Warren T. Rat

Warren T. Rat (real named as Warren T. Cat) is the main antagonist of An American Tail. He is a cat in rat's clothing and the leader of the Mott Street Maulers, a gang of cats who terrorize the mice of New York City. He is accompanied nearly all the time by his accountant, Digit, a small British cockroach.

He was voiced by the late John Finnegan.

Bio
He is first seen counting money in a human suitcase. His cockroach accountant, Digit, complains about his smoking habits. Warren, not caring in the slightest, suggests that he could fire him; Digit, however, seems to enjoy the idea, being extremely unhappy of his current work conditions. After Digit counts his money, Warren T. finds out that he has 50 cents less than yesterday, which upsets him since he hates to lose money. By chance, Fievel lands into Warren T.'s business area, where Digit tells Warren T. that Moe, an associate of his, pays 50 cents a day for each child brought to him. Warren T. then gains Fievel's trust with a false promise to help find his family and a quote from Shakespeare.

Some time later, Warren T. hands Fievel over to Moe, telling Fievel that he doesn't a family now that he's got a job and telling Moe to send him Fievel's salary.

He is later mentioned by Honest John during the wake for Mickey O'Hare, where it's revealed that Warren T. is extorting money from other mice for protection from the cats that he never provides.

He isn't seen again until late into the movie. Fievel runs into him in the Maulers' Hideout, where he is poorly playing his violin. Fievel finds out, after Warren T. removes his false nose, that Warren T. isn't a rat, but a cat in disguise! When Warren T. sees Fievel and finds out that his true identity has been discovered, he has his henchmen capture Fievel and sends Tiger to watch over him. However, when Fievel escapes (with help from his guard, who is actually vegetarian), Tiger gets fired from his position in the Maulers (which he finds a good thing, as he never liked Warren T. or his poor violin playing).

Warren T., disguising himself as a rat again, then gathers his cat gang and chases after Fievel down to Chelsea Pier. Once there, Warren T. tries to negotiate peace with Gussie Mausheimer by demanding all of their money and that they hand Fievel over; however, Tony's slingshot shoots straight through Warren T.'s disguise, revealing that he is a cat (his real name is Warren T. Cat). Realizing that he has all but lost, Warren T. sets Chelsea Pier ablaze in a last ditch attempt to kill the mice with a fire for vengeance. Thankfully, his hopes for victory fall when the Mouse of Minsk is sent after them.

Warren T. and his goons are launched onto a tramp steamer bound for Hong Kong. Warren T. curses Gussie and Fievel's names before reassurring his men that there are plenty of mice in Hong Kong. His last lines are "I wonder how you say 'trust me' in Chinese?".

Trivia and Goofs

 * A rat wearing a purple coat, sandals and glasses named "William B. Prat" (who looks somewhat like Warren T.) is seen in a computer game An American Tail: The Computer Adventure of Fievel and His Friends, which combines An American Tail and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. Whether or not this is another disguise of Warren T.'s has yet to be seen, but it seems likely due to the resemblance between the two characters.


 * Warren's size is inconsistent throughout the movie. In the scenes where he is in costume and standing next to Moe he is the size of an adult mouse, but later in the movie he is the size of a normal cat.
 * His final line of dialog did not appear in the theatrical or VHS release, but was added to the DVD.
 * A very similar character to Warren named Rocko was slated to appear as the villain in Don Bluth's first feature, Banjo the Woodpile Cat. However, Bluth could not raise enough money to make Banjo a full-length feature, so the character was cut, and then later revised by Bluth for An American Tail.
 * Although his true colors are not revealed until near the climax, he is the main villain, because he was actually the Mott Street Maulers' boss and had bigger plans than they did. Plus, he was thought to be a friend to Fievel, but is actually against him.
 * He bears a physical resemblance to The Coachman from Disney's Pinocchio.
 * Warren T. Rat is one of the (if not THE) most evil villains in the franchise (others who approach his level of wickedness include Mr. Grasping, Chief McBrusque, and Madame Mousey).
 * Warren's Shakespeare quote just before he sells Fievel to a sweatshop, "Oh pardon me thou bleeding piece of Earth, that I am meek and gentle with these butchers..." comes from specifically Antony's lament over Caesar's dead body after he was betrayed by Brutus. Meaning it was a clue that Warren was about to betray Fievel.