For years now, I've been meaning to do longer post about this, and hopefully still will, but here's basically what I think; "Somewhere Out There", is basically one of those songs that can have more that one useage, regardless of whether it was the writer's intention or not (which, in a way, is true for many, if not all songs). The song tells the story of two characters, who are apart, but so desperately want to be together again, we can tell from the lyrics alone that these two characters care a lot for each other, but we get no clues as to why they do, or how they relate to each other; are they friends? Lovers? Family? We can't tell from the lyrics alone, we can just tell that they are missing each other.
This is one of the song's strengths for me, it is multifunctional - it can be played from the perspective of any two characters, who are separated when they are longing to be together. It can just as easily be from the perspective of two lovers, as it could be of two very close friends, or even siblings. In fact, you could easily use it in a storyline about a parent missing a lost child (which would fit in with American Tail), and have the parent and child be the singers.
There are many kinds of love, and there are many ways to use this song - it can be used for many, if not all kinds of love. In fact, I remember when I was hoping to be a singer one day (a dream that I still think of for fun, but I no longer expect it to happen), I planned on at some point writing a song, that also achieved this, and I had also planned that when ever I discussed this song, or disclosed information about it, that I would include the phrase "I wrote this song to be my "Somewhere Out There"" and then explain my views on "Somewhere Out There" being a song that can be used in different ways.
However, I do understand people getting it wrong if they had only seen the "Somewhere Out There" scene, in fact I remember a YouTube video of it having commenters thinking they were lovers, so I do see your point there (I don't think I've seen the poster).
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watcher101
9 years ago
I understand what you mean about there being different types of love, but the song seems meant MORE for lovers than any other kind.
And what about the vibe between the two. Tanya undying belief that he's out there, able to sense that Fievel's alive, her never ending devotion to him and her refusal to believe that he's dead. I"m not saying that siblings can't feel that way, but you really see that type of thing more between lovers in books and movies rather than siblings.
As for the cover, just look at it on IMDB. It's right there by the rating, plot, info, etc. Fievel is standing in the stereotypical hero position on the cover with Tanya standing and happily looking at him in place where the love interest usually stands.
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elgrandTA82
9 years ago
I've been watching An American Tail for 31 years now and in all of my viewings I can honestly say I've never once got the sense of Fievel and Tanya as lovers. Never occurred to me once in any capacity, not at age 4 and not at age 33. If anything I always found the relationship between Fievel and Tanya to be incredibly one sided. It's clear that Tanya loves her brother, yet Fievel never seems to acknowledge her, if anything he always seems oblivious to her presence. The family member that Fievel seems to the closet to is his father, he definitely acknowledges his mother and he ran into a cat attack to get his baby sister to stop crying (then she vanishes midway through the film). He never so much as even acknowledges Tanya's presence until the very end of the movie and even then he gives her a hug when they reunite and laughs with her when there riding on Henri. The first movie never so much as even has one piece of dialogue between the two characters, so no I can't say I found their relationship romantic, I found it one sided. At least in the novelization Fievel at least acknowledges and does some interacting with Tanya.
As for Tanya pining for Fievel, well the Mouskitwitz are a very close knit family and this is shown pretty much from the first scene. Tanya is older and probably feels a certain sense of responsibility when it comes to Fievel, older siblings usually are protective of younger ones in some form. Even more so if you consider Fievel's never ending ability to impulsively run into trouble. So I always saw Tanya's feeling as coming from that and likely the desire to want to see her family home again, papa was clearly deeply affected by the loss of Fievel.
In regards to the poster, well that's not the original poster, that the poster that was created for the 1998 release of An American Tail and Fievel Goes on West on video. They released the movies with new cover artwork and Tanya is drawn the way she looks in Fievel Goes West, not how she looks in An American Tail. Personally I hate that cover artwork because Tanya should look the way she looked in the movie, not how she looks in the other movie. Also notice that Tiger looks like a main character, despite not appearing until the tail end of the movie.
This however is the original 1986 movie poster http://www.movieposter.com/poster/mpw-32790/american_tail.html
Really your gonna say there's something romantic about that?
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jinxlover
9 years ago
I agree with MJN about the flexibility of the song. This movie came out when I was 4 and was one of my favorites. The song always made me think of separated love, not necessarily lovers but people who love each other and aren't together. In fact, I always used to sing it when I was waiting for my husband and I to be able to adopt a child. For me, the thought that my child was somewhere out there, under the same moon as me and wishing that we'd find one another too kept me going for those long years before our adoption. The song has been played to her at bedtime every night over the last year and a half since she became ours, and she recognized it immediately as "her" song the first time we watched the movie. I never thought of it as a song for lovers, but it may be because I was just a child when I first saw it and had no concept of romance.
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