If your an 80s child then you remember the era when Disney sucked and Don Bluth was grabbing the airwaves with a number of strong animated works starting with Secret of Nimh. In 1986 just over a month after my birth, he released An American Tail, the subject of today's cartoon vault.

We begin in Russia 1885 where a family of mice are celebrating Hanukkah, when a group of cossack cats launch an attack on the village, this reflects a real life event in Russia known as the Anti-Jewish Pogroms. With no home left, the Mousekewitz family journey by boat to America with promise of a better life promoted by songs from Papa, an Italian & an Irishman. Things take a turn for the worst when a massive monster storm (Literally) takes hold of the ship, throwing Fievel the lead character overboard.
The family arrive minus Fievel and quickly try and make the best of a bad situation, meanwhile Fievel through dumb luck and a well placed bottle also ends up in America where he meets a French Pigeon at the site of the Statue of Liberty being built. If it doesn't seem that way don't forget that the statue started off gold color, it's current green color is decades of decay & rust.
Fievel begins his search, briefly ending up at a sweat shop, but doesn't seem to improve as he's almost flattened by a train and taken out by a human.
Then we come to Bridget & Toni (Who we met at the sweatshop) trying to persuade the people to fight back against the cats, this then follows a meeting with drunk politician Honest John and Aristocrat Gussie Mouseheimer who echo the same sentiments. Then we get our Oscar bait song, which is every bit a tear-jerker as the subject matter.
The mice then finally come up with a great idea which is showcased in a brilliant work montage. Fievel sadly ends up getting caught by the cats having discovered the true identity of the films main villain who was supposed to be a rat; Fievel forms an unlikely friendship with Tiger, a large vegetarian cat voiced by Dom Deluise who lets Fievel escape, which leads the cats to the Mice trap at the pier. (No that pun wasn't intended) The mice unleash their secret weapon which is a nightmarish looking giant mechanical mouse which sends the cats off the pier onto a ship bound for Hong Kong.
The victory doesn't last when the pier catches fire and Fievel goes missing again, he's ready to give up after being teased by orphans but the film ends happily when Fievel reunites with his family. The film closes out with a finished Statue of Liberty and credits rolling over some impressive art and orchestra music.
This film could easily stand up to Disney which comes as no surprise when you remember that Don Bluth is a former Disney employee, while it maintains a lot of musical numbers and scenes which are suitable for children, they are balanced out by nightmarish scenes which suit the tone, period and animation style at the time of release.
The music really sells the film but at times the voice acting particularly from Fievel falls a bit flat, yes I know they had a child actor for his role, but he seems to lose momentum frequently which leads to some scenes that lose sound.
Overall it's a cult classic that never fails to put a smile on your face or a tear drop from your eyes, pity the sequels don't follow the success.