All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
Dir. Don Bluth
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Judith Barsi, Dom DeLuise
I hadn't seen this film since I was a kid, but as I was watching it, a lot of the story, visuals, and unfortunately even the songs started to come back to me. It's sad to say that All Dogs Go to Heaven didn't hold up so well after nearly 2 decades, but that's not to say that I thought it was bad. It was just nowhere near as charming as I wanted it to be. I did still like the characters' histories, the plot, and the overall feel of the movie, though it was certainly an uneven journey.
The tone of the film is really odd, because you have a lot of darker, more mature elements mixed in with scenes that are obviously tailored for very young children. It just doesn't blend together well at all. For example, you have a criminal casino owner who murders his partner out of greed, but there's also a sappy song about teaching kids to share. It makes me wonder who exactly the target audience for this was. Then again, oddly dark children's films seem to have been a trend in the 80s.
Other than the cringe-worthy songs and the occasionally strange changes in tone, there wasn't anything I actually disliked about the film. I didn't once check the time or feel like the film was dragging its heels. It was pretty enjoyable from start to finish, it just lacked any real impact for me. I do get why I liked it so much before though, and I certainly appreciated the nostalgia trip watching this film entailed.