All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

All Dogs Go to Heaven (Dir: Don Bluth, 1989). 

The fourth feature film from former Disney animator Don Bluth. Animated in Ireland at the director's Sullivan Bluth Studios, with financial support from Goldcrest Films.

All Dogs Go to Heaven relates the life and death and life again story of Charlie B. Barkin, a likeable rogue of a German shepherd (voiced by Burt Reynolds) murdered by former partner and gambling kingpin Carface (Vic Tayback). Resisting the heavenly appeal of the afterlife, Charlie makes a break from the pearly gates to return to the living and seek vengeance on his killer. Earthbound, Charlie reunites with sausage dog pal Itchy whom he engages to wreak revenge. Held captive in Carface's basement is orphaned girl Anne-Marie who the pair rescue with the ulterior motive of using her animal communication skills (stay with me) to secure big wins at the racetrack. Promising to find her a family, Anne-Marie’s realisation that the shepherd has used her for his own ill gains impels her escape. Regretting his selfish deed, Charlie sets out to rescue the girl, signalling an all action climax and final confrontation with dirty dog Carface. 

While a visually appealing movie, All Dogs Go to Heaven does feel a little derivative of earlier features. Notably, with its mix of animals, orphans and a Louisiana bayou setting, Disney's The Rescuers (Wolfgang Reitherman, John Lounsbery and Art Stevens, 1977); a movie on which Bluth served as animator. The backstreets canine capers also recalls Disney's Oliver and Company (George Scribner, 1988), the movie which bested Bluth's The Land Before Time (D Bluth, 1988) at the box office a year earlier. The bad guy returning from heaven to find redemption plot is a chestnut older than Hollywood itself, although I am not aware of it appearing in an animated feature before. It also suffers from a convoluted, disjointed narrative. Indeed, when a giant singing alligator appeared I fear both I and the filmmakers had kind of lost the plot! Add to this some forgettable songs by Charles Strouse and T. J. Kuenster and it is not difficult to appreciate why All Dogs... underwhelmed at the box office. 

On the plus side is Bluth's distinctive design and some appealing character animation. The starry cast is attractive too. Aside from Reynolds are Loni Anderson as a down on her luck collie and Bluth regular Dom DeLuise as Charlie's flea infested comic cohort Itchy the dachshund. Special mention must also be given to Judith Barsi; the talented youngster's cute vocal performance as Anne-Marie would sadly be her last. 

While the movie eventually turned a profit in the home market, it initially had the misfortune of sharing its release date with Disney's The Little Mermaid (John Musker and Ron Clements, 1989). The blockbuster fairytale cemented Walt Disney Animation Studios' artistic and financial renaissance; in direct competition Bluth's movie was deemed a disappointment, although by no means a disaster.

With its themes of gambling, death and a fairly intense depiction of the underworld, some parents may consider All Dogs Go to Heaven a little unsuitable for younger viewers. More likely, most adults will probably find it a bit weird; something which kids are certain to be less bothered about! Ultimately this  shaggy dog story is a little dogeared but it does have a peculiar charm all of its own. Children, in particular, are sure to overlook its shortcomings and should find much to enjoy in an appealing mutt of a movie.