A while ago, I wrote about animated movies that were made by companies other than Disney, and one of the films I mentioned was the 1989 classic, All Dogs Go to Heaven.
Given that ‘89 was the unofficial start of the Disney Renaissance with The Little Mermaid, a lot of people from my generation tend to remember pre-Renaissance movies, such as An American Tail, The Brave Little Toaster, and The Land Before Time, as they all represent a time before Disney domination in the ‘90s.
However, I often find that All Dogs Go to Heaven, which came out the same year as The Little Mermaid, usually gets forgotten, which greatly upsets me. For my money, ADGtH is just as good, if not better than, a lot of Disney movies. Here's why.
A Lot Of The Songs Are Just As Good As What Would Come From Disney In The Same Period
If I said, name your favorite Disney song, you have a whole panoply to choose from. “Under the Sea,” “A Whole New World,” “When You Wish Upon a Star,” the list literally goes on and on. In fact, I think an even harder challenge would be if I were to say, name me a song from an animated movie that's NOT from Disney, and that's where you might have some trouble (unless you pull from The Prince of Egypt, which has a godlike soundtrack).
However, when it comes to All Dogs Go to Heaven, I think a lot of people tend to forget how good the music is…in context. While I would never listen to a CD (listen to me talking about CDs!) of All Dogs Go to Heaven as I would for a Disney movie, I think the songs perfectly fit the vibe and characters in the film.
For example, the lively dance number, “You Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down,” or the heartfelt, “Soon You’ll Come Home,” where an orphan sings about her parents, really work within the context of the film. Another great song is “Let's Make Music Together,” where we’re introduced to a pivotal character that will impact the climax later on.
So, while I wouldn’t say that the tunes in All Dogs Go to Heaven are going to rival Disney in an eyes-closed-just-listen contest, I will say that the way the songs meld with the overall narrative is just as good as something that you might find in an Aladdin, or at the very least, a Pocahantas.
The Animation Is Great, Too
Animation is interesting. If you look back at almost every animated film from Disney, you’ll find that while all of the animation is good, some of it looks super dated, but it definitely got better as the years went by. A film like The Aristocats is from the ‘70s, and it looks it. Alternatively, a film like 1988’s Oliver and Company definitely has an ‘80s aesthetic, but the movement of the characters is far livelier and more energetic than what came before it. In a lot of ways, Disney animation was the gold standard for many decades and kept advancing with the years.
Then, you have movies from other studios, like Don Bluth Productions, which was arguably the second biggest animation studio back in the ‘80s. One could argue that the company’s competition is what led to the Disney Renaissance in the first place. For a time, it looked like Don Bluth was catching up to Disney…but then, it mostly got left behind in the ‘90s. Even so, I think All Dogs Go to Heaven is one of the studio’s crowning achievements, with just how good it looks.
The animation is fluid, and a lot is going on, as the film hops from 1930’s New Orleans, to Heaven, to Hell, to all kinds of set pieces. I wouldn’t necessarily mistake it for a Disney movie since the visuals are quite different (It’s a lot darker, for one thing), but I would say that I feel that it is equally interesting to look at, as the color selections and character models are on point.
In a lot of ways, I even prefer its look to the somewhat overly bright Oliver and Company, and that says a lot since I love that movie, animation, and all.
The Story Is Truly Heartbreaking And Full Of Real Emotion
We once made a list of movies that we dared you not to cry while watching, and yep, All Dogs Go to Heaven is on there, as how could it not be? The movie alone is sad enough (which I’ll get to in a moment), but it’s even sadder when you realize that this was the last movie for Judith Barsi, who was its voice actress for the loveable street urchin, Anne-Marie, as she was murdered by her father. That alone makes moments like the somber musical number, “Soon You’ll Come Home,” even more heartrending when you know that.
But, back to the story itself. Charlie B. Barkin (Burt Reynolds) is a con artist German Shepherd, and he’s betrayed by his boss, Carface (Vic Tayback), who has him killed. He ends up in Heaven, because as the title suggests, all dogs go to Heaven, but because he steals a pocket watch that represents his life, he gets kicked out of Heaven. He ends up coming back to Earth and meeting Anne-Marie, who can talk to animals like Doctor Doolittle. The first thing he does is betray her trust, which he has to gain throughout the movie.
They end up becoming friends, but Charlie ends up dying again since he saves Anne-Marie instead of the pocket watch from earlier. But, because of his good deed, he gets to go back to Heaven, but not before coming back as a ghost and wishing her good luck in life.
It’s just as heartfelt as anything you’d see in a Disney movie, and I’d honestly say it gets me even more teary-eyed than a lot of other Disney flicks. It’s full of real emotion!
Overall, I Know The Disney Renaissance Dominated The ‘90s, But This Was The Last Truly Great Alternate Animated Feature Before It Did
I know a lot of people like to wax nostalgic about the Disney Renaissance as if it could do no wrong, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Because even though there was a lot of good during that period, there was also a lot of bad, too. That doesn’t mean I don’t look back fondly upon that period, because I do. To think that it was the only animation company in town making great movies in that period is a fallacy.
All Dogs Go to Heaven is proof of that. It’s a wonderful film that I know people from my era saw and remember, but I don’t know if parents are introducing it to their kids like they would The Lion King or Tarzan.
Since it’s old-school animation and not something computer-generated like Pixar’s catalogue of films, I think some parents might be wary of showing it to their kids because they think they might get bored, or that it’s too old-fashioned, but I think those parents should still give it a try with their kids. The story still holds up, and the animation is also still pretty good.
It’s a flawed film, sure, as it can feel a bit slow at some moments, but it’s also still a worthy film, and one that’s still worth your time. If anything, it’s a time capsule of animation before Disney went into the stratosphere in the ‘90s.
