposition of the human event (pogrom) with a mouse event (attack by a pack of oddly dog like cats.) serves to ease the viewer into the nature of this anthropromorphized world. This is something often left out of the anthropromorphized animals genre. It definitely makes this easier to watch as an adult than, say, Disney's Robin Hood. 
Another fantastic example of this movie being honest with its viewers about historical realities is the aforementioned Honest Tom. Tom is an exceptionally corrupt, exceptionally drunk Irish politician. He is constantly after people's votes, and in his first introduction he is adding a dead man to his list of "ghost voters." He clearly has sinister, selfish motives, which makes his antics, while funny, somewhat unnerving. Yet he is seen providing obvious service to both the protagonists and the public at large, even at great personal risk. This was indeed a key aspect of the American Immigrant experience, and remains so to this day. 
For those at the bottom of the social and economic ladder, the legitimate economy often does not provide resources necessary for daily life. Ties of ethnic and emotional loyalty in an alien environment are the currency of organized crime, but also provide the informal networks that allow communities to lift themselves out of poverty. Especially in the absence of outside assistance, such corrupt criminal systems play a key role in the American immigrant experience. The classic example of this, or course, was the Tammany system in New York, where the swelling Irish population supported corrupt politicians in return for help with food, fuel in the winter, and jobs. The same could also be said of the Italian mob and even the Jewish Purple Gang. None of these organizations operated without initial local support, and were only effectively destroyed when outside economic opportunities and the killing of innocent bystanders turned their public against them.
Such corrupt organizations were often key in helping the country do amazing things like build the Transcontinental Railroad, and fight Facism, but the dark side of this is that those who head these systems are, as in legitimate economic enterprises, out for personal gain and not necessarily the public good. Public money is the price they demand for their goods and services, money which could have been used to provide the goods and services more efficiently, and more directly, without lining anyone's pockets. Those who question the system are effectively eliminated, which means the system can never adapt to changed circumstances, while in extreme cases the public ends up owing more allegiance to whichever faction provides them their goods and services than they owe to the state. This is called a patronage system, and if left unchecked translates into a subversion of any legitimate political process. Corrupt systems can smooth the way for amazing achievements, but ultimately corruption rots a system with cynical inefficiency and waste. A child is unlikely to understand this all directly from the few interactions with Honest Tom, but the DNA of this is there, ready for those who learn enough to extract it, and I appreciate the honestly.
Which is not to say I do not have some serious critiques. As a movie the plot seems oddly rushed with a massive cast of characters that you never get to know well, in the process of confronting the protagonist with  constantly shifting challenges that are easily escaped. There are a couple reasons this works, despite what is outwardly somewhat poor writing. First, it should be noted that this is an Oddesy clone. Not in the direct, Warriors kind of way, but from a narrative standpoint. While almost all plots involve a journey, Oddesy clones present a literal journey, where a mobile main character, on what should be a simple quest ("get home" "find my parents") is presented with exotic challenges usually in the form of characters that come to symbolize a place.  Particularly good entries into this genre tie many or most of these characters together at the end. Given the length restrictions of a kids movie, and the goal of providing the viewer with a wide ranging introduction to the salient features of the New York Immigrant Experience, these obstacles were going to have to be overcome quickly. As such the movie is almost more a series of vignettes of the pitfalls and opportunities presented by life in New York City at this time period, but it is kept interesting by the fast pace of the plot and the clear devotion of the protagonist to his quest.
The musical sequences are, in comparison to Disney musicals, rough and unpolished. This should probably not be a major concern to me since I hate musical numbers, but it was initially pretty jarring. That said the music being unpolished makes more sense coming from a child, especially from one coming from a peasent background without fancy studios and singing coaches. 
That's basically my take. I feel I should also point out that the art is breathtaking. Especially since this is a double feature paked with extras this one is a keeper. 5/5









The only criticism I really have that I have no resolution to is the cats. They growl, they snarl, they run in packs. Has Don Blueth ever met a cat? I think he is thinking of dogs. Protip.