Jewish History in Film: Eastern Europe and the immigrant experience in 'An American Tail'

With the holiday season behind us, cool weather upon us, and our wax-covered Chanukiahs needing a polish before being put away until next year, there are few better films to snuggle up to than the Steven Spielberg produced, Don Bluth directed, “An American Tail.” Originally conceived as a television special, Spielberg felt that the work had the potential to expand into a feature. After having finished “The Secret of Nimh,” Spielberg approached Bluth and asked him to “make me something pretty, like you did in Nimh … make it beautiful.” Thus, began Universal Pictures’ first animated feature sinc...