| Genre: | |
| Based On: | All Dogs Go to Heaven, |
| Theme Music Composer: | Mark Watters Lorraine Feather (lyrics) |
| Opentheme: | "A Little Heaven", performed by Gene Miller, Clydene Jackson-Edwards, and Carmen Twillie |
| Endtheme: | "A Little Heaven" |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Executive Producer: | Paul Sabella Jonathan Dern |
| Company: | MGM Animation MGM Television |
| Num Seasons: | 3 |
| Num Episodes: | 40 |
| Runtime: | 22 minutes |
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 and then found redemption with the help of a young orphan girl named Anne-Marie. It spawned a 1996 sequel, All Dogs Go to Heaven 2. The series takes place after the second film.[2]
Most of the voice actors from the 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 direct-to-video Christmas special An All Dogs Christmas Carol serves as the finale.
Following the events of All Dogs Go to Heaven 2, Charlie and Itchy reside in San Francisco as guardian angels. In each episode, Annabelle assigns them a task, and while they always try to do the right thing, they consistently get stuck in awkward situations. Charlie's duplicitous enemy Carface and his sidekick, Killer – returning from the first film – also appear, as did Charlie's friends: the Irish Setter Sasha; the whippet angel Annabelle, and the human boy David. The series also introduces three new characters: Bess, an award-winning, purebred show dog and Itchy's romantic interest; Lance, a by-the-book Doberman Pinscher, whom Charlie is jealous of for his heroic acts; and Belladonna, Annabelle's demonic cousin.
Mark Watters wrote the show's score. Some episodes feature a song, which was more frequent in the first two seasons, and season 3 only has one. "The Perfect Dog" and "Take the Easy Way Out" earned the series two Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Original Song.
| Title | Composer | Lyricist | Performer(s) | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "A Little Heaven" (theme song) | Mark Watters | All episodes | ||
| "Casanova" | "The Doggone Truth" | |||
| "By the Book" | "Lance, the Wonder Pup" | |||
| "It's Gotta Come from the Heart" | Michael Silversher Patty Silversher | Steven Weber | "Cyrano de Barkinac" | |
| "Everything a Girl Wants" | "Mission Im-paws-ible" | |||
| "Itchin' and a-Twitchin" | Tom Scott | Lorraine Feather | "Dog Eat Dog" | |
| "The Perfect Dog" | Michael Silversher Patty Silversher | Michael Silversher Patty Silversher | Sheena Easton Steven Weber Dom DeLuise | "The Perfect Dog" |
| "Take the Easy Way Out" | Richard Kaufman Scooter Pietsch | Lorraine Feather | "La Doggie Vita" | |
| "Party on a UFO" | Kevin Quinn Randy Petersen | Kevin Quinn Randy Petersen | Jess Harnell Steve Mackall Steven Weber Kevin Quinn Randy Petersen | "The Rexx Files" |
| "Sidekicks" | Megan Cavallari | "Sidekicked" | ||
| "Be Your Own Dog" | Scooter Pietsch | Lorraine Feather | Sheena Easton Andrea L. Robinson Maxi Anderson Carmen Twillie | "The Big Fetch" |
| "Why Not Be Happy Now?" | Mark Watters | "He Barked, She Barked" |
In the 1990s, several VHS compilations were released, each with two episodes. In 2006, two volumes were released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, each containing four episodes. The entire series is available for digital download on iTunes. In Spring 2011, the entire series became available on YouTube through MGM Digital Media.
In December 2013, TGG Direct released All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series - Complete Series on region 1 DVD. The 7-disc set features all 40 episodes, alongside An All Dogs Christmas Carol.[3] [4] [5] [6]