Prime Video Just Added an Animated Classic That Traumatized Millions of Kids (& It’s Just as Devastating 36 Years Later)

There’s a massive catalog of feel-good animated movies, but an animated classic that just hit Prime Video isn’t one of them. While many animated kids’ movies take viewers on fantastical journeys with uplifting themes and messages, a handful of animated children’s films have been downright traumatizing and stick with kids well into adulthood. That has certainly been the case for the absolute tear-jerker of a film that hit theaters 36 years ago and just reappeared in Prime Video’s streaming catalog.

If you’re looking for a good cry, then All Dogs Go to Heaven is the movie to watch. Don Bluth’s 1989 animated movie joined Prime Video on November 1st, and it’s just as heartbreaking today as you remember. The movie centers around Charlie B. Barkin, voiced by Burt Reynolds, a canine con artist who is murdered b his gambling partner, Carface. When he escapes from Heaven to return to Earth to take revenge, he unintentionally befriends a young orphan girl who can speak to animals, setting him on an unexpected journey of kindness, friendship and love.

All Dogs Go to Heaven Is Guaranteed to Make You Cry

Play video

No matter how old or tough you think you are, there won’t be a dry eye in the room after watching All Dogs Go to Heaven. Billed as a musical comedy-drama, the movie is beautifully tragic in its exploration of redemption and sacrifice and the bond between humans and animals.

Despite being a children’s movie, All Dogs Go to Heaven contains surprisingly dark themes and a darker tone compared to contemporary Disney films, allowing it to become one of the most emotionally powerful kids’ movies. The movie deals directly with death and the concept of a canine heaven, moral consequences, and love, not to mention the heartwarming found family dynamic between Charlie, Itchy, and Anne-Marie, leading to back-to-back powerful tear-jerker scenes, including that bittersweet goodbye scene at the end. Even now, nearly 40 years after its release, All Dogs Go to Heaven is nostalgically sad.

Read Next

This Is Still the Most Devastating Animated Disney Movie

The tragedy of the film goes beyond just what is seen on the screen, All Dogs Go to Heaven steeped in a tragic real-life backstory. The young actress who voiced Anne-Marie, Judith Barsi, was murdered before the film’s release, adding another layer of tragedy to the film and making Reynolds’ emotion in the final scene genuine.

What’s New on Prime Video?

It’s understandable if you’re not quite ready to revisit All Dogs Go to Heaven, and Prime Video thankfully has more streaming options. The Amazon streamer has added dozens of new films to its content catalog in November, including Good Will Hunting, Happy Gilmore, both Hot Tub Time Machine films, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Prime Video also added several Christmas films to its lineup for the holiday season, with Arthur Christmas, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You, Miracle on 34th Street (1947), and Scrooged all now streaming.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!