All Dogs go to Heaven Review

1989 Film Poster.

My Rating: 6/10

All Dogs go to heaven is probably the best film that’s come out of independent animator Don Bluth. For those who don’t know, Don Bluth used to work at Disney during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. He left because he felt Disney was going downhill and started his own company. I thought I would watch his film again, as it is one of the films I remember from my childhood. I’ll admit my 8 year old experience was far greater. One thing I’ll always praise his films for, regardless of how boring they are, his animation is fantastic. Several of his films receive bad reviews and never gross as much as they were budgeted. How he kept making films I don’t know, but this is one of his best.

Plot:

All Dogs go to Heaven is all about ‘dogs'. The film opens up with our two characters, Itchy and Charlie. Charlie is our main character and is money driven gambling dog, and business owner of a casino. The beginning of the film has us sit through their journey of getting out of prison (apparently he was framed). So he gets out of prison with the help of his best friend itchy and goes back to his business. This is where we meet his business partner, Carface. (The name is clearly spoofing Al Pacino in ‘Scarface’). Only Carface is a fat, aggressive and bad tempered dog who enjoys smoking cigars. The rest of the film is about Charlie going to heaven, coming back down, rescuing an orphan who can talk to animals and making his own casino. Oh and the film is based in 1939.

Carface. the classic Gangster.

The Cast:

I us admit, Don Bluth got some big names in there. Not only that, but the film some recognisable voice acting.

Don DeLuise (R.I.P): He is the voice of Itchy. You may recognise his voice from being a guest star on Rugrats and Dexter’s Laboratory. He also appeared in some of Mel Brooks films.

Charles Nelson Reilly: (R.I.P) The voice of Killer, the neurotic mole of a dog who hangs around Carface. You’ll recognise his voice if you've seen the episodes of SpongeBobSquarePants with the Dirty Bubble.

This is Killer. Very wimpy isn't he?

Burt Reynolds: Reynolds brought life to the character Charlie and did an excellent job.

Vic Tayback: (R.I.P) He only died 1 year after All Dogs go to Heaven was released. Tayback was the amazing voice behind Carface.

As A Kids Film

I have to admit, when I said I remember it from my childhood, it was the scary parts of the film I seem to remember most. Some parts of this film will scare younger children under 10 years old, because it sure scared me. The film is quit demonic at some scenes. At the end of the film we see a Satan version of a dog, which is shrouded and evil looking. Another character who I quite frantically remember is the big singing crocodile. Doesn’t appear for long, but he was a pretty fun singing croc. Younger audiences will enjoy this film a lot more but it seems that on Bluth films feature quite dark and harsh things for kids’ films. He just about gets the G (or U) certificate on his films. Another example would be his film The Secret of Nimh, which featured some strong imagery.

Overview:

Well to conclude this film I’d like to say that it isn’t that much of a great film, but still offers a lot and isn’t a half bad film. It’s fairly enjoyable and worth checking out. It’s filled with great voice acting, satanic scenes and enough energy to keep you enthralled.

My Ratings (out of 10)

Story: 6.6 - Enough to keep you satisfied.

Characters: 7

Emotion: 6.8

Visuals & Editing: 7.2

Direction & Cinematography: 5.9
Music: 6

Overall: 6.4/10