All Dogs Go to Heaven

***All Dogs Go to Heaven*** is a 1989 animated musical fantasy adventure comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and co-directed by Gary Goldman (his directorial debut) and Dan Kuenster. It tells the story of Charlie B. Barkin (voiced by Burt Reynolds), a German Shepherd that is murdered by his former friend, Carface Carruthers (voiced by Vic Tayback, in his penultimate film role), but withdraws from his place in Heaven to return to Earth, where his best friend, Itchy Itchiford (voiced by Dom DeLuise), still lives, in order to take revenge on Carface, but ends up befriending a young orphan girl named Anne-Marie (voiced by Judith Barsi in her final film role; posthumously). In the process, Charlie learns an important lesson about kindness, friendship and love.

The film is an Irish, British and American venture, produced by Goldcrest Films and Sullivan Bluth Studios Ireland Ltd.. On its cinema release, it competed directly with Walt Disney Feature Animation's *The Little Mermaid*, released on the same day. While it did not repeat the box-office success of Sullivan Bluth's previous feature films, *An American Tail* and *The Land Before Time*, it was successful on home video, becoming one of the biggest-selling VHS releases ever. It inspired a theatrical sequel, a television series, and a holiday direct-to-video film.

*All Dogs Go to Heaven* was released on DVD on November 17, 1998, and as an MGM Kids edition on March 6, 2001. It had a DVD double-feature release with its sequel on March 14, 2006, and January 18, 2011. The film was released in high definition for the first time on Blu-ray on March 29, 2011, without special features except the original theatrical trailer.

## Storyline

### Plot

A canine angel, Charlie, sneaks back to earth from heaven but ends up befriending an orphan girl who can speak to animals. In the process, Charlie learns that friendship is the most heavenly gift of all.

### Genres

* Animation
* Comedy
* Drama
* Family
* Fantasy
* Musical

### Motion Picture Rating

* **Atp** (Argentina) (CR)
* **G** (Australia)
* **Livre** (Brazil)
* **G** (Canada)
* **F** (Canada) (Ontario)
* **K-8/5** (Finland)
* **Tous publics** (France)
* **L** (Iceland)
* **U** (India)
* **G** (Ireland)
* **T** (Italy)
* **G** (Japan)
* **U** (Malaysia)
* **A** (Mexico)
* **AL** (Netherlands)
* **G** (New Zealand) (VHS and DVD rating)
* **G** (Nigeria)
* **A** (Norway) (Streaming rating)
* **M/6** (Portugal) (Qualidade)
* **6+** (Russia)
* **G** (Saudi Arabia)
* **G** (Singapore)
* **A** (South Africa)
* **All** (South Korea)
* **7** (Sweden)
* **U** (United Kingdom)
* **G** (United States)
* **0** (West Germany)

## Images

UK VHS coverUK VHS cover (1996)UK VHS cover
## Cast and Crew

### Directors

* Don Bluth
* Gary Goldman (co-director)
* Dan Kuenster (co-director)

### Writing Credits (WGA)

* Don Bluth (story by) &
* Ken Cromar (story by) &
* Gary Goldman (story by) &
* Larry Leker (story by) &
* Linda Miller (story by) &
* Monica Parker (story by) &
* John Pomeroy (story by) &
* Guy Shulman (story by) &
* David J. Steinberg (story by) (as David Steinberg) &
* David N. Weiss (story by)
* David N. Weiss (screenplay by)

### Producers

* Don Bluth
* Gary Goldman
* John Pomeroy
* Morris F. Sullivan (executive producer)
* George Walker (executive producer) (as George A. Walker)

## Details

### Country

* USA
* UK
* Ireland
* Russia (Russian prints)

### Release Dates

* November 17, 1989 (United States)
* December 26, 1989 (Australia)
* February 8, 1990 (United Kingdom)
* February 16, 1990 (Brazil) (Limited)
* March 26, 1990 (Austria)
* March 28, 1990 (France)
* March 29, 1990 (Germany)
* April 6, 1990 (Ireland)
* July 6, 1990 (Netherlands)
* November 2, 1990 (Sweden)
* November 30, 1990 (Germany) (East Germany)
* January 18, 1991 (Brazil)
* March 22, 1991 (Portugal)
* April 6, 1991 (Iceland)
* October 18, 1991 (Italy)
* March 16, 1993 (Poland)
* March 19, 1993 (Turkey)
* April 2, 1993 (Hungary)
* June 19, 1993 (Japan)
* April 3, 1996 (Russia)
* June 21, 1996 (Japan) (Video premiere)
* October 18, 1996 (Finland)
* October 12, 1997 (Russia) (TV premiere)
* October 23, 2012 (Canada) (DVD premiere)
* April 24, 2019 (France) (Re-release)

## Company Credits

### Production Companies

* Goldcrest Films International (presents) (as Goldcrest)
* Don Bluth Productions (as A Don Bluth Film)
* DreamWorks Feature Animation
* Sullivan Bluth Studios

### Distributors

* United Artists (1989) (USA) (theatrical)
* Goldcrest Films International (1989) (World-wide) (all media)
* MGM/UA Distribution Company (1989) (USA) (theatrical)
* Hoyts Distribution (1989) (Australia) (theatrical)
* Concorde Film (1990) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
* Constantin-Film (1990) (Austria) (theatrical)
* Gaumont (1990) (France) (theatrical)
* Primer Plano Film Group (1990) (Argentina) (theatrical)
* Rank Film Distributors (1990) (UK) (theatrical)
* Concorde Video (1990) (Netherlands) (VHS)
* Excalibur Benelux (1990) (Belgium) (VHS)
* Gaumont-Columbia-RCA (GCR) (1990) (France) (VHS)
* MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
* MGM/UA Home Video (1990) (USA) (video) (LaserDisc)
* Malofilm Home Video (1990) (Canada) (VHS)
* RCA/Columbia Pictures Video (1990) (UK) (VHS)
* RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video (1990) (UK) (VHS)
* RCA/Columbia-Hoyts Home Video (1990) (Australia) (VHS)
* VPS Video (1990) (Germany) (VHS)
* Virgin Video (1990) (Australia) (VHS)
* Warner Home Video (1990) (UK) (VHS)
* Alvorada Vídeo (1991) (Brazil) (VHS)
* Warner Home Video (1993) (Norway) (VHS)
* Warner Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
* Lenfilm Studio (1996) (Russia) (all media)
* MGM Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
* Adyton International (2000) (Poland) (TV)
* Indies Home Entertainment (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
* MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
* Roadshow Entertainment Video (2001) (Australia) (DVD)
* Roadshow Entertainment (2001) (Australia) (DVD)
* Anchor Bay Entertainment (UK) (2002) (UK) (DVD)
* Hollywood DVD (2002) (UK) (DVD) (four-film collection with "The Nutcracker Prince", "Felix the Cat: The Movie" and "Animal Farm 1999")
* Twister Digital Video (2002) (Russia) (DVD)
* EuroVideo (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
* MGM Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
* Roadshow Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
* Arcadia Digital (2005) (Greece) (Cyprus) (DVD) (TV)
* Emerald (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
* Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
* Optimum Home Entertainment (2007) (UK) (DVD)
* Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
* Umbrella Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)
* Umbrella Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (video) (VOD)
* 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (USA) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
* 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2014) (USA) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
* 4Digital Media (2019) (UK) (DVD)
* Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (2020) (USA) (Blu-ray) (DVD) (reprint for MGM)
* Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1990) (Sweden) (theatrical)
* Titanus (1991) (Italy) (theatrical)
* 4Digital Media (2020) (UK) (DVD)
* Amazon Prime Video (2009) (USA) (video) (VOD)
* Concorde Video (1991) (Netherlands) (VHS) (license rights) (through Video Film Express)
* Film Cass Entertainment Group (1993) (Poland) (VHS)
* Home Video Hellas (HVH) (Greece) (VHS) (unknown)
* Jugendfilm-Verleih (Germany) (all media)
* Video Film Express (1991) (Netherlands) (VHS) (through)
* Videomax (Mexico) (VHS)
* Zima Entertainment (2012) (Mexico) (DVD)

### Special Effects

* The Computer Film Company (CFC) (animation compositing) (uncredited)

## Trivia

* This film is possibly a parody of the trope in fiction whereby a dog dies.
* Before the credits roll, the fourth wall is broken two times: Charlie tells the audience to perform livelier music. Then he tells the audience that Carface will be back before he disappears.
* At the Marketplace, the sign which signify's Bourbon Street is misspelled as "Burbon Street"
* There were references to the people involved. (I.E. Bluth’s Bakery, Don’s Auto Wreckers, and Pomeroy‘s name was in a page of the Book, “War and Peace”.
* In a test cel of the movie, the Original cast was Charlie looking more of a mutt, Anne Marie, a Chihuahua, and a Male Violet Whippet.
* This is the only Don Bluth film not to have a copyright date, not even during the end credits.
* This is Judith Barsi's final film.
* The film was originally going to be rated PG by the MPAA until John Pomeroy suggested heavily editing it to remove the PG-level subject matter. It ended up being rated G despite it still containing adult themes. The original PG-rated version of the film is on a VHS that is privately owned by Don Bluth himself.
* Vic Tayback's last film, following his death in 1990.
* First Don Bluth film to feature a human as a major character.

## Connections

### Followed by

* *All Dogs Go to Heaven 2: Charlie's New Adventure* (1996)
* *All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series* (1996) (TV Series)
* *An All Dogs Christmas Carol* (1998) (Video)

### References

* *Scarface* (1932) - The gangster "Carface" is a play on "Scarface."
* *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* (1937) - Anne Marie's design recalls Snow White as we see her at the beginning of the film.
* *The Rescuers* (1977) - A young orphan girl is befriended by two talking animals.

### Referenced in

* *The Rugrats Movie* (1998) - "You know, not all dogs go to Heaven."