As a fan of the first two movies, I really wanted to see this sequel, when I heard about it, but after watching I thought, that was wasted time... It has nearly nothing in common with the first two movies: The story isn´t really terrible, but it could have been made better, and not so totally different. The drawings are not as good as in 1 and 2, and the characters look strange. The songs were bad too, and could have been more...
8 Reviews
Still sticking to a good formula!
mjsflayhan22 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I last saw this movie about a year or 2 ago but, I still remember most of it. My sister use to want to rent this most of the time and we usually did get it and she loved cholena. Though this movie is certainly not as good as the first 2 it certainly still had the morals and values of the others. This one takes place before Fievel and his family move out west and Fievel and his friend Tony Befriend an Indian girl named Cholena. Cholena and her family are hunted down and go back into hiding (they lived underground)and fievel learns a lesson by the end. These movies are not as well animated and may not have as good a score and songs as the first but, it's a sequel. I've always said that The American tail series has something that Disney never had. They can relate to real life because it's based on real events (the first one anyway)and they teach children that things aren't perfect but, you can make a difference. This one has stuck to that very not-to-preachy-but- still-educational formula and Fievel is still that cute little Jewish mouse *who does not live in a castle!* but on the streets of Manhattan with is over-sized hat. I totally recommend this movie! I'm going to show the whole series to my cousin whom thinks she so cool because she watches Hanna Montana. She's only 7. When I was 7 I was watching this and It turns out I'm one of the most educated and understanding teenagers in my class. So please let your children watch this and not Hanna Montana. Let them know even a curious immigrant little mouse can make a difference and so can they. This may sound silly because it's only a movie but, Watching the An American tail series is actually healthy, including it's sequels!
Not as good as the first two
GoodWillHunting6 July 2000
First off, you never expect a direct to video movie to be as good as the first two movies that went theatrical. I was really looking forward to this film, ever since I bought the two classic masterpieces during their re-release on video. I saw the trailer, and it looked like fun. Tell you the truth, The Treasure of Manhattan Island plays out more like an animated TV show than a movie. It's not nearly as kind and gentle hearted as the first two...it's not as fun either. As for the music, it's not really top notch either. 2 of them are completely disposable and the other one, I dunno the name, works perfectly in a scene featuring Fievel and his new found friend and their ride in a water bucket supported by string. This is by far the best part of the film, and the only part in this 3rd film that really resembles true American Tail magic. All in all, it's a good film, just a huge step down from the first two. If they worked more on a better script and if it had more of a movie feel to it and not a TV animated show, it would've been better. Throw in more quality songs (there were only 3 songs in this film)and that also would've made it better. More magic was needed, and here for the most part it was lacking....though Dom Deluise is still great with his tiny role. Worth watching, just be aware of the flaws
How do they grow crops in a tunnel underground?
unome_0244630 March 2001
The entire premise of this movie is completely ridiculous. This tribe of indians is living underground and they can survive without light, they can grow crops too. It does try to present a moral cause, but the unwillingness of Feivals father to do anything about their situation seems counter to the character he became in the original. And the animation is terrible.
Has its good moments, but plays more than an extended TV episode
TheLittleSongbird12 February 2010
I love the first American Tail, it is for me one of the better Don Bluth movies. The first sequel, Fieval Goes West was an example of a sequel worth watching, and one of the better direct-to-video sequels I've seen, even with the flaws it had. This one had some good moments, such as a decent story and a strong voice cast, but it doesn't work as well as it should. The animation wasn't as good as it could have been, I accept it was trying to be more traditional, but the flat colours and wonky character features let it down. I also didn't care for the songs, one is good and serves as the highlight of the film but the other two are eminently forgettable. The incidental music was okay, if lacking the haunting and poignant tone of the first film. While the idea of the story was great, it felt rushed due to the short duration of the film and could've been better thought out. There were parts that felt like an extended TV episode That said, the characters particularly Tiger are bearable, the film teaches some brave lessons on tolerance and decent citizenship and the voice cast is strong. Overall, decent, has its moments but doesn't quite work. It could be worse you could be watching the Secret of NIMH sequel, that was awful. 4/10 Bethany Cox
Worse than "The Secret of Nimh 2" and THAT's saying something!
aleusong13 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I spent the past weekend watching all of "The Land Before Time" sequels and this film in the mix. (I'm still trying to find 'The Mystery of the Night Monster'.
I've seen plenty of decent work done on the 'Balto' and 'TLBT' video sequels, even if some stories weren't as good as their predecessors. But this sequel had no redeeming or interesting qualities. The only bit that caught my interest was learning about the pneumatic subway but other than that this sequel was really hard to get into and is probably the worse offender as far as continuity. It seems that the writers had completely forgotten that Tony Toponi had a love interest in the original film (Bridgette) that he married and had a baby with in 'Fievel Goes West'. Perhaps they had a brief separation thus allowing him to seek other love interests in the 3rd and 4th films. Aside from that Tanya is portrayed in the most annoying matter ever! She's actually less mature and more bratty than she was in the original. Though in 'Fievel Goes West' she did have a complete character do-over where she grew up to be a self absorbed teenager. In this film however she's not self absorbed, she's just whiny. Same goes for Papa Mouskewitz.
The themes and story of the film are more targeted at preschoolers. Had this been a sequel taking place when Fievel and his family were already out west much of the film would still make sense, but it's really hard to buy into the idea of Native American mice living in the tunnels of New York City and then having to deal with all the pro-Native American themes that come along with it.
In the end it seems like none of the characters...not even Fievel himself plays any role of real importance significance. At least in The Land Before Time sequels, the themes and characters are constant and remain significant. But none of the characters in American Tail are in their true character nor stay true to continuity. They don't even try for matching animation in this film. This is the worse of the Don Bluth video sequels (even Secret of Nimh 2 was more interesting) and not worth your time unless you're really bored.
I've seen plenty of decent work done on the 'Balto' and 'TLBT' video sequels, even if some stories weren't as good as their predecessors. But this sequel had no redeeming or interesting qualities. The only bit that caught my interest was learning about the pneumatic subway but other than that this sequel was really hard to get into and is probably the worse offender as far as continuity. It seems that the writers had completely forgotten that Tony Toponi had a love interest in the original film (Bridgette) that he married and had a baby with in 'Fievel Goes West'. Perhaps they had a brief separation thus allowing him to seek other love interests in the 3rd and 4th films. Aside from that Tanya is portrayed in the most annoying matter ever! She's actually less mature and more bratty than she was in the original. Though in 'Fievel Goes West' she did have a complete character do-over where she grew up to be a self absorbed teenager. In this film however she's not self absorbed, she's just whiny. Same goes for Papa Mouskewitz.
The themes and story of the film are more targeted at preschoolers. Had this been a sequel taking place when Fievel and his family were already out west much of the film would still make sense, but it's really hard to buy into the idea of Native American mice living in the tunnels of New York City and then having to deal with all the pro-Native American themes that come along with it.
In the end it seems like none of the characters...not even Fievel himself plays any role of real importance significance. At least in The Land Before Time sequels, the themes and characters are constant and remain significant. But none of the characters in American Tail are in their true character nor stay true to continuity. They don't even try for matching animation in this film. This is the worse of the Don Bluth video sequels (even Secret of Nimh 2 was more interesting) and not worth your time unless you're really bored.
not a bad movie
rossrobinson31 October 2003
An American Tail 3: The Treasure of Manhattan Island: This movie was made in 1998, making a come back, Fievel and his friends are back in an all new animated movie adventure, where they begin their journey to search the Treasure of Manhattan Island. I give this movie 8 out of 10.
I grew up on this film
eliara37115 August 2023
I had this movie on VHS and seen it a bunch of times. From my point of view it was an terrific stand alone movie, I had no clue there was others. What I liked about the movie. Mostly. I liked the characters, especially the cheese factory scene and maffia. I was scared back then of those characters, but they were also so cool. I never got the deeper message I just purely enjoyed the ride of the story. Now when I am older and see the hidden messages I feel like this movie is a gem. In the year of 2023, the animation is getting too old and the storyline in modern days might be viewed to gloomy or forced. But that wasn't the case back then, remember it is a classic made during another time. I truly appreciate this movie.
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