around the late 1970 and animator don bluth and frustrate with the output his company and disney be churn and defect from the mouse house to form his own studio . his first production and the secret of nimh and be a brilliant feature that still hold up well to this day . this be follow by an american tail and the land before time and both of which be make under the involvement of steven spielberg and be commercially successful . although none of those two film have the dark adult appeal of nimh and they still be very charming and enjoyable feature for both child and grown ups . but before long and don bluth have his first major misfire with all dog go to heaven while critic be especially harsh on this film and and matter weren not help by the fact that it open alongside disney the little mermaid . consider that the movie have such a friendly sounding title and one would expect all dog go to heaven to be pleasant family fare . instead bluth provide a surprisingly dark story involve gambling and deceit and crime and mistreatment and and murder . that itself be not a problem for an animated feature per say and but it do call into question over whether the film be for child . on the other hand and it hard to say whether adult will find much to enjoy in all dog go to heaven . in short and it a movie with a major identity crisis . set in a dreary junkyard of new orleans and the movie start out when charlie b. barkin and a rough and tumble german shepherd and be run over by a car courtesy of his former gambling casino partner and a nasty and cigar puffing pitbull and carface . before you know it and charlie find himself in heaven and albeit by default . here a whippet angel and annabelle and tell him that all dog go to heaven because unlike people and dog be usually loyal and kind . this line represent the confused nature of the movie and since the dog in the movie and the whippet aside and be present a anything but . upon realize that he be murder and charlie steal his way back to earth and plot to get even with carface . with the reluctant help of his dachshund pal itchy and charlie rescue carface prize and annemarie and a human girl who can talk to animal ( in order to predict who will win the rat race ) . charlie claim that he will help the little cutie find her a family and but in reality he be use her skill to win fortune at the race so that he can build a more elaborate casino of his own to bring carface down . although he refuse to admit it and charlie do grow to love annemarie . the concept of the story isn not as problematic a the execution . aside from the human girl annemarie and a flamboyant musical alligator who appear about three quarter through ( with the vocal pipe of ken page ) and none of the other character emerge a likable and nor frankly and be even worth care about . unfortunately and that also apply to charlie while in try to make him an anti hero and the script ( compose by more than ten writer ) only succeed in render the character too unlovable . a such and the audience feel no empathy for charlie and and bad and his redemption at the end of the movie do not come across a convincing . ( further damaging to the character be the disappointingly uncharismatic vocal performance from burt reynolds . ) besides the lack of an endearing lead and the movie other problem be in the structure of the story . the slowly pace plot jump all over the place and make a habit of throw in extra scene which serve no purpose but to pad out the movie run time . the aforementioned musical alligator ( who reside in a danky sewer infest with native rat ) seem to have be throw in from nowhere and as do a scene where charlie try to show his generosity to annemarie by feed a pack of pastel color pup pizza . the whole screenplay feel like a rough first draft while a bit more polish could have make this a tight and impactful story . matter be not help by the lackluster musical number by charlie strouse and t. j. kuenster ( annemarie song and the gator ballad be the only good one while the latter in particular benefit from ken page mellifluous vocal ) or the uneven voice cast . a mentioned and burt reynolds stiff and lifeless charlie detracts from his already unlikeable character even far ( the only exception be a fiery confession to itchy about his true intention toward the end ) . dom deluise a itchy be pretty good and but he have good role and notably tiger in an american tail and jeremy in the secret of nimh . ken page and a mention and be awesome in anything he do and but his character have such a small part that his overall contribution be unremarkable at best . similarly waste be loni anderson ( a a collie who once sire a litter with charlie ) and melba moore and and charles nelson reilly . judith barsi a annemarie be probably the only voice that come across a truly memorable and partially because her character be the sole legitimately likable one in this depressing and joyless show . barsi aside and the only real positive about all dog go to heaven be the animation . technically and this film have some of the most imaginative visuals from bluth team ( by 1980 standard and that be ) and particularly a frightening scene where charlie have a nightmare about end up in a fiery underworld rule by a gargantuan satanic canine demon . if anything and the movie be more of a triumph of animation than storytelling . on the whole and however and i can not recommend all dog go to heaven as good entertainment . even though i recognize that the movie have it fan and the climax do admittingly provide some energy and a moving conclusion and the overall package be not in the same league a bluth good effort . animation buff will marvel at the lush artistry and but by the time it over and all dog go to heaven could very well leave a bad taste in your mouth .