An American Tail

When Jerry Goldsmith encouraged Steven Spielberg to see The Secret of NIMH (1982)—Don Bluth’s animated film about a tenacious field mouse seeking help from a colony of intelligent rats—the director loved it so much that he asked Bluth to do it again — only this time starring Jewish émigré mice. David Kirschner penned the story, and Spielberg and Bluth worked tirelessly to produce Universal’s beloved classic from 1986, An American Tail. Part of the film’s success was due to the involvement of young composer James Horner, who contributed two elements: a richly melodic score and a massively successful pop song, Somewhere Out There, co-written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.

Horner followed the same sweeping and epic approach Goldsmith used in his score for NIMH, eschewing the “mickey-mouse” style favored since the 40s. Instead, the music ebbs and flows and isn’t necessarily tailored to change at every gag or cut. The symphonic gestures transcend each scene while simultaneously supporting them. While the score is uniformly excellent, a few highlights include the main title sequence, the storm sequence, the setting of the poem Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor” by Emma Lazarus, and the Mouse of Minsk sequence. Throughout every corner of the score, one can trace the evolution of this talented composer, still in his early thirties.

For the first time, musicians, music students, conductors – any music lover – can study An American Tail in this durable, high-quality edition, carefully reproduced and edited from the original scores.