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Having greatly enjoyed his experiences on films like An American Tail and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Steven Spielberg decided to form his own animation studio in 1989. The debut feature for the London-based and appropriately-named Amblimation (after the director's production company, Amblin Entertainment) was a genre-switching sequel to the former entry.
Fievel Goes West shares a lot in common with Disney's Rescuers duology, in that both follow-ups lack the emotional weight and heart of their predecessors, yet are still fun and entertaining installments on their own. They also showcase high-quality, cinematic animation and roller-coaster thrills, not to mention an entirely different setting. In the case of Fievel, the Mousekewitz family and other tiny critters emigrate from New York City to the Old West, unaware that a dastardly cat leader (John Cleese chews up the scenery as the conniving Cat R. Waul) is planning a big trap.
The film is also noteworthy for being the last screen credit for actor James Stewart (as the hound dog sheriff Whily Burp), while Dom DeLuise's scene-stealing cat Tiger is given a larger role this time. The story could've used a little more pathos and substance, as mentioned. It also has few too many risqué elements (a few moments take place in a saloon). But good luck not being wowed by this otherwise artistic popcorn slinger.
Jurassic Park and The Land Before Time aren't the only dinosaur pictures that Spielberg has been directly involved with. The same year as that iconic live-action blockbuster, his Amblination studio released an adaptation of Hudson Talbott's children's book about a gang of prehistoric creatures who are transported to present day New York City. That imaginative "just-go-with-it" premise, along with a colorful cast of characters, an unbelievable voice cast (only Spielberg and company could've convinced newscaster Walter Cronkite, chef Julia Child, and talk show host Jay Leno to be in a cartoon movie, alongside John Goodman, Rhea Perlman, and Charles Fleischer), and eye-popping animation, make We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story a fun ride on the surface.
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| An original recruitment flyer for Amblimation from 1993 (courtesy Twitter) |
But the film itself--with its rushed narrative, convoluted plot holes, and dated CGI--represents one of those cinematic oddities and missed opportunities. Sure, it has great animation, including a standout musical number in Times Square (where the central dinos are initially mistaken for giant parade floats). But We're Back gets lost in its own misguided and disjointed story, especially when it converts to a darker subplot involving an evil magician and a three-ring circus (Martin Short voices a clown). At the end of the day, it's more of a studio-driven and creative idea than a genuine story. At least it was an alternative for children who weren't old enough to see Jurassic Park at the time.
TRIVIAL FACT: Co-director Ralph Zondag later helped bring the Walt Disney Company's own Dinosaur picture to life seven years later.
Balto (1995)
Before Lassie and Rin Tin Tin, the first major movie star dog was the famous Balto. Well-known for his heroic and courageous trek during the 1925 serum run in the Arctic mountains to deliver medicine for sick children in Nome, Alaska, the Siberian Husky headlined many silent pictures that same decade.
The 1995 animated film version (featuring the voices of Kevin Bacon, Bob Hoskins, Bridget Fonda, Jim Cummings, and Phil Collins) takes many significant liberties. For instance, the real Balto was not part-wolf. Also, he only ran the remaining 55 miles of the arduous race, even though he got most of the publicity in the end. (The real hero of the run was Togo, who did get his own feature film in 2019, starring Willem Dafoe.)
Released the same year as Disney's Pocahontas (also based on historical events and figures), Balto stands on its own as a remarkable story of courage and bravery in the face of insurmountable odds. Equal parts adventurous, thrilling, and inspiring, with live-action segments (featuring actress Miriam Margoyles) that bookend the story, the film has since become a fan-favorite of the Nineties.
On the same topic of animals, Steven Spielberg and company, believe it or not, had actually planned, for their next animated feature, a take on Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running musical Cats. But after the financial failures of their first and only three films (concluding with Balto), those plans were scrapped. However, early concept art and character designs can be viewed on Cartoon Brew, in an article written by Alex Dudok de Wit in 2019. (And they are sights to behold, no doubt. Maybe a lot better than the much-hated film version we did get that same year.) Another bit of good news for the short-lived Amblimation: every employee then moved on to Spielberg's newly-formed company DreamWorks (co-founded with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen).
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