Too many fans seem to be blown away

Sadly Over-hyped

Just so...so bad

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Warning don't read unless seen the film.This film is another one of my favorate animated films of all time and probably my forth favorate film from one of my favorate animated directors Don Bluth. Though I'll admit this isn't the easiest film to watch, despite a fun film it's also one of the saddest film's I've ever seen. I rarely cry in movies but this film is one of the ones I actually did. And considering the case of what happened with voice actress Judith Barsi, it's all the more sadder. Considering the story line of the film and her it's ironically errie much like with Brandon Lee and the film "The Crow" which is another story, though it's storyline is a bit erriely similar to this film if you think about the context.Anyway down to business, the animation is great it's the kind you would see from any Don Bluth film which I wouldn't want any other way. The music is just great this film has some of the best songs and musical numbers from cheerful to even some really sad tunes. One fun number I really like is "You can't keep a good dog down" which I always found funny though also strangely encouraging as it's about not letting life get you down. The song "Love Survives" is beautiful and is one of my favorite end credit themes though it's also really sad as it's the perfect swan song for Judith.Characters are great, Burt Rennalds and Dom Deliwese are a fun comic duo as usual and this was kinda one of the last time both got together (the other an episode of "Robot Chicken"). Both I feel are at their best, I really like how both characters their not really good or bad people but sort of in a grey area; their both people that want more out of life but are looking to get all the wrong things. Itchy (Dom Deliwese) is really funny, Dom is great at putting in that nervious energy to his character (hence the name Itchy). He's sort Charlie's number two as he's the mechanic/engeneer to his schemes. But what I like about his character is he really is a person of conscious, despite going along with Charlie and his schemes he's not all for it. And you can say a bit of a voice of conscious for Charlie if not a perfect conscious, as he warns Charlie both might be in over their heads or gone too far. Charlie most of the time waves it off despite the fact Ichy is actually on the money.Charlie (Burt Renalds) is also really funny and a fun character. He's pretty much a slick griffter and gambler, he has just this dry infectious charisma and energy. Despite doing the wrong thing most of the time, you can't help but forgive the guy because he does wheteher he knows it or not is capable of carring. He does love and think about his friend Itchy and after a while Anne Marie. However what really makes the dynamic complete is Anne Marie played beautiful by Judith Barsi in sadly her final role. Her character to me is the real heart and soul of the film, she's a character you really feel a deep sense of pathos for as she's an orphan and had next to nothing in life. She is a person that has been used for her mutant ablity which is sort of like the "Beastmaster" as she is somehow able to communicate with different animals probably psychically where near the end somehow she was able to draw all the dogs in the city to her rescue. But her she is just beautiful and sweet inside and out, and all she really wants is a family to love her. There is a sequence in the film where she sings the song "Come Home to my Heart" which is a beautiful and sad song, and as the song is playing we see a montage of Anne looking at photos of a couple and imagining both of them as her parients and the things they would share together. That scene just made me cry, it really made me think about all the other kids whom have no parents and grateful I have a family that loves me. That scene alone all the more made me want Anne to win but also shows Charlie's true mission, it's not revenge or to gain fame and fortune but to help Anne Marie. The film in a way is kinda a Christian film, and I mean that in a good way, there are Christian themes but their suttle and not preachy. The problem with Charlie is that he has devoted most of his life to pride, greed and vanity. But in one scene he loses everything he's built, that scene alone just goes to show how all three things are fleeting and love no one back.Or even there is this dream sequence where Charlie gets a glimpse of Hell, which I'll admit had to be one of the scariest sequences I've ever seen. But it taught me a valuable lesson that whatever decision and actions we make in the mortal realm do affect what happens in our lives and the hereafter.But what I really in the film is Charlie really does have feelings for Anne Marie, despite not wanting to admit it yet. At first it's true he is using her for his own gains but slowly but surely those feelings for her do grow and it fills a spiritual emptiness he's had for a while and all his sinful feelings fade when he realizes what really matters in life. Which makes the bond between them all the more endearing and the ending all the more heartbreaking. The film has a good message, life your life well and wisely. But also to devote your time on what really matters because none of us truly have all the time in the world.This animated classic flies high.Rating: 4 stars

All dogs go to Heaven is one of the best movies I've ever seen

In the 1980s former Disney animator Don Bluth gave Disney a run for its money with such hits as 1982's The Secret of NIMH, 1986's American Tail, & 1988's Land Before Time. Then in 1989, All Dogs Go to Heaven came out on the same weekend as Disney's Little Mermaid to try to put the death blow to Disney. What Bluth didn't know, is that Little Mermaid would spark the Disney Renaissance and he would find himself, for the next several years, playing second fiddle at the animation box office, with one last hoorah with 1997's Anastasia. While, Mermaid was indeed a blockbuster success, All Dogs Go to Heaven wasn't a failure. It had a good opening at theaters, but better sell in VCRs tapes than Disney that year. The movie tells the story of 1939's criminal dog, Charlie B. Barkin (voiced by Burt Reynolds) whom finds himself getting murdered by his business partner, Carface AKA the dog version of 'Scarface' Al Capone (Voiced by Vic Tacback). When Charlie to find himself in bored in heaven, he steals a magic life-watch and rewind it, so that he can relive his life, from the point of his murder. He goes back to earth to seek his revenge on Carface, with help from his best friend Itchy (voiced by Dom DeLuise) & a young gifted orphan girl, Anne-Marie (voiced by Judith Barsi) who has the power to speak to animals. The movie's title come from the movie concept, but could had derived from quotes ranging from Robert Louis Stevenson to Mark Twain about what life is in heaven in which Bluth got the idea from. The movie plot is similar to 1934's Little Miss Marker, also known as The Girl in Pawn. After all, Anne-Marie doe looks like an mix between Snow White & Shirley Temple with a lot of Barsi added to it. The movie has a lot of crazy violence, language, drinking, and dark frighten hell imagery that might be not for all children. The movie was actually supposed to be a little darker but they cut the hell scenes and change a tommy gun into a ray gun to get the G rating. It does have some great moral lessons, here about being honest, loyal and understanding love. The movie also has a great spiritual message that some people might love. The idea of heaven here is pretty open to all faiths as it doesn't single out, any one type of religion. Still, some people do believe that All Dogs go to Heaven is about the spiritual journey of humanity through all the stages from the book of Genesis to the New Testament. Let me example it, like Adam, the original man, he was born without original sin and able to live in Paradise. Since dogs are virtue in nature based of the movie, Charlie is able to live in Heaven. Like Adam, Charlie is cast out of heaven, when he steals the watch, which in this case, represent life or the apple in the bible. It wasn't until, he choose to be more Christ-like; he was able to come back to heaven. While, I do believe it's an interesting concept. There are some plot-holes in this interpretation. One might point that that Dogs in the film, already had free-will, and the whole argument of dogs being like original man isn't well-framed. Also, some people believe animals don't have souls, so there isn't a heaven for animals. Other has point that, animals would exist in the Kingdom of Heaven based on scriptures of Isaiah 11:6-9. Still, this really does make it, more complex, when the bible has a lot of negative things to say about dogs. The reason why dogs signify unclean in the bible is due to the fact that dogs eat unclean things. From this, others religions or cultural tradition outside the church control were often deems as evil dogs. To make it worst, bits of the bible also deem homosexual, women and other races as evil dogs. To some Christians, people that are deem dogs would never go to heaven in the bible. What I love about this movie is saying that all dogs go to heaven. If dogs are an allegory to human in this film, than that means nearly everybody should go to heaven. Even murderers like Carface got to go to heaven. Still, it was a bit odd, to see dog's hell play a big part in the film, when it barely has any dogs going there. While, most people might deem the Big Lip Alligator Moment as little to no bearing whatsoever on the plot. In an odd way, some people might see this as a symbol of homosexuality being welcome by new beliefs of Christians. Some view it, as homage to 1933's King Kong. Other view it, as Voodoo Witch doctor falling in love with a zombie. What-ever. It's just there. Another theme that seem to be running around is child abuse. Carface routinely mistreat Anne-Marie. It's really hard to watch, when you find out how much Barsi was physical and mental abuse in real life, before getting shot by her father before this movie came out. The voicing acting is alright. Reynolds & DeLuise really have chemistry, due to them previously appeared together in a number of films. The singing and music numbers weren't that great. 'Let Me Be Surprised' & 'What's Mine Is Yours' proves that Reynolds isn't a good singer. 'You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" & Let's Make Music Together" was fun, but mediocre. "Love Survives" dedicated in Barsi's memory was pretty beautiful. The film inspired a theatrical sequel, a television series, and a holiday direct-to-video film, that weren't that good. Overall: The animation is beautifully done, but the overall style is grotesque and disturbing. The bittersweet ending didn't help at all. From an artistic standpoint, I think it's a pretty amazing example of animation, but it's not something for all children. Still, it's worth watching.

In 1939 New Orleans, Charlie Barkin, a roguish German Shepherd (voiced by Burt Reynolds), is working with his gangster business partner, a smoking bulldog named Carface (voiced by Vic Tayback), at a casino fashioned out of a derelict oil tanker. Wanting to take all the earnings for himself, Carface frames Charlie and has him sent to a pound, but Charlie escapes with the help of his best friend Itchy, a nervous Dachshund (voiced by Dom Deluise at his funniest). The two of them arrive back at the casino in the middle of a rat race, and celebrate their breakout with the catchy as heck musical number "You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down".But Charlie still believes that he and Carface are partners. Eager for 100% of the profit, Carface and his neurotic sidekick Killer (voiced by Charles Nelson Reilly) get Charlie drunk and then kill him by running an automobile over him. Charlie shoots straight into the sky and lands at the pearly gates. He arrives in what appears to be the sort of Heaven that a child might imagine, located in the clouds, where everyone floats around and is dressed in a robe with halos above their heads, and where lions are resting with lambs. A Whippet Angel there explains to Charlie that all dogs naturally go to heaven because they are inherently good, unlike humans. But because Charlie has spent his life being a gambler and drinker, he is unimpressed with heaven and how everything is orderly and pre-planned. He sings "Let Me be Surprised", in which he complains that he wants to go back to earth where he doesn't know what's going to come. He cheats his death by stealing his life watch, a glowing pocket watch, and winds it up, allowing him to return to earth. For a place that knows everything that is to come, they sure didn't see that coming. Through the rest of the movie, the angel's voice coming from the watch says "You can never come back", a very haunting and unsettling line. Back on earth again, Charlie reunites with Itchy and plots his revenge on Carface to "ruin him and make him suffer slowly and painfully."You know, for kids!So as Charlie sneaks into an air vent to enter Carface's basement, he finds him there talking to a young girl named Anne-Marie (the voice of this character was Judith Barsi's last performance). It turns out she has a rare ability to speak to animals. Carface has her held against her will so she can talk to rats, giving him an advantage when betting on races, which are apparently rigged so that those who speak the rats' language can know in advance of the outcome. Carface keeps making promises to Anne-Marie that she can go outside the basement, but breaks them. Being an orphan, Anne-Marie is sad and lonely.When Carface leaves, Charlie rescues Anne-Marie and plans to use her in the same way Carface does. He says that in return he would help her find a mom and dad, though he has no intention of doing so. A memorable seen takes place the following evening when Charlie, Anne- Marie, and Itchy sleep inside a taxi at a landfill. Charlie is eager to get Anne-Marie to fall asleep so he can talk privately about his plan with Itchy, but she keeps getting up and asking him things such as "Can I sleep here?" or "May I have a goodnight kiss?", to which Charlie is annoyed and more smacks her with is tongue than kisses her. She also prays to God, thanking Him for Charlie and Itchy, which is a bit confusing since the Heaven we see in this movie appears to be nondenominational. So the next day, they go out to the park to grab a few bucks from someone's wallet to start their betting, while Anne-Marie is just searching for a pair who might adopt her. As she introduces herself to a young couple, Charlie snags the man's wallet and takes Anne-Marie away. And before long, Charlie makes out like a bandit at horse races and other events including---kangaroo boxing?Soon, Charlie has his own bar and casino built. But when Anne-Marie becomes upset that he hasn't used any money for the poor, Charlie decides to stay to true to the promise. So he brings pizza to an abandoned church where a litter of a puppies are cared for by a collie named Flo (voiced by Loni Anderson). The pups start fighting over the pizza, leading to Charlie singing a sort of Jamaican song about the values of sharing. I guess the writers had to add in a message for young children, as the main theme of the movie is more adult.So Anne-Marie finds the wallet that Charlie stole from the man and sees the couple's wedding photo inside. She goes up to the church's attic to sleep, and sings a "Somewhere Out There"-like song, in an audibly different voice I might add, about how soon she will find a mom and dad.Though this movie isn't as dear to my heart as "The Land Before Time" (I admit I watched this one fairly recently), it's pretty good. Burt Reynolds was awesome as the voice of Charlie, giving him the charm of a con man, and in fact all the voice acting is excellent. The animation has the dark texture of "The Secret of NIMH" and the outstanding background details of "The Land Before Time". The pacing does grow slow in the middle, but it all builds to the movie's truly moving conclusion. Young children may be confused and disturbed by the movie, but with the subject material, Don Bluth always respected them (in the 80s, that is). If you have the time, certainly consider the watch.7/10 for "All Dogs Go To Heaven".