An American Tail (1986) is a cartoon about Fievel Mousekewitz and his journey from Russia to the United States. Although Fievel and his family are fictional mice, many of their experiences are based on the experiences of real immigrants that left their home countries, were processed through Ellis Island, and lived in New York City. Many of the cartoon characters in this film are based on real people or represent groups of real people who lived in New York at the start of the 20th century. In order for audiences to make these connections, movie makers often rely on characters or exaggerations of character traits or behaviors so audiences can make the connection between the movie character and its real-world counterpart.