All Dogs Go to Heaven is quite a ridiculous film in all truth; after all, this is Don Bluth's animated adventure about a singing, smoking, drinking ghost dog with the voice of Burt Reynolds. It's a charismatic little picture, bursting with colour and packing a buoyant array of characters that are brought to life with a particularly exuberant animation style. Our canine protagonist, Charlie (Burt Reynolds), is offed by his partner and fellow professional criminal, Carface (Vic Tayback). Charlie refuses the pearly gates in order to exact some semblance of revenge on Carface, becoming professionally involved with an orphan girl, Anne-Marie, who can talk to animals. Charlie might be a tad immoral, but he learns to value friendship over all else when he unselfishly gives up his own life to save Anne-Marie. The animators do a fantastic job, infusing Charlie with a diverse range of expressions that highlight his newfound empathy, so while watching him make that sacrifice is quite upsetting, it's brilliantly underlined by a sense of redemption. Of course this is a kids film, so naturally Charlie is allowed into heaven for his good deed and everything ends happily ever after.
