Not unexpectedly, some listeners attach best to the third major theme in An American Tail, and it is this idea that both immediately opens the score and addresses the sensibilities that Spielberg's original concept possesses. Often referred to as the Russian theme or immigrant theme, this faux-Eastern European idea sufficiently gives the mouse family its heritage. Occupying the first minute and a half of "Main Title," this theme, most often performed thereafter by the stereotypical solo violin, contains a secondary phrase that not only shares many similarities in terms of wholesome sincerity with the theme from "Somewhere Out There," but the latter's bridge section is often attached directly to the end of the immigrant theme. Distressed versions of this theme pop up in "The Storm" and "The Great Fire" while solo string performances in "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor" and "Reunited" lead to a full ensemble performance in both the latter cue and "Flying Away and End Credits." Horner interestingly adapts the first five notes of this theme into the main Western identity of his sequel score. Also an obscure connection to An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is the introduction of Tanya's (Fievel's sister) fantastic theme in An American Tail. Since this theme becomes the basis for the gorgeous "Dreams to Dream" song in the second score, few people actually remember that it represents Tanya in the first film as well. It's mostly intact at about 1:40 in "The Market Place" and is briefly referenced by Horner at the start of "Reunited" (in which it segues directly into the "Somewhere Out There" theme). There is immensely satisfying justice in the fact that Horner was able to expand upon this idea in the sequel, for it is arguably the most lyrically compelling theme of the franchise and immediately brightens the middle of "The Market Place." The final, minor theme in An American Tail is an idea for bold horns that most listeners will recognize as a foreshadowing of dark powers in Willow (and, to a lesser extent, The Rocketeer). Representing both the general element of danger and the American cats (more specifically), this theme is hinted in "The Storm," receives a short burst at the start of "The Market Place," explodes with force over a drum rhythm thirty seconds into "Releasing the Secret Weapon" (yielding to the cat-related song melody's faint reference), and is curiously heard on brass late in "The Great Fire."

All put together, An American Tail stands among Horner's most effective works in the children's genre, eclipsing most of what he produced for similar topics in subsequent years. Some collectors will argue that the sequel score is equal in appeal, if not superior, and certainly anyone not satisfied with the thematic development in An American Tail can seek refuge in that solid second effort. The longstanding weakness of An American Tail has been the interaction between songs and score outside of "Somewhere Out There." Granted, the remainder of the songs (despite adequate performances all around, including Christopher Plummer in heavy accent as the pigeon in "Never Say Never") aren't as strong, but it is always disappointing to hear a disconnect between the musical numbers and the connecting underscore. Of the 50 minutes on the popular MCA Records album released for An American Tail at the time, about 15 minutes are dedicated to the songs. The pop song variation of "Somewhere Out There," which was responsible for gaining most of the awards attention, was Horner's first qualified entry in a series of pop song translations that would lead to mass fortune with Titanic. Linda Ronstadt and her crisp voice contribute to both "Somewhere Out There" in this score and "Dreams to Dream" in the sequel. Unfortunately, because "Somewhere Out There" was obviously meant as a duet, the use of James Ingram as the male voice is a major detriment. For some reason (though likely for style points), Ingram refuses to stick to the actual melody, completely ignoring the alternating notes of the two bridge section performances while Ronstadt very deliberately and precisely hits every note in her part. It's a distinctly irritating aspect of a song that would have been, for album purposes, far better with Ronstadt alone. Again, though, "Dreams to Dream" compensates for this lingering disgruntlement in the sequel. The placement of the pop version of "Somewhere Out There" in the middle of the album, complete with tasteful but still dated electric guitar interlude, is another problem. The marketability of CDs was just starting to develop in 1986, and Horner thus assembled a fuller 65-minute presentation of the score for that medium; unfortunately, that arrangement and product never materialized despite the success of the soundtrack on worldwide charts.

It took until 2019 for a proper presentation of the An American Tail soundtrack to be revealed. Courtesy of Intrada Records, the score was expanded to its full length and joined with the songs and a couple of source-like cues to form a better representation of the soundtrack. The truncated version long available did an immense injustice to the narrative of the score, because aside from "The Market Place," the entire middle third of Horner's work was simply missing from that initial product. Over twenty minutes of material from these chase and character scenes was restored for the Intrada product, and these passages offer additional enjoyment even if they do not represent the highlights of the score. Many of the secondary characters' musical motifs and underlying personality shine in these cues, from the likable Irish tones of "Honest John and Gussie Mausheimer" to the sleazy blues treatments in "Fievel's Escape." Among the best additional moments is Horner's exposition of the family and hope theme in the latter half of "Building the Mouse of Minsk," the optimism of this cue nearly unmatched in the score. A fair amount of the work's most raw action is also added back into the presentation here, with the frantic pace of "Train Trestle" joined by the xylophone frenzy in "The Rumble." Also joining these cues from the middle section of film is the brief exploration of the heritage theme in "Dissolve to Sea/Lullaby" earlier in the story. The album also offers the humorous borrowing of "Poor Wandering One" from Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" heard in the film, along with a rather obnoxious source cue and the instrumental version for the pop song in the event you want to tackle Ronstadt's part in the absence of Ingram yourself, preferably after a few stiff drinks. The sound quality on the 2019 Intrada album is decent but still archival in depth, especially during the passages with prominent solos. For all but the biggest audiophiles, though, the remastering should be sufficient. Considered on the whole, either album for An American Tail deserves a place in any Horner collection, even if the 2019 expansion is superior. Few people give the composer credit for writing and nurturing six themes in this score, instead getting hung up on the classical music references or other aspects typical to Horner's writing. The composer, however, packages this effort well enough to transcend these traits and offer a score that, if only better songs had accompanied it, might have merited a five star rating.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download