The Fearless Four (1997)

The Fearless Four (German: Die furchtlosen Vier) is a 1997 animated film about four funny animals that all have one thing in common: they want to sing, but can't for whatever reason. The film was produced by Munich Animation and released by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Plot
The film follows the carefree lives of easygoing bloodhound Buster, the woeful mule Fred, the graceful Siamese cat Gwendolyn and the self-assured rooster Tortellini. Originally intending to go to Paris to seek fame, Buster and Fred, and Tortellini and Gwen later, wind up going in the wrong direction — to Bremen. They only realize their mistake when they get lost in a forest and come upon an owl, who tells them they are, in fact, nowhere near Paris. She does however, point them in the direction of Bremen, the nearest city.

Setting up as street performers the next day, they attract the attention of a few people, and regardless of the apparent ordnance against street performers, get scouted by Mix Max (a mass media and food making company which is later revealed to be an animal genocide prison) managers, who refers them to the corporate head, who in turn agrees to sign them on. The Fearless Four (as they have dubbed themselves) agree to sign a contract, with only slight vocal reservations. It is perhaps worth noting that the caricature of one of the music managers is a stereotypical girly man, with a ponytail and a lisp.

Originally billed as a rock and "classic" (meaning 80s-esque) music group, the Four's rock songs send Mix Max stocks soaring in several newspapers (the Fall Street Journal among them). As they get tired of the public eye, things get steadily worse for the group, which isn't helped by their rebellious attitude. They end up being put in jail and Fred gets tickle tortured as punishment. They later plan a prison break (with the help of Mozart, who is just a little bat-eared mouse), discovers Mix Max's inside purpose to produce red meat by slaughtering animals, but they are apparently recaptured and then they finally get Mix Max out of buisness during an election.

The story was very loosely inspired by the folk tale of the Town Musicians of Bremen.