Burt Reynolds's Dialogue at the End of 'All Dogs Go to Heaven' Reportedly Has a Tragic Backstory
This one's hard to hear.
Published Aug. 22 2024, 12:15 p.m. ET
There's a place in many folks' hearts for All Dogs Go to Heaven. The 1989 animated comedy-drama told the story of Charlie B. Barkin (Burt Reynolds), a streetwise German shepherd who sneaks back to Earth from Heaven and teams up with a young orphan girl named Anne-Marie (Judith Barsi) who can talk to animals.
But there's a truly heartbreaking story going around about what was really going on behind the scenes of the film's ending. We advise you to grab some tissues because this one isn't easy to hear.
The ending scene between Burt Reynolds and Judith Barsi in 'All Dogs Go to Heaven' apparently has a very sad backstory.
At the end of All Dogs Go to Heaven, after Charlie secures a spot back in Heaven for saving Anne-Marie, he visits Anne-Marie one last time to say goodbye. Sleepy Anne-Marie is in bed in her new home, having just been adopted, and she asks Charlie if she'll see him again. He says she will, and that goodbyes aren't forever. They tell each other "I love you," and Anne-Marie drifts off into a peaceful sleep.
It's a touching scene to watch already, as Charlie breaks down a couple of times while saying bye to his human friend. But behind the scenes, there's an even more heartbreaking story, and it has to do with what happened to Judith Barsi.
Reportedly, Burt Reynolds recorded the dialogue for that final scene *after* Judith Barsi was tragically murdered.
In 1988, Judith and her mother were killed by Judith's father in a horrific double murder-suicide.
The angelic-voiced young actress — who also voiced the beloved Plucky in another animated classic, 1988's The Land Before Time — was only 10 years old.
As the story goes (according to a viral TikTok), Judith had supposedly already completed all of her dialogue for All Dogs Go to Heaven before she died, but Burt Reynolds hadn't. He still had to record the final scene, where Charlie says goodbye to Anne-Marie before going to Heaven.
According to the TikTok, Burt asked for a closed studio, so he could record the scene with only the audio engineer present. They lost track of how many takes they had to get through without Burt breaking down. And the animators had to redraw part of the scene in order to use Burt's best take, which still had him getting choked up.
We can't verify for sure whether or not the story is true, but either way, it was a beautiful movie that featured an enormously talented young actress who was taken from the world too soon. RIP, Judith Barsi.
