What if Don Bluth stayed at Disney?/An American Tale

***An American Tale*** is a 1986 American animated musical adventure comedy drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and Amblin Entertainment. It is directed by *Dragon's Lair* creator Don Bluth, co-directed by Gary Goldman and Dan Kuenster in their directorial debut, produced by Burny Mattinson, John Pomeroy, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. The 28th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the story of an Jewish 7-year-old girl named Anne-Marie Moskowitz (voiced by Judith Barsi) and her family as they emigrate from the Imperial Russian territory of Ukraine to the United States for freedom. However, she gets lost and must find a way to reunite with them while discovering an all-animal hidden society.

*An American Tale* was released on November 21, 1986 by Walt Disney Pictures. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews and was a box office success, making it one of the highest-grossing animated films at the time. *An American Tale* is given credit for breathing life back into the art of Disney animated feature films after some films produced by Disney were struggling, for playing an important role in instigating the era known as the Disney Renaissance, and for setting the studio in a creative direction that would lead to other critically acclaimed features such as *The Little Mermaid* (1989), *Beauty and the Beast* (1991), *Aladdin* (1992) and *The Lion King* (1994).

In 1996, *An American Tale* was added to the United States National Film Registry for being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Today, the film is now seen as one of the best animated films from Disney, as well as one of the most acclaimed animated movies of all time, often called one of the best in the medium. It is also known for being comedy actress Amy Poehler's favorite one, and it is among one of Steven Spielberg's favorites. It is also a favorite of film historian/critic Leonard Maltin.

The film later spawned a theatrical sequel, *An American Tail: Anne-Marie Goes West* (1991); a 1992-1995 TV series based on both films, titled simply *An American Tale*; two additional direct-to-video sequels set between the first two films, *An American Tail: In Search of Gabriel's Horn* (1996) and *An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster* (1999); and a sequel TV series, *Anne-Marie's American Tales*, premiered on Disney Junior in 2019. A live-action film adaptation of the film directed by Bill Condon was released on September 1, 2019.

## Plot

In Shostka, Russia, 1895, the Moskowitzes, a Russian-Jewish family, are having a celebration of Hanukkah where Papa gives his childhood stuffed bunny to his 7-year-old daughter, Anne-Marie, and tells her about the United States, a country where there is no war. The celebration is interrupted when a battery of Cossacks ride through the village square in an anti-Jewish villager arson attack. Because of this, the Moskowitz home is destroyed, while Anne-Marie has a narrow escape from the Cossacks. They flee the village in search of a better life.

In Hamburg, Germany, the Moskowitzes board a tramp steamer headed for New York City. All the people aboard are ecstatic at the process of going to America as there is "no war" there. During a thunderstorm on their journey, Anne-Marie suddenly finds herself separated from her family and washed overboard. Thinking that she has died, they proceed to the city as planned, though they become depressed at her loss. However, being safe in a lifeboat, Anne-Marie survives and meets a mouse named Tanya, who used to live in a hole in the Moskowitzes' house. Anne-Marie is surprised to hear Tanya talk when a blue magic sphere appears and tells Anne-Marie that it had given her the ability to talk with animals, so she can have help.

Anne-Marie and Tanya float to New York City and, after a pep talk from a French pigeon named Henri, embark on a quest to find Anne-Marie's family. While wandering around the local marketplace, Anne-Marie is waylaid by con-artist rat Warren T. Rat, who sells her to a sweatshop run by ruthless weasel Moe, and where many animals are put in slave labor. She, Tanya, and all the slave animals escape with the help of Tony Orsoni, a street-smart Italian bear. Anne-Marie, Tanya and Tony get Warren and Moe arrested by the police dogs, and join up with Bridget, an Irish bear trying to rouse her fellow animals to fight a gang of crook animals called the Mott Street Maulers. After they attack the animals' own marketplace, Anne-Marie learns that the tales of a war-free country are not true. When Tanya sees the animals' city hall, she and Anne-Marie decide to hide there after the Maulers discover the latter and her ability.

In the city hall, Anne-Marie and Tanya meet Honest Johan, an alcoholic lion who knows the city's voting humans. However, he can't help Anne-Marie search for her family, as they have not yet registered to vote. Meanwhile, her younger brother, Fievel, tells his gloomy parents he has a feeling that she is still alive, but they tell him to let go of these feelings as it doesn't seem possible that Anne-Marie could still be alive.

Led by the rich and powerful Gooster McGoose, Anne-Marie and the animals hold a rally to decide what to do about the Maulers. No one knows what to do about it, until Anne-Marie whispers a plan to Gooster. Anne-Marie and the animals take over an abandoned museum on the Chelsea Piers and begin constructing their plan. While going to find something useful for it, Tanya meets a duo of street dogs named Charlie B. Barkin and Itchy Itchiford, who had escaped from a dog pound. After they trick Tanya into giving all the stuff she got, she takes an immediate dislike to the duo.

While TBD, Anne-Marie and Tanya get lost and stumble upon a riverboat deep in the forest where Anne-Marie is forced to disguising herself as an animal to enter. Discovering it to be a casino and touring around it, Anne-Marie and Tanya find a secret tunnel and enter it. They then discover the Maulers' lair and overhear several of them discussing their next plot. The Maulers discover and capture Anne-Marie and Tanya, and take them to their leader, a ruthless bulldog named Carface Caruthers, who upon discovering Anne-Marie's ability, orders his henchanimals Fee, Line and Killer to imprison her so they can use her to bets on races, and his chef cat Chef LeChat to cook and eat Tanya.

Just after Anne-Marie and Tanya are taken away, Carface is greeted by Charlie, his business partner in the casino. Refusing to share the profits with Charlie, Carface had been responsible for Charlie and Itchy getting committed to the pound and persuades Charlie to leave New York with half of the casino's earnings. Charlie agrees, but is later intoxicated and killed by a car pushed downhill by the Maulers. Charlie is sent to Heaven by default despite not having done any good deeds in his life; a whippet angel explains to him that because animals are inherently good and loyal, all animals go to Heaven and are entitled to paradise. Charlie cheats death by stealing a gold pocket watch representing his life and winding it back. As Charlie descends back to Earth, the whippet angel tells him that he can never return to Heaven. However, as long as the watch continues to run, Charlie will be immortal. Reuniting with Itchy, Charlie plots revenge aganist Carface in the form of a rivaling business.

Meanwhile, Anne-Marie was about to lose hope, but she discovers that her guard is a reluctant member of the Maulers, a goofy, soft-hearted long-haired orange vegetarian tabby cat called Tiger, who befriends and frees her. Anne-Marie then rescues Tanya by distracting Chef LeChat into getting chased by bees. Finding a way to escape via the sewers, Anne-Marie and Tanya encounter Charlie and Itchy. By discovering that Anne-Marie can talk with animals, Charlie promises to feed the poor and help her find her family but secretly plots to use her ability to win bets.

The next day at the race track, Charlie steals a wallet from an old woman as she talks to Anne-Marie. Charlie and Itchy use their winnings to build a successful casino in the junkyard where they live. Anne-Marie, upon realizing that she has been used, and Tanya prepare to leave and return to the pier. To persuade them to stay, Charlie brings pizza to a family of rabbits, at an abandoned church. While there, Anne-Marie becomes angry at Charlie for stealing the wallet. As Charlie has a nightmare in which he is condemned to Hell, Anne-Marie returns the wallet to the woman, Mrs. Walliot, who turns to have met her family when they were searching a house to live on. Just before Mrs. Walliot would explain where they are, Charlie arrives and tricks Anne-Marie into leaving with him. Charlie and Anne-Marie narrowly escape an ambush by Fee, Line and Killer and hide in an abandoned building, but the ground breaks and they fall into the lair of King Gator, a giant effeminate alligator. He, Charlie and Anne-Marie bond over a love of music and he lets them go.

On the day of launch to Anne-Marie's plan, and upon discovering Anne-Marie and Tanya's absence, Tony and Bridget go to search them and meet Itchy, who takes them to Charlie's empty casino to explain about where they are. However, Carface and his thugs destroy the casino and attack them. An injured Itchy limps back to the church and confronts Charlie about his relationship with Anne-Marie and tells him that he must help her to find her family for real before Carface finds her. Charlie loudly proclaims that he is using her and will eventually "dump her in an orphanage". A heartbroken Anne-Marie overhears the conversation and tearfully runs away before she is attacked and kidnapped by the Maulers. Charlie realizes his selfishness and starts to feel incredibly guilty for everything he's done, which he and Tanya finally decide to put their differences aside and work together to save Anne-Marie.

Charlie enters Carface's casino, where he is ambushed by Carface and his thugs. They fight with Charlie while Tanya tries to free Anne-Marie from her cage, only to be knocked by Carface, who gets a fight by Tiger and knocks him out as well. Charlie's pained howls from their bites summon King Gator, who sets him and Anne-Marie free. Anne-Marie helps Tanya to wake up and search a way to help Charlie. While this is happening, Itchy, the rabbits, Tony and Bridget race back to the pier, telling Gooster that they found the Maulers' lair and that Anne-Marie is in danger, and everybody runs to the casino, except Itchy, who is sent by the rabbits to take Anne-Marie's stuffed bunny to Mrs. Walliot's house as she knows where Anne-Marie's family is.

King Gator's attacks makes Fee, Line and Killer run away in fear. Just then, Gooster and the animals arrive and fight the Maulers. When they seem to be unnumered, Gooster orders the animals to release the secret weapon. A huge mechanical rhino, inspired by the bedtime tales Papa told Anne-Marie of the "Giant Rhino of Minsk", chases Carface's thugs throughout New York City, down the pier and into the water. A tramp steamer bound for Hong Kong picks them up on its anchor and carries them away. However, a pile of leaking kerosene cans has caused a torch lying on the ground to inadvertently setting an oil fire that soon engulfs the whole structure, and the animals are forced to flee.

Carface tries to ambush Charlie from behind, but Anne-Marie hits him off the place with a tree branch, knocking Carface into the water where he is chased away by King Gator. Both Anne-Marie and the watch fall into the water. Unable to rescue both at the same time, Charlie rescues an unconscious Anne-Marie and places her and Tanya onto some driftwood and pushes them toward safety despite Tanya's objections; however, the watch stops before he can reach it, ending his life, so Tiger finishes pushing them to shore.

Upon awaking, Anne-Marie finds herself and Tanya at an orphanage where a bunch of orphan children mock the former. The magic sphere finds Anne-Marie's family and uses its magic to get Papa and Fievel overhear Bridget and Tony calling out to Anne-Marie and Tanya, but Papa is sure that there is another "Anne-Marie" somewhere, until Mama finds Mrs. Walliot and Itchy, who give her the stuffed rabbit.

Joined by Mrs. Walliot, Henri, Gooster, Honest Johan, and Tiger, the Moskowitzes, Itchy, Tony, and Bridget go to a final effort to find Anne-Marie and Tanya and they are successful. Papa returns Anne-Marie's bunny, commenting that it gave her good luck. Gooster then takes Anne-Marie and Fievel to see the house he and the other animals built for the family inside New York's newly completed project—the Statue of Liberty, which appears to smile and wink at Anne-Marie and Fievel.

As Anne-Marie and Tanya see the interior of the house, they find Charlie's watch, which was brought there by Tiger. Anne-Marie then realizes how Charlie cared about her and wishes that he would be here. Just then, Charlie returns in ghost form to apologize to Anne-Marie. The whippet angel appears and tells Charlie that because he sacrificed his life for Anne-Marie, he has earned back his place in Heaven. Anne-Marie sees Charlie and both reconcile. Leaving Itchy in the Moskowitzes' care and promising Anne-Marie to see her again someday, Charlie returns to Heaven and the Moskowitzes' new life in the United States begins.

## Cast

* Judith Barsi as Anne-Marie Moskowitz
* Phillip Glasser as Fievel Moskowitz
* Burt Reynolds as Charlie B. Barkin
* Amy Green as Tanya
* Dom DeLuise as Itchy Itchiford and Tiger
* Ernest Borgnine as Carface Caruthers
* Will Ryan as Digit
* Nehemiah Persoff as Papa Moskowitz
* Erica Yohn as Mama Moskowitz
* Pat Musick as Tony Orsoni
* Cathianne Blore as Bridget
* Mel Blanc as Fee
* Don Messick as Line
* Charles Nelson Reilly as Killer and Mr. Rabbit
* Loni Anderson as Mrs. Rabbit
* Neil Ross as Honest Johan
* John Cleese as Gooster McGoose and Chef LeChat
* Madeline Kahn as Mrs. McGoose
* John Finnegan as Warren T. Rat
* Christopher Plummer as Henri
* Hal Smith as Moe
* Dan Kuenster as Jake
* Godfrey Quigley as Terrier
* Anna Manahan as Stella Dallas
* Candy Devine as Vera
* June Foray as Mrs. Walliot
* Ken Page as King Gator
* Melba Moore as the Magic Sphere and the Whippet angel (named Annabelle in *An American Tale: In Search of Gabriel's Horn*)

## Production

### Development

Production began in December 1984 as a collaboration between Spielberg and Disney, based on a concept by David Kirschner. Disney chairman Michael Eisner asked director Don Bluth to "make something pretty like you did with *The Fox and the Hound* (1981) and *The Secret of NIMH* (1982)... make it beautiful." In a 1985 interview, Bluth described his role in the production as "first in the area of story, inventing incidents for the script, and now consists of looking, every three weeks to a month, at the storyboards that I and the rest of the film's production crew send some other animators and making their comments." Bluth later commented that "Steven [Spielberg] have not dominated the creative growth of *An American Tale* at all like me and the other Disney animators were. There is an equal share of all of us in the picture. Nevertheless, this was Steven's first animated feature, and it took some time for him to learn that adding a two-minute scene would take dozens of people months of work." In 1985, Bluth stated, "at this point, I'm enlightened, but I still can't believe it's so complicated."

### Writing

Not counting most of the segments from *Fantasia* (1940), *Saludos Amigos* (1942), *The Three Caballeros* (1944), *Make Mine Music* (1946) and *Melody Time* (1948), *An American Tale* was the first Disney animated feature to be an original story, rather than be based on pre-existing works and characters. Originally, the concept consisted of an all-animal world like *Robin Hood* (1973), and Anne-Marie and her family were originally intended to be mice, with Tanya being originally intended to be one of Anne-Marie's intended 12 siblings, but Bluth suggested featuring an animal world existing as a hidden society from the human world to recapture the spirit of *One Hundred and One Dalmatians* (1961), *The Rescuers* (1977), and *The Secret of NIMH*, and reworking Anne-Marie and her family into humans. After viewing *The Rescuers*, Spielberg agreed and decided to remain Tanya as a mouse and reimagine her into a character that would try to guide Anne-Marie into the right decisions like Jiminy Cricket from *Pinocchio* (1940), while leaving just three siblings to Anne-Marie. Writer David N. Weiss and Emmy-award-winning writers Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss were brought in to expand the script.

Carface Caruthers was supposed to be a scared wolf, but several animators, mainly Bluth, disliked the character's designs and ultimately decided to change his species, using the violent, sadistic stereotype of a bulldog instead. The climactic battle between Tiger and Carface during the scene where Tanya and Charlie rescue Anne-Marie was inspired by *The Jungle Book* (1967). In early script drafts, con-artist rat Warren T. Rat was a more major character and originally supposed to be one of Carface's henchmen, until Spielberg had decided that Warren would been better to appear only in the sweatshop sequence and getting arrested after Anne-Marie and Tanya escape the sweatshop.

When the initial script was complete, it was extremely long and was heavily edited before its final release. Bluth felt uncomfortable with the main character's name, thinking "Anne-Marie" sounded more of two separate names than a single one, and he felt audiences wouldn't remember it. Spielberg disagreed and eventually won out, though something of a compromise was reached by having most animals (mainly Tony and Itchy) refer to Anne-Marie as "Annie." Spielberg also had some material cut that he felt was too intense for children, including a scene Bluth was developing revolving around wave monsters while the family was at sea.

### Casting

Disney animators described the process of voice casting as "sometimes you can select a 'name' voice [i.e., a well-known actor] because it fits the essence of the character so well. Other times, you need to seek an obscure voice, close your eyes, and just listen to it. If it has the highs and lows in the deliverance of lines and it captures the focus of the character, it allows the animators to get a true fix on the action."

* Barsi (Anne-Marie) was a child actress who began her career in television, making appearances in commercials and television shows. Animator John Pomeroy based Anne-Marie's design and mannerisms on Barsi. She was killed by her father in an apparent murder-suicide over two years after the film was released, which the film's 1988 re-release was dedicated to her memory.
* Glasser (Fievel) was discovered by accident when Bluth overheard him auditioning for an Oscar Mayer commercial.
* Green (Tanya) was a young actress who had done some previous television series work and several commercials.
* Reynolds (Charlie B. Barkin) and DeLuise (Itchy Itchiford and Tiger) had previously appeared together in five films. For this one, they requested the animators to record their parts in the studio together (in American animation, actors more commonly record their parts solo). Disney executives agreed and allowed Reynolds and DeLuise to ad-lib extensively. Reynolds had voiced detective canine Steve Germanish (whose design was also used for Charlie) in the 1979 animated featurette *Canine Mysteries*, while DeLuise had worked previously with Disney in *The Secret of NIMH* and added material to the script at various points. During the song *A Duo*, he suggested they stop the music where the lyrics mention "back scratch" and have Anne-Marie actually scratch Tiger's back. Charlie B. Barkin was designed specifically with Reynolds in mind for the role and Disney animators mimicked some of his mannerisms.
* Borgnine, a famous actor best known for his work on the television shows *McHale's Navy* and *Airwolf*, was cast to voice the villainous Carface Caruthers due to also being known for his antagonistic roles in 1950s films such as *Johnny Guitar*, *Vera Cruz* and *Bad Day at Black Rock*, creating, not only his most well-known film role, but also one of the most famous and memorable Disney Villains.
* Persoff, a respected actor in many films, was chosen to play the part of Papa Moskowitz mostly because he had a similar role as Barbra Streisand's father in *Yentl*.
* Yohn (Mama Moskowitz) has appeared in many features, but her work as a Russian gypsy on a TV show attracted the attention of Disney animators.
* Musick (Tony Orsoni) is one of a small number of women in animation chosen to voice a male character. She based his voice on a friend she knew from grade school.
* Reilly, an actor known for his comical roles in television shows and films, was chosen to play the dual role of the silly but serious Mr. Rabbit and Carface's comic relief henchdog Killer mostly due to an guest appearance on a 1971 episode of Disney's anthology TV series *The Mouse Factory*.
* Page (King Gator), is a well-known cabaret singer and actor and was cast after Don Bluth liking his performance as Old Deuteronomy in the Broadway play *Cats*.
* Finnegan won the role of con-artist rat Warren T. Rat by reciting excerpts of Shakespeare's Hamlet in the voice of a Brooklyn taxi driver. This idea inspired the writers to make Warren a comical rat who continually misquoted Shakespeare.
* Henri was originally to be voiced by comedian Sid Caesar, and was conceived as scraggly and worn, but later Plummer was cast for the part and Henri was drawn with a more dignified look. Bluth felt Henri was an essential character to act as a voice for the statue "welcoming" Anne-Marie and Tanya to the new world.

Will Ryan (Digit), Neil Ross (Honest Johan), Cathianne Blore (Bridget), Mel Blanc (Fee), Don Messick (Line), June Foray (Mrs. Walliot), and Hal Smith (Moe) are all voice actors well known in the animation industry.

### Design

In designing the look of the film and its characters, Disney animators worked with Amblin Entertainment and the Sears marketing department (Sears had a major marketing push on the film's characters). Bluth decided to make a stylistic shift from the more angular "modern style" of animation of the time to a style similar to Disney's animation from the 1940s, where the characters have a more soft and cuddly feel. This proved successful for Disney executives, and at release many critics praised the "old fashioned style" of the film's look and feel. This was during a period when the market for nostalgia was particularly strong among baby boomers, who at this time were seeking products for their young children, and only three years before the beginning of the Disney Renaissance.

### Animation

Bluth preferred to storyboard an entire picture, but it soon proved to be an enormous task. Larry Leker was brought in to assist, turning Bluth's rough sketches into final storyboard panels. Bluth commented that he would then "send them over to [Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg]. Often I brought them over myself, so that I could explain them. Steven and Jeffrey would get very excited by what they saw, and we'd edit the boards right there...adding more drawings, or trimming some back." A large crew of animators was pulled together from around the world, utilizing cel painters in Ireland. Discussion arose about moving the entire production to an newly-build animation house in Ireland, but Spielberg balked at the idea of a story called *An American Tale* being produced overseas.

At this time, Disney animators discovered that using a video printer greatly increased their productivity. They could videotape an action, then print out small black and white thermal images from the tape for reference for both human and animal characters, a shorthand method similar to the rotoscoping technique (called in fact xerography) used since the earliest days of animation, in which sequences are shot in live action and traced onto animation cels. They also utilized the process of building models and photographing them, particularly the ship at sea and Carface's casino riverboat on the forest. The model for the character of Charlie B. Barkin was a German Shepherd, appropriately named Burt. Burt the dog often spent time with the animators at the studio.

### Production difficulties

During production, Spielberg expected to view the dailies and approve all major work on the film, and various outside parties also requested changes here and there. This caused the production to buckle from excessive oversight, and made Bluth feel that he was losing freedom of control over the production process. As the release deadline approached, pressure grew throughout the crew and numerous problems arose, ranging from slower-than-expected cel painting in Ireland to low footage output by some animators. Also, the songwriters had written the score much later than originally desired.

Suddenly scenes had to be dropped to save time and money and new, shorter scenes had to be created to help pick up the story points lost in the process, sometimes making the story line look jumbled.

Notable cuts include the Moskowitzes journey across Europe, a scene in which Charlie and Tanya meet Tiger while going to rescue Anne-Marie and he gets stuck up in a tree, an upbeat song that Anne-Marie was planned to sing while imprisoned in the sweatshop, a scene that gave greater explanation of the changing of names at Ellis Island, and several scenes of Charlie's nightmare about being condemned in Hell. Cuts are also responsible for Anne-Marie's baby siblings Ivan and Yasha's apparent disappearance after the boat trip. Bluth owned a private 35mm print of *An American Tale* with the cut-out scenes and planned to convince Disney executives on releasing a director's cut of the film as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection home media series after returning from Ireland in the mid-1990s, but the print was eventually stolen from Bluth's locked storage room, diminishing hopes of this version being released on home media (though the cut-out scenes of Charlie's nightmare were discovered by YouTube on October 29, 2016).

The film was also plagued by union difficulties. Disney had agreed to accept $6.5 million to get it produced (which later grew to $9 million), at a time when the studio was spending around $12 million per film. Bluth knew it would be difficult, but felt it was worth the sacrifice to work with Spielberg on a major project. With the agreement of his employees, salaries were frozen for a year and half. When many workers attempted to withdraw from the film's production crew, it sparked a battle between Bluth and the union that continued through most of production.

## Music

Spielberg's original vision for the film was as a musical—it is said he wanted a "Heigh-Ho" of his own (referring to the popular song from *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* (1937)). Initially, Jerry Goldsmith was announced to compose the film after scoring *The Secret of NIMH*, but had to drop out of the film due to a busy schedule. James Horner (after he completed *Aliens*) and Ralph Burns composed the score for the film, which was recorded in England and performed by The London Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of King's College. Two excerpts of period music also appear in the film: *The Stars and Stripes Forever* by John Philip Sousa and *Poor Wand'ring One* from the 1880 comic opera *The Pirates of Penzance* by Gilbert and Sullivan. There is also a musical reference to the 1947 song *Galway Bay* popularized by Bing Crosby. Initially Bluth was disappointed with the first score recording, but once edited, he found the music worked quite well. The final score became one of the film's strongest points.

After the first round of songs were written, it was decided a special song would be written for Linda Ronstadt to sing over the end credits with James Ingram. Called "Somewhere Out There", it was composed by Horner and Barry Mann with lyrics by Cynthia Weil, won a Grammy Award, and became one of the most popular songs from an animated feature since the 1950s.

An official soundtrack containing 23 tracks from the film was first released in November 21, 1986 by Disneyland Records, and was made available on audio cassette, vinyl record, and CD. It was later released digitally on February 5, 2013 as part of the Walt Disney Records the Legacy Collection series.

**Track list**

1. "Somewhere Out There (end credits version)" (3:59) – sung by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
2. "Main Title" (5:07)
3. "The Cossacks' Attack" (2:15)
4. "There Is No War in America" (3:00) – sung by Papa Moskowitz, an Italian man, and an Irish man, and the chorus
5. "The Storm" (3:59)
6. "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor" (2:44) – Chorus
7. "Anne-Marie Meets Tanya" (4:06)
8. "Never Say Never" (2:25) – sung by Anne-Marie (Betsy Cathcart), Tanya (Betsy Cathcart), Henri, and the chorus of female pigeons
9. "The Market Place" (3:02)
10. "Riverboat Casino" (6:03)
11. "You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" (2:30) – sung by Charlie B. Barkin and Itchy Itchiford
12. "Animals' Carnival (1:17)
13. "Let Me Be Surprised" (4:54) – sung by the Whippet angel
14. "A Duo" (2:38) – sung by Anne-Marie (Betsy Cathcart) and Tiger
15. "At the Race Track" (1:49)
16. "Money Montage" (3:43)
17. "What's Mine Is Yours" (1:48) – sung by Charlie B. Barkin and the chorus of bunnies
18. "Somewhere Out There (film version)" (2:40) – sung by Anne-Marie (Betsy Cathcart) and Fievel
19. "Hellhound" (2:09)
20. "Let's Make Music Together" (2:24) – sung by King Gator
21. "Charlie and Tanya to the Rescue/King Gator's Help/Tiger vs. Carface/The Big Rhino of Troya/The Great Fire/Charlie's Sacrifice" (19:10)
22. "Reunited" (4:44)
23. "Flying Away/Charlie Returns to Heaven/End Credits" (7:10)

***Walt Disney Records the Legacy Collection* edition track list** (Tracks in bold are previously unreleased.)

1. Main Title (5:13)
2. The Cossacks' Attack (2:21)
3. **Dissolve To Sea/Lullaby (1:03)**
4. There Is No War In America - sung by Papa Moskowitz, an Italian man and an Irish man, and the Chorus (3:03)
5. The Storm (4:02)
6. Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor (2:50)
7. Anne-Marie Meets Tanya (4:06)
8. Never Say Never - sung by Anne-Marie, Tanya, Henri, and the chorus of female pigeons (2:28)
9. **Warren T. Rat/It Will Go Away (4:11)**
10. **Train Trestle (2:00)**
11. The Market Place (3:06)
12. **The Rumble (1:56)**
13. **Honest Johan and Gooster McGoose (3:03)**
14. "Riverboat Casino" (6:03)
15. "You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" (2:30) – sung by Charlie B. Barkin and Itchy Itchiford
16. **Down In The Sewer/Chase In The Maulers' Den/Meeting Carface (1:36)**
17. **Carface and Charlie (4:06)**
18. Animals' Carnival (1:17)
19. "Let Me Be Surprised" (4:54) – sung by the Whippet angel
20. "A Duo" (2:38) – sung by Anne-Marie and Tiger
21. **Anne-Marie and Tanya's Escape (3:17)**
22. **We Meet Charlie and Itchy (2:29)**
23. **I Want That Girl Back! (1:30)**
24. **In Charlie's Junkyard Home (3:30)**
25. At the Race Track (1:49)
26. Money Montage (3:43)
27. "What's Mine Is Yours" (1:48) – sung by Charlie B. Barkin and the chorus of bunnies
28. "Somewhere Out There (film version)" - sung by Anne-Marie and Fievel (2:46)
29. Hellhound (2:09)
30. **Fee, Line and Killer's Ray Gun Attack (2:10)**
31. "Let's Make Music Together" (2:24) – sung by King Gator
32. **Dr. Owl/We Have to Find Her Family/You're Not My Friend/Fee, Line and Killer's Attack (10:30)**
33. Charlie and Tanya to the Rescue/King Gator's Help/Tiger vs. Carface/The Big Rhino of Troya/The Great Fire/Charlie's Sacrifice (19:10)
34. Reunited (4:49)
35. Flying Away/Charlie Returns to Heaven/End Credits (7:10)
36. "Somewhere Out There (end credits version)" (4:04) – sung by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
37. **Poor Wandering One (Gilbert and Sullivan) (0:59)**
38. **The Rally (Source) (1:12)**
39. **Somewhere Out There (Instrumental) (4:01)**

**Deleted songs**

* TBD
* TBD
* **TBD** - an upbeat number of Anne-Marie singing about opportunities in America in an attempt to rally the animal workers' spirits. Now the scene merely has her arrive at the sweatshop and escape immediately that night. The song was deleted after producers believed the song was too long.
* **Green with Greed** - This song was supposed to be sung by Carface and Digit while discussing the former's plan to use Anne-Marie's ability for their casino riverboat. That song was deleted after Spielberg's decision to have Carface as a non-singing character in order to make him "be seen as a real threat to our heroes."
* **If We Hold Out Together** - Originally, this song was supposed to be sung by Tanya as a lullaby to Anne-Marie while they were visiting Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit's abandoned church about having courage to achieve their goal. Although the song's recording archives by Betsy Cathcart (along with Judith Barsi and Amy Green's finished recording for their characters' speaking voices in the sequence) and storyboards had survived, Spielberg decided that the song was too long to appear in the film, which was replaced by "Somewhere Out There". This song was used instead as the end credits song for *The Land Before Time*.
* TBD
* TBD
* TBD
* TBD
* **You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down (reprise)** - TBD
* **Love Survives** - This song was supposed to be sung by Anne-Marie during the "Orphan's Alley" scene while remembering her good memories with her family back in Russia, while sobbing. Spielberg feel the song was too depressing, so he decided to remove it. The song was instead used in the end credits of *Banjo the Woodpile Cat* (1989), being dedicated to Judith Barsi.

### Personnel

* Linda Ronstadt - vocals (track 1)
* James Ingram – vocals (track 1)
* Leland Sklar – bass (track 1)
* Russ Kunkel – drums (track 1)
* Don Grolnick – keyboards (track 1)
* Bob Mann – guitar, arranger, conductor (track 1)
* Steve Lukather - guitar solo (track 1)
* Guy Moon – synth pads (track 1)

## Release

### Home video release

In a then-atypical and controversial move for a new Disney animated film, *An American Tale* was first released on VHS as part of the Walt Disney Classics series on August 28, 1987, a year after the release of the film. Before *An American Tale*, only a select number of Disney's catalog animated films had been released to home video, as the company was afraid of upsetting its profitable practice of theatrically reissuing each film every few years; a strong promotional campaign helped it become one of the top-selling VHS releases of all time, selling over 3 million copies in its first month. The film was later released on LaserDisc in both regular and CAV play editions by Walt Disney Home Video in November 1991 as part of the Walt Disney Classics series, and in September 1994 as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection series.

On August 11, 1998, *An American Tale* and its first two sequels *An American Tale: Anne-Marie Goes West* and *An American Tail: In Search of Gabriel's Horn* were digitally restored and re-released on VHS in a 3-pack box set with the three videos having clamshell cases.

A DVD version was first made available on January 20, 2004, which was presented in fullscreen aspect ratio only, and contained a number of changes from earlier versions, including re-dubbing certain character's voices in the "Orphan's Alley" scene, the addition of new voices where there was previously no dialog, and new "humorous" sound effects. This version was reprinted along with other Disney films such as *The Land Before Time*, *Aladdin*, *The Rescuers*, *Robin Hood*, *The Little Mermaid*, *Hercules*, *The Lion King*, and *One Hundred and One Dalmatians*. It was released in widescreen on Blu-ray for the first time on March 4, 2014, which was later included as a bundle with its three sequels *An American Tale: Anne-Marie Goes West*, *An American Tale: In Search of Gabriel's Horn*, and *An American Tale: The Mystery of the Night Monster* and included a digital HD and UltraViolet copy. It had the same changes as the DVD, although part of the film's end credits music score was 9% sped-up this time (due to time constrictions). A re-release of the fullscreen DVD version with new cover artwork was released as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection on February 3, 2015.

The film is available to stream on Disney+ when the service launched on November 12, 2019.

## Reception

### Critical response

The film maintains a 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 9/10. The consensus is: "One of Disney's best animated classics, *An American Tale* is a sweet, occasionally melancholy story that shows us how hope and true friendship can triumph over tyranny, greed and personal ambitions". The film received a "thumbs down" from Gene Siskel and a "thumbs up" from Roger Ebert on a 1986 episode of their television program *At the Movies*. While Siskel found it to be "surprisingly weak" compared to director Don Bluth's previous work on *The Fox and the Hound* and *The Secret of NIMH*, due largely to its "confusing story" and "needlessly violent" scenes, Ebert was a fan of the movie's "rubbery and kind of flexible animation and heartwarming story", stating he felt it was a good film despite not being an "animated classic".

Some other critics found the darker subject material objectionable in a Disney animated feature, given the film's depictions of death, violence, drinking, smoking, gambling, murder, demons and images of Hell. Another element that was also considered objectionable was that the main character and her family were Jewish and that the attack on their home at the beginning was considered an "anti-semitic one".

The rest of the reviews were generally positive, with critics praising the film's story, animation, humor and vibrant color palette. Conversely, Rita Kempley of *The Washington Post* called it "a bright-eyed story of Jewish triumphs that will find a place in many young hearts", adding that "It reiterates the happiness of homogeneity, prepares children for both brotherhood and the free enterprise system. And it's as pretty as a cascade of soap bubbles." In his own review for the *Chicago Sun-Times*, Roger Ebert gave it eight stars out of ten, giving credit to the animation, story and characters, calling them "full and detailed, with animation enhanced by computers and character development that makes people to laugh and cry", but that the story would be very "dark and gloomy" sometimes.

*Halliwell's Film Guide* gave it one star out of four, saying "[This] expensive cartoon feature [has] not much in the way of narrative interest or indeed humor". Vincent Canby of *The New York Times* gave it five stars out of ten, stating, "*An American Tale* looks good but the story itself... is witless if well-meaning," adding that its high points were scenes involving the characters Charlie B. Barkin, Gooster McGoose, and Tiger. In his review for the *Chicago Reader*, Pat Graham panned its "flimsy characterizations" but praised its story and said that "the overall quality of the animation—baroquely executed if rather conventionally conceived—makes it worth a look."

### Box office

The film has grossed up to $47 million in the United States, also known as the domestic box office, and $84 million worldwide. At the time of its domestic release, it became the highest-grossing animated feature at the time. The film's modest success, along with the one of *The Great Mouse Detective* (which was released four months before), played large roles in the Disney Renaissance; due to the fact that both films were critical and financial successes, which saved the studio's animation department from going bankrupt after *The Black Cauldron* (1985) had flopped at the box office a year earlier. The record would quickly be shattered with the release of *The Little Mermaid*, the film that many consider to be the start of the Disney Renaissance.

### Accolades

The film won "Best Animated Motion Picture" at the 9th Youth in Film Awards, with Judith Barsi and Amy Green also receiving an award for "Best Animation Voice Over Group" for their roles as Anne-Marie Moskowitz and Tanya. It was also nominated for "Best Fantasy Film" and "Best Music" during the 14th Saturn Awards, losing to *The Boy Who Could Fly* and *Little Shop of Horrors*, respectively.

The song "Somewhere Out There" written by James Horner received a number of accolades during the 1987–1988 award season, including Grammys for "Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television" and "Song of the Year", as well as "Most Performed Song from a Motion Picture" from both the ASCAP and Broadcast Music. It also received a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Original Song from a Motion Picture", and an Academy Award nomination for "Best Original Song", losing both to "Take My Breath Away" from *Top Gun*.

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

* AFI's 101 Years…101 Movies – Nominated
* AFI's 101 Years…101 Thrills – Nominated
* AFI's 101 Years…101 Heroes & Villains:
	+ Anne-Marie Moskowitz – Nominated Hero
	+ Carface Caruthers – Nominated Villain
* AFI's 101 Years…101 Songs:
	+ Somewhere Out There – Nominated
* AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated
* AFI's 10 Top 10:
	+ Nominated Animation Film

## Media

### Sequels

After three successful theatrical releases of the original film (1986, 1988, and 1990), the film gave rise to a theatrical sequel, *An American Tale: Anne-Marie Goes West*, directed by Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells and produced by Ron Musker, Steven Spielberg and Robert Watts, was released in 1991 and follows the adventures of Anne-Marie and her family as they move from New York to the Wild West. Two direct-to-video films were also later produced by Walt Disney Television Animation: *An American Tale: In Search of Gabriel's Horn* in 1996, and *An American Tale: The Mystery of the Night Monster* in 1999.

### Theme parks

An *An American Tale*-themed playground was built at Walt Disney World, featuring a large water slide and many oversized objects such as books, glasses, cowboy boots, and more. A similar playground used to be at Disneyland, alongside a stage show based on the two movies, but were closed down in 1997. However, a dark ride, *An American Tale: Anne-Marie's Great Adventure*, was opened in Fantasyland and Magic Kingdom in 2000.

## Trivia

* This film is somehow considered, by fans and animation historians, to be the unofficial beginning of the Disney Renaissance. This is mostly due to the fact that both this movie and *The Great Mouse Detective* had saved Disney's animation department from going completely bankrupt at the time, and it should be noted that this film did play a big impact on the Disney Renaissance as well.
* The film is considered to be "one of the three most emotional films in Disney history" along with *Dumbo* and *The Land Before Time*.
* Although it is often assumed that Carface had been caught and devoured by King Gator, he is shown as being alive in both the 1992-1995 *An American Tale* TV series and *An American Tale: In Search of Gabriel's Horn*. The logic of how he has escaped from King Gator is never addressed directly, so fans have come up with two possible logics:
	+ Carface would've come to Heaven, just like Charlie, and stole one of the clocks to return to Earth.
	+ Or King Gator would've spatted Carface him out of his stomach, allowing him to escape the sewers.
* With a running time of 130 minutes, *An American Tale* is (to date) one of the four longest Disney animated films along with *Fantasia* at 124 minutes, *Ralph Breaks the Internet* (2018) at 112 minutes, and *Zootopia* (2016) at 108 minutes. Since *Fantasia* is a compilation of shorts, *An American Tale*, *Ralph Breaks the Internet*, and *Zootopia* are the longest animated stories told by Disney.
* TBD
* TBD
* *An American Tale* is the only Disney film which Judith Barsi was alive to see fully finished. Barsi died during production of *The Land Before Time* (1988) and *Banjo the Woodpile Cat* (1989). After Barsi's death, she was is succeeded by Cathy Cavadini for the theatrical sequel *An American Tale: Anne-Marie Goes West* and by Mara Wilson for the direct-to-video sequels *An American Tale: In Search of Gabriel's Horn* and *An American Tale: The Mystery of the Night Monster*.
* This is one of the Disney classic animated films to have the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo with just Disney on current prints.