‘All Dogs Go to Heaven’ has dark premises
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Don't let my headline fool you. When it comes to classic cartoon films "All Dogs Go To Heaven" is one of my favorites.
Sure, it makes me cry like a baby at the end. And some of the scenes scared the snot out of me as a child (and maybe a little now… but don't tell anyone). But through its somewhat dark storyline is a wonderful film about the importance of dogs.
It's no secret I'm a dog lover. I've written two columns now about how much I love my senior dog Clifford. So I don't think anyone should be really shocked that when I stumbled across 1989's "All Dogs Go to Heaven" on Netflix I had to watch it again.
The movie, directed by Don Bluth and co-directed by Gary Goldman, stars Burt Reynolds as Charlie B. Barkin, a con artist German Shepherd.
In 1939 New Orleans we see Charlie escape from death row in a dog pound with the help of his Dachshund best friend Itchy (Dom DeLuise).
Charlie returns to the casino he and his partner Carface (Vic Tayback) run to the excitement of its customers. What fun loving Charlie doesn't know is that Carface got him sent to the pound in an attempt to keep all the profits from their business venture. And since then he's been cheating patrons.
Carface manages to convince Charlie to step back from the business ensuring him that he'd still receive some of the profits. Meanwhile, Itchy learns that Carface and his slimy henchman Killer (Charles Nelson Reilly) are planning to murder Charlie.
Itchy rushes to save his best friend but is too late. Carface sends a vehicle careening towards an unsuspecting (and kind of drunk) Charlie, and sends him speeding to heaven.
There a confused and angry Charlie learns from a Whippet angel that he's dead and is in heaven. Because all dogs go to heaven of course. Obviously, Charlie isn't going to let that fly. He tricks the Whippet and steals the watch representing his life force, turning it back. The whippet, angry with him, warns him that he'd never be able to return to heaven as he's sent flying back to earth.
Charlie finds Itchy at their home, a junkyard, and learns about a so-called monster that Carface has trapped underneath the casino. Itchy reluctantly takes him to the monster where they learn it's just a little girl, Anne-Marie (Judith Barsi). The pair learn that the 7-year-old orphan can speak to animals and Carface has been using her to rig rat races.
Charlie convinces Itchy to steal the girl away, promising her that they'd help her find a mommy and daddy. Of course, his trip to heaven hasn't changed the sneaky German Shephard. He's got a score to settle with his former partner, who of course eventually learns he's back and wants him dead.
I won't spoil much more beyond that. Suffice to say, there are a lot of dark and scary parts to this movie.
"All Dogs Go to Heaven" doesn't shy away from creating some terrifying scenarios, such as Charlie dreaming of going to the underworld. Not to mention there was his murder and murder attempts by Carface when he returns to the land of living.
The center of this film to me is about the goodness of dogs. At the end of the day all dogs (except maybe Killer or Carface in my opinion) deserve to go to heaven because as the Whippet angel said they don't have bad intentions like humans often have.
Even Charlie, a somewhat sneaky and underhanded pooch learns to put Anne-Marie above himself. He even goes as far as to (spoiler) sacrifice his own life to save hers.
I can promise you, if you are a dog or animal lover, the ending will make you cry. For me personally, it's up there with some of the heartbreaking moments Disney and Pixar movies love to smack us in the face with. But it's bittersweet to me. Charlie got a chance of a do over (although it wasn't permitted) and he did it right. He saved Anne-Marie and learned to love more than just himself.
And in the end, like the title of the movie indicates, he gets to go to heaven.
"All Dogs Go to Heaven" is a wonderful film. Between its easy to follow storyline, some catchy tunes like "Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" and its message it really checks all the boxes for me. Plus it has dogs… although the ending is pretty sad.
Props go to director Don Bluth for this. Bluth was no stranger to creating somewhat gritty yet still heartfelt films. He'd previously directed animated movies like "The Secret of NIMH" and "The Land Before Time" both of which are also great movies. Maybe I'll review one of those next…
"All Dogs Go to Heaven" is rated G, although as I mentioned before there are some kind of dark and violent scenes, and can be viewed on Netflix.
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Laura Jameson is a staff reporter for The Express.