Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I never liked dogs when I was a kid, mostly because I was a runt and they could pretty much eat me whole. Which didn't preclude me from liking the idea of dogs, or from loving this film way back when. On a nostalgia kick I bought it again and expected to have another aspect of my childhood destroyed upon being reminded of how horrible some of the things I liked back then actually are from an adult perspective (A few examples come to mind, but at least I won't have to contend with liking a few things on TV nowadays that will definitely have future adults cringing...).
Surprise, it's actually even more enjoyable now as an "adult". It's all as good as I remembered, or better.
When I was a child I never percieved it as a particularly "dark" film as so many claim it to be... Truthfully, the thing that has stuck with me over the years is the songs. They really are engaging and well written, not the squirm-fests that populate most children's films of any era. And while certain things stick out as not being acceptable in today's children's pictures (the drinking, and straightforwardness on topics such as gambling and murder), I definitely don't think that's the attitude that defines the film. To "clean up" this movie would be to suck the life from it, and make it just like any more modern children's film.
I have no qualms with showing it to my nieces and nephews. I think it's a shame that movies nowaday shelter younguns from anything resembling reality. Besides, at the core it's a great, touching story about love and friendship, and I think that's what shines through for most kids, and most adults upon watching the film. Anne Marie is absolutely adorable, and Charlie, voiced by Burt Reynolds is as likeable a scoundrel as any. The characters are all dimensional and believable, despite being dogs. Another thing that sticks out when viewing this film in comparison to more modern children's offerings.
It can now be seen, unfortunately, as a throwback to when kids movies didn't need to rely on flashy graphics or super-hip characters and settings to be entertaining. Current studios could use a dose of this adventurousness.
Click Here to see more reviews about: All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
Set in 1939 New Orleans, this colorful, song-filled story centers on Charles B. Barkin, a roguish German Shepherd with the charm of a con man and the heart of a marshmallow. Out for revenge against his double-crossing former partner, a cigar-chomping pit bull known as Carface, Charlie finds himself guardian to a lonely little orphan named Anne-Marie. Her astounding ability to talk to animals leads this unlikely pair on an adventure packed with thrills, laughs, tears and true love.
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