3 gibbles outta 5

Director: Don Bluth

I liked All Dogs Go To Heaven enough, as a kid, that I wanted it on VHS. Later in life I would realize that I had a thing for Don Bluth. And a lot of the Bluthy-ness is absolutely in All Dogs – the rougher edges in story and characters, the large premise and small scope. But while I could always remember the majority of American Tale and Land Before Time, no matter how often I watched All Dogs, a lot of it blended together. Some years later, I can see why: there doesn’t end up being much to latch on to.

Charlie the dog is a hustler who busts outta the pound thanks to the help of his pal Itchy. He wants to join back up with his partner Carface and run their casino, and maybe figure out who put the ol’ frame-up on Charlie to put him in the pound. Alas, Carface has different plans, plans which involve killing Charlie.

So we’re a little bleak there already, which is sort of standard for Bluth but everything is dark here – the colors are mostly damp and cold and all the characters are wiseguys. Charlie eventually turns around, of course (after he finds a way back from death..), but it’s a long path that takes up the majority of our 85 minute runtime. There’s still a lot of flavor here, and the drinking and gambling, for better or worse, gave the movie a rough edge that I liked as a kid and as an adult. It’s just hard to find a real “in” to the movie, as our main characters aren’t really loveable scamps. Even the hook, Charlie going to heaven, takes a significant amount of kid movie-time to get to and doesn’t end up being milked for as much story-wise as it could’ve. Still, I think if you’re scowering for animated movies for yourself or children, Bluth films are always an excellent addition to give a bite to the normal formulas.

All Dogs isn’t his best, and for all its Louisiana flavor it remains, story-wise, a bit impenetrable and bland, but overall this is a fun watch.