Tooniversary: Fievel's American Tails (1992)

 Spun off from the movie, "An American Tail" and its sequel, "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West", Fievel's American Tails ran for one season on CBS in 1992.

In the series, Fievel (Philip Glasser) becomes more of a Walter Mitty-esque dreamer, whose daydreams often get him in trouble with his parents. Glasser, Cathy Cavadini, & Dom DeLuise are the only actors from the movies to cross over to the series.

To illustrate the point about Fievel's daydreaming, "A Mouse Named Zorrowitz" is a parody, of course, of Zorro, who was back on the air in live-action form at the time on Family Channel, and whose animated adventures had aired on CBS 11 years earlier. The Lone Ranger had been parodied in the series opener.

So why did it fail? Like the show it replaced, Back to The Future, it was on too early in the morning for the target audience, airing in the lead-off spot of CBS' lineup. Had it aired, say, 2 hours later, maybe it works.

Rating: B.