Editing All Dogs Go to Heaven (section)

== Production ==
The earliest idea was conceived by Don Bluth after finishing work on ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]''. The [[film treatment|treatment]] was originally about a canine [[private investigator|private eye]], and one of three short stories, making up an [[anthology film]]. The character of a shaggy German Shepherd was designed specifically for Burt Reynolds. However, Bluth's first studio, [[Don Bluth Productions]], was going through a period of financial difficulty, ultimately having to declare bankruptcy, and the idea never made it beyond rough storyboards. The concept was revived by Bluth, [[John Pomeroy]] and [[Gary Goldman]], and rewritten by [[David N. Weiss]], collaborating with the producers from October through December 1987. They built around the title ''All Dogs Go to Heaven'' and drew inspiration from films, such as ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'', ''[[Little Miss Marker (1934 film)|Little Miss Marker]]'' and ''[[A Guy Named Joe]]''. The film's title came from a book read to Bluth's fourth-grade class, and he resisted suggestions to change it, stating he liked how "provocative" it sounded, and how people reacted to the title alone.

During the production of their previous feature film, Sullivan Bluth Studios had moved from [[Van Nuys, California]], to a state-of-the-art studio facility in [[Dublin]], Ireland, and the film was their first to begin production wholly at the Irish studio. It was also their first to be funded from sources outside of Hollywood, the previous two feature films, ''An American Tail'' and ''The Land Before Time'', had been backed by [[Amblin Entertainment]] and [[Universal Pictures]], and executive producers [[Steven Spielberg]] and [[George Lucas]] (for ''The Land Before Time'' only) exercised a degree of control over the content of the films, a situation Bluth found disagreeable.<ref name="cawley_tail">{{cite web |author=Cawley, John |url=http://www.cataroo.com/DBtail.html |title=Don Bluth American Tail |publisher=The Animated Films of Don Bluth |access-date=October 20, 2015 |archive-date=January 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128093052/http://www.cataroo.com/DBtail.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cawley_land">Cawley, ''[http://www.cataroo.com/DBland.html The Land Before Time] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228022358/http://www.cataroo.com/DBland.html |date=2019-12-28 }}''</ref> The studio found investment from UK-based Goldcrest Films in a US$70m deal to produce three animated feature films (though only two, ''[[Rock-a-Doodle]]'' and it, were completed under the deal).<ref name="cawley_ireland">Cawley, ''[http://www.cataroo.com/DBireland.html At Home in Ireland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091129091753/http://www.cataroo.com/DBireland.html |date=2009-11-29 }}''</ref> The three founding members of the studio, Bluth, Pomeroy, and Goldman, had all moved to Ireland to set up the new facility, but during the film's production, John Pomeroy returned to the United States to head up a satellite studio which provided some of the animation for the film. Pomeroy also used his presence in the United States to generate early publicity for the film, including a presentation at the 1987 [[San Diego Comic-Con]].<ref name="cawley_dogs">{{cite web |author=Cawley, John |url=http://www.cataroo.com/DBdogs.html |title=Don Bluth All Dogs Heaven |access-date=October 20, 2015 |publisher=The Animated Films of Don Bluth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103084802/http://www.cataroo.com/DBdogs.html |archive-date=2014-01-03 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The film's lead voices, [[Burt Reynolds]] and [[Dom DeLuise]], had previously appeared together in five films. For this one, they requested them to record their parts in the studio together (in American animation, actors more commonly record their parts solo). Bluth agreed and allowed the duo to [[ad-lib]] extensively; Bluth later commented that "their ad-libs were often better than the original script",<ref name="beck">*{{cite book|last=Beck|first=Jerry|title=The Animated Movie Guide|url=https://archive.org/details/animatedmoviegui0000beck|url-access=registration|date=October 2005|publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=1-55652-591-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/animatedmoviegui0000beck/page/13 13–14]}} p.14</ref> but Reynolds was more complimentary of the draft, warmly quipping, "Great script, kid", as he left the studio. Another pair of voices, those of Carface and Killer ([[Vic Tayback]] and [[Charles Nelson Reilly]], respectively), also recorded together. [[Loni Anderson]], who voices Flo, was Reynolds' then-wife.<ref name="cawley_dogs" /> Child actress [[Judith Barsi]], who voiced [[List of The Land Before Time characters#Ducky|Ducky]] in Bluth's previous film ''The Land Before Time'', was selected to voice Anne-Marie; she was killed in an apparent murder-suicide over a year before ''All Dogs'' was released.<ref name="cawley_dogs" />

As production neared completion, the studio held test screenings and decided that some scenes were too intense for younger viewers. Pomeroy decided to shorten Charlie's nightmare about being condemned. Goldman also agreed to the cut, recognizing that the concession needed to be made in the name of commercial appeal. Bluth owned a private 35-mm print with the excised scenes and planned to convince Goldcrest on releasing a director's cut after returning from Ireland in the mid-1990s, but the print was eventually stolen from Bluth's locked storage room, diminishing hopes of this version being released on home media.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}