All Dogs Go To Heaven

[El Dingo]

I finally broke down and bought this, breaking my 2 year boycott of non-widescreen resleases. It doesn't look like MG-fucking-M is going to put this out in its cinematic glory. This and 'The Last Unicorn' are on my widescreen wish-list. I hear 'The Secret of NIMH' is also fullscreen only.

Anyway, this wonderful animated film from Don Bluth sets new standards for grim children's entertainment.

The film opens with a daring jailbreak. Our pair of canine heroes escape from an island prison amidst a hail of gunfire. They quickly make their way to the local bar/rat-racing track. They sing a fantastic song, "You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" whilst serving beer to the scruffy clientele.

Let's recap, in the first 10 minutes we have violence, gambling and drinking. This is El Dingo's idea of children's fare!

Wait - It gets better. Our hero (Charlie aka Burt Reynolds) is ambushed and sadistically murdered by his former partner in crime, Carface.

Charlie finds heaven boring and pretends to put the moves on the dumb poodle/gatekeeper while he finds a way to return to earth. He plots revenge using the talents of an orphan girl who can talk to animals.

More scenes of gambling, larceny, fraud and general bad behavior follow.

Anyway - by the end I was crying like a baby.

Gawd I love this movie.