In it, Fievel is separated from his family as the train approaches the American Old West; the film chronicles him and Sheriff Wylie Burp teaching Tiger how to act like a dog.

Fievel Goes West was the first production for the short-lived Amblimation, a studio Spielberg set up to keep the animators of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) working.

Fievel tries to convince him to help, But the old dog explains (through a series of dog-related idioms) That he feels he has grown old to the point where he is not as good as he was in his younger days.

They return to Green River to fight the cats, who attempt to use a concealed giant mouse trap on the mice at sunset during the opening of Waul's saloon.

As Chula takes Miss Kitty hostage, an incensed Tiger to rescue her, and the heroes use the mouse trap as a catapult to send Waul and his cats out of Green River.

[11] In December 1988, Universal announced that they would release an animated film every eighteen months and begin production on An American Tail II in early 1989.

[15] He accepted the offer based on his enjoyment of the first American Tail and "I love sound studios anyway – there's none of the hassle and boredom and time wasting you get in television".

[15] Cleese was paid his lowest fee in ten years for the role, however, which made him very unwilling to publicize his involvement with Fievel Goes West.

[18] As Fievel Goes West was a parody of Western films, the animators heavily studied the works of John Ford and Sergio Leone.

The album was released by MCA Records and featured 14 tracks, including four original songs written by Horner and Will Jennings, and performed by Linda Ronstadt and Cathy Cavadini.

[27] It made its worldwide premiere at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as their big children's theatre recital performance, on November 17, 1991, where 275 inner-city kids that were guests of Fannie Mae's company attended the event; the children also made their own American Tail storybook and posed with a costume version of Fievel for pictures.

[28] Both Fievel Goes West and Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991) began their United States theater runs on November 22, 1991; this was the third instance of two animated films being released on the same day, after The Land Before Time and Oliver & Company in 1988, and The Little Mermaid and All Dogs Go to Heaven in 1989.

[32] Upon the film's release, Universal Studios Tour opened the attraction Mouse Trap, a 2,500-seat interactive version of Fievel Goes West.

Postal Service began selling envelopes with 29-cent Western-Americana-themed stamps designed by Harry Zelenko to promote the home video of Fievel Goes West; 19 of them were reissued on May 1 using recycled paper.

[44] Fievel Goes West garnered its first American television airing on April 13, 1997, via a Disney Channel "Tune In to Kids and Family Week" promotion of another TV debut, Pocahontas (1995).

[51] In the United Kingdom, it first appeared on December 6, 2006, on DVD as part of a Slim 2 box set that featured the first two American Tail films.

Amblin won both races;[64][65] Fred Mound, Universal distribution president, said: "We've proven in the past that there's room for two animated features".

[77] According to The Washington Post, Fievel Goes West tied with For the Boys (1991) for "the dubious if unofficial distinction of the fastest failure of a big-budget holiday movie".

[39][78][6][79] However, it wasn't competing with the Disney production in Canada, and it failed there too according to a Universal executive, who also blamed Spielberg's lack of involvement in the marketing due to being too busy on Hook.

Dennis Hunt suggested that "the complex story line and the scary villains didn't quite click with the kiddies",[80] and Bernard Weinraub wrote that "even children were not especially interested in an old-fashioned animated movie".

[63] Steven Hulett of the union Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists opined that the low performances of both Fievel Goes West and We're Back!

[91][85] Empire opined that, despite its enjoyable comedic relief characters and "fantastic chase scenes", Fievel Goes West suffered from being "fairly predictable".

[92] One reviewer in contrast appreciated the bits of "sophisticated humor" and Holocaust undertones in the script,[88] and another highlighted its gag, such as the scene of Tiger being taken captive by the Indian mice.

[96] Time Out London published an ecstatic review of Fievel Goes West: "Miles better than the overrated American Tail, this laugh-packed sequel boasts all the classic elements so often missing from modern cartoon features: a straightforward zip-zang-boom storyline, clearly etched characters with instantly identifiable flaws, tip-top voice-overs by well-chosen celebrities, and oodles of elasticated slapstick".

[100] Roger Ebert gave it two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote: "There is nothing really the matter with An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, except that it is not inspired with an extra spark of imagination in addition to its competent entertainment qualities".

[104] In a 1993 newspaper feature about portrayals of females in animated films, journalist Ann Doss Helms disliked how most animated women had no other characters of the same gender to motivate or guide them; the writer criticized how little attention Tanya's parents gave to her aspirations, but praised the advice Miss Kitty gave to Tanya, suggesting "there's hope that things are changing".

[112] Both Fievel Goes West and the first American Tail were tied for the number-five spot of a list of best non-Disney films from My Web Times: "Political and historical, these feature some fab songs and fun voice-over work from the likes of Jimmy Stewart (in his last role), John Cleese, Madeline Kahn and Dom DeLuise".

[114] In a 2017 /Film feature about Amblimation, Dalin Rowell highlighted the "cinematic" scale of its animation and opined that it "should be remembered for its creativity and willingness to be a bit more bold and daring than its predecessor".

[115] A 2016 review from Greg Jameson of Entertainment Focus opined it "has less universal appeal than the original, because the themes aren't as rooted in human experience so it packs less of an emotional punch", but he nonetheless called it a fun film and praised its animation and voice acting.

There was also a Fievel-themed playground at Universal Studios Florida, featuring a large water slide and many oversized objects such as books, glasses, cowboy boots, and more.