Two of the most well known Don Bluth films, the story of Fievel brings up some deep nostalgia.
During this young mouse’s trials, trying to reunite with his family as they sought
out a better life, he met many along the way.
But who had the best of intentions and who was just looking to use Fievel as a worker
or as a meal?
I’m Brad with WickedBinge and this is An American Tail and An American Tale: Fievel
Goes West: Good to Evil.
As usual, we’ll begin with the most Pure and work our way down to the most villainous.
These characters are The Good.
Starting off our list, we have Mama and Papa Mouskewitz.
They have the idea to leave Russia and start over in America, hoping to create a better
life for their children.
Now the father of the family was quick to assume that there were no issues with cats
in America, but it’s easy to see why they wanted to believe it.
The mother was more level headed, quick to scoff at ideas too good to believe.
They both cared for the well being of their young ones, celebrating when Fievel turned
up alive at the end of the first film.
Coming in second we have Tanya, Fievel’s older sister.
The only one in the first film to believe that Feivel was still alive, she was the one
to demand they confront Tony when he was seeking out his friend ‘Filly’... and also the
only one to celebrate being reunited with him in the second movie, with everyone else
being more preoccupied making the western town livable.
She did become too preoccupied in being seen as a star and being able to sing on stage,
but she did find a way to use her stage presence to get her family and the other mice out of
harm’s way...
warning them of the giant mouse trap.
Our next ranking goes to Fievel himself.
He’s the main focus of the story, being the one to be separated from his family and
the one to help defeat the cats in both features.
He’s naive, which makes him easy to be taken advantage of.
There are numerous times when he’s almost in reach of his family only to be led away
again.
He was tossed into a sweatshop where he met Tony, was swept up in the rally with the cats,
initially tricked by Warren, and put a lot of blind faith into Wylie despite the mutt
being reluctant to fight.
He did still manage to help save a lot of his fellow mice, but due to biting off more
than he could chew, he was often the focus of being hunted or victimized.
Tiger was a loyal friend to Feivel upon their meeting.
The song Duo perfectly captured how the two saw one another and showed that a cat and
mouse could overcome their differences and be friends.
Feivel was heartbroken when he thought he couldn’t at least say goodbye to Tiger when
heading out west with his family and we don’t blame him.
Tiger wasn’t just a great friend to the Mousekewitz family but a good partner to Ms
Kitty.
While she wished he was braver, he was sweet and cared for her, never using her for her
success and never showing jealousy over whoever admired her.
He dropped everything to follow his loved ones out of New York.
While initially reluctant, he accepted Wylie’s training to become sheriff and save the mice
from a gruesome fate.
Next we have Ms Kitty.
Tiger’s love interest in the second film, she’s also the one to teach Tanya how to
be a performer.
She’s a determined feline trying to make a name for herself in a new place.
While she did express regret over leaving Tiger behind, she was good at putting on a
brave face and encouraging Tanya to do the same.
One of the few people willing to talk back to Cat R Waul and criticize some of his ideas,
she was used as leverage in the final standoff.
But that doesn’t mean she’s a typical damsel in distress.
Ms Kitty has said herself she was more than willing to break out her claws when pushed
too far.
We were glad to see she got her happy ending.
Moving onto Bridget.
Outspoken and passionate, she was one of the few mice in the first film that openly spoke
out against being victimized by the local cats.
She helped to rally the neighborhood together and supported Feivel’s idea to use a giant
mouse to take them out.
She was a love interest to Tony which affected how well of an activist she was, the young
mouse often distracted by the disheveled young man.
But she clearly cared for others, showing immediate concern when Feivel was missing.
Tony is next.
As stated before, he quickly falls for Bridget, becoming distracted from aiding Fievel to
help her with the rally.
That doesn’t make him a bad kid, thought.
Tony falls under the streetwise kid of New York trope, with a heavy accent and jaded
attitude.
To be fair, he was basically imprisoned in a sweatshop with a bunch of other kids before
he met our young protagonist.
He did think he was being helpful telling Fievel to move on and that his family was
likely doing the same, but was also quick to try and bring the family together after
running into Tanya and Papa.
He was distracted by young love, but ultimately did come through for his new friend.
A shame he doesn’t show up again in the second film to gain more development.
Henri, the pigeon, is next.
Spending most of his time on the new Statue of Liberty, he was the one to first find the
young Feivel when the mouse washed up.
He was there to offer hope when the young boy was about to give up.
Freshening up the kid with a bath and sending Feivel on his way with an uplifting song,
he made an impression on the audience.
It’s because of his appearance that the film is given a hopeful tone, letting the
audience and Feivel know not to give up.
He believes America to indeed be a land of opportunity and second chances, but only if
you go after it and help to make it happen.
It’s a message that ages well no matter how many times you see the first movie.
While we don’t see him long, his song of never giving up will always get stuck in your
head.
Next is the heroic mutt Wylie Burp.
Once a hero of the west, he was not eager to step in when Feivel begged for help.
He was quick to claim he was too old to fight but was willing to train someone new to take
his place.
Luckily he did end up having a hand in the conflict at the end of the second film, fighting
alongside Tiger instead of sending the cat out on his own.
The fact that he went along with training a cat was a pretty humorous touch with how
dogs and cats interact in these movies.
He showed to have potential as a hero in the end, with age giving him wisdom rather than
stripping him of his integrity.
His final words on screen were memorable, with him telling Fievel-and those watching
at home-that they can be the hero they need in the world.
With that said, we’ve wrapped up the good characters and move into neutral territory…
This is The Grey Area.
First, we’ll briefly mention The Native Tribe of the second film next.
This little bit didn’t exactly age well.
At the time of the film being released, it was seen as comedic and acceptable but nowadays
it’s pretty distasteful.
But as far as their actions go, we have to give them a lower ranking.
Surviving in the desert can’t be easy and with being mice they likely had the mindset
to take out Tiger before he took them out.
But forcing Tiger to either accept being worshipped or be eaten?
That’s a pretty drastic situation to place someone in.
Honest John was an aid to Gussie in the first movie, but not the best one.
Most of the time we see him he’s intoxicated, objectifying Gussie and writing down the names
of the dead to use as ghost votes.
He does eventually help get rid of the cats, going along with the plan, but that was likely
more for his own survival than it was for the betterment of the community he was meant
to serve.
He didn’t try to use children the way others did and wasn’t a malicious man, but he did
have the mindset to help himself before others.
Next is Gussie Mausheimer.
One of the richest mice in New York, she’s well known for her odd way of speaking and
her arrogant attitude.
She claimed she did all she could to help those less fortunate than herself, but she
also made a point to state that everyone was less fortunate than her.
She was the one to band the more powerful members of their community together, such
as Honest John.
She gets major props for openly telling off the cats, standing proudly with her fellow
mice and tossing things in anger at the creatures that lived to hunt her and others like her.
She was open to Feivel’s idea and was the one to ultimately make the giant mouse happen.
Finally, we’ve arrived at The Dark Side.
These characters are the Bad and the Evil.
We’ll mention the Bar Cats first.
Going along with Cat R Waul’s plan, they were eager to kill off the mice helping to
rebuild the town.
However, they do get a higher ranking than the cats from Russia or New York.
They were willing to put hunting off to see through with Waul’s plan and warmed up to
Tanya’s performance when she proved to be a talent.
In fact they help to perform the most memorable song in the second film.
There is some speculation as to why they enjoyed seeing Tanya perform so much, but we won’t
open that can of worms and leave the speculation to other parts of the internet.
Moe was a briefly used character in the first movie.
Owner of the sweatshop, he made a living using any kids left abandoned or straying too far
from home.
He treated all the kids like prisoners, only interested in using them for labour to make
life easier for himself.
He also was in on the act of Warren T Rat, having no issue with a cat in charge so long
as he was able to succeed.
Digit didn’t have much of a presence.
He was a cockroach and a right hand to Warren T Rat, because what other creature could be
a right hand to that creepy character?
He’s given some leniency due to a few factors.
1- He didn’t hunt mice himself.
2-He was frequently mistreated by Warren, with the car not caring for Digit’s health.
It implied that he was just trying to make the best of a bad situation.
But he also loses a lot of points since he seemed to be unfazed and sometimes joyful
to see others suffer.
Digit is one of those weird characters that could have been redeemed, but was at peace
with others being used so long as he could have a somewhat comfortable life.
Warren T Rat, leader of the New York cats, is next.
He was a smarmy villain, enjoying not only having a hunting ground but being able to
take advantage of the businesses in the area.
He had a way of manipulating others that was pretty terrifying.
He was defeated in the end, but he caused a lot of damage.
Not only did he ruthlessly hunt the mice trying to live in a merciless city, but he was the
one to toss Feivel into Moe’s sweatshop, happy to see kids used for labour.
Impatient, crude and underhanded, he was one musical number away from being a truly notable
villain.
Next is Chula, the spider in the second film.
One of the closer sidekicks to Waul, he was seen as being pretty unstable.
He thrived on being able to intimidate the mice around him, paying special attention
to Feivel through the film.
He had no issue holding the young mouse over a flame to torment him or make it seem like
Feivel fell off the train on his own after the kid overheard their plans.
His crooked teeth, creepy laugh and weird fondness for nursery rhymes while hunting
young mice is something that no doubt frightened a lot of children growing up with this movie.
It seems worth mentioning to bring up cats of Russia.
They were the ones terrorizing the mice in the first film, leading to the Mousekewitz
family and others heading to America.
There’s nothing positive about these evil felines.
They’re shown killing without any care of who.
They visibly took delight in filling the mice with fear in their last moments and were so
terrifying that Feivel’s family took the chance to move to an entirely different country
to escape them.
They didn’t manipulate their victims, just opting to kill outright, but that isn’t
much of a saving grace.
Earning the spot of most wicked, we’re going to place Cat R Waul.
The villain in the second film, he encouraged the mice to travel west for a new life, making
promises of cats and mice living in harmony.
His interest is exploiting mice desperate for a new life, making them build up his vision
of a successful western town before devouring the labourers.
He shows some mercy to Tanya, deciding her talent made her worthy of being spared and
used as entertainment, but that doesn’t exactly redeem him.
He was perfectly fine with letting Tanya sing while he set up the giant mousetrap.
That would have led to her having to witness the murder of all of her friends and family
before being stuck working for the cat that did it, and that is downright vile!
The fact that he becomes someone else’s pampered toy in the end is pretty satisfying.
But what do you think?
Who are the most Good and Evil characters in American Tails?
Let us know in the comment section below.
Don’t forget to hit that notification bell and binge our Good-to-Evil playlist.
Where we break down the morality of the characters from your favorite cartoons, shows and movies.
But most importantly, stay wicked.