DVDs:

	An American Tail - The Mystery of the Night Monster Thomas Dekker, Robert Hays Universal Studios, 2004 average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Many frightening misadventures follow, and Fievel's family is placed in peril in the process. With a little help from Tony and Tiger, Fievel and Nellie track down the unexpected villain in the depths of the city's sewer system and, ultimately, put her out of commission.

This wonderfully animated, 76-minute made-for-video feature stars everyone's favorite American Tail characters and three pleasurable new songs by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom. Voice talents include Dom DeLuise as Tiger, Lacey Chabert (Party of Five) as Tanya, Robert Hays (Airplane!) as Reed, Thomas Dekker as Fievel, and Susan Hoyd as Nellie. This is a fast-paced, action- packed video that offers an insightful look at understanding, embracing, and conquering one's fears. It's great entertainment for ages 5 and older. --Tami Horiuchi

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Most entertaining

"The Mystery of the Night Monster" is an amazingly good/underrated film with a cheesy-sounding title. I found myself cheering on the awesome, soothsaying villain, the "creature de la nuit" poodle named Madame Mousee (or Mousey, but as we French speakers know, the name would be spelled Mousee and pronounced 'moo-say,' with an accent on the first e.) For that matter, whoever did the closed captioning and words for the "Creature de la Nuit" sing-along song did not know a thing about the French language and made many blatant errors even in the English lyrics. The song begins, "I'm the creature," not "from the creature." The song goes, "clever, chic," not "very chic." She says, "Regarde," not "hang out," and the word means "look," as in "look at me." The captioned words "we're starving" are incorrect; the lyrics are "C'est moi who rules the street," not "ce-moi." Ce-moi makes no sense. C'est moi means "it's me," as in "I'm the one who rules the street." "Powerful yet petite," not "colorful."

I think those were all the errors. Either way, I found her to be an incredibly fun character. The rest of the movie is humorous, charming, and overall well-done. Nellie, Reed, Fieval, Tanya, Tony, and Tiger blend together with other new characters and songs for a very fine movie. Unfortunately, I personally feel that Nellie, with her creepy lack of pupils, brazen attitude, and annoying voice, is arguably one of the most irritating animated characters ever. And I should point out that the morals of the movie aren't all good. Mousee is a miniature poodle who's been made miserable all her life by being treated as a pampered lapdog and compared to a mouse. She has the heart and soul of a wolf, however, yet everyone in the film--including the so-called heroes--judge her by appearances and show her no mercy or sympathy. Mousee escaped from her smothering owner and attempted to join the dog gang in the city park, but was rejected simply because of her size and background. Mousee, however, is more deserving of a place in the dog gang than any of them, who act tough because they are large breeds. There are, after all, smaller dogs (and smaller poodle varieties for that matter) than she. Mousee only became in charge of a band of cats and decided to use her intelligence and cunning to help them by spreading her misery to mice because her dream of joining the gang had been dashed. Yet in the end, when all is supposed to have been set right, the dog gang still rejects and intimidates Mousee, and she is returned to her former mistress and a life she doesn't belong in. What is the message here, that bigger is better, that judging people by their appearances and their backgrounds or lifestyles is acceptable or correct? Mousee is a true badarse villainess, but ideally the story would have turned out differently for her.

Those dogs weren't just trying to protect her, or they'd have let her down gently. No, they enjoyed the chance to bully one of their smaller canine comrades. Once again, we create our own enemies. MY ending to this movie would involve Mousée breaking free again, eradicating some vermin (particularly a certain nosy someone with the initials N.B.), and starting her own dog pack, the strongest and most formidable in the area. If I were a dog I'd follow her. See what the jerks would do then. ;)

The songs in this movie are extremely good; in particular, the showstoppingly incredible "Creature de la Nuit," thought I must say I've had "Get the Facts" and "Who Will?" stuck in my head on more than one occasion. I thought these songs were much better than the Oscar-winning "Somewhere out There" in the original, so I can't quite understand why some people believe that one was better, but it is just one opinion. So, excellent movie on the whole.

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Better than the Original

This is an excellent movie. Great writing, songs, and ideas make it worthy of the name, and better than the original. But why is this the last one so far?

I enjoyed the original American Tail. It had a good plot, and some very high quality animation sequences. I will admit, that if you are looking for anything as detailed as the boat scene in the first movie, you will not find it in 'The Night Monster'. The animation is however, true to the style and small details of the original. Metal planks are given the shades of color for example. There's nothing bland about it, and the nightmare sequences are really great.

So the movie is easy on the eyes. The story is really the strong point here. The writers are experiences movie goers. When I saw this movies take on the Odessa Steps sequence, though I already knew this was a great movie, I was convinced. There's no slow parts, no cheesy moments, just solid heartfelt writing with an idea that doesn't rehash an old series idea. The songs too, are really excellent. They're miles better than anything in the first movie.

A leap ahead of the original in quality, this movie rocks. So why after nearly a decade, is there no 5th movie? Yeah, end on a high note, but don't end too soon if you still have great ideas to give. An American Tail is not a limited formula for story telling. There are many unique ideas to place on these characters.

Here's asking that this is not the last American Tail.

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An American Tail: Treasure of the Manhatten Island

I am a fan of American Tail because I love Tanya Mousekewitz. She has a beautiful voice and she's a girl like me.


My review on American Tail

The best sequel to American Tail and funny , exciting adventure !
I want American Tail to came back make a sequel again with Fevial being all grow up and having a family his own called it American Tail 5 !


reviews: page 1, 2

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