All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

Really Surprised!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

When I was 11 I saw this for the first time and it became my favorite movie. I watched it once a month, if not more. (Probably a little more.) Despite dark scenes like Charlie being killed and his "hellish" dream, I loved this. Now, it's alright. I'm 19 and although I love animation, movies like this do not grab my attention. I actually now prefer the sequel. So, in short, good for mature kids, but not mature adults.

This movie was really a mixed bag for me and I guess it wasn't quite as good as I thought. I will always give it credit for being better than most of Don Bluth's later work. First, let's look at the positives. The animation is as good as any other Don Bluth film. Second, the voices are great and this is probably Dom DeLuise at his most entertaining voice. Third, this movie really does seem to tackle some interesting topics. I simply love the scenes where Charlie's in Heaven and we get to see this great place in all its detail. It really does have an interesting spiritual tone to it.There seem to be few movies about going to Heaven. Unfortunately, there were a lot of awkward parts. There were simply too many songs and a lot of them weren't that good. It's really weird with how scenes of the well, big lipped alligator, although I guess he does technically have relevance to the plot as he appears more at the end. I was disappointed that they didn't show Heaven more. The dog angel was probably the most entertaining character in the film and I really did want to see more of that world. I guess this was just an okay film from Don Bluth, but I encourage people to watch it and get their own opinion. **1/2

I liked the sequel better than this. And there's nothing special about that. But at least it was consistent. All Dogs Go to Heaven is on the track to be a great animated movie, but just doesn't sit well with me. Its well-animated, its got spunk, its pretty dark...its also generic and poorly scripted.At its heart, All Dogs Go to Heaven is your typical liar's tale. Guy's a scumbag, guy tries to rip-off innocent victims, guy learns to love them, guy is revealed, guy is rejected, guy saves the day, risking his physical desires for friendship, guy finds redemption. ADGtH travels through each of these plot points. More importantly...I kind of hate Charley. Even for this kind of plot, he's dumb, exploitative, and selfish. I struggled to believe any of his growth with Anne-Marie. Towards the end, I was suffering from whiplash - one moment, he likes her, the next he doesn't care, then he goes to save her! Ugh! >3<And, of course, who can forget the big-lipped, surprisingly-racist, giant alligator? An annoying creature in an elsewise relatively serious movie. And what was up with that ray gun? That was built up, then quickly reduced to a gag.Okay, its not as bad as all my complaints make it out to be. I don't hate it. Its defiantly overrated though. I'd only recommend it to those who love late 80s nostalgia.

In 1939 New Orleans, Charlie Barkin, a roguish German Shepherd (voiced by Burt Reynolds), is working with his gangster business partner, a smoking bulldog named Carface (voiced by Vic Tayback), at a casino fashioned out of a derelict oil tanker. Wanting to take all the earnings for himself, Carface frames Charlie and has him sent to a pound, but Charlie escapes with the help of his best friend Itchy, a nervous Dachshund (voiced by Dom Deluise at his funniest). The two of them arrive back at the casino in the middle of a rat race, and celebrate their breakout with the catchy as heck musical number "You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down".But Charlie still believes that he and Carface are partners. Eager for 100% of the profit, Carface and his neurotic sidekick Killer (voiced by Charles Nelson Reilly) get Charlie drunk and then kill him by running an automobile over him. Charlie shoots straight into the sky and lands at the pearly gates. He arrives in what appears to be the sort of Heaven that a child might imagine, located in the clouds, where everyone floats around and is dressed in a robe with halos above their heads, and where lions are resting with lambs. A Whippet Angel there explains to Charlie that all dogs naturally go to heaven because they are inherently good, unlike humans. But because Charlie has spent his life being a gambler and drinker, he is unimpressed with heaven and how everything is orderly and pre-planned. He sings "Let Me be Surprised", in which he complains that he wants to go back to earth where he doesn't know what's going to come. He cheats his death by stealing his life watch, a glowing pocket watch, and winds it up, allowing him to return to earth. For a place that knows everything that is to come, they sure didn't see that coming. Through the rest of the movie, the angel's voice coming from the watch says "You can never come back", a very haunting and unsettling line. Back on earth again, Charlie reunites with Itchy and plots his revenge on Carface to "ruin him and make him suffer slowly and painfully."You know, for kids!So as Charlie sneaks into an air vent to enter Carface's basement, he finds him there talking to a young girl named Anne-Marie (the voice of this character was Judith Barsi's last performance). It turns out she has a rare ability to speak to animals. Carface has her held against her will so she can talk to rats, giving him an advantage when betting on races, which are apparently rigged so that those who speak the rats' language can know in advance of the outcome. Carface keeps making promises to Anne-Marie that she can go outside the basement, but breaks them. Being an orphan, Anne-Marie is sad and lonely.When Carface leaves, Charlie rescues Anne-Marie and plans to use her in the same way Carface does. He says that in return he would help her find a mom and dad, though he has no intention of doing so. A memorable seen takes place the following evening when Charlie, Anne- Marie, and Itchy sleep inside a taxi at a landfill. Charlie is eager to get Anne-Marie to fall asleep so he can talk privately about his plan with Itchy, but she keeps getting up and asking him things such as "Can I sleep here?" or "May I have a goodnight kiss?", to which Charlie is annoyed and more smacks her with is tongue than kisses her. She also prays to God, thanking Him for Charlie and Itchy, which is a bit confusing since the Heaven we see in this movie appears to be nondenominational. So the next day, they go out to the park to grab a few bucks from someone's wallet to start their betting, while Anne-Marie is just searching for a pair who might adopt her. As she introduces herself to a young couple, Charlie snags the man's wallet and takes Anne-Marie away. And before long, Charlie makes out like a bandit at horse races and other events including---kangaroo boxing?Soon, Charlie has his own bar and casino built. But when Anne-Marie becomes upset that he hasn't used any money for the poor, Charlie decides to stay to true to the promise. So he brings pizza to an abandoned church where a litter of a puppies are cared for by a collie named Flo (voiced by Loni Anderson). The pups start fighting over the pizza, leading to Charlie singing a sort of Jamaican song about the values of sharing. I guess the writers had to add in a message for young children, as the main theme of the movie is more adult.So Anne-Marie finds the wallet that Charlie stole from the man and sees the couple's wedding photo inside. She goes up to the church's attic to sleep, and sings a "Somewhere Out There"-like song, in an audibly different voice I might add, about how soon she will find a mom and dad.Though this movie isn't as dear to my heart as "The Land Before Time" (I admit I watched this one fairly recently), it's pretty good. Burt Reynolds was awesome as the voice of Charlie, giving him the charm of a con man, and in fact all the voice acting is excellent. The animation has the dark texture of "The Secret of NIMH" and the outstanding background details of "The Land Before Time". The pacing does grow slow in the middle, but it all builds to the movie's truly moving conclusion. Young children may be confused and disturbed by the movie, but with the subject material, Don Bluth always respected them (in the 80s, that is). If you have the time, certainly consider the watch.7/10 for "All Dogs Go To Heaven".