This is a list of references to An American Tail, as well as its characters, in other media. References can range from mentions of the films or characters, to elements of the plot directly inspired by the films, to the actual characters appearing.
See also Somewhere Out There for appearances of that specific song in other media.
Television[]
Family Guy[]
- In the season 16 episode Nanny Goats, Belarusian nanny Natalia reveals to Stewie that she is an assassin intent on killing "liberal dissident" Fievel Mousekewitz, but Stewie informs her that the only mouse around is Frank Maxwell.
Jeopardy[]
- The July 18th, 2016 episode featured the question "The film "An American Tail" tells of this immigrant mouse's adventures after he gets separated from his family."
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver[]
- In June 2014, the HBO talk show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver produced a very child-unfriendly animated skit called "An Actual American Tail", featuring what Fievel would have gone through if his immigration experience had been a little more accurate to what illegal immigrants to America experience in real life. The results are not pretty of course.
MAD[]
- In the skit Mickey Mouse Mouse Exterminator Service, Mickey Mouse is a pest exterminator who captures the Mousekewitz family while crawling through an air vent, and later throws a grenade at Fievel when he escapes. It is later shown that Mickey has captured lots of other cartoon mice, such as Jerry, Pinky and the Brain, and the mice from Cinderella.
Orange is the New Black[]
- In the 10th episode of season 3, the prison cook Galina Reznikov makes ratatouille, and one of the other prisoners, Maritza, asks "What, that rat movie?" Blanca asks "Charlotte's Web?" and Maritza answers "No, like Fievel Goes West. American Tail. Where the little mouse moves to America."
Rick and Morty[]
- According to writer Dan Guterman, the scene in the episode "Pickle Rick" where Rick, after turning into a pickle, rolls into a sewer and is confronted by cockroaches and rats, is a reference to Fievel Goes West. The scene being referenced is probably the one where the Mousekewitz family rides down a waterfall in the sewers in a tuna can.
Robot Chicken[]
- The episode May Cause Your Dad to Come Back With That Gallon of Milk He Went Out for 10 Years Ago, aired September 22, 2021, features a child-unfriendly sketch demonstrating what it would be like if Fievel, because of how heroic he is, joined the army while still a child, in which he fights in the Vietnam War. (this sketch looks more modern, with the characters even wearing some modern clothes, and it also appears to be an all-animal world instead of a secret society to the human world like in the films) The results are pretty shocking for Fievel. It ends with an injured Fievel returning home and getting spit on by Tanya and their fellow mice (who are protesting the war) for his actions in Vietnam. Tanya was voiced by Mae Whitman, the daughter of Tony Toponi's actress, Pat Musick, in this sketch.
The Talking Dead[]
- While discussing Season 4 Episode 2 of The Walking Dead, in which a mysterious culprit is feeding mice to zombies, host Chris Hardwick asks his guest, a special effects worker on the show, "What did you do to Fievel?!"
Tiny Toon Adventures[]
- The episode "Starting From Scratch" is an homage to An American Tail, but done with fleas instead of mice. It stars a family of fleas who have to leave their home because the dog they were living on is getting washed, but the young boy of the family, Fleo, gets separated from his family and ends up on the cat Furrball. The Flea family appears in one more episode. "Flea for your Life", which isn't based on any of the other movies and is centered on the Tanya-like daughter of the family Itchy (who interestingly resembles the Fievel Goes West version of Tanya, though "Starting From Scratch" premiered more than a year earlier).
Film[]
Jersey Girl[]
- In the video store scene, the original VHS for An American Tail: Fievel Goes West can be seen on a shelf.
The Legend of the Titanic[]
- While not a direct reference, the concept of talking immigrant mice on a boat to America was more or less blatantly taken from An American Tail. One of the main characters bears a striking resemblance to Tony Toponi. It even starts out with an intro very similar to what the original film would have had before it was cut (and was preserved in The Storybook), with an old mouse talking about his youth.
Titanic: The Legend Goes On[]
- This film borrows and steals concepts and characters from a wide variety of animated films, An American Tail being one of them, with its talking immigrant mice.
Comics[]
Off the Mark[]
- On the May 27, 2006 comic strip, Fievel, along with Jerry, Speedy Gonzales, Stewart Little, Trixie and Dixie, are shown about to have a drug intervention with Mickey Mouse about his abuse of growth hormones.
Online Media[]
AniMat's Classic Review[]
- AniMat reviewed Fievel Goes West as part of his Classic Review series.
Jambareeqi Reviews[]
- He gives a review of Fievel Goes Westin one episode.
Marzgurl[]
- She reviewed the first film, Fievel's American Tails and all of the An American Tail sequels on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com in 2012, and she eventually reuploaded them onto her YouTube channel.
Nostalgia Critic[]
The Nostalgia Critic has mentioned the films in many of his videos including:
- An American Tail was Number 8 on the Top 11 Saddest Nostalgic Moments video.
- Was referenced in his reviews of both Titanic - The Legend Goes On and The Legend of the Titanic, calling the former "An American Fail" and adding "There Are No Cats In America" to a scene with dancing mice in the latter.
- Naturally Doug and Rob Walker discuss An American Tail again in Real Thoughts On: Don Bluth's Films
- The film came up numerous times during Nostalgia Critic's crossover with Don Bluth, and in Doug Walker's interview with Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, Bluth talks a little about the making of An American Tail, and states that he dislikes the sequels.
- Nostalgia Critic finally gave Fievel Goes West a review on April 17, 2018 after many years of referencing the series.