A Don Bluth film sequel that led into a TV series (like with Fievel Goes West), I actually remember this from my childhood (also not having watched the predecessor, oddly enough). Set over 50 years after the original (because immortal dogs), the premise is less compelling with Charlie chasing a heavenly McGuffin and helping a kid that’s not an orphan and far less sympathetic than Anne-Marie. Will this be a decent follow up in the form of a pseudo-TV pilot or will it show how so many Don Bluth directed properties get milked for profit?
Things start up in heaven as Carface is making a deal with an unknown contact about an item. Later, at an awards ceremony, Charlie is shocked when Carface gets recognized as “most rehabilitated”. He rushes to the pearly gates when Itchy arrives, having choked to death on a chicken. Charlie introduces his friend to paradise, but sings about how it’s too perfect for him
Elsewhere, Carface steals the horn of Gabriel (using his award to cut the glass), but after getting through the gates, he knocks it off the cloud
Annabelle reports the horn’s disappearance and Charlie volunteers, the head angel thinking it could help him. She gives him one emergency-use miracle, explaining that only angel dogs can hear the horn’s heavenly tone and emphasizes he must retrieve it quickly. Itchy is sent along with Charlie, the newly dead dog protesting
Charlie, after arriving on Earth, wants to have some fun, Itchy insisting they should complete their mission. They discover that they’re invisible and intangible at a club, to Charlie’s frustration. After Sasha le Fleur, a lovely Irish setter, sings about how jaded she is about romance, Charlie is smitten with her.
But the pair is shocked to see Carface on Earth, able to be seen because of a special collar. He takes them to meet Red, who gives them their own, only working until sundown tomorrow. We learn that Red is a cat devil, singing his villain song to Carface as he notes his minion can’t find the horn himself, so Charlie is his best option
Sasha, after getting stiffed by the club owner, steals some food, Charlie covering for her and flirting, though she rebuffs him, running away. They follow her, finding out that Sasha is helping a kid, David. With the miracle (in the form of a kiss), Charlie allows David to understand Sasha, revealing he’s an angel.
David thinks that Charlie’s his guardian angel, explaining that he ran away from home, unwilling to acknowledge his stepmom. Charlie goes along with David’s dream of performing magic at Cannery Square, while Sasha ignores his flirting, saying he isn’t really her kind of dog, all the traits his opposite (plus an under the radar joke about “breeding”)
Meanwhile, Carface introduces Red to Alcatraz, to be used in some kind of plot involving the horn
Charlie sneaks into a police station to acquire the horn (where we also learn from David’s parents that he may have left because they’re having a baby), but discovers he can’t use his angel form to retrieve it. Having David pose as a blind kid, the plan goes south quickly, Itchy panicking at a police dog.
After drawing away cops with donut rumors and playing keep-away with the keys, they get the horn. David bumps into the officer who was talking with his parents, fleeing with Charlie and Sasha on a stolen moped while Carface and the policewoman follow
After they manage to escape, Charlie ignores Itchy’s pleas yet again, throwing the horn in a lobster trap and off the pier, still wanting to help David, even though it’s clear Charlie’s more interested in Sasha
David, with Charlie’s help, does his magic act, though it ultimately ends up failing, rain starting to show the tone shift, David unhappy. After seeing a family at the pier and Sasha reminding him of his deceased mom, David is convinced by the dogs that his family will still love him
Itchy gets some food, Sasha and Charlie having a sudden romantic number, Sasha taken by Charlie’s kindness to David, even though Charlie insists he’s lied to the kid about being a guardian angel.
As the sun goes down, the collars’ effects end, Charlie and Itchy disappearing. Charlie rushes to get another collar from Red, forced to offer up the horn as a trade.
Carface kidnaps David, using him as bait for Charlie to bring the horn to Alcatraz. After Red acquires and plays it, dogs are sucked into Alcatraz from heaven, including Annabelle.
Red grows more powerful, mildly annoyed by David’s sleight-of-hand tying his tail to a pipe. The group is split up, Itchy getting the courage to free his friends from Red’s claws
Charlie runs off with the horn, Annabelle saying he must play it. He narrowly avoids Red, tricking him into falling back into the prison. But Red tries to take David down with him, Charlie managing to play the horn and save everyone.
After Red is sent back to hell, Carface appears to have gotten off easy, but we learn that he traded his soul for his collar, Red’s minions dragging him down
Charlie and Itchy go back to heaven after leaving David to Sasha, but Annabelle reveals that Charlie’s kindness has earned him a chance to redeem himself on earth (so making a deal with Red damned his soul?). Itchy decides to stay in heaven, Charlie bidding him farewell (an interesting reversal of the last film)
David and Sasha happily greet Charlie as he returns (no longer an angel), David reuniting with his family and even convincing his parents to let the two dogs live with them as the film concludes.
Charlie is our lead again (though he reset from the previous film), learning not to abuse his position and think about his actions’ consequences on others. David is a secondary lead (like Anne-Marie) finding new appreciation for the family he has rather than seeking a new one
Sasha and Itchy function as support, Itchy especially in being the voice of reason that Charlie still ignores like before. We don’t know Sasha’s backstory, but see that she’s a jaded dog, but still a good influence like Itchy; the main difference being Charlie listens to her because he’s horny. I appreciate them making Sasha a woman with agency, even if her relevance to the story feels forced in leading to David
Carface isn’t the major antagonist here, more like his minion Killer this time around. His master Red, on the other hand, is the true malefactor and has an interesting twist of being a cat in disguise as well as a devil figure, utilizing the promise of easy solutions for his own gains
Thematically, it feels similar to the first film in Charlie learning to be good, just in a different context than before. With a significant rewrite, you could’ve avoided Charlie repeating his lesson and instead have Sasha be the jaded dog with a troubled past that learns to trust people. David’s family issues would have complemented that plot as well, not feeling forced into the plot.
The film is fair if viewed as a reboot, ignoring the continuity of the first film rather than trying to fit into an overall story (which doesn’t work, considering Charlie’s regression, among other things)
Overall, this feels too much like it was written to lead into the eventual TV series about half a year later rather than a genuine sequel to the original with Charlie helping OTHER dogs learn to be good instead. Watch if you’re a big fan, maybe and then check out the TV series (not me!) and then we’ll watch the Christmas special
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