All Dogs Go to Heaven
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All Dogs Go to Heaven is a 1989 animated fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and distributed by United Artists in the United States, and The Rank Organization in the United Kingdom. It was a American, British and Irish venture created by Goldcrest Films and Sullivan Bluth Studios.
Synopsis
Canine casino owner Charlie (Burt Reynolds) is killed by gambler Carface (Vic Tayback), but returns to Earth from heaven thanks to the powers of a magical, rewindable watch. Charlie sets out to take his revenge on Carface by means of an elaborate plan that involves an orphan girl, Anne-Marie. But as the plan progresses, Charlie discovers that Anne-Marie is being exploited by Carface. Charlie must decide whether to change his mission from one of revenge to one of rescue.
Why It Always Goes To Heaven
- The animation is nice to look at, considering the fact that this is one of the last major cel-animated films. Despite the fact that it can get inconsistent at times (see BQ# 1).
- It has fabulous vocal performances, especially from Burt Reynolds as Charlie B. Barkin, Dom DeLuise as Itchy Itchiford and Judith Barsi as Anne-Marie (in her last film role before she was shot to death by her own father).
- It has nicely-written songs, two examples being 'Can't Keep a Good Dog Down', and 'Love Survives'. And while they weren't really well-received at the time when the movie was released, they did age rather well with time.
- It has an fantastic moral; don't be a greedy robber. Which is expertly woven into the narrative and not shoved down the audiences throats. As it's instead made to be a major part of the overall story.
- King Gator is a very funny character and became a well-deserved meme.
- "Welcome... to being dead".
- The idea of dogs as gamblers is interesting and thankfully, it was more than well-executed.
- Charlie has one of the best personalities of being a likable jerk. As in spite of his greedy and selfish personality (at least at for a majority of the film), he still manages not to be an unpleasant character. On the contrary, he still manages to be incredibly likable due to his carefree nature and the fact that he still does care for those around him in spite of his brashness and arrogance. This is best shown near the end where he sacrifices himself in order to save Anne-Marie.
- It has a very heartwarming ending scene (where Charlie sacrifices himself to save Anne-Marie and is therefore, welcomed back into Heaven while Anne-Marie is left in Itchy's care).
- The entire premise of Anne-Marie (a girl who can understand animals being used for profitable gain, which, in this movie's case, is to find out which animal to bet on) is very original.
Bad Qualities
- The animation, while good, can get a bit inconsistent at certain moments.
- The narration can get a little, off, at times.
- It doesn't accurately reflect the demographics of New Orleans (where it is set) as there are no black people shown despite the city having one of the largest African American populations, even in 1939 (the year it takes place).
Reception
All Dogs Go to Heaven received mixed reviews from critics, maintaining a 55% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews, and a 50 out of 100 score from Metacritic. Reviewers often drew unfavorable comparisons to The Little Mermaid, criticizing the disjointed narrative, the quality of the animation, and the songs by Charlie Strouse and T.J. Kuenster. The film received a "thumbs down" from Gene Siskel and a "thumbs up" from Roger Ebert on a 1989 episode of their television program At the Movies. While Siskel found it to be "surprisingly weak" given director Don Bluth's previous works, due largely to its "confusing story" and "needlessly violent" scenes, Ebert was a huge fan of the movie's "rubbery and kind of flexible" animation, stating he felt it was a good film despite not being an "animated classic".
Some also found the darker subject material objectionable in a family film, given the film's depictions of death, violence, drinking, smoking, gambling, murder, demons, and images of Hell. Other reviews were mostly positive, with critics praising the film's emotional qualities, humor and vibrant color palette. Roger Ebert, who was unimpressed with Bluth's previous film An American Tail, gave it three out of four stars, remarking that the animation "permits such a voluptuous use of color that the movie is an invigorating bath for the eyes," and that although he preferred The Little Mermaid, which opened on the same day, he still found Dogs to be "bright and inventive". However, film critic Leonard Maltin gave it one-and-a-half out of four stars, due to "unappealing characters, confusing storytelling, and forgettable songs".
Trivia
- This film is probably a parody of the movie trope wherein a dog dies at the end (example; Old Yeller).
- Many dog people have stated this to be their favorite Don Bluth film.
- A music artist and singer named Anne-Marie is named after the character in the movie.
- This was Judith Barsi's (Anne-Marie's voice actress) final film role before she and her mother were shot to death by her drunk father before committing suicide. This is the true reason why Anne-Marie didn't appear in the second film and got replaced by a boy named David.