An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island (1998)

The original 'An American Tail' is still a gripping animated feature. Its sequel, set in the Wild West, is  enjoyable, but a noticeable downgrade.

This is a step further down the ladder.

Storywise, the Mousekewitzes are back in New York, Manhatten even. What about the adventures they had in the Far West the previous film? That gets retconned with the worst device ever.

You know what it is.

"It was all a dream!"

Yuck.

Anyway, father Mousekewitz and Tony (yes, that annoying shit is back as well) work in a cheesefactory under horribly exploitative circumstances. As if that alone wasn't enough to fill this film's runtime, Fievel and Tony discover that underneath Manhattan, a tribe of Indian mice live, unseen to the world. But of course, their discovery ensures that the Indian mice have to move at the end, because the rat bosses of the factory think that the best way to divert their workers' gripes, is to blame it on the Indians.

Okay, that last part somehow does make some sense.

Despite the themes of exploitation, bigotry and police brutality, this one just doesn't click. The storylines feel haphazardly thrown together and there is no clear cut resolution to anything. The Indians just move, the rats are still in charge and only the bullying police chief is replaced by Tiger the cat. So that's the only thing that truly gets resolved. Also, they had to include a couple of songs to pad the lean runtime of barely 70 minutes: never a good sign.

Despite this film not being overly long, it still feels boring and dull and moves at a snail's pace. Seriously: for something that only lasts as long as it does, I was thoroughly bored after about ten minutes.

Bringing back Tony and putting the focus more on him, wasn't such a bright idea either. He again feels like one of those stupidly annoying Italo-American stereotypes you all know and have come to loathe. I'm pretty sure the entirety of the Italo-American people from around Brooklyn and the like all cringe at seeing this guy again.

The animation quality has also dropped significantly. Now, that is somewhat to be expected for a straight-to-video release, but it is painful. Say what you will about 'Fievel Goes West', but that animation still holds up rather well. Here, not so much.

Young kids will like this one most. At least, that is an educated guess. Everyone else can give this a hard pass.