There was a time when my best friend and I, as teenagers, decided to see every single film that a local second-run multiplex carried. We pulled it off for over 2 years, and saw lots of great movies. This wasn't one of them.
We avoided seeing Fievel Goes West for most of its run; we found out it was going to be pulled out, though, and saw the last showing on the last day. We learned several things; one- parents of children are very suspicious of older males without children, when they are in a children's movie. Two- Bluth and Spielburg hate childless people.
I found the movie to be cloyingly sweet, with a childish plot and script, annoying dialogue, idiotic jokes, and very little in the way of humor. Granted, were I three, the movie would have been a gas, but unlike many other "childrens'" movies, there is *nothing* directed at the adults in the audience. No asides, no double-layered jokes... nothing.
The voice-acting is great, of course, but I cringe when I think of what the movie makers put their talented cast through. Every voice actor and actress in this deserves something better...
The animation is great and Disneyesque, but very "bouncy". I don't know how else to describe it. Everyone's skeletal structure is 100% cartilage or something... after years of watching anime, despite the quality of the animation, it's actually embarrassing to watch. At least it's not as bad as the 30's Van Beuren stuff. I can appreciate the technical wherewithal, but not the "entertainment value" of this style of animation...
Bottom line? Bring a kid along, and enjoy the child's enjoyment... otherwise you're going to need insulin afterwards.