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The opening scene of An American Tail introduces us to the Mousekewitz family. They eke out an existence in Shostka, Russia in the year 1885, and the opening dialogue lets us know they have lived in their home, under the constant fear of persecution, for at least three generations. In a private conversation, the Mousekewitzes mention their oppressors, and, as if being summoned, their home begins to quake from a galloping rampage headed their way. An unnamed character screams, “Cossacks!” to alert his neighbors of the coming trouble, but for unclear reasons the peaceful town that the mice share with their human counterparts is burnt to the ground. A group of cats, the Mousekewitzes’ stated antagonists, maraud through the village in tandem with the horse-mounted militia, and both groups seem to revel in their own malice. As the attack ends, the Mousekewitzes watch their smoldering community collapse.
A child watching could tell you something bad has happened in this opening scene, and that cats chased the mice out from their homes. The adult watching the film should see so much more. While heavily sanitized, the opening scene is in fact depicting pogroms that targeted Jews and were typical of 1880s Russia. When thinking of immigrant stories in general, fear of persecution, especially from the government, is called a “Push Factor.” Push Factors are things that make you want to leave your home, and can include any number of hardships like civil war, famine, economic ruin, or climate change. In this film, it’s the anti-Semitism that plagued Tsarist Russia which triggered the Mousekewitzes’ journey.
While the opening scene is only included to provide a Push Factor for the Mousekewitzes, it’s important to understand that these pogroms had several unintended consequences. Aside from resulting in the establishment of Jewish communities in the United States, these attacks were key to convincing Jewish leaders that they needed to create a home state of their own. The Zionist movement’s origins came from these events, and the movement’s efforts to create the state of Israel are obviously still relevant today.[1]
Sometime after the attack, the Mousekewitzes head west to catch a ship heading for America. Once aboard, they pass the time with other weary travelers below the main deck. All of the mouse passengers mourn their Push Factors while praising the promised virtues of American life. During this scene, we learn that other societies have their own “cats” too. A Sicilian mouse recalls how cats killed his brother and mother, and an Irish mouse sings “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral,” a somber Irish lullaby, to mourn the family that the cats took from him. The effects of the recently concluded wars of Italian unification, and the continued domination of Ireland by the British (coupled with reoccurring bouts of famine), are not explicitly explained to the audience, but both certainly informed the scene’s design.
Still, the song the immigrants sing is remembered for its upbeat and hopeful message. “There are no cats in America” reminds us of what is known as “Pull Factors.” Pull Factors are the reasons émigrés select a country to immigrate to, and are an important component of any immigration story. Pull Factors normally include things like government stability, economic opportunity, and religious tolerance. In the late 19th century, with the American Civil War and Reconstruction efforts quickly passing into history, the U.S. seemingly had Pull Factors in abundance. In effect, “There are no cats in America” praises the U.S.’s Pull Factors by lauding a stable government that does not persecute their citizens. Part of the song’s refrain also mentions that “the streets are paved with cheese,” which speaks to the economic opportunities of America’s famed Gilded Age.
As the song ends, one of the most common tropes of 19th century immigration stories occur: a violent storm appears making the transatlantic journey unfairly harsh. While this theme commonly appears in immigrant stories, getting caught in a large storm wasn’t terribly common, and therefore its juxtaposition against the last song needs explanation.[2] The symbolism of oceanic travel representing a long and difficult trek is obvious, but when watching this film we should recall that serfdom was abolished in Tsarist Russia in 1861, barely a generation before we are introduced to the Mousekewitzes. Recently emancipated peasants did not normally leave their villages and could pass their entire lives without ever having traveled more than a half-day’s walk from their home. For families like the Mousekewitzes, this was especially true: anti-Semitic laws included under the Tsarist “Pale of Settlement” restricted where Jews could live and severely curtailed their freedom of movement.[3]
For a hopeful émigré, just getting to a port would have been harrowing but boarding a sea vessel—where there is literally no solid ground upon which to anchor yourself—must have felt otherworldly. Indeed, it’s unlikely that most immigrants had any true understanding of what an ocean was, let alone an expectation of sea-sickness or the low groans of a dim cargo hold.
If this explanation sounds like a poor rationale for the storm-ridden travel trope, imagine for a moment your first flight on a modern airplane. Even with the comforts of jet technology, a mere five minutes of minor turbulence can induce panic for a new traveler. Now suppose that turbulence lasted for a full two weeks and that you never boarded an airplane again in your life, and now you can begin to imagine why the trek across the Atlantic is often portrayed like a battle against Poseidon himself.
