Animation Source Forums

Just an article I wrote for the site posted here for more publicity. (Click here for the article itself http://www.animationsource.org/adgth/en ... id_film=17)

For a while now, people have wondered who the parents of certain characters were. For Mufasa and Scar, people had many, many different versions of their parents. But when it was mentioned in a children's book after The Lion King was released, it was said that their father was named Ahadi, and their mother was named Uru. Then after that, meany different version of the two were drawn throughout the Lion King fandom.

The same went for Balto. It was curious who his parents were. Some fans believed his wolf side came from his father, while his mother was the dog side. But when the sequel came out, more Balto fans agreed that his wolf side was his mother's side, and that her name was Aniu. It is still a mystery as to who his father really was.

Now what about Charlie Barkin? Are there unified theories on his mother and father? Oh, for sure. But why go along with theories as to who his parents were, when you can find out for yourself?

You may be wondering "Cat, I've watched these movies a million times and seen every single episode of the series! His parents were never mentioned!" That's where you would be wrong. It is indeed mentioned who his parents were, and it is in fact in the first movie. They have names and designs, as well. Don Bluth didn't leave anything out about that.

Its during the song "Let Me Be Surprised" when Charlie is confronting Annabelle (who was simply dubbed "whippet angel" in the movie. She was only given a name in the second movie and anything after it.). She is flipping through his records trying to find goodness and loyalty from him. There is a record of who his parents were, his date of birth, and even his breed(s) are located on the same page. You get a view of the page when Charlie says "I don't wanna die, you've got the wrong guy" (the first time). Its not easy to see on the VHS, but its VERY clear on the DVD.

Aside from his date of birth ("September 13, 1937" which is ironically director Don Bluth's birth date.) and his breed ("Mostly German Shepherd, but also part collie, part great dane, and part retreiver.") you see a view of Charlie as a pup, and on the page next to it are portraits of his parents.

His father's name was Burt R. Barkin

His mother's name was Loni A. Bowzer

Too lazy to look it up? Or just don't believe me altogether? Well, how about this for proof.


http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae10 ... as/186.png

It's safe to say who Charlie's parents officially were/are. But it is unsure if they were alive or dead. True it showed their portraits in Charlie's book, but it was just a record of who he was, not a record of their state of being.

Now that we know who his mother and father are, what are now your theories on them? Who do you think was responsible for Charlie's crazy mixture of breeds? Do you think they're still alive? Why?

**(Interesting tidbit. Burt and Loni were named after the actors Burt Reynolds (Charlie) and Loni Anderson (Flo), who were actually married at the time, but later on divorced. Hence the choice in their middle initials. Could this be a hint towards Charlie and Flo's relationship?)

It's difficult to say if they were dead already. I personally think they were still alive after Charlie went to Heaven. Certainly he would've seen them there at some point (not counting the sequel. They forgot alot of things in the first movie, I don't think they'd bother to know who his parents were xD).

As far as the breeds go, I think Loni looks more like a full on collie, but that would make Charlie mostly collie, not mostly German Shepherd. Judging by Burt's appearance, I'd say he was mostly German Shepherd himself, with some Great Dane for size, tho I think he looks more like a wolf than a German Shepherd, haha. As for Loni, I think she would've been the fluffier breeds, collie and retriever.

Anyway, I hope you all learned something from this. To really look for details in movies like All Dogs Go To Heaven. (And especially to not make fan characters out of Burt R. Barkin and Loni A. Bowzer xD)

Cool article, I might try getting into the series now.

Impressive find Cat! I had seen an article mentioning this fact once before but still most people don't seem to see this "Easter egg" if you will. I think this find right here just cements the fact of how well put together this film is, every detail is explained or shown and we aren't left to question anything unless the movie wants us to.

This is one of my fave "easter eggs" in the movie.
I also find it funny that Loni is a collie and plays a collie as well. I wonder if that was her faveorite breed.

Loni looks more pampered while Burt looks more street wise like Charlie.
Was'nt it said in one of the movies that Charlie was just dumpped on the streets? Theory:
Loni was a house pet and had a one night stand with the mutt on the streets. After Charlie was born, she could have kept it secret from her owners until he was capeable of being on his own and dumped him on the streets, saying to go find his father?
It does'nt list that he has sibblings, hmm? So I could see him being the only pup.

I dunno...Im not all that good at theories...

Haha the collie probably was Anderson's favorite dog.

I don't recall him being dumped in the streets. Then again, I never watched the series either xD Not that I'd take their word for it anyway.

I like your idea on how Burt and Loni's relationship might've been like. Weird thing is, as much as I disagree with ADGTH2, I liked the idea of Charlie running away from his parents when he was young and never seeing them again after that. But that would conclude that Burt and Loni were still together, but I dunno if I like that idea as much as yours xD

. . . hooray for DVDs.

I think this just made my night. I easily got the name joke . . . but that is an interesting find!

- Juuchan17

I absolutely never noticed this. O.o
I love it though, really love it. (Omg Charlie pup is so cute <333 )
I agree on the breeds too. His dad looks mostly GSD with a bit of the Great Dane, mum looks a lot like just collie and retriever.
I like to think that they're still alive, old but alive. It'd be awesome if Charlie took after his dad, sort of rough and street type so left his mum's comfy home.
It'd also be pretty cool if his dad had little patience with him when/if Charlie found him. Maybe didn't want kids? So Charlie wandered off on his own.

I totally have to do some art of his parents some time now. Especially his dad.
(Seriously, how easily could Charlie's dad be Balto's dad in design?)

I've never noticed this. Never. I mean, I noticed the picture of charlie as a puppy, but never,never, never, noticed the other page.

That was it, he ran away...
Yeah I dont really belive ADGTH2 is true on his backstory, but now that Im awake and see the pic more better, Charlie looked like he was kept but just could'nt stand the home life but later regretted it (when he found Anne Marie and said the house was nice)

Could also be why he finds comfort in Flo...she kinda looks like his mother.

I never noticed that either I agree with Hybrid.

I did notice that while I was watching the movie. I love how his father is named Burt, after the man who played Charlie, Burt Reynolds and how his mother is named Loni after Burt Reynolds wife Loni Anderson who played Flo.

o.o You guys didn't notice that? I took notice of that years ago while watching the VHS copy. XD It is pretty awesome when movies have hidden stuff like this. But to me, this further raises the question as to his relationship with Flo and the inspiration to the character now that you mention about Loni Anderson and collies. @_@

Wow nice find cat!
i would have never noticed that, i was always looking at the picture of him as a puppy!
it's nice to know that a movie would go into that kind of detail

It's easter eggs like this that make watching any kind of movie fun. Though, it also makes you wonder. What were his parents like, how did they meet, are they together now, and how well does Charlie get along with them...... oh, I think I see a fanfic coming along.