All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series
All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series is an American animated television series which aired from 1996 to 1998 in syndication and on Fox Family from 1998 to 1999, with 40 half-hour episodes produced in total.[1] Don Bluth’s 1989 animated feature All Dogs Go to Heaven featured a disreputable mongrel (with a mixture of a German Shepherd) named Charlie who died, went to heaven, escaped back to Earth for vengeance on his murderer Carface and then found redemption with the help of a young orphaned girl named Anne-Marie. The film spawned a 1996 sequel, All Dogs Go to Heaven 2, and this animated series takes place after the second film.[2]
| All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) The title card of the animated series. | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | All Dogs Go to Heaven, by Don Bluth |
| Directed by |
|
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Mark Watters Lorraine Feather (lyrics) |
| Opening theme | "A Little Heaven", performed by Gene Miller, Clydene Jackson-Edwards, and Carmen Twillie |
| Ending theme | "A Little Heaven" (Instrumental) |
| Composers |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Paul Sabella Jonathan Dern |
| Producers |
|
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | MGM Animation[lower-alpha 1] MGM Television |
| Distributor | Claster Television (1996–1998) (seasons 1–2) MGM Domestic Television Distribution (1998) (season 3) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
|
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | September 21, 1996 – November 6, 1998 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 |
| Followed by | An All Dogs Christmas Carol |
Most of the voice actors from the feature films reprised their roles in the series, including Dom DeLuise, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Nelson Reilly, Bebe Neuwirth, Sheena Easton, and Adam Wylie. Steven Weber provided the speaking and singing voices of Charlie B. Barkin, who was voiced in the films by Burt Reynolds and Charlie Sheen (and singing voice provided in the second film by Jesse Corti). A Christmas special An All Dogs Christmas Carol serves as the finale.
Plot
Charlie and Itchy live in San Francisco as guardian angels. In each episode, they are given an assignment by Anabelle but, while they try to do the right thing, they become caught up in the middle of awkward situations. Charlie's duplicitous enemy Carface and his sidekick, Killer returning from the first film, also appeared in the series, as did Charlie's friends: the dog Sasha, the dog-angel Anabelle, and the human kid David. Finally, the series also featured three new characters named Bess, a pure bred award-winning show dog and Itchy's girlfriend, Lance, a Doberman Pinscher who is a by-the-book dog whom Charlie is jealous of for his heroic acts, and Belladonna, Anabelle's demonic cousin. The series makes several changes to the second film, which led many fans to consider the series as non-canon. For example, Charlie and Sasha were shown as being a couple at the end of the second film, however, in the series, they only seem to be friendzoned, also, Itchy decides to stay in Heaven, but he is alive in the series, although it is explained later in the series why he is on Earth instead of being in Heaven.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||
| 1 | 13 | September 21, 1996 | February 22, 1997 | Syndication | ||
| 2 | 13 | September 20, 1997 | February 28, 1998 | |||
| 3 | 14 | July 31, 1998 | November 6, 1998 | Fox Family Channel | ||
Characters
- Charles "Charlie" B. Barkin (voiced by Steven Weber)
- Itchiford "Itchy" Dachshund (voiced by Dom DeLuise)
- Annabelle (voiced by Bebe Neuwirth)
- Sasha la Fleur (voiced by Sheena Easton)
- David (voiced by Adam Wylie)
- Carface Caruthers (voiced by Ernest Borgnine)
- Killer (voiced by Charles Nelson Reilly)
- Otto (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui)
- The Wild Pack
- Belladonna (voiced by Bebe Neuwirth)
- Winifred Bessamay "Bess" de Winkerville (voiced by Tress MacNeille)
- Manfred (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson)
- Gerta (voiced by Tress MacNeille)
- Lance (voiced by Mark Benninghofen)
Songs
The theme song for the series is "A Little Heaven", written by Lorraine Feather and Mark Watters (which is also the music composer). The singers were Gene Miller of Nashville, Clydene Jackson-Edwards, and Carmen Twillie. Below are the main songs in the series, which is six in the first season, four in the second season, and one in the third season; all for a total of eleven songs.
Season 1
| Title | Writers | Performer(s) | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| "By the Book" | Ray Colcord Lorraine Feather | Steven Weber Mark Benninghofen | Lance, the Wonder Pup |
| "Casanova" | Mark Watters Lorraine Feather | Ernest Borgnine | The Doggone Truth |
| "Everything a Girl Wants" | Michael Silversher Patty Silversher | Sheena Easton | Mission Im-paws-ible |
| "It's Gotta Come from the Heart" | Michael Silversher Patty Silversher | Steven Weber | Cyrano de Barkinac |
| "Itchin' and A-Twitchin" | Tom Scott Lorraine Feather | Steven Weber Dom DeLuise | Dog Eat Dog |
| "The Perfect Dog" | Michael Silversher Patty Silversher | Sheena Easton Steven Weber Dom DeLuise | The Perfect Dog |
Season 2
| Title | Writers | Performer(s) | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Be Your Own Dog" | Lorraine Feather Scooter Pietsch | Sheena Easton Andrea L. Robinson Maxi Anderson Carmen Twillie | The Big Fetch |
| "Party on a UFO" | Kevin Quinn Randy Petersen | Steven Weber Jess Harnell Steve Mackall Kevin Quinn Randy Petersen | The Rexx Files |
| "Sidekicks" | Megan Cavaleri David Goldsmith | Dom DeLuise Charles Nelson Reilly | Sidekicked |
| "Take the Easy Way Out" | Lorraine Feather Scooter Pietsch Richard Kaufman | Bebe Neuwirth Andrea L. Robinson | La Doggie Vita |
Season 3
| Title | Writer | Performer | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Why Not Be Happy Now?" | Lorraine Feather Mark Watters | Sheena Easton Carlos Alazraqui Sheryl Bernstein John Forsythe | He Barked, She Barked |
Voices
- Ernest Borgnine as Carface Cruthers
- Dom DeLuise as Itchford "Itchy" Daschsund
- Sheena Easton as Sasha le Fleur
- Bebe Neuwirth as Annabelle, Belladonna
- Charles Nelson Reilly as Killer
- Steven Weber as Charles "Charlie" B. Barkin
Crew
- Maria Estrada - Casting and Voice Director
- Gene Miller - Theme Song Performer
- Clydene Jackson Edwards - Theme Song Performer
- Carmen Twillie - Theme Song Performer
Home media
In the 1990s, several VHS editions of the series were released, each containing two episodes. In 2006, two volumes of the series were released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, each containing four episodes. The entire series is available for digital download on iTunes, available for free on hulu.com. In Spring 2011, the entire series became available on YouTube through MGM Digital Media.
TGG Direct has released all three seasons on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.[3][4][5] On December 3, 2013, TGG Direct released All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series - Complete Series on DVD.[6] The 7-disc set features all 40 episodes of the series as well as the TV movie An All Dogs Christmas Carol.
References
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- All Dogs Go to Heaven: Complete Season One
- All Dogs Go to Heaven: Complete Season Two
- All Dogs Go to Heaven: Complete Season Three
- All Dogs Go To Heaven: The Complete Series
External links
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