Plug Your Ears.

All right. Our item of scrutiny this time around was another one of Don Bluth’s works. The question is, is it a treasure…or trash? I set out to discover that myself.

All Dogs Go to Heaven
Original release: November 17, 1989

The prospect of viewing this movie has intrigued me for a while. I had known of the movie for a long time, though only because I had repeatedly glanced its cover and the cover of its sequel when browsing Blockbuster Video and Hollywood Video. Apparently nobody else in my family had ever heard of it. Also, I was on an online forum recently, dedicated to The Lion King and Balto if you must know, and I saw that a user had an avatar and signature depicting characters from All Dogs Go to Heaven. It shouldn’t have surprised me; of course fans of Balto would gravitate towards another animated film about a dog. But seeing these images triggered memories of that long-forgotten VHS cover from the rental dealerships.

If there’s an animated movie for which the critics say pretty much the exact opposite of what the general populus thinks, this is that movie. According to Leonard Maltin, this film was “a major disappointment.” Blockbuster’s guide said it had a “weak story” and a “feeble musical score.” The blokes at Rotton Tomatoes didn’t seem too fond of it. However, the comments and message board threads from its IMDb page tell a different story. There are quite a few people out there that proudly proclaim themselves as obsessed with the movie. And just look at its sales! Even though this film was in direct competition with Disney’s fabulous The Little Mermaid during its stay in theaters, it later became one of the top selling VHS movies ever.

You can imagine how befuddled I was by these mixed messages. So I checked the problematic movie out from the library to find out for myself.

I’ll start out with what I did not like. First and foremost, the storyline is haphazard at best. The creators had a nice idea going when they decided to make a movie about dogs, normally seen as happy, loving creatures, actually living lives of partying and gambling far from human eyes; the main character Charlie would, of course, see the error of his ways through the love of—and for—an innocent girl. But they tried to do too much. I found it hard to concentrate on the storyline, and inconsistencies were scattered everywhere. Look, I’m sorry, but laser guns did not exist in 1939. The morally questionable hero, Charlie, is suddenly center stage of a scene in which he brings food for the puppies of one of his friends and teaches them the virtues of sharing. Charlie B. Barkin, sharing?! Then there’s the scene where the two leads fall through a weak wooden floor into the flooded basement, where they get abducted by tribal rats and almost fed to an alligator. The alligator in question falls in love with Charlie’s singing voice and promptly proclaims the confused dog as his lifelong friend. No wonder I was so confused.

I can connect some of the wandering nature of this film to the weak musical numbers. They’re hard to remember and don’t seem to develop the story much. I already mentioned Charlie’s incongruous lesson on sharing…but did I mention that it’s a musical number to boot? Also, when it comes down to the wire, I think introducing that singing alligator was merely an excuse to make a lavish musical number, give the girl a reason for catching pneumonia, and contribute to a more interesting climactic battle.

But you can’t go on for too long without praising some of the aspects of the movie. Primarily, Don Bluth’s studios house some amazing animators. The dogs looked quite doglike and moved in a very realistic, doggy manner, especially Charlie. The humans were likewise very human-looking. And the effects! My favorite shot in the entire movie was the shot where Charlie’s spirit is whisked away to Heaven. Sadly, I could only find a clip of a larger chunk of the movie, but watch from about 4:02 to 4:21 in this clip and you’ll see what I’m talking about. (I would embed the video as I normally do, but YouTube is refusing to cooperate.)

I’m finding myself in a sort of dilemma. I watched this a couple of nights ago, and I knew I should have done my write-up right then, when it was on my mind! I walked away from the movie still distracted by the random plot and ranting about it being not worth my time. I intended to give it an extremely low score. But here I am now, realizing how many people there are that love this movie to bits, and it makes me wonder: did I miss something? What if I offend people? Should I soften up, or should I refuse to be swayed?

My answer to this dilemma came when I realized a surprising fact. Later that afternoon, after watching the movie, my sister and I walked down to the library to take our things back, including the VHS of All Dogs Go to Heaven (and Pinocchio, for that matter). Only now am I brave enough to acknowledge that despite the movie’s obvious flaws and the dire warnings of Leonard Maltin, I wanted to watch it again. We’d returned it without a second thought, and curse it all, I wanted to watch it again!

Here’s my final verdict. It’s an intriguing idea for a story, and it has a nice message. The quality of the animation will make it worth your time. Just try not to let the zigzag nature of the plot get to you, and plug your ears during the musical numbers, and you’ll probably be fine. You may even end up being a big fan.

Mahewa’s rating: 2.3/5




P.S. There's an angel dog that welcomes Charlie to Heaven and, later, consistently warns him of his peril back on Earth. Well, her dreamy voice and the fact that the hero's name is Charlie...is anybody else forcibly reminded of Charlie the Unicorn?

P.P.S. I want to strangle that gator.

Unearthing a Classic

So what's on the schedule for this week? Another one of Disney's oldest, that's what! Amazingly, this was the second animated film Walt Disney ever made, and it's still a wonder to watch.

Pinocchio
Original release: February 7, 1940

This film is undoubtedly a favorite among families all over the country, as it has been for decades; the movie was so popular that it was re-released to theaters seven times! The character of Jiminy Cricket has appeared in countless places, and is perhaps the most recognized Disney character after Mickey Mouse...and perhaps Donald Duck. ("And Simba," Mah reminds me.)

It's hard to put a finger on what exactly makes this movie such a good one. First, I can say that its characters function well. I've actually become quite partial to that fox, Honest John. He's clever and somewhat comical; he leads Pinocchio astray for a bit of fun and to earn a handful of coins, nothing more, as is evident from the terror he expresses at the Coachman's far more diabolical plans. I also made several notes about how much work went into Jiminy Cricket's characterization. He really is quite charming. Now if only they'd made him look like a cricket...

Second, the musical numbers in this movie are entertaining to listen to and simply beg to get stuck in your head. "When You Wish upon a Star" has become a landmark tune in itself: hum it and you will turn heads. I'm serious. Disney even made it its official fanfare recently. Don't believe me? Take a look.



Gee, that tune sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Granted, there were a few moments in the movie that had me scratching my head. In Geppetto's first scene, he came off as a bit, well, mentally unstable. And when we first meet the Blue Fairy, she looks exactly like a Snow White who got her hair bleached. And that whale, Monstro? He's completely hollow! Whatever happened to the idea that the mouth, stomach, and lungs are all separate cavities?

However, it's pointless to rail at these minor grievances. The rest of the movie far outweighs the questionable scenes. I particularly liked the puppeteer, Stromboli; greedy and irascible, he serves as the perfect model of a person who has fallen into the "temptation" that Jiminy has warned Pinocchio about. And though Monstro may be anatomically inaccurate, he is the perfect vehicle to carry the story's climax: a fearsome monster who is determined to make the protagonists feel his wrath.

Perhaps the most amazingly staged scene is the one I'm about to show you. Many people, critics and casual watchers, have described the following sequence as one of the most frightening that they've ever witnessed. Do you dare to click 'Play'?



You can laugh at me if you want, or call me an imposter in the realm of animation aficionados, but I had never seen this movie before. Seeing as it is considered one of the most classic of the classics, I figured that it would be a good idea to watch it for the purpose of this blog...and, of course, for recreation. I had fun watching this. After all, that's what movies are about, right?

Mahewa's rating: 4.7/5




Let's try something a bit different when looking at reviews. Here is a page from MSN Shopping (don't laugh) that contains snippets about what customers thought of the DVD. Each answer is thorough and concise. Sometimes you've got to value brevity; just ask any Twitter user.

Below the Surface

We couldn't possibly continue much farther with this blog without discussing this movie. It's the classic that began the Disney Renaissance in 1989, and still loved by families across the continent.

The Little Mermaid
Original release: November 17, 1989

This movie is undeniably a classic. You could say it was a classic before it was even made: "The Little Mermaid" is the name of a short story written by Hans Christian Andersen in the 1830s. Walt Disney himself was so charmed by the story that he drafted a screenplay for it not long after Show White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1939. The project was put on hold, and nobody from the studio attempted to revive the project for many decades. In the meantime, many other studios made their own adaptations of the fairy tale. Disney's version, however, is undoubtedly the most famous and culturally influential of the adaptations.

There are many aspects of this film that make it worth watching. For me, the most immediate of those factors is the music. The songs in this movie tell the story well, especially "Part of Your World." I felt that it was extremely effective at setting up the parallelism of the two worlds. Just as we may dream of that alien world that is the ocean, Ariel dreams of a world equally alien to her: our world. Her voice is also quite refreshing; I'm sure we were getting tired of all those soprano princesses. (And, as Tom Hulce did in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jodi Benson got to not only recite Ariel's lines, but sing her songs! I'm impressed.)

Additionally, the songs are very fun to listen to. It's no wonder that "Under the Sea" won an Oscar for Best Original Song. I think my favorite song, though, is "Kiss the Girl," simply because it combines a catchy beat with an enticing, New-Age-like sound. Tempted? Watch it now if you'd like. Feel free to sing along, too...this version has lyrics embedded!



Each character had decent characterization in this movie. You have the curious, kind-hearted girl and her protective father. You have a disgruntled once-composer forced to tag along after her, along with her loyal but slightly neurotic younger friend. You have a not-so-princely prince...in fact, Eric struck me as the most unorthodox Disney prince I've ever seen, and there are a lot of those. And, of course, there's a quirky, smug, and very dangerous villainess who's after Triton's crown. Personally, I think Ursula's one of the creepiest animated villains to ever exist.

The only thing I didn't like about this movie was the sugary way that Ariel and Eric spoke about each other (not to their faces, I meant before she transforms). Sure, love at first sight is all well and good in a movie, and I am a bit of a sucker for romance, but do you two really have to go on with the "Oh, he's very handsome, isn't he?" It's annoying. Very annoying.

Other than that, I thought this movie was quite powerful. Here, let me tell you a little bit of a story. Last year, Yahoo! conducted a user survey to find the 30 best animated features of all time. Holding the top ranking was, of course, Finding Nemo. ("And in second place was The Lion King!" Mahewa interjects.) The top of the list is practically hogged by Pixar, but The Little Mermaid snagged spot #15! Check out the list here.

Mahewa's rating: 4.2/5




For more information on this fun film, try IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes.