An American Tail Fievel Goes West   Starring (voice): Phillip Glasser, James Stewart, Erica Yohn, Cathy Cavadini, Nehemiah Persoff, Dom DeLuise, Amy Irving, John Cleese and Jon Lovitz Distributor: Fabulous Films Ltd / Fremantle Media Enterprises RRP: £12.99 Certificate: U Release Date: 15 February 2016

This full-length animated feature continues the adventures of Fievel, the brave young mouse who captured audiences hearts in An American Tail. Lured out west by the crafty Cat R. Waul, Fievel joins forces with famed lawdog Wylie Burp to thwart a sinister plot to transform unsuspecting settlers into... mouseburgers. The heartwarming family film features the voices of Dom DeLuise, Jimmy Stewart and Amy Irving with an original score , including 'Dreams to Dream' sung by Linda Ronstadt...

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) is the second movie in the An American Tail franchise. For the younger members of the family there's plenty here to keep them entertained for the duration. However, there's very little here to appeal to an older audience. The film is showing its age, but then it's probably not helped by the fact that it appears to have gone for a stylistic approach that was favoured by Disney in the '40s.

The film follows the story of a family of Jewish-Russian mice who emigrate to the Wild West. In the film, Fievel Mousekewitz is separated from his family as the train approaches the American Old West; the film chronicles Fievel and Sheriff Wylie Burp teaching Tiger how to act like a dog. It's also notable for being James Stewart's last movie.

Extras include How do I find things? (a rather pointless feature these days as it shows how to navigate through the DVD menu); Way out West Sing-Along (1 min, 46 sec); and Theatrical Trailer (2 min, 39 sec).

While by no means a great movie, there's enough entertainment here to keep the little ones entertained for a short while.

6

Nick Smithson