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Believing in the American dream they head to [[New York City]] by boat because "[[Crowd Song|there are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese.]]" The hero, a little mouse named Fievel, is washed overboard in a storm, and his search for his family, who [[No One Could Survive That|believe he is dead]] and therefore [[Gave Up Too Soon|aren't looking for him]], forms the bulk of the film. Once arriving in America, all mice immediately discover that there are indeed cats in America. They begin living in a typical late 19th century immigrant manner: working in a sweatshop, living in horrible conditions, being extorted by gangs and living in constant fear of being eaten.<ref> Okay, that last one is specific to immigrant ''mice'', but you get the picture.</ref>
 
Such is the plot of the most popular animated film of the 1980s that doesn't involve a [[The Little Mermaid (Disney)|singing crab]]. It was a surprise hit at the box office in 1986, and it became the highest grossing animated film of all time, much to Disney's sheer horror. It would keep this title until the debut of the ''next'' [[Don Bluth]] film, ''[[The Land Before Time]]''. One important thing to come of all this was that the film displayed that animation could still be profitable at a time when the industry was in a slump, and caused Disney to step up its game in face of the competition. So in a way, this very film triggered a chain reaction that brought about [[The Renaissance Age of Animation]].
 
Tellingly, more people remember the song "[[Award Bait Song|Somewhere Out There]]" than, say, the immigrant struggle aspect.
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* [[Animal Jingoism]]: Cats vs mice; though its used as a metaphor.
* [[Are We There Yet?]]: Fievel asks this on the boat ride to America in the first movie, and on the train ride out west in ''Fievel Goes West''.
* [[Armed Withwith Canon]]: ''Fievel Goes West'', the [[Lighter and Softer]] first sequel which [[Don Bluth]] wasn't involved with, seemed to take a few shots at the first movie (such as Tanya getting tomatoes thrown at her for singing "Somewhere Out There", and New York turning out to be a [[Crapsack World]]), and in general carried itself as if [[Lighter and Softer]] equaled better. Then the third movie came along, with yet another different team of writers. Fievel wasn't out west anymore, but in New York, and the writers decided to throw in a [[Wham! Line]] about Fievel having a dream where he moved out west, implying that the second movie is now [[Canon Dis Continuity]]. They then proceeded to erase the [[Love Interest]] of Tony Toponi from the first film and pair him with their new character (which didn't even work in-story).
* [[Art Evolution]]: And in its sequels, devolution. [http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs26/f/2008/132/4/5/The_Real_Tanya__by_Skyline19.jpg Take this, for instance.]
* [[The Artful Dodger]]: Tony Toponi, a streetwise orphan mouse.
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** Don Bluth said once in an interview that "We knew that if we were going to say "all cats are bad," we wanted to have at least one "good" one...and that's Tiger."
* [[Crowd Song]]: Three: "There Are No Cats in America", from the first movie, "Way Out West" from the second, and "We Live in Manhattan" from the third.
* [[Depending Onon the Artist]]: The art style varied greatly in the sequels. The only two movies in the series with nearly the same animation style are the direct-to-video sequels (there are only subtle differences between the two since the third film was a co-production with Tokyo Movie Shinsha (now known as [[TMS Entertainment]]) while the fourth one was shipped off to by [[Tama Productions]]). Even then, Tanya ''still'' somehow managed to look completely different in both movies (she's the character who goes through the most extreme design changes from movie to movie).
* [[Expressive Ears]]: Fievel's ears seem to move around the most, going down when he's sad and up when he's alert or listening for his Papa. At least when his hat doesn't get in the way.
* [[Four-Fingered Hands]]
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* [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much]]: Tiger
* [[Nice Mice]]
* [[Not Even Bothering Withwith the Accent]]: See [[Fake Russian]] in the Trivia tab.
* [[Odd Friendship]]: Fievel and Tiger.
* [[Panty Shot]]: Tanya has a tendency to show off her white bloomers - though arguably in an innocent manner (except in her saloon getup in ''Fievel Goes West'', where they seem to serve as a G-rated substitute for the more revealing garments worn by real-life saloon girls).
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* [[Species-Coded for Your Convenience]]: Mice are good; cats are generally evil with a few exceptions.
* [[Species Surname]]: Though they get creative with it. Mousekewitz, Toponi, etc.
* [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"]]: Fievel's name is listed as 'Feivel' in the beginning credits of the first movie, which is the correct yiddish spelling. The spelling was changed to 'Fievel' to avoid confusing American audiences who might otherwise pronounce it as 'Fay-vel', but in other countries where the movie was released the 'Feivel' spelling was left intact.
* [[Stock Animal Diet]]: Mice eating cheese, cats eating mice.
* [[Unnamed Parent]]: Fievel's parents are known only as "Mama" and "Papa".
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* [[Anachronism Stew]]: A group of children are shown reciting the Pledge of Allegiance which wouldn't be invented until 1892, and they add 'Under God', which wouldn't be added until 1951. And they have their hands over their hearts (due to [[Unfortunate Implications]] they couldn't have had them using the original salute, [[wikipedia:Bellamy salute|which was the original form of the Nazi salute]]). The majority of the movie takes place in 1886-ish.
* [[An Immigrant's Tale|An Immigrant's Tail]]
* [[Ass in Aa Lion Skin]]: Warren T. Rat {{spoiler|(actually a cat himself) dresses as a rat to fool the mice into buying into his protection racket against the cats.}}
* [[Award Bait Song]]: "Somewhere Out There" is definitely one of the best-known examples, and probably the [[Trope Codifier]].
* [[Bedsheet Ladder]]: Fievel uses this to escape a sweatshop, freeing the rest of the workers as well.
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* [[Big Shadow, Little Creature]]: Done while Fievel is aimlessly wandering through the city. Fievel's shadow takes up a whole wall.
* [[Birdcaged]]: Warren's gang puts Fievel in a bird cage when they capture him, but Tiger lets him out.
* [[Brats Withwith Slingshots]]: Tony Toponi, {{spoiler|when he shoots Warren's disguise off.}}
* [[Break the Cutie]]
* [[Cat Stereotype]]: Tiger (orange) is the one good cat. In the first sequel his love interest is light grey.
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* [[Cut Song]]: Fievel was supposed to have another song in the sweatshop.
* [[Digital Destruction]]: The DVD release was horribly tampered with, as is discussed on [http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=991 this forum]. Background music and sound effects were changed or added, new voice-overs were inserted, and the orphans who bully Fievel near the end have different voices (though at least the added/alternate dialogue was from the original recording sessions, even for the orphans - if you look at the lip sync of the animation, you can see that their mouth movements match the voices on the DVD version. It still doesn't excuse it, though).
* [[Disney Acid Sequence]]: "We're a Duo", Fievel and Tiger's ode to [[The Power of Friendship]], vaguely resembles one of the music videos from [[Michael Jackson (Music)|Michael Jackson]]'s "Off the Wall" album.
* [[Disney Villain Death]]: Well, sort of.
* [[Distant Duet]]: "Somewhere Out There" is probably the [[Trope Codifier]] for this too.
* [[Distracted Byby the Sexy]]: Tony, the instant he catches a glimpse of Bridget.
* [[Dreadful Musician]]: Warren T. Rat plays a very cringe-worthy rendition of "Beautiful Dreamer" on his violin during the sewer scene. He claims it's because "his nose keeps getting in the way". {{spoiler|Granted, this may be justified as he ''is'' wearing a fake rat nose.}}
* [[Early-Bird Cameo]]: Tony gets one when Fievel is first sold into a sweatshop, and later as the sweatshop employees are in bed one of the orphans who shows up much later in the movie can be seen.
* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: {{spoiler|Fievel doesn't get his happy ending until he all but gives up on life.}}
** Pretty much applies to all the mice. They only get peace when they take the initiative to actually drive the cats away. {{spoiler|Using a giant mouse engine. Fortunately, [[Batman|cats are a superstitious and cowardly lot.]]}}
* [[Eek! Aa Mouse!]]: One of the few times a human even notices the mice is when Fievel gets stuck in a woman's phonograph player, and she shrieks and throws things at him.
* [[Elmuh Fudd Syndwome]]: Gussie "Wewease ze Secwet Weapon" Mausheimer. Voiced by Madeline Kahn who recycled the voice from the character she played in ''[[Blazing Saddles]]''.
* [[Failed a Spot Check]]: Fievel and his family keep missing each other when they're nearby. Perhaps the most frustrating time is when Fievel is at the podium at a rally that all the mice in New York are at, and his sister Tanya can't see him because someone's hat is in the way.
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* [[Gorgeous Period Dress]]: On the more wealthy female characters.
* [[Gone Horribly Right]]: The mice manage to stop the Giant Mouse of Minsk robot from being released early... only to have to release it immediately after it stops.
* [[Gravity Is a Harsh Seamstress]]: After being hurled out a window by a [[Eek! Aa Mouse!|frightened lady]], Fievel falls through a sock hanging on a clothesline that had a hole at the end, and then grabs onto a hanging head scarf, using it to parachute the rest of the way down.
* [[Gut Feeling]]: "I just have this feeling - like Fievel's alive!"
* [[Grass Is Greener]]: [[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series (Web Video)|In America!]]
* [[Gray Rain of Depression]]: When Fievel cries during the scene when he's at Orphan Alley.
* [[Heartwarming Orphan]]: Though Fievel is not literally an orphan he plays the part well enough. Bridget and Tony are also this, to some extent.
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* [[Kick the Dog]]: We know Warren is evil after he sells Fievel into a sweatshop for 50 cents.
* [[Kids Are Cruel]]: The kids Fievel meets in Orphan Alley convince Fievel that he'll never find his family, and then shove him into a puddle and throw hay at him so he can make a bed.
* [[Kill It Withwith Fire]]: {{spoiler|Warren's solution to dealing with the mice after he's exposed as a cat. He sets the museum on fire.}}
* [[Living Statue]]: Apparently the Statue of Liberty is one. It winks at Fievel at the end.
* [[Long Bus Trip]]: Or in Warren's case, a long ship trip, as he's shipped off to Hong Kong and never returns in the sequels.
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*** You DO know what happens to cats there, right?
*** Not to mention the only guarantee that there are lots of mice in Hong Kong is Warren's word, which on top of being less than trustworthy was also worded an [[Ironic Echo]] of the thoroughly-disproved "There are no cats in America" statement: "There are plenty of mice in Hong Kong."
* [[Lost Atat Sea]]: Fievel gets washed overboard, and floats to New York in a bottle.
* [[Love At First Sight]]: Tony and Bridget instantly falling in love.
* [[Male Frontal Nudity]]: During the two scenes in which Fievel is bathing. [[Nonhumans Lack Attributes|You don't see anything of course.]] Though we're treated to an extended shot of Fievel's bare little behind as he bends over to look into a storm drain with his pants falling down.
* [[Manly Tears]]: Papa sheds them.
* [[Melancholy Moon]]
* [[Missed Him Byby That Much]]: Over, and over, and over. The movie even provides the page picture.
* [[Mood Whiplash]]: Just the song "There are No Cats in America", in which each character gives the tragic story of what the cats did to them in their individual homelands...but...[[Ear Worm|but there are nooo cats in America!]]
* [[Mouth Cam]]
* [[Mysterious Middle Initial]]: Warren T. Rat, and in the sequel, Cat R. Waul ([[John Cleese (Creator)|John Cleese]]). Though the middle initials in both names are there to create a pun.
** Most viewers probably assumed that the "T" stood for "the."
** Perhaps a pun on the word "warranty" that he is definitely a rat. Ha, irony!
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* [[No Cartoon Fish]]: The herring and "sewer shark" are drawn photo-realistically -- but then again so are the humans.
* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: Honest John is a pretty blatant parody of [[wikipedia:William M. Tweed|"Boss" Tweed]].
* [[Not Even Bothering Withwith the Accent]]: See [[Fake Russian]] in the Trivia tab.
* [[Novelization]]: Yes, there was a novelization. There were a few noticeable plot changes (Fievel is in the sweatshop for much longer, Fievel and Tony search for Fievel's parents a while before he meets Bridget, and other things that never made it into the movie.) Excerpts from the novelization were given away at McDonald's.
* [[The One Who Wears Shoes]]: Bridget in the first movie (though in a continuity error, she is barefoot in a couple scenes). Tanya also dons a pair of slippers in a few scenes of the sequel.
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* [[Say My Name]]: Papa screaming out "FIIIIIEEEVEEEELLLL!!" at a couple different points, Fievel also shouts "Papa!!!" numerous times.
* [[Scarecrow Solution]]: The Giant Mouse of Minsk
* [[Shrine to Thethe Fallen]]: Fievel's parents make a shrine to him in their new home because they think he's dead.
* [[The Scottish Trope]]: For some reason the mice think the cats are more likely to come after them if they say the word 'cat' too loud.
* [[Sequel Hook]]: So blatant it was used in the trailer for its sequel ''Fievel Goes West''; when Fievel points to the horizon and asks if he can go see more of America, his pigeon friend Henri answers "Someday, you will!"
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* [[Small Annoying Creature]]: Digit
* [[Snooping Little Kid]]: Fievel was being a [[Snooping Little Kid]] when he snuck into the secret hideout of the cats and found out Warren T. Rat {{spoiler|was really a cat in disguise.}}
* [[Stock Footage]]: Some of the cats are reused bits of Dragon from [[The Secret of NIMH (Film)|The Secret of NIMH]], and they all appear to owe quite a bit to his terrifying "cats as seen by mice" design. Additionally, there are moments where both the Cossack Cats and the Maulers who raid the market are the same animated cats with wardrobe changes.
* [[Street Urchin]]: There are quite a few in New York, and Fievel nearly becomes one himself.
* [[Take My Hand]]: Papa tries to grab Fievel's hand after he slips onto the deck of the ship. Sadly, Fievel's sleeve rips and he ends up washed overboard.
* [[Token Romance]]: Tony and Bridget
* [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]]: All over the movie. The woman who [[Eek! Aa Mouse!|screams at Fievel]] when he gets stuck in her phonograph player is more scared that he's a mouse, taking no notice that he's dressed in baggy pants, a big sweater and a poofy hat, and he's bipedal. Happens quite a bit in the sequels too, for example, at Cat R. Waul's saloon.
** Then of course there's the two humans at the park who walk right past the rather loud mouse rally taking place.
* [[Wasted Song]]: For some reason the jazzy background orchestration for Warren's first scene is completely absent from the soundtrack, and thus is impossible to find anywhere.
* [[Watching Troy Burn]]: At the beginning, the village of Shostka, Russia suffers a pogrom at the hands of Russian Cossacks, and their pet cats. They set fire to most of the buildings, and after the Mousekewitz family survives the attack, they watch from a distance as their village goes up in flames. Thus, they decide to go to America.
* [[What Happened to Thethe Mouse?]]: Baby Yasha's existence is inconsistent.
* [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]]: It's pretty [[Anvilicious]] about this too. Most of the cats are bullies, but Tiger is noticeably cute and looks like [[The Wizard of Oz (Filmfilm)|the Cowardly Lion]] and the cats who explicitly try to eat the protagonists are drawn as big, violent monsters. Digit the cockroach is [[Small Annoying Creature|just a pest]] and is kind of [[Ugly Cute]] but the sewer roaches who menace Feivel are rendered as realistic [[Big Creepy -Crawlies]].
** ''Goes West'' has Fievel menaced by a non-cute scorpion and hawk.
* [[Wicked Cultured]]: Warren tries to come off as this by playing the violin and quoting Shakespeare. He's not very good at either of those things, though.
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* [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]]: Cat R. Waul gets either what could be seen as this (see [[Gag Boobs]]) or [[And I Must Scream]] in ''Fievel Goes West''.
* [[Cousin Oliver]]: Yasha Mousekewitz is somewhat elevated to this in ''Fievel Goes West'' and the series ''Fievel's American Tails'', despite having been in the first movie (she inexplicably disappears halfway through). In all the other movies she's mostly [[Living Prop|not much more than a prop]].
* [[A Day in Thethe Limelight]]: [[Contested Sequel|Many fans actually prefer]] ''Fievel Goes West'' because it gives Tanya and Tiger a great deal more [[Character Development]] than the first film did, and isn't exclusively focused on Fievel (despite his name being in the title).
* [[Death Glare]]: The Laaaaaazy eye.
* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Tony and Bridget in ''Fievel Goes West''.
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{{quote| '''Miss Kitty:''' You put a mouse on that stage and your saloon's gonna be as empty as Death Valley on a cold day in June when the snow don't fall.<br />
'''Cat R. Waul:''' ''What.'' }}
* [[Freeze -Frame Bonus]]: Just as Cat R. Waul is picking Tanya up in his paws while she sings "Dreams to Dream", one of the animators snuck in a lewd drawing for a single frame, where she has her mouth open.
* [[Gag Boobs]]: Cat R. Waul's owner smothers him with hers. Also a [[Marshmallow Hell]].
** [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|PUSSY PUSSY!]]
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* [[Guns Akimbo]]: Fievel, of all characters, in his daydream with Wylie.
* [[Hiccup Hijinks]]: The ''Fievel's American Tails'' episode "A Case Of the Hiccups".
* [[Hollywood Mirage]]: Fievel hugs a cactus and Tiger kisses an owl because of the mirages they see while wandering in the desert. Then they [[Missed Him Byby That Much|mistake each other for mirages when they pass each other by]].
* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Fievel imagines to have these. That is, he doesn't even aim.
* [[Injun Country]]: Played somewhat offensively straight in ''Fievel Goes West''.
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* [[Miss Kitty]]: She even has the same name. Kitty leaves New York for an exciting future in the west, and ends up being one of the head matrons to what is essentially a brothel.
* [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo]]: ''An American Tail: [Insert title here]''
* [[Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping]]: Cat R. Waul, voiced by the extremely English [[John Cleese (Creator)|John Cleese]], tries to fake a Texas accent when operating his mouse marionette, but despite the liberal use of "y'all" it's... less than convincing.
** ''[[Don't Explain the Joke|That's ze joke.]]''
* [[Pain Powered Leap]]: Cat R. Waul jumps straight through the ceiling after Fievel stabs him in the behind with a fork.
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* [[Parental Obliviousness]]: Fievel ''tried'' to tell his parents that Cat R. Waul was going to turn the mice of Green River into mouseburgers. [[Not Now, Kiddo|But did they listen?]]
* [[Plucky Comic Relief]]: Tiger in ''Fievel Goes West''. Tony Toponi takes over the job in the other sequels.
* [[Popcorn Onon the Cob]]: During the scene in which the Native Americans are worshiping Tiger and feeding him, an ear of corn is raised over the fire, then turned into a bunch of popcorn which Tiger promptly catches in his mouth.
* [[Put Onon a Bus]]: Cat R. Waul is defeated by being put on a train, much like how Warren was shipped off to Hong Kong. It should be noted that villains in the ''An American Tail'' series are always defeated non-lethally.
** Miss Kitty is put on a bus for much of ''Fievel's American Tails'', which perhaps aided Tiger's [[Flanderization]] into a dopey bum who has nothing better to do but play with Fievel.
* [[Reality Subtext]]: During the production of ''Fievel Goes West'', Steven Spielberg had just finished a nasty divorce with Amy Irving, voice actress of Miss Kitty. What does the film introduce Miss Kitty doing? Breaking up with Tiger.
* [[Recycled in Space|Recycled OUT WEST!]]
* [[Recycled: Thethe Series]]: ''Fievel's American Tails''.
* [[Retired Gunfighter]]: Wylie Burp.
** Of course, it certainly doesn't take much convincing for him to help, as he made one small speech about how he was over the hill, and then ten seconds later, changes his mind for no reason.
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** The "Rawhide" theme is being sung by [[The Blues Brothers]].
** Also, many of the storefronts and signs in (the human-sized) Green River have the names of crew members on them, including both of the film's directors and several of the artists responsible for the background layouts. In addition, right before Fievel dispatches the villains, you can see a nameplate on the rear of the giant mousetrap (facing upside-down) which reads "Made in Acton, London" -- which was the location of the animation studio where the film was produced.
** Cat R. Waul screams "Revenge!" as he is driven out of town on the train, similar to his character in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi2sUcVkm9E the Dirty Fork sketch] in [[Monty Python's Flying Circus (TV)|Monty Python's Flying Circus]].
** Another one involves a mouse mentioning various destinations (one while boarding, the other before narrowly escaping being eaten by Cat R. Waul) while closing each phrase with "...and Green River", likely an homage to [[Mel Blanc]]'s famous [[The Jack Benny Program|Jack Benny Show]] [[Catch Phrase]] of a train leaving for "...Anaheim, Azuza, and Cuc-amonga".
** The Tiger-shaped rock in the desert pulls a [[Alice in Wonderland (Literature)|Cheshire Cat]].
* [[Showdown At High Noon]]: Well, at sunset, but same idea.
* [[Stock Footage]]: Some celebrating mice at the end of ''Fievel Goes West'' are actually reused mice from "There Are No Cats in America" from the first movie.
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* [[Training Montage]]: Tiger, the [[Cowardly Lion]] of the series, has a montage while training to be a dog so he can help Wiley Burp and Fievel take on Cat R. Waul. The montage includes Tiger doing push-ups, walking through tires, beating up a Cat R. Waul dummy, and fetching a bone.
* [[Translation Convention]]: Averted with the Mousican chief. When he speaks to Tiger he's heard using his native tongue but there are not even subtitles. Makes you wonder what's he just saying...
* [[Train Escape]]: Tiger escapes a pack of dogs by hopping on the back of a train in ''Fievel Goes West''. That whole scene is very ''[[Looney Tunes (Animation)|Looney Tunes]]'' in spirit.
* [[Vague Age]]: Figuring out how old Fievel and Tanya are can be very confusing. Tanya, for example, suddenly looks much older than Fievel in ''Fievel Goes West'', while in the first movie, she looked around the same age as Fievel. And if we are to believe it's been a few years since the first movie, why is Yasha still a baby?
** Not to mention that while Fievel and Tanya are still kids, Tony and Bridget are already married and with child.
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* [[Animation Bump]]: The third movie, which was done by [[TMS Entertainment]], has surprisingly better animation than you'd think for a direct-to-video production. The same can't be said for ''Mystery of the Night Monster'' (handled by Tama Productions).
* [[Anywhere but Their Lips]]: Cholena makes it pretty clear that she doesn't share Tony's attraction to her, but by the end of the movie she cuts him some slack and gives him a kiss on the cheek.
* [[Art Shift]]: Inverted somewhat, as they went ''back'' to Don Bluth's character designs in the third movie, but with a few differences, as the designs look like something in the vain of ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]''. The fourth movie mostly kept the same designs, but with less shading and movement from the characters. If you prefer the animation of [[Don Bluth]] or [[Amblimation]] though, you may not like it much. They're still both miles ahead of the animation in ''Fievel's American Tails'' (handled by [[Wang Film Productions]]), luckily.
* [[Award Bait Song]]: The only real song of note in ''The Treasure of Manhattan Island'' is [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8nryp_anywhere-in-your-dreams_animals "Anywhere in Your Dreams"] sung by Cholena and Fievel, which may also act as a [[Ship Tease]] between the two. ''The Mystery of the Night Monster'' has "Who Will", notable because we actually get to hear Tony sing a verse, and because of Susan Boyd's great singing voice.
* [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]]: Nellie Brie and Reed Daley end the 4th movie this way after having been at odds throughout the entire movie. This comes much to Tanya's dismay, who spent the movie crushing on Reed.
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* [[Beneath the Earth]]: The subterranean tribe of Native American mice in ''The Treasure of Manhattan Island''.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: {{spoiler|The ending of ''The Treasure of Manhattan Island'' is the only [[Bittersweet Ending]] in the series. Yes, the evil factory owners who've been exploiting the workers are put under control by Papa's labor union, but they haven't really been defeated, and [[Karma Houdini|they haven't really paid for all of the trouble they've caused either]]. And Cholena's Native American tribe still has to live underground because the European mice are still evil, racist and unable to co-exist with them.}}
* [[BLAM Episode]]: The fourth movie, ''The Mystery of the Night Monster'', really doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the series. While the third movie at least made a few allusions to the first movie, the fourth one is just kind of all by itself canonically. At worst it seems like a recycled plot for a ''[[Scooby -Doo (Animationanimation)|Scooby Doo]]'' movie.
* [[Broken Heel]]: Fievel gets his shirt caught on a rusty nail as he and Tony are fleeing a speeding train in the third movie.
* [[Bullet Seed]]: Fievel uses this against cops in ''The Treasure of Manhattan Island''.
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* [[Injun Country]]: Done in ''The Treasure of Manhattan Island'', but with respect.
* [[In the Local Tongue]]: Cholena gives Tony (who'd been hitting on her) the nickname "Poolaook", which he is later disappointed to find out means "turkey".
* [[Karma Houdini]]: {{spoiler|1=Those villains from ''The Treasure of Manhattan Island''. They don't even get [[Put Onon a Bus]] like most ''An American Tail'' villains do. Though their lackeys Scuttlebutt and McBrusque avert this and become the only ''An American Tail'' villains to be [[Killed Off for Real]].}}
* [[Little Miss Snarker]]: Tanya, in these movies.
* [[Minion Maracas]]: Madame Mousey does this to Fievel after he calls her a rat.
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* [[Nightmare Retardant]]: Invoked in-universe in ''The Mystery of the Night Monster'' when it's revealed what the 'monster' actually is.
* [[Nightmare Sequence]]: Fievel's nightmares in the fourth movie, which are inspired by the exaggerated news stories about the Manhattan Monster eating up helpless mice.
* [[Oh God, Withwith the Verbing!]]: One of Madame Mousey's cat underlings talks like Jerry Lewis.
* [[Pep Talk Song]]: "Get the Facts", sung by Nellie Brie to help Fievel get over his fears.
* [[Police Brutality]]: In quite a daring move for a G-rated direct to video movie, ''The Treasure of Manhattan Island'' features a police force who savagely beat down protesting factory workers with their clubs, are being paid under the table by corrupt factory owners, and deliberately start a race riot. You know, for kids!
* [[Retcon]]: In ''The Treasure of Manhatten Island'', Fievel ''dreamed'' the entirety of ''Fievel Goes West''.
* [[Running Gag]]: After every time Tanya makes a [[Little Miss Snarker|snarky]] comment:
{{quote| '''Everyone''': Tanya! [[Stay in Thethe Kitchen|Don't help!]]}}
* [[Shaming the Mob]]: Papa manages to stop the riot in the third movie by doing this.
* [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]]: The large native mouse who falls for [[Butt Monkey|Scuttlebutt]] and follows him giggling in an empty tent... just in time to catch him stealing. However this is a [[Played for Laughs]] aversion.
* [[Stay in Thethe Kitchen]]: Addressed directly in ''The Treasure of Manhattan Island''. Mama and Papa agree to let Fievel go on the treasure-hunting expedition, but when Tanya wants to go they flat-out refuse. Tanya then complains that her brother always gets to go on adventures while she's stuck at home doing laundry.
* [[They Do]]: Nellie Brie and Reed Daley.
* [[Torches and Pitchforks]]: An angry mob led by Chief Mcbrusque hunts down Cholena in the third movie after being convinced that her being a Native American makes her a threat.
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* [[Wham! Line]]: "[[All Just a Dream|I dreamed we moved]] [[Retcon|out west and I]] [[Canon Dis Continuity|became a famous gunslinger!]]" The line that [[Broken Base|broke a base]], or at least caused many to disregard the DTV sequels entirely.
* [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]]: Cited nearly word for word by Fievel in ''The Treasure of Manhattan Island'' when he persuades an Indian Chief to let her daughter live among the Europeans for a time and see if they've changed their ways. And of course, things later [[Gone Horribly Wrong|go horribly wrong]].
* [[What Happened to Thethe Mouse?]]: A very literal example. Tony appears in the DTV sequels and in the third film, ''The Treasure Of Manhattan Island'', he has a [[Love Interest]] in the shape of Cholena. But wait... where the hell is Bridget? She was his girlfriend in the first film and ''Fievel Goes West'' actually featured a cameo of the two, as a newly married couple, with a child no less.
* [[White Man's Burden]]: Basically played straight in ''The Treasure Of Manhattan Island'', when Fievel becomes disillusioned and severely guilt-tripped upon learning what the Europeans had done to the Native Americans, and he takes it upon himself to demonstrate that the European mice aren't so bad...which really doesn't work.
 
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