All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989)

All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989)

6/10

Starring the voices of

Burt Reynolds

Judith Barsi

Dom DeLuise

Vic Tayback

Directed by Don Bluth

The animation is not that smooth, the voice acting is not perfect and the plot has as much holes as you can find, but put it all together All Dogs Go To Heaven is a classic animation from the 80s.

Here is a childhood adventure I watched and watched again numerous times non-stop because there is something about the tale and the music, that makes me all nostalgic and keeps me seated. The voice of the girl Anne-Marie was done by the late Judith Barsi (her last role) who died at age ten, a year before the film was released.

You can tell that this animation does not have the magical Disney touch of the 80s. Even though it has somehow developed into one of those cult classics of the 80s, it still cannot stand up to many of the Disney animation done at that time.

The below plot summary has a few spoilers which will mar the first twenty minutes of the movie.

All Dogs Go To Heaven tells the story of a German Shepherd dog named Charlie. This is a dog world where the animals have their own underground life and run things without human intervening. Note the human world also exist, just that humans and animals cannot understand each other.

Charlie just got out after being busted out by his best friend Itchy (a Dachshund), they both return to a casino that Charlie co-owns with Carface, a mixed Pit bull.

Carface surprised by Charlie getting out does not want to share the casino with him and starts to plot how to get rid of Charlie.

This led to Charlie being murdered and he wounds up in heaven to discover that all dogs go to heaven. Charlie is a con artist and he was able to find the one thing that can return him back to earth and he took the chance after being warned that by doing this he will never be able to return.

Charlie knows of a secret that Carface has and he intends to hurt Carface back for his betrayal.

Coming back from the dead was a heavy thing for Itchy, but the moment he comes around they both break into Carface’s home and see a little girl named Anne-Marie who can talk to animals. They lure her away with promises to do everything to help her get what she wants, if she can help them get what they want – revenge on Carface.

The movie is about how this plan of Charlie and the added responsibility go down.

In the end the movie was a success. At the time not a critical success, but a commercial one which led to a sequel and a series. It is still a fun movie for children to watch and some lessons about responsibility to pass on them.