Charlie Barkin

Charles B. "Charlie" Barkin is the main protagonist of the All Dogs Go to Heaven franchise. He's a German Shepherd who goes to Heaven by default and returns to Earth. He is Sasha's love interest, and later husband in the end of the second film
He was voiced by the late Burt Reynolds in the first film, Charlie Sheen in the second film (where he is sung by Jesse Corti) who also portrayed Charlie Harper in Two and a Half Men, and Steven Weber in the TV series and An All Dogs Christmas Carol.
== Biography ==
=== Earlier life ===
So far, Charlie's early life is unknown. He was born to Burt R. Barkin and Loni A. Bowzer. Sometime in his life, he ran away from home and after that his parents presumably died. He later met Itchy and the two became friends.
Of course, in the flashback of the episode "When Hairy Met Silly," it was shown that before meeting Itchy, Charlie was part of a trio called the Rovers, along with Toodles and Spike, and it was shown that Itchy's cap once belonged to Charlie.
=== All Dogs Go to Heaven ===
Charlie is seen escaping from a pound with the help of Itchy, his best friend in the first place. Itchy uses a drill to dig him out, but they get caught and chased by the guards. But luckily, they get away and head back to an abandoned ship turned casino for dogs, and Charlie celebrates his return with the others. After Killer discovers them, he informs Carface that Charlie is back. Carface creates a new plan, and he speaks with Charlie about the partnership saying they have to split it up. During the Mardi Gras, they throw Charlie a fake good luck party and get him really drunk. Itchy (after overhearing Carface's plot from Killer) tries to warn him but before he can, Killer takes a blindfolded Charlie to the dock of the river and assists Carface in running his car into Charlie, slaughtering him. Soon, Charlie finds himself flying through space to a golden gate where he meets Annabelle, the Whippet Angel who tells him he's in heaven. At first, Charlie is pleased, but when he hears that he's been slaughtered by Carface, he gets mad and plots revenge, and he's introduced to a watch which held his life but stopped after he died, and he is not permitted to wind it back up. He sneaks the watch from Annabelle (getting her attention with singing) and winds it, which sends him flying out of heaven and back to the dock of the river, thus resuscitating him in his mortal body. As he recuperates, he hears Annabelle's warning he can never return to heaven again and instead he'll be sent to hell if his watch stops one more time, but he neglects the warning and shuts the watch.
He meets with Itchy at their home and tells him his plot to get even with Carface, also pondering over how his business is going up without Charlie there being the brains of the outfit. He and Itchy enter Carface's basement and see that he has a little orphan girl named Anne-Marie who has the gift of speaking to animals (which is revealed to be the secret behind Carface's success). When Carface and Killer depart the room, he and Itchy enter and take Anne-Marie to the junkyard and Charlie reads her stories as well as promising to help her find a family. The next day, he takes her to a horse race where they win their bet. As time goes on, they raise enough money from gambling, and Charlie finally gets his own casino. Anne-Marie, fed up with Charlie's gambling, attempts to depart but Charlie stops her by agreeing to help the less fortunate (which he also promised her as well as helping her find a family). He takes her to a very old church where they meet Flo and her puppies and have a pizza party, but soon Anne-Marie discovers that Charlie stole a wallet from a couple they met at the horse race. During that night, Charlie has a scary dream of going to hell, but he becomes relieved when he finds it was only a nightmare. He goes upstairs to find Anne-Marie, but he learns from one of the puppies she left to return the wallet to the couple.
He finds her enjoying some waffles and tricks her into following him by faking illness. Later, he takes her on a trip in the street, but he gets ambushed by Carface and Killer who shoot at him with a ray gun, but they can't kill him again due to his watch rendering him essentially immortal until it stops ticking. They get away by hiding in an abandoned building and fall into a sewer beneath, with Charlie losing his watch in the process. Then, they are captured by native rats who attempt to feed them to a giant witch doctor alligator known as King Gator. When King Gator tries to devour Charlie, he lets out an enormous howl which impresses the gator (due to his refusal to eat anybody with a wonderful singing voice) and releases him from his cage and Anne-Marie from hers (but she develops an illness after she fell in the water, apparently pneumonia). After singing with King Gator and befriending him, Charlie takes Anne-Marie back to the church and meets an injured Itchy. He learns from him Carface eliminated the casino and Itchy accuses him of "going soft" and caring about the girl, but Charlie protests out loud, denying Itchy's accusations and says that he's only using her to make money and doesn't truly care about her. Unfortunately, a distraught Anne-Marie overhears this, and she runs off into the storm, calling Charlie a "bad dog" before she flees, only to be kidnapped by Carface shortly after.
Charlie follows and enters the ship to rescue her, but he gets ambushed by Carface's thugs. Charlie tries to fight them all, but he is overpowered. He gives a distressful howl when one of Carface's thugs bites him on the leg in retaliation for knocking him away, which summons King Gator, who helps out by swimming towards Carface's ship and eliminating it, rescuing Charlie and Anne-Marie in the process, as Carface's thugs turn cowardly when King Gator arrives and flee for their own lives. During the fight between Charlie and Carface, King Gator head butts the wall, causing Carface to fall into the water, with King Gator chasing after him until he is devoured off-screen. When Anne-Marie falls into the water, Charlie attempts to rescue her. But when his watch falls and sinks deep in the water, Charlie chooses to rescue Anne-Marie first by pushing her out of the burning ship, despite the pain he feels as his watch, and his life, slowly fade with each passing second. But he is too late to rescue his watch when it fills up with water and stops ticking, causing him to pass away as the ship sinks, making the ultimate sacrifice for Anne-Marie, who is pushed the rest of the way to shore by Killer, Carface's only surviving henchman, where Itchy, Flo, the other dogs from New Orleans, along with Kate and Harold with New Orleans Police and medical personnel, arrive to see Charlie is gone, but Anne-Marie is alright, and in need of urgent medical treatment. Charlie is destined for hell, but the Hellhound escorts him to Anne-Marie's new home where he tearfully apologizes for using her. Outside, the Hellhound beckons Charlie, but a star from heaven eliminates the Hellhound and enters the room revealing the star to be Annabelle, telling Charlie that he can re-enter heaven because he nobly sacrificed his life for Anne-Marie, regaining his place there as a result. He says goodbye to Anne-Marie and Itchy, promising that they will meet again one of these days and heads back to heaven. After seeing Carface try to use his life clock to head back to earth and being chased away by an infuriated Annabelle, Charlie assures the audience with a wink that "he'll be back."
=== All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 ===
Charlie is awaiting the arrival of the newcomers to enter Heaven. One in particular that he's waiting on is Itchy (who dies from choking to death on a chicken leg). Once reunited, Charlie welcomes Itchy and shows him around. Although Itchy takes an instant liking to Heaven, Charlie, on the other hand, explains (in song) how boring Heaven has gotten for him since his death, and longs to be back on Earth. A short time later, Carface (also in Heaven) attempts to steal Gabriel's Horn but ends up dropping it down on Earth somewhere in San Francisco and later that evening, Annabelle announces to all the other heavenly dogs the bad news. Charlie, seeing this as his only way out of Heaven, convinces her to let him go retrieve it. As Annabelle hesitantly agrees, she sends a reluctant Itchy to accompany him.
Once on Earth, Charlie instantly drops his search for the horn and heads to a tavern for dogs much to Itchy's chagrin. But he quickly becomes disappointed when he learns that he is still a ghost and cannot interact with the living. He meets Carface there and finds that he can interact with the living with the use of a magic collar. Charlie agrees to follow Carface to get one after he falls for a beautiful Irish Setter named Sasha who he heard singing on stage and is desperate to meet her. When they visit the shop, he and Itchy meet Red who gives them both a collar but warns that they will fade by sundown the next day. But what Charlie doesn't know is that Red is actually a hellcat who plots to use him as a pawn to get the horn, imprison all dogs, and rule the world.
Charlie and Itchy return to the Tavern and after Charlie makes a bad first impression on Sasha, he ends up chasing her out of the bar and follows her to an abandoned backyard where Charlie finds that she is caring for an 8-year-old runaway named David. Charlie tries to prove to him and Sasha that he's an angel by showing them his angelic abilities, leading David to believe Charlie is his guardian angel and thinks he knows why he ran away, explaining that he has a stepmom whom he doesn't like. Refusing to go home, he reveals his ambition to become a street performer doing magic tricks. Charlie encourages him to pursue that dream and takes him to "Easy Street" much to Sasha's chagrin. On the way, they find that Gabriel's horn is in the possession of law enforcement and put in the lost and found at the local San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) precinct. After a comical mission to retrieve it, which results in a police chase by SFPD policewoman Officer Reyes, who was assigned to find David and take him home by his worried father and stepmother, only to crash her patrol car and be left pinned in by the airbag deployed from the steering wheel, Charlie, still wanting to help David, places the horn in a lobster cage and kicks it into the lake much to Itchy and Annabelle's dismay. They make it to "Easy Street" and began David's magic show, but after the performance goes wrong, they spend the rest of their time sitting out the rain.
A sad David reveals that his birth mother died, and his stepmother is expecting and is afraid he'll be forgotten once the newborn arrives, which is why he ran away. So, Charlie and Sasha assure him that he is loved and convince him to go back and make up with his parents. Charlie even shares his own experiences with being a runaway. Finally convinced, David decides to go home but ONLY if Charlie takes him (and Charlie wraps one front leg around him after he hugs him). Charlie makes the promise knowing he can't keep it. Later, Charlie privately confides with Sasha about not really being a guardian angel and says he is unable to keep his promise to David and also expresses disappointment in losing Sasha. Charlie and Sasha spend their time together expressing their love for each other in song. But before they can manage to share a kiss, Charlie's collar, unfortunately, wears off, making him disappear, which leaves both David and Sasha sad and confused. In a desperate attempt to keep his promise to David, he races to Red's shop and begs for another one, even going so far as to trade in the horn for it. Red accepts the deal, but when Charlie is given the collar, it chokes and wraps around him as Red finally shows his true colors. Betrayed, Charlie tries to attack, but Red, having full control over the collar, left Charlie weak against him. Red orders him to get the horn, which Charlie does, but he first heads to the train station to meet up with David and Sasha, only to witness Carface kidnapping David and using him as a ransom to bring the horn to Carface and Red on Alcatraz Island, home of the former federal penitentiary.
Later, Charlie finally arrives on Alcatraz Island, gives the anxious Red the horn, takes the captive David and leaves. Red uses the horn to suck all dogs (including Annabelle) from Heaven and into each cell which grants him tremendous power before the island itself sinks down into a giant whirlpool. Charlie, realizing his mistake, tells the others to get David home while he stays behind to fight Red, but he is overpowered. Instantly, David, Sasha, and Itchy come around to assist Charlie and during the brief battle, Charlie notices how badly Red reacts to water when a sink faucet breaks and sprays water all over him. Once the horn is in his possession, Charlie goes to the top of the prison building after being instructed to play the horn by Annabelle with Red following him close behind. With Red slowing him down and preventing him from blowing the horn by choking him with the collar he's wearing every time he attempts to do so, Charlie gets on top of a water tower and tricks Red into making contact with the whirling water, knocking him back down. Suddenly, Red's lower half of his body begins to sink down into Hell through a big crack in the floor, as he had been weakened enough for the devil to begin yanking Red's chain and pull him back into the underworld. As he tries to resist, he is soon defeated as Charlie blows the horn, freeing all the heavenly dogs and damning Red to Hell permanently. 
A scared Carface comes out of hiding and tries to downplay his involvement, but is then dragged down to Hell by Red, after revealing that he sold his soul for his collar. Suddenly, Annabelle beckons Charlie and Itchy to Heaven, leaving Charlie to say goodbye to a sad David (after asking him to let Sasha take him home). Charlie declares his love to Sasha. After returning the horn when they reach Heaven, Annabelle, so proud of Charlie for his brave deed, rewards him with not only a merit badge, but a second chance to live on Earth. Before leaving, he says a heartfelt goodbye to Itchy, who wants to remain in Heaven, and falls back down on Earth, while Itchy and Annabelle return to Heaven with Gabrielle's Horn. Once reunited with an overjoyed Sasha and David (who are almost at his home), he and Sasha watch as David is happily greeted by his father and stepmother. David begins to accept and see her as his "mom" and they walk into the house together with David asking if he could have pets. Outside, Sasha asks Charlie why he came back (and tells him not to lie), to which Charlie hints that he wants a relationship with her. Then finally, they share a kiss and walk into the house together as a couple after David comes back out and presents them with their own dog bowls, indicating that they are now his pets.
=== All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series ===
The TV series makes several changes from the second film. In the series, Charlie and Sasha are not married and are instead an on-again-off-again couple (who are revealed to not have even had a first date together but are more like frenemies as they are known to bicker and disagree). Charlie lives in an old, rundown apartment, and are roommates with Itchy who is back on Earth instead of Heaven (and the reason why is revealed in S1E12 "Heaventh Inning Stretch"), and neither he nor Sasha lives with David (but still sees him sometimes in some episodes). He and Itchy are guardian angels and are every now and then assigned to angelic missions by Annabelle.
=== An All Dogs Christmas Carol ===
This time, Charlie is not the protagonist, but rather the deuteragonist. Instead, the lead role applies to Carface because this is an adaptation of a story whose lead character is a villain (A Christmas Carol whose protagonist is Ebenezer Scrooge). After having their Christmas party at the Flea Bite crashed and their presents were stolen by Carface and Killer, Charlie and Itchy decide to take matters into their own paws. Followed by so many failed attempts to get in Carface's shop, when they finally get in and demand their stuff back, they soon discover from Annabelle's demonic cousin Belladonna her plans of using a whistle (much like the one Carface used on the dogs at the party to steal their stuff, but only massive) to hypnotize ever dog in San Francisco into stealing from their homes and to get them kicked out and end up homeless, and lastly she chases Charlie and Itchy out of the shop with her minions. With no other option left for them, they turn to Annabelle who gives them a miracle dog tag to use and figure out a way to stop Belladonna's plot. So, Charlie suggests trying to change Carface by scaring the "Dickens" out of him with using ideas from the story A Christmas Carol. With the miracle dog tag, Charlie disguises him, Itchy and Sasha as each of the 3 ghosts from the story making Carface the Scrooge archetype that they must convince to change.
After Itchy and Sasha's efforts seem to slowly work, Charlie sucks Carface into one more dream as the Ghost of Christmas Future (using a reference of The Mask) and sings a Gospel-style song-and-dance to make Carface realize where his actions will take him eventually if he doesn't "clean up his act." Next, he shows Carface a vision of Timmy's house at 12:00 midnight on the same night Belladonna will blow the whistle. Carface witnesses Timmy suddenly waking up (hypnotized) and leaving through the doggy door with a present. A desperate Carface begs the "ghost" to tell him what he should do, to which Charlie tells him in a dark tone to "figure it out," and wakes him out of his dream.
After their efforts, Charlie, Itchy, and Sasha are at the Flea Bite hoping their efforts were enough, but as time goes by, they grow anxious and try to find the whistle themselves, but with no luck, they decide to do nothing more than just wait and trust in Carface to finally come around. After Carface manages to save Christmas, it began to snow, bringing joy to all of the puppies at the party and relief to Charlie and the gang after Annabelle informs them of Carface's decision. Suddenly Carface shows up dressed as Santa returning all of the puppies' stolen gifts, Charlie congratulates him for doing the right thing for once, and along with everyone else continues to celebrate Christmas at the party. As Annabelle ends the story with a "Merry Christmas" to the audience, Charlie is last seen with Itchy in heaven too wishing the same for the audience.
== Gallery ==
Charlie telling Itchy that he is using Anne Marie for business, which she overhears.
Charlie longing to go back to Earth as a mortal dog
Charlie's smile.
== Trivia ==
* Charlie has a spot on each cheek only in the first film.
* According to his book of records in heaven, Charlie is guilty of the following
** Gambling
** Pick pocketing
** Being a low-life bum
** Double-crossing
** Fibbing
** Lusting for money
** Blackmail
** Loan sharking
** Tax fraud
** Extortion
** Racketeering
** Being jaded
** Wanton decadence
** Being deceitful
** Infidelity
** Being a scoundrel
Category:Male
Category:Animals
Category:Dogs
Category:Heroes
Category:Anti heroes
Category:Don Bluth characters
Category:All Dogs Go to Heaven characters
Category:Protagonist