Monday, January 24, 2011

Characters: An American Tail

Characters: An American Tail

These are the main characters of the four An American Tail movies and the series Fievel's American Tails.

Fievel Mousekewitz

Fievel is the main character of the series. He's a fearless child, but his youthful curiosity often gets him into a lot of trouble, and he tends to get separated from his family on multiple occasions.

Tanya Mousekewitz

She is Fievel's older sister. Tanya is a dreamer, much like her brother. Her personality is explored mainly in Fievel Goes West, where we learn she wants to be a famous singer and actress. Her personality varies from movie to movie, however, as does her appearance.

Yasha Mousekewitz

Fievel's baby sister. She's never a huge part of the plot, and often is inserted just to look cute. The animators even forgot about her halfway through the first movie.

Mama and Papa Mousekewitz

Fievel's parents. Papa likes to tell tall tales and whole-heartedly believes that there are no cats in America at the beginning of the first film. Mama, however, is much more down to Earth and isn't afraid to tell Papa when she thinks his stories are nothing but fairy tales.
  • Grass Is Greener: Papa is never satisfied with where they're living.
  • Jewish Mother: While Mama Mousekewitz is a less extreme example, she does display a few of the common stereotypes from time to time. Also a literal Jewish mother.
  • Manly Tears: From Papa in the first movie.
  • Neutral Good
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Papa bears no small resemblance to Tevye (only mouseified).
  • Parental Obliviousness: They refuse to believe that Fievel is still alive in the first movie until the evidence is staring them in the face.
    • They also won't listen to Fievel when he warns them about Cat R. Waul's evil plans.
    • Not only that but they don't seem to have a problem letting their son go out on dangerous adventures in the sequels. But God forbid Tanya join him on any.
  • The Storyteller: Papa
  • Unnamed Parent: Somewhat averted. Mama's name is Emily, as briefly mentioned by the mouse at the immigration center in the first film. Papa is named Bernard in an episode of Fievel's American Tails. But their names aren't used outside of those two instances.

Tiger

The only nice cat Fievel meets, and one of his best friends. He's a bit cowardly but he can be brave when he wants to. He's also a vegetarian, so he never eats mice. Fievel Goes West is where he saw the most character development.

Tony Toponi

A streetwise orphan that Fievel befriends in the first film while imprisoned in a sweat shop. After Fievel frees everyone Tony takes it upon himself to help Fievel find his family.

Bridget

Bridget is an Irish mouse-rights activist who Tony meets and falls in love with. She tries to use her ties with the mouse politicians in New York to help find Fievel's family.

Warren T. Rat

A crooked rat with a stranglehold on the mice of New York. He is greedy, selling poor little children like Fievel into sweatshops in exchange for their salary, and running a protection racket on the mice offering them protection from the cats in exchange for money.

Gussie Mausheimer

A rich uptown mouse who is committed to ridding New York of its cat menace, and finally gets an idea on how to accomplish this from one of Fievel's fairy tales.

Wylie Burp

A retired law dog that Fievel idolizes before he moves out west. He then teams up with Fievel and trains Tiger to take his place.

Miss Kitty

Tiger's ex girlfriend who leaves him to go west and have real adventures. Ends up as head matron to Cat R. Waul's saloon, and shows Tanya the glamor of stardom.

Cat R. Waul

An evil British cat who schemes to eat all the mice of Green River by luring them there with the promise that out west, cats are nice to mice. He's also Wicked Cultured and planned to spare Tanya from the fate of the other mice because he liked her singing voice.

Chula

Cat R. Waul's tarantula sidekick who gleefully obeys Waul's orders, and has fun doing it too.

Cholena

Cholena is the daughter of the Chief of an underground tribe of Native American mice, who fled underground with the arrival of European settlers in Manhattan. Fievel befriends her and brings her up to the surface in an effort to prove that European mice aren't bad.

Toplofty

One of three corrupt owners (the other two are listed below) of a cheese factory, who turn it into a sweatshop and later stir the workers into a crusade against the Native American mice living beneath the city.

Mr Grasping



O'Bloat



Chief McBrusque

A crooked cop who is on the payroll of the three villains, doing their dirty work and enjoying every minute of it.
  • Bad Cop Incompetent Cop: Played straight in The Treasure of Manhattan Island.
  • Complete Monster: Very much so. He is possibly the most evilest of the American Tail Villains along side the corrupt factory owners, when we first see him he mentions the time when he had savagely beaten down an innocent bystander who begged for mercy. He crosses the line even further in the film, when he sends an angry mob to hunt down Cholena and goes as far to have Fievel and his friends nearly killed. Worst of all he has no qualms about those he brutalises.
  • Dirty Cop
  • Disney Villain Death: In the Climax Chief McBrusque and Scuttlebutt actually die by falling into a deep underground and being drowned by a flood of water.
  • The Dragon
  • Hey Its That Voice: Sherman Howard, best known to DCAU fans as the voice of Derek Powers/Blight in Batman Beyond, provides the voice.
  • Jerk Ass: Goes far from it as the film goes on.
  • Lawful Evil
  • Police Brutality: He embodies the whole trope.
  • Torches And Pitchforks: He does this later on in the film with order from the factory owners.

Dr Dithering

An archeologist from the Museum of Natural History that Tony worked for once, who deciphers the map Fievel and Tony find and accompanies their expedition for the 'treasure' under Manhattan that appears on the map.

Scuttlebutt

Dr. Dithering's hired assistant, who as it turns out, was also secretly under the employment of Grasping, Toplofty and O'Bloat.

Nellie Brie

Nellie Brie is a no-nonsense, down to Earth reporter with a mind for facts. She's also one of the craftiest reporters New York's mice have ever known, and her work for the Daily Nibbler is legendary. She's constantly at odds with her editor, who believes more in selling newspapers than bringing people facts.

Reed Daley

He is the editor of the Daily Nibbler, a fast-talking and charismatic boss who's constantly at odds with Nellie Brie over whether her ideas for reports will sell newspapers.

Madame Mousey

Madame Mousey (pronounced 'Moo-say') is a small french poodle, who fled her owner to cause some trouble on her own. She has a very short-fused temper, and starts her own gang of cats in the sewer.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)