An American Tail

Fievel got his name from executive producer Steven Spielberg, after his maternal grandfather Philip Posner, whose Yiddish name it was. Don Bluth thought it too foreign to stick; the compromise was letting Tony call the boy Filly. The window scene, where Fievel watches a class of American school mice, comes from that grandfather: Jews could follow lessons only through an open window, sitting outside in the snow. As the deadline closed in, scenes were cut and the seams still show. The crossing of Europe went, so did the first meeting with Tiger and a song Fievel was to sing in the sweatshop; baby Yasha simply disappears after the boat trip. Somewhere Out There lost Best Original Song to Take My Breath Away from Top Gun, but took two prizes at the 30th Grammys, Song of the Year and best song written for film or television. Bluth’s turn back to the soft 1940s Disney line worked: the film outgrossed The Great Mouse Detective, out four months earlier, by over 22 million dollars. A good fit if you accept a Jewish immigrant story that is never named as one and rests on pogrom and Hanukkah detail instead. Not for anyone who takes the Siskel and Ebert verdict seriously: too downbeat for young audiences, two thumbs down.