MovieChat Forums > All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) Discussion > Underrated + very dark. Not really a 'ki...

Underrated + very dark. Not really a 'kid's' movie.

posted 13 years ago by writejulia
22 replies | jump to latest

I've always marveled at this being labeled as a "children's" or "family" movie. Sure, I enjoyed it as a kid...I loved the darkness to it, the music, the humor and the gritty animation.

But DAMN, this is not a happy little movie. I LOVE THAT about it, which is why I have so much adoration and respect for Don Bluth.

But I have to point out...my sister and I recently watched this again (I've seen it like 100 times), and we were...disturbed by some of the realizations we had about it. As a kid, you don't really notice the depth of how creepy some of this movie is. But when you're older, you put two and two together and look at it from a new perspective.

This movie is about a con artist who is murdered by his insane, psychopathic "partner" in a pretty disturbing scene (he's laughing, drunk, singing and blindfolded) then goes to a strange vision of heaven (odd in itself) and comes back to life through, essentially, manipulation of a vixen ("You can neeevvverr come baaaack").

Carface tries to kill him with an AK47 & keeps a kidnapped little girl in his basement to use her for money AND almost feeds Killer to the piranhas (which is peppered with some humor but still pretty bizarre) when he doesn't please him. There's drinking, gambling, guns, a giant alligator who has this weird tribal-like following worshipping him this strange and unexplained obsession with Charlie, a dream sequence about hell, imagery of bones and skeletons, multiple death sequences, etc.

I am not saying these are bad things. I am just pointing out that this film goes above and beyond and pushes the envelope....it's quite remarkable, and I think this movie has the amazing ability to be both hysterical and touching and lovely while also being inherently creepy and slightly unnerving.

WAY UNDERRATED. Not marketed correctly (the trailer...don't me started on that)
Perhaps most disturbing of all, the film is dedicated to the little girl who plays Anne-Marie’s voice, who was murdered by her father and lived a life of gruesome domestic abuse.

[–] mjn-seifer 13 years ago

It is a kid's movie because that's what it was marketed as. Keep in mind that this movie was made back when we didn't treat kids like idiots, and weren't afraid to show scenes like this (which I actually concider better, because it makes us see that the real world isn't always perfect).

However, I agree that this movie deserves more praise - It's a beutiful heart warming moive, that covers more than one emotion (the actual "happier" scenes are in perfect balance with the more emotional moments). I still watch it whenever I can.

Also, the Aligator liked his voice.

[–] angelicscars_55 13 years ago

The little girl also did the voice of Ducky in The Land Before Time.

I wish they would make more cartoons like this! They keep making cartoons for tv and movies that are so sugar coated. The real world is very cruel, and I think kids need to realize that sooner then later.

[–] mjn-seifer 13 years ago

Apparently, Judith's grave has a Ducky based quote on it. That's actually a nice tribute to her.

I agree they should keep making movies and TV Shows like this, you can sill have "nice" parts to it (like this movie had "happy" moments as well) but include all emotions.

[–] king_of_bob 9 years ago

We do, every now and then. UP is a good example. The opening is incredibly sad and hyper realistic. It's not quite on the level of a Bluth movie, but it does play with adult themes more than a lot of kids movies. Pixar is one of the best animation studios around right now, in that they aren't afraid to have scary and\or sad aspects to their films.

Prof. Farnsworth: Oh. A lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!

[–] Jnbfwc 13 years ago

"Keep in mind that this movie was made back when we didn't treat kids like idiots. . . "

Perhaps strangely, this is my exact sentiments, including the word "idiot".
Nicely done.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] king_of_bob 9 years ago

Keep in mind that this movie was made back when we didn't treat kids like idiots, and weren't afraid to show scenes like this (which I actually concider better, because it makes us see that the real world isn't always perfect).

Yes we did. Bluth was one of the film makers leading the charge against the Disnification of childrens movies. Bluth helped change childrens movies for the better.

Prof. Farnsworth: Oh. A lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!

[–] jabronie75 13 years ago

If it was marketed correctly, as you put it, would you have been able to see it as a kid?
I haven't seen this movie since I saw it first in the 90s when I was a kid. I used to think this movie was amazing.
I'm going to watch it again.

[–] Movie_Fan_92 13 years ago

I saw this movie on TV over the weekend, and I was so happy to see it, since my video of it messed up. So, I taped it! It is such a great movie! Anyways, while it is pretty dark, they just had to throw some kiddy stuff in there. The sharing song, the cute little girl, the puppies, the singing Big Lipped Alligator... So really, it is for kids, just more sensitive kids should have parental guidance. Or, as a critic's quote on my VHS back cover says, "A Film For The Young And Young At Heart."

[–] CosmosX9 13 years ago

I don't blame you for calling this movie dark.

"All Dogs go to Heaven" is my 2nd favorite Don Bluth film because it's so dark and realistic (almost). The best thing about this movie, was that it dealt with adult situations like: murder, death, religion, gangs, gambling, etc.

I haven't noticed these things when I was little (except the Hell nightmare, which still scares me a little), but once I rewatched the movie, I began to realize the dramatic atmosphere and the bizarre originality that Don Bluth was famous for in most of his films. :)

"Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart"-(The Land Before Time)

[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 13 years ago

Criminally underrated by all means. What's with the 6 rating on IMDb? I never knew how mature it's themes were when I was little but I sure found it creepy.

"I'm afraid you've worn out your welcome Prince A Boo Boo" - Jafar

[–] la_cinematheque 13 years ago

This movie came out when I was four and even then (or sometime in my early childhood), I realized the murder, drinking, smoking, guns, and organized crime were things you'd never seen in a "normal" animated movie, aka a disney movie. I also recognized that the protagonist was a bad guy, which was unusual too. But despite all that, it has a pretty good moral compass and is still really appropriate for kids. I'm not sure why it works, but it does and it's been one of my favorite movies all my life.

The hell scene did used to scare me some, though.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] Hdny42 12 years ago

It certainly is dark. This was the first movie I ever saw in theaters: I was 4-years-old at the time. I remember being frightened of course by the death scene, and by all the devil/hellish imagery. I also didn't really understand all the devilish imagery the first time I saw the film, nor did I really get the plot.

Carface, by the way, is quite terrifying and evil for a villain in a children's animated feature. Scar is too in The Lion King, but that's not as dark a film overall...it certainly has dark scenes, but even the death of Mufasa is not as dark, in my opinion, as so many of the scenes in All Dogs Go to Heaven.

"Well if you wanted to make Serak the Preparer cry...mission accomplished."

[–] sootsoo 12 years ago

I first saw the movie when I was about 6 years old N did cry at some of the scenes regardless all in all I really really love the movie when I was a little kid N now. Agree the film goes far above and beyond expectations N is remarkable N very underrated.

Did we order this diner to go?cause there they go!
-hyena- the Lion King

[–] bvnnnnnn 12 years ago

do you seriously always take the time to replace and with a capital n? I'm not ripping on you, just curious, that seems really, really idiosyncratic and not a shortcut at all.

Anyway, yeah, this movie's been on my mind lately, don't know what started it, but this movie always gave me terrible vibes as a kid, it always seemed to be on on Sunday evenings, which always had a weird atmosphere to them when I was a kid because I would often nap before, and that'd make me all groggy and hazy and make things feel slightly surreal.

I remember there's a drowning scene that I can't remember where it lands in the storyline, and can't find in the plot section on wikipedia. Anyway, I remember that being extremely gruesome. This movie really did a number on me as a kid, but I figured it was supposed to be for kids so I watched it a handful of times, the only parts that have kept with me are the really unsettling bits, even though things get smoothed over, I couldn't get over that these dogs are dead by turbo-malicious means as the premise, it weighed on my mind the entirety.

It also reminds me of We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story. that undertone of dark mood, sheesh, forget swearing, sex and violence in movies, if anything deserves censorship, maybe don't subject kids to these seemingly innocent movies that have these seriously morbid and acid-trip-gone-real-bad vibes to them.

[–] thereseuphemiaabernathy 9 years ago

I'm extremely grateful to have grown up with all these wonderful "kid's" films that are now considered so appallingly dark, creepy, disturbing, scary, morbid, and mature (including most Don Bluths, some Disneys, and other similar ones largely from the 80s or 90s.) They ARE a lot of those things, but in such a way that I was more than able to handle and ADORE them. Maybe don't "subject" extremely sensitive young children to them, but for the most part? Kids will forever deserve the exceptional entertainment, rather than just simplistically sugarcoated sweetness. Neither I nor any of my friends, classmates, siblings, or other contemporaries were at all "damaged" by these movies; rather, we greatly benefitted from being exposed to high-quality, intelligent filmmaking at early ages. These are films we can only grow to love, understand, and enjoy more and more as we get older--rather than mindless junk that can be eschewed by "grownups."