All Dogs Go to Heaven 2

All Dogs Go to Heaven 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
  • Paul Sabella
  • Co-director:
  • Larry Leker
Produced by
Screenplay by
  • Arne Olsen
  • Kelly Ward
  • Mark Young
Story by
  • Kelly Ward
  • Mark Young
Based on Characters
by Don Bluth
and David N. Weiss
Starring
Music by Mark Watters
Edited by Tony Garber
Production
companies
Distributed by MGM/UA Distribution Co.
Release date
  • March 29, 1996 (1996-03-29)
Running time
 84 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $8.6 million[1]

All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 is a 1996 American animated romantic musical comedy-drama film, and a sequel to Goldcrest Films' 1989 animated film All Dogs Go to Heaven. Produced by MGM/UA Family Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation, it was co-directed by Paul Sabella and Larry Leker. Dom DeLuise reprises his role from the first film, alongside new cast members Charlie Sheen, Ernest Borgnine, and Bebe Neuwirth, respectively. New characters are voiced by Sheena Easton, Adam Wylie, and George Hearn.

The film was released on March 29, 1996. Don Bluth, the director of the original film, had no involvement with it. It was the third theatrical sequel to not be directed by Don Bluth (as most sequels to Don Bluth films, such as The Land Before Time, The Secret of NIMH and the first being An American Tail: Fievel Goes West). This was MGM's last theatrically released animated film until 2008's Igor, and 2018's Sherlock Gnomes. It had a DVD double feature release with the first one on March 14, 2006 and January 18, 2011. It was also released on Blu-ray on March 29, 2011.

Plot

57 years after the events of the first movie, Charlie B. Barkin (Charlie Sheen) welcomes his friend, Itchy (Dom DeLuise), to Heaven, but states he is disillusioned by the afterlife. Carface Caruthers, their old enemy (Ernest Borgnine), steals Gabriel's Horn, but loses it somewhere over San Francisco in his attempt to escape with it. The dog angels are alerted of the horn's theft by Anabelle, the head angel (Bebe Neuwirth), who sends Charlie and Itchy to Earth to save it, and gives them one miracle to use. Upon arrival in San Francisco, they discover themselves as ghosts and therefore unable to interact with the physical world. At a tavern where Charlie flirts with a smooth-talking and gorgeous Irish Setter named Sasha La Fleur (Sheena Easton), Carface appears in a corporeal form granted by a red dog collar created by Red (George Hearn), an elderly dog fortune teller who gives Charlie and Itchy equivalent collars effective for a single day. Shortly thereafter, unbeknownst to the duo, Red reveals his true form as a large demonic cat who intends to take the horn for himself with Carface's help.

Charlie and Itchy meet Sasha and a human boy she is caring for, David (Adam Wylie), who ran away from home to become a street performer, the former leading him to believe that he is his guardian angel. Before leaving for "Easy Street", Charlie uses his miracle in the form of a lustful kiss (which Sasha is angered by) to grant Sasha the ability to converse with David. Upon seeing the horn being taken into a police station, they retrieve it, with Carface failing to steal it from them. Refusing to return to Heaven, Charlie conceals it in a lobster trap. On Easy Street, they entertain an audience with magic tricks, but a rainstorm and David falling into a fountain ruins the act. David finally reveals his belief that his father and stepmother, who are expecting a new baby, will care less for him once it's born; but is persuaded otherwise by Charlie. As Charlie and Sasha embrace, his collar vanishes, and he and Itchy become ghosts again.

Carface then kidnaps David and demands that Charlie bring Gabriel's horn to Alcatraz Island and give it to Red in exchange for David's life. Determined to fulfill his promise to get David home, Charlie approaches Red, who presses him to give him the horn. He does so, and Red uses it to capture Heaven's canine angels and send them to Earth in the prison cells, including Anabelle. Charlie, Itchy, Sasha, and David battle Red and steal the horn, which Charlie plays to free the angels and send Red back to Hell. Carface comes out of hiding and attempts to downplay his involvement. However, he does offer a genuine apology, hoping to finally make peace with Charlie. However, Red returns and drags Carface into Hell, which reveals to everyone that Carface unknowingly sold his soul to him in exchange for his collar.

Charlie gives the horn back to Anabelle in exchange for his life and says yet another goodbye to Itchy, who decides to remain in Heaven. After he reunites with Sasha and David, they head to the latter's house where he returns and reconciles with his parents. His stepmother is relieved that he is alive and explains she has been worried about him and says just because she is pregnant does not mean she does not love him and that they are a family. They then adopt Charlie and Sasha, and the two share a kiss, happy with their new life together.

Voice cast

Burt Reynolds, Vic Tayback and Melba Moore are replaced by Charlie Sheen, Ernest Borgnine and Bebe Neuwirth; however, three characters were written out of the sequel. Anne-Marie was written out of the story due to the murder of Judith Barsi in July 25, 1988, while Killer and Flo were written out of the story because Charles Nelson Reilly and Loni Anderson chose not to return to their roles from the first film (although Reilly returned for the third movie and the TV series).

Main characters
  • Charlie Sheen as Charles "Charlie" B. Barkin, who returns from Heaven to find Gabriel's Horn. It is revealed that as a puppy, he ran away from home (which explains the absence of Charlie's parents, who were briefly shown in the original film in the records book in the song "Let Me Be Surprised"), a point he mentions to David to convince him to return home. Charlie Sheen replaced Burt Reynolds from the first film due to Burt Reynolds participating in the 1996 films Citizen Ruth, Striptease and Mad Dog Time.
  • Dom DeLuise as Itchiford "Itchy" Dachshund, Charlie's best friend. He wants to find the horn and go straight back to Heaven. Dom DeLuise was the only original actor to reprise his role from the first film.
  • Sheena Easton as Sasha la Fleur-Barkin, an attractive Irish Setter, talented lounge singer and Charlie's spouse.
  • Adam Wylie as David, a disillusioned 8-year-old human boy and Sasha's owner. He believes that Charlie and Itchy are his guardian angels sent to get him back home safely. He replaces the role of Anne-Marie from the original film.
  • George Hearn as Red, a beast-like demonic cat from Hell and the main antagonist. He wants to imprison the dogs of Heaven. To manipulate his victims, he disguises himself as an blinded elderly dog through his ability to transform (shapeshifting).
  • Bebe Neuwirth as Annabelle, the archangel dog in Heaven. She summons Charlie and Itchy to retrieve Gabriel's stolen Horn.
  • Ernest Borgnine as Carface Caruthers, Charlie's arch-enemy, a bulldog, who becomes a henchman to Red through a deal between them. Contradictory to his aggressive personality in the original film, he appears quite slow-witted and timid in this film.
Supporting characters

Production

David Feiss served as an in-house supervising animator, storyboard artist and character designer for the state-side production. Much of the film's animation was outsourced to foreign studios, such as Wang Film Productions in Taipei, Taiwan (from which Yang Chih Tsang was the directing animator) and its Bangkok, Thailand-based division (from which Jov Huang and Shih-fu Liao were supervising animators), Phoenix Animation in Toronto, Ontario (from which Julian Harris was the directing animator), A-Film in Copenhagen, Denmark (from which Jorgen Lerdam was the directing animator), Dino Animation in London, England (from which Dino Athanassiou was a sequence director), Red Rover in London, England (from which Andy Knight was a directing animator), Scowling Wolf in St Leonards, Australia (from which Peter Sheehan and Richard Zaloudek were art directors), Catflap Animation in Crows Nest, Australia (from which Maurice Glacomini was a supervising animator), Franck & Franck in Paris, France (from which Emmanuel Franck was a supervising animator) and Screen Animation Ireland LTD in Dublin, Ireland.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album was released on the same day as the film's theatrical release, featuring music composed by Mark Watters. The track listing is as follows.

  1. Main Title: Heavenly Ceremony (instrumental)
  2. It's Too Heavenly Here (Jesse Corti)
  3. Count Me Out (Sheena Easton)
  4. My Afghan Hairless (Jim Cummings)
  5. It Feels So Good to Be Bad (George Hearn and Ernest Borgnine)
  6. On Easy Street (Jesse Corti, Adam Wylie & Dom DeLuise)
  7. I Will Always Be With You (movie - Sheena Easton & Jesse Corti)
  8. Gabriel's Horn/New Arrivals (instrumental)
  9. Carface Steals the Horn/Charlie Volunteers (instrumental)
  10. Police Chase (instrumental)
  11. Red's Transformation (instrumental)
  12. We Meet David (instrumental)
  13. Battle for Gabriel's Horn (instrumental)
  14. Family Reunion/It's Too Heavenly Here (Reprise) (instrumental)
  15. I Will Always Be With You (End Title - pop version - Helen Darling and Danny Frazier)

Release

Box office

Although the budget is unknown, the film earned $2,256,118 during its opening weekend and grossed $8,620,678 in its theatrical release.[2][3]

Critical reception

The film has a 20% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 5 reviews.[4]

Adam Wylie was nominated for a Young Artists' Best Performance in a Voiceover by a Young Artist Award for his work in it but lost to Jonathan Taylor Thomas.[5] Sheena Easton's Sasha and George Hearn's Red in particular have been held up as examples of well-done voice acting carrying an animated film.[6]

Accolades

Young Artist Awards

  • Best Family Feature - Animation or Special Effects
  • Best New Voiceover Performance - Adam Wylie

References

  1. ↑ All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 at Box Office Mojo
  2. ↑ "Worst Opening at the Box Office for 2,000+ Theatre Releases". Box Office Mojo. 2009-08-16. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  3. ↑ "The Cash Registers Are Ringing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  4. ↑ "All Dogs Go To Heaven 2". Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 4, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  6. ↑ "All Dogs' Sequel Struggles to Pick Up Scent of Adventure". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
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