Animation Celebration Double Feature - All Dogs Go to Heaven & All Dogs Go to Heaven 2

Don Bluth was riding high at the end of the 1980's. His independent animation studio had hit it big with An American Tail and The Land Before Time, unusually dramatic stories with strong child protagonists, and in the case of Tail, a couple of lovely songs. Things fell apart almost as soon as All Dogs Go To Heaven was released...on the same day in November 1989 as The Little Mermaid. The non-Bluth sequel went out amid a glut of animated musicals in 1996 and did even worse. Did they deserve their un-heavenly fate, or do they earn their canine wings? Let's head to a dog pound in New Orleans, where a certain pooch is about to be sprung from jail, and find out...

All Dogs Go to Heaven
United Artists, 1989
Voices of Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLouise, Vic Tayback, and Judith Barsi
Directed by Don Bluth
Music by Ralph Burns; Lyrics by Charles Strouse, T.J Kuenster, Al Kasha, and Joel Hirchhorn

The Story: In 1939 New Orleans, German Shepard Charlie Barkin (Reynolds) is rescued from the pound by his good friend Itchy (DeLouise), only to be murdered by his greedy partner Carface Carruthers (Vic Tayback). Bored in heaven, he resets the watch that represents his life and returns to Earth. He and Itchy discover that Carface is using a little human girl named Anne Marie (Barsi) who can talk to animals and find out which rat is going to win at the races. Charlie convinces her to join him by telling the orphan that he'll help her find parents. Her abilities help them win enough money at various animal races for Charlie to open his own club. Carface, meanwhile, isn't happy that he lost his money ticket or that Charlie seems to have cheated death, and Charlie's worried that losing that watch will mean he'll end up in a far worse place than heaven...

The Animation: Colorful and lively, this isn't as groundbreaking as Mermaid, but it does have a charm of its own. The backgrounds are lush and detailed, especially in two rather scary nightmare sequences with Itchy dreaming of what happened to his friend and Charlie's reverie on what'll happen if he does end up in Hell. The animals in particular are well-designed.

The Song and Dance: This may be Don Bluth's strangest movie...and considering his films feature everything from roosters whose voice controls the sun to the Earth blowing up, that's saying a lot. Reynolds and DeLouise were good friends in real life who apparently recorded together and ad-libbed a lot of their dialogue (as did Tayback and Reilly), and it shows in the loosey-goosey structure and some very funny lines. At the very least, you can't say it isn't original, probably one of the most unique animated films in existence. It's also fairly mature for an animated movie from this era, with its frank discussions of death, murder, betrayal, and the afterlife.

Favorite Number: Charlie's "You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" is his introductory number after he's sprung from the pound. It's a catchy tune with lyrics that perfectly emphasize Charlie's "never say die" (pardon the pun) attitude. "Let's Make Music Together" with King Gator in the sewer may not make much sense, but it's probably the film's best song, and Reynolds and Ken Page have a lot of fun with it. My favorite song from this as a kid was the charming "What's Mine Is Yours," which Charlie sings to the puppies of his old girlfriend Flo (Reynolds' then-wife Loni Anderson) in an attempt to get them to share a slice of pizza.

Trivia: This was the last movie for Judith Barsi, who was tragically murdered by her father shortly after recording her dialogue for the film, and Vic Tayback, who died in 1990. Barsi's death and several other shocking shootings around the same time prompted Bluth to remove some of the more extreme violence and change Killer's machine gun to a "Buck Rogers ray gun."

For all the problems it had on release, like Charlie, the movie did get a second chance at a happy ending. It was a best-seller when it came out on video, in fact the top-selling video of 1990. The popularity of the video is how it earned a sequel in the first place (see below).

What I Don't Like: Despite Bluth removing some of the darker scenes, this is still very disturbing for a kid's movie. Along with the fairly heavy violence, the dogs drink, smoke, abuse every animal around (including humans), gamble, and kill each other.  It was too dark for many critics at the time, who complained noisily about the violence and the gangster theme. It was so grim, I remember there being a brief snippet at the end of the original VHS release that had Dom DeLouise basically warning kids not to do anything that Charlie or his friends do in the film.

The tone is all over the place. Charlie and Carface are playing a 30's Warner gangster movie, but Anne Marie is basically a cross between Snow White and Annie. She's way too sticky-sweet, especially in her big song, "Soon You'll Come Home." Then there's the cutesy "Mine Is Yours" number, the rather infamous King Gator song that has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the movie (though Gator does show up later to deal with Carface), and the Grand Chawhee horse that wins the race comes off as a bit of a mentally disabled stereotype.

The Big Finale: While not Bluth's best picture (or as good as Mermaid), it's still got some decent animation, a good score, and a nice cast in a truly original story. If you have older kids who love animals and can handle the grittier aspects of the plot, they may find a lot to enjoy here.

Home Media: The movie's popularity on video has continued into the disc and streaming era. It can easily be found in all major formats, often bundled with it's sequel (see below).

DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime

All Dogs Go to Heaven 2
MGM/United Artists, 1996
Voices of Charlie Sheen, Sheena Easton, Dom DeLouise, and Ernest Borganine
Directed by Paul Sabella and Larry Leker
Music by Mark Watters

The Story: Heaven still doesn't do much for Charlie (Sheen), even after Itchy (DeLouise) arrives. It's even less fun for Carface (Borganine). Bored stiff, he steals Gabriel's Horn, then loses it somewhere over San Francisco in 1995. Annabelle (Bebe Neuwirth), the head angel, sends Charlie and Itchy back to Earth to collect it, armed with one miracle. They're ghosts when they arrive, unable to be seen by the physical world, including pretty Irish setter singer Sasha (Easton). Carface, however, is able to interact with those around him, thanks to a red collar he got from a fortune teller (George Hearn). Charlie and Itchy get their own collars that allow them to be seen for one day.

They befriend Sasha, who brings them to visit David (Adam Wylie), the little boy she's living with. David wants to become a street performer, and even makes the dogs part of his act. Charlie does manage to find the horn...but he hides it in order to remain on Earth. What he doesn't know is that fortune teller isn't what he seems...and he has plans for that horn, and for the three ghostly pooches and their human...

The Animation: A mild step down. On one hand, it retains the gorgeous color palatte of the original film, but otherwise, the animation is less lush and detailed and more Saturday morning cartoon. Some of the effects in Heaven and during the villain's big numbers are rather well-done, and the action-packed finale looks pretty good.

The Song and Dance: Considering most animated sequels from the 90's and early 2000's range from "ok" to "should be in Hell with Carface," this one is surprisingly not bad. At the very least, it's a bit less violent than the previous film, with a lighter and somewhat more even tone. Adam is less sugary than Anne-Marie and gets in on the action a lot more, and Sheena Easton is quite good as sassy and tough Sasha. Sheen isn't bad as Charlie, either; his relationship with Sasha is funny and even touching. Red is honestly a far better villain than Carface, and George Hearn (who knows a bit about scary villains - he was the title character during the later run of the original Broadway cast of Sweeney Todd) has a great time playing him to the hilt.

Favorite Number: Sheena Easton gets two pretty good numbers, her big solo in the bar "Count Me Out" that has Charlie trying to flirt with her even though she can't see him, and their lovely duet "I Will Always Be With You." Hearn has a blast with his big evil solo telling how he'll take over two realms, "It Feels So Good to Be So Bad." (It has a number worthy of it, too, with some of the best animation in the movie.)

Trivia: Though the movie failed at the box office, it still lead to an animated series that ran from 1996 to 1999 and a Christmas special, An All Dogs Christmas Carol.

What I Don't Like: The lighter tone does make it more kid-friendly, but there's still a lot of violence for a family musical. The plot involving the theft of the horn and how Red wants to take over Heaven makes no sense whatsoever. As much fun as Hearn is, his character is pure evil for evil's sake and isn't really that deep. I really wish they'd retained the 1930's setting, or maybe moved it ahead a bit to the 50's or 60's. The 90's backdrop makes it look like every other animated action movie from the mid-90's onwards. Some of the goofier slapstick probably could have been trimmed, too.

The Big Finale: If you have younger kids who love dogs, I'd start them on this or the series before going to the original film. For everyone else, it's a cute enough time-passer if you're a fan of the original film, Easton, or Sheen.

Home Media: Same deal; this can be found easily on every format, often bundled with the original film.

DVD
DVD - All Dogs Go to Heaven 1 & 2
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime