Review of All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) by Larry C — 22 Aug 2009

Its archaic depictions of heaven and hell, a one note villain in Carface, and a hilariously nonsense character who shows up late in the film to deliver a Deus Ex Machina climax take away from the moments that work and keep All Dogs Go To Heaven from really being a great movie. It is at its best when focusing on the relationship between Charlie and Anne-Marie, which is quite touching at times. Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise are great in their voice roles as the dogs, and Anne-Marie's search for loving parents is ironically true to life as the adorable Judith Barsi who voiced the girl (and Ducky in The Land Before Time) was tragically killed months before the film was released in a grisly domestic murder-suicide.

It's one of those movies I loved as a kid (I was 5 when it came out) that doesn't quite hold up as an adult but maintains most of its charm.