Fievel's American Tails

Fievel's American Tails is an animated television series, produced by Amblimation, Nelvana, and Universal Cartoon Studios. It aired on CBS for one season in 1992, and continued Fievel's adventures from the film An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.[1] Phillip Glasser, Dom DeLuise and Cathy Cavadini were the only actors from the film to reprise their roles, as Fievel, Tiger and Tanya respectively.[2] One character, Wylie Burp, is written off from this show following the respect of James Stewart's retirement. Another character, Tony Toponi, is written off following Pat Musick's then-current parenting of her daughter Mae Whitman,[3] as Tony could not reappear until the DTV sequels in the late 1990s. He only made cameos in Fievel Goes West owing to that respect.

Fievel's American Tails
Created byDavid Kirschner
Directed byLarry Jacobs
Voices of
Theme music composer
  • Hank Saroyan
  • Robert Irving
ComposerMilan Kymlicka
Country of origin
  • United States
  • Canada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producer
Producers
Production companies
Release
Original networkCBS
Original releaseSeptember 12 (1992-09-12) –
December 5, 1992 (1992-12-05)

The show had a focus on promoting reading, and frequently the solution to an episode's conflict was found by Fievel reading. The character also appeared in public-service messages sponsored by the nonprofit Reading Is Fundamental.[2]

After its abandonment for over two decades, NBCUniversal regained rights to the series in 2020.[4]

Characters
  • Fievel Mousekewitz: The main protagonist, a little mouse who is always looking for adventures.
  • Tanya Mousekewitz: Fievel and Yasha's older sister who has dreams of being a great singer.
  • Yasha Mousekewitz: Tanya and Fievel's baby sister.
  • Papa Mousekewitz: Tanya, Fievel, and Yasha's father, a famous violin maker who always gives his Jewish Russian family wise advice. Papa's real name is Bernard and he is Aunt Sophie's older brother in "Aunt Sophie's Visit".
  • Mama Mousekewitz: Tanya, Fievel, and Yasha's mother, a strict, practical, and realistic homemaker who tries to keep her family safe from Cat R. Waul, Chula, and Sweet William's gang.
  • Tiger: The goofy cowardly Orange tabby cat who is Fievel's best friend. Tiger is a vegetarian who often eats fish. Tiger met Fievel and his family in An American Tail. He later moved out west to Green River, Utah with Fievel's family and his girlfriend Miss Kitty in An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.
  • Cat R. Waul: The main antagonist, a gentleman-like cat who is Fievel's nemesis.
  • T. R. Chula: Cat R. Waul's tarantula sidekick and a caricature of Butch Cassidy.
  • Sweet William: An evil outlaw cat who is Fievel's other nemesis.
  • Slim and Feloneous: Sweet William's two dim-witted alley cat sidekicks.
  • Jack: One of Fievel's school mates from Australia.
  • Jorge: Another one of Fievel's school mates.
  • Mr. J. M. Schimmel: The prairie dog who owns the mouse-sized general store in Green River. He is also Sidney's father and is Austrian-American as revealed in "Law and Disorder".
  • Clint Mousewood: One of Fievel's heroes and Tanya's one-sided crush. Appearing in "Mail Order Mayhem", he is a caricature of Clint Eastwood.
  • Hambone: The dog guard on the train who appears in "The Gift".
  • Sidney Schimmel: One of Fievel's more spoiled classmate, he first appears in "Law and Disorder". He is Mr. J. M. Schimmel's son.
  • Sophie Mousekewitz: Tanya, Fievel, and Yasha's aunt from Russia. She visits the Mousekewitzs from "Aunt Sophie's Visit". She is also Papa's younger sister and Mama's sister-in-law.
  • Dr. Travis T. Hiprocates: A traveling doctor that gave away hiccup sweets. Appearing in "A Case of the Hiccups", he is a caricature of Sigmond Freud.
  • Miss Kitty: Tiger's girlfriend who appears in "Law and Disorder" and is a caricature of Dorothy Gibson.
  • Mr. Ironside: The school teacher, probably a mole and British-American as revealed in "The Legend of Mouse Hollow".
  • Dog: The dog who guards the jail house.
  • Lorna Holcombe: A girl in Fievel's class who appears in "A Case of the Hiccups".
  • Patty Paris: The baker, she is a caricature of Ona Munson's Belle Watling from Gone with the Wind.

Cast

Episodes
No.TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Fievel, the Lonesome Ranger"September 12, 1992 (1992-09-12)AT-01
All mice of the village are going to the Cheese Festival, but Fievel misses the trip. He and Tiger think they're left with the whole town to themselves until the other cats kidnap Tiger. Fievel becomes the Lonesome Ranger to save the day.
2"Law and Disorder"September 19, 1992 (1992-09-19)AT-02
After being late for school again because of being sidetracked by adventures with Tiger, Papa forbids Fievel from seeing Tiger, until his homework and chores are done. Meanwhile, Tiger has written to Miss Kitty and told her that he is the town's marshal. Fievel must then help him when Miss Kitty arrives to town to keep up the charade.
3"Little Mouse on the Prairie"September 26, 1992 (1992-09-26)AT-03

Fievel wants to borrow his friend Jack's boomerang and it flies straight into Cat R. Waul's pocket. Fievel, his sisters, and Tiger are going to get the boomerang back, but get lost in the desert while doing so.

Note: This is the only episode that was abruptly skipped from Fievel's American Tails VHS releases in the United States.
4"The Gift"October 3, 1992 (1992-10-03)AT-05
Papa gives Fievel a violin for a birthday present (instead of a treehouse like he wanted), but the violin breaks and Fievel plans to rebuild it secretly. In the meantime, Papa sets out to build the treehouse his son actually wants, instead of a violin.
5"A Case of the Hiccups"October 10, 1992 (1992-10-10)AT-08
A quack doctor comes to town and persuades Fievel to deliver candies to every mouse. A strange hiccups epidemic takes over the mice, except Fievel. Of course, the quack has the medicine to cure it.
6"The Legend of Mouse Hollow"October 17, 1992 (1992-10-17)AT-09
Chula has been developed the 'mouse packing machine'. The school stage play featuring Tanya is getting a big room full of mice. Fievel was very unhappy for a role he got, but his role turned out much more magnificent than thought when Cat R. Waul kidnaps the teacher and cancels the play and arranges the singing concert instead.
7"Babysitting Blues"October 24, 1992 (1992-10-24)AT-10
The photographer is coming to town, but Papa and Mama are not ready for a picture (even though, Tanya is at music school). They are leaving Fievel to babysit Yasha and here the adventure to avoid cats begins.
8"The Lost Mother Lode"October 31, 1992 (1992-10-31)AT-11
The gold fever is taking over the mice. It is said that the old miner's ghost is guarding the real gold vein. Fievel and Papa are going to find that place, but Cat R. Waul is trying to fool the mice with the forgery treasure map.
9"A Mouse Known as Zorrowitz"November 7, 1992 (1992-11-07)AT-13
The cheese delivery for next winter is coming to town, but Fievel (who is punished for two days) brags that he knows about this matter and Chula hears that. Cat R. Waul wants to steal the cheese, but mysterious Zorrowitz appears to help.
10"Mail Order Mayhem"November 14, 1992 (1992-11-14)AT-12
Mail order catalog temptates many mice and cats. Sweet William orders 'mouse slapper' and this weapon gets mice so afraid that they will make a request for the law servant. Clint Mousewood and Fievel get tough times for the cats.
11"Aunt Sophie's Visit"November 21, 1992 (1992-11-21)AT-06
The mice are going to have a Rodeo, but Fievel cannot participate because Aunt Sophie is coming to visit the Mousekewitzes. However, Aunt Sophie turns out to be more straight than expected.
12"That's What Friends Are For"November 28, 1992 (1992-11-28)AT-04
Because of misunderstanding Tiger thinks that he cannot be Fievel's best friend anymore. Cat R. Waul leaves the town and Chula becomes a friend of Fievel.
13"Bell the Cats"December 5, 1992 (1992-12-05)AT-07
Fievel ties jingle bells to the cats' tails to inform mice where the cats are moving, which is not such a good idea.

Home media

In 1993 and 1994, MCA/Universal Home Video released twelve episodes on six VHS video-cassettes, two Laserdisc volumes. These have been the only home video releases of the cartoon, at least in the United States. In the United Kingdom, 12 episodes were released on six video-cassettes in 1995, but were in a different episode order to the United States and Vol. 4 features the only episode that hasn't been released in the United States. Episodes have been released on DVD in France, Germany, and Italy. In 2020, NBCUniversal regained the long-abandoned series and streamed it on Peacock.[4][5]

References
  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 204. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 328–329. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. Matthew Tobey. "Mae Whitman biography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  4. ""Fievel's American Tails" is set to stream on Peacock later in 2020". Deadline. 14 April 2020.
  5. "Watch Fievel's American Tails on Peacock".
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