Carface Caruthers

Carface Caruthers is the main antagonist of the All Dogs Go to Heaven franchise. He is one of Charlie's best friends and former arch-nemesis and Killer's best friend and former leader and boss.

Appearance[]

Carface is a chubby American Pit Bull Terrier / English Bulldog hybrid who usually walks on all fours. His stature suggests he has clubfoot because whilst other dogs walk with their front paws in front, Carface's are turned in slightly as seen in a close up and a scene when he is about to kill Killer when he is sitting.

Personality[]

Overall, Carface is a hot-headed, smooth-talking, stingy, business-like criminal, even though his character goes through a series of changes throughout the franchise.

In the first film, he was much more wicked, grim, and just downright heartless, described by Charlie as a "dirty rat" But Carface's most notable trait is his stinginess, which all of his wrong doings evidently comes from as he has proven this throughout the franchise so many times. An example of when he ran the casino, his stinginess was so intolerable, that all of his casino goers would receive little to no winnings after they would win bets (as they grumbled with his business partner Charlie about how bad things have gotten for all of them since he's been at the pound), even going far as to slaughter his own business partner to keep all the success for himself, even one of his own men if they failed to carry out his orders (such as when he tried to have his sidekick Killer slaughtered when he failed to find Anne-Marie after Charlie takes her).

In the second film and TV series, his villain status begins to deteriorate after becoming the lackey of Red (the hell cat), than later Belladonna (the hellhound). He became less wicked, less brainy, awkward, and chicken-heartedness, making himself more of a comic relief. Although he is still malicious, and especially sneaky, an example of when he evidently duped everybody in heaven (including Annabelle) into thinking he has reformed, even being rewarded with a Merit badge. He was still unbearably stingy, like how he wanted to use Gabriel's horn for money making purposes once, calling it his "ticket to fame and fortune", and exclaiming to Red "When we get that horn, we can open any safe or bank in the world".

In the third film, Carface reveals in a song why and how he became wicked and especially why he dislikes Christmas. With the assistance from Charlie and his friends with a Christmas epiphany, he finally turns his life around and alters for the better by the end of the film.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Very little is known about Carface's past apart from the fact that he and Charlie were old friends as he tells Killer that his way to kill Charlie is "no way to treat an old friend" once.

He was friends with Charlie once, but his stinginess as well as personal gain led to him going away from Charlie and wanting to slaughter him.

All Dogs Go to Heaven[]

Sometime before the events of the film, Carface and Charlie went into business together and turned an abandoned barge into a casino for dogs. As the business went up overtime, Carface slowly became consumed by his stinginess and self-interest that he began to secretly plot against his partner so he could keep all the success and earnings for himself. He and his sidekick Killer managed to get Charlie thrown into the city pound somehow, but with Itchy's assistance, they tunnel beneath the pound and scarcely makes it out alive.

When Killer informs his boss that Charlie returned to the casino, Carface plans his demise by throwing a "business solo" celebration for Charlie, getting him drunk and running him over with a car off the docks. He’s revealed to have an orphan who speaks to animals in his Casino's basement, who is the secret to his success while Charlie is away. When Charlie kidnaps the orphan, Carface throws a temper tantrum, demanding the girl is found. In his many desperate attempts, he attacks Charlie with Killer's ray gun, attacks Itchy, and eliminates Charlie's newly built casino.

When he captures her at long last, Charlie comes to her aid, but is captured by Carface's thugs, and tied to an anchor. However, when one of his thugs bites Charlie's foot, he lets out a howl which attracts the attention of King Gator (who Charlie befriended) who comes to his aid, frightening off all of Carface's thugs in the process. During a fight, King Gator slams into the ship and Carface is knocked into the water. He is seen swimming away from the gator and devoured off screen. After Charlie returns to Heaven, Carface is seen entering and winding up his "life clock" (an alarm clock) to return and take vengeance on the gator, but is last seen being chased out of Heaven by Annabelle for doing so.

All Dogs Go to Heaven 2[]

In the sequel, Carface has become a comic relief character and Red's henchman. He is also shown to be not so tough after all as he is truly a buffoonish weakling.

Tasked with retrieving Gabriel's Horn which he succeeds in doing but manages to lose it shortly after, much to Red's disappointment. Meeting with Charlie again at a bar for dogs, he reveals that he is able to interact with the living through a magic collar given to him by Red and recommending Charlie to him after he met a lovely Irish Setter named Sasha. Because of Carface's failure attempt to get the horn, Red decides to use Charlie instead. In the end, he attempts to reform and makes amends with Charlie and the others but since he foolishly sold his soul to Red (though he thinks Red wanted the bottoms of his shoes or something, though he goes with bare feet), he is dragged down to the underworld with him, but it's apparent that he gets away somehow (as he appears in the TV series and 3rd film).

All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series[]

In the TV series, Carface is more of an anti-hero and a thief than a villain. He is the most common adversary in the series, along with Killer.

An All Dogs Christmas Carol[]

This time, because this is based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Carface is the main protagonist as he’s a counterpart to Ebenezer Scrooge.

Carface, along with Killer, appears crashing a Christmas party at The Flea Bite Club in the first place, collecting debt from everyone by using a mysterious hypnotic dog whistle, hypnotizing everybody into handing over the presents and other things, even taking money from a puppy named Timmy who is in desperate need for an operation to fix his bad leg. When Charlie and Itchy intervene to get the presents back, they discover that Carface is helping Belladonna (Annabelle's satanic cousin, who is planing to use a massive version of the hypnotic dog whistle to hypnotize every dog in the city into stealing the Christmas presents, causing them to be thrown out of their houses and abandoned). After being chased out of the shop, Charlie and Itchy seek the help of Annabelle who gives them a miracle dog tag to use to stop Belladonna somehow. So Charlie plans to get Carface on their side by frightening the "dickens" out of him, using ideas based on A Christmas Carol.

That night, Carface decides to get some rest before midnight when Charlie takes over his television disguised as Jacob Charlie (a parody of Jacob Marley), warning him that three ghosts will visit him at the sound of a bell, when the clock tower rang, Charlie pulls him in the television where he meets Itchy disguised as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Carface is not buying any of it until Itchy shows him a vision of his puppyhood. It shows a female dog with several of her litters, one of them being Carface, he expresses depression over his mother's absence longing to see her again, but then Itchy shows Carface another vision of when he got adopted by this very neglectful kid, while Carface explains (in song), the vision shows how the boy would constantly treat him like he did not exist and evidently permitting him to wreak havoc around the house. But what devastated Carface the most was that the boy just wasn’t there for him went it came to him getting in big trouble with the boy's parents. When it finally came down to him being kick out for his reckless behavior, this no less fazed the boy with no remorse or sadness over Carface's fate. It was that Carface decided to never trust another soul again and grows up into becoming a "hood". He furiously begins to beat Itchy after being reminded why he disliked Christmas to begin with, but suddenly finds himself back in his bed. Thinking it was all a dream he brushes it off and tries to go to bed.

Later on, Carface (still uneasy by that "ghostly experience") plays music to calm him, but Sasha takes over the radio, and drags him in after playing another bell. She presents herself as the Ghost of Christmas Present and shows Carface a vision of Killer who is testing out a blow torch to gift to Carface, she explains that despite the abuse he gives to his sidekick, Killer loves pleasing his boss simply because "it makes him feel especially good". Carface also learns that unlike himself, Killer has a Christmas spirit as he sings about how the holiday makes him feel (along with Belladonna who separately sings her own version of how Christmas makes her feel), indicating he is not such a bad guy after all.

Relationships[]

Charlie B. Barkin[]

In the first film, Charlie and Carface were good friends who started a business together. However, they eventually became enemies.

Charlie departs from Heaven to get revenge on Carface.

At the end of the film, Carface is killed and eaten by King Gator and filled with the same vengeance as Charlie did towards him.

In the sequel, after being in Heaven for some years, Charlie and Carface are on better terms. However, Charlie keeps a watchful eye on him while on Earth, knowing of their past.

Itchy Itchiford[]

Carface used to be feared by Itchy.

Following Carface's redemption, he and Itchy are on better terms.

Anne-Marie[]

It is unknown how and when Carface found Anne-Marie and how long he has known her. However, she is revealed to be the secret to Carface's successful business with her ability to talk to animals.

Initially, Carface did not actually care about Anne-Marie, only seeing her as his money maker, he would constantly keep her locked away in his basement and deny her access outside (probably out of fear of losing her, like when he flew into a rage after finding out from Killer that she is gone), an example of when Anne-Marie asked him if she could go outside, to which Carface tricks her into talking to a race rat first in exchange, only to go back on his word shortly after. However, Carface was not downright abusive to her as he would get his henchmen to feed and tend to her often, trying to keep her alive and fairly comfortable to have her raise his business.

David[]

Killer[]

Killer is Carface's weak-willed best friend and henchman and is often mistreated by Carface and is never given any appreciation and just abuse. He is often blamed for things that go wrong or even threatened to be killed for them, like in the first film when Charlie steals Anne-Marie from him, Carface decides to have Killer killed when he failed to find her, to which Killer tried to save his own life by saying he has a ray gun they can use to shoot Charlie. Also, when Charlie took Anne-Marie from him, Carface flew into a rage and started to throw things at Killer. Nevertheless, he remained loyal to Carface until his death in the first film.

However, in the Christmas special, it is shown by Sasha that despite the abuse, Killer actually likes doing things for his boss because "it makes him feel good," to which Carface is very surprised by. However, even after being reformed, Carface is shown to still somewhat mistreat Killer, making him play the reindeer when he returns with the puppies' presents.

Annabelle[]

In addition to working for two hellish demons (Red and later Belladonna), Carface has little respect for Annabelle despite that she is the archangel dog of heaven, such as at the end of the first film, when he dismisses Annabelle's warning about winding his "life clock" after being killed by King Gator. Like Charlie, Carface tends to underestimates her, and has successfully manipulated her before, an example from the second film when Carface fooled her and everyone else in heaven into thinking he "reformed."

However, near the end of An All Dogs Christmas Carol, when Belladonna was fixing to kill him and Killer for sabotaging her plan, Annabelle saved their lives by making snow fall on her. He thanks her, and she credits him for all of the work, and then tells him to try to let out the good inside him more often, and then she sends the two former partners in crime home.

Red[]

Because of Red, Carface's villain boss status has apparently deteriorated and became his bumbling, cowardice, and dim-witted lackey (much like Killer was as Carface's lackey). When he is around Red, Carface is simply a little punk, kissing up and grubling before him as pointed out by David after being kidnapped and used for a ransom. When he is not around Red, he acts as the smooth-talking, tough guy he was before, like at the near end of the second film where after Red's defeat, Carface than tried to downplay his involvement, even mocking Red of what he thought he wanted from Carface for his collar, which earns him a trip down to hell along with his master. But he also appears to be somewhat smarter than Red such as when Red had got Gabriel's Horn he was so overexcited about fulfilling his goal he almost paid no attention to anything else and when Carface saw that Charlie and David were fleeing Red just said "Let them" and Red's behavior was almost similar to an actor who had auditioned for a part and got the part (or something similar).

Sasha la Fleur[]

Despite treating her no better than the others, Carface is seen to have a slight soft spot for Sasha; one example is in the TV series episode "The Doggone Truth," where Charlie and Itchy masquerades as female dogs to seduce Carface and Killer into giving them the deed to the Flea Bite Club after they take it and turn it into an arcade. Despite kicking her out earlier, Sasha is the first person he turns to for romantic advise. It's also hinted that he might even have an attraction to Sasha, proven in the episode "Mission Im-Paws-Ible" where she distracts Carface by seducing him while Charlie and Itchy tries to steal back Itchy's stolen collar, and last, at the end of the third film where Sasha kisses Carface's cheek after being given by him a present when he finally reforms and returns all the puppy's gifts he stole earlier.

Belladonna[]

Carface isn't shown to be as fearful of Belladonna as he was Red despite her being from hell too, but is no less loyal (yet clumsy) to her. Despite his services, he is never well treated, as shown in "Kibbleland" when he and Killer are stuck inside the titular game for their selfishness, and when Carface saves Christmas, she tries to kill him and Killer.

Timmy[]

Timmy is basically the entire reason why Carface changed for the better.

King Gator[]

After Carface has finally recaptured Anne-Marie, King Gator, after hearing Charlie's howl, broke into his lair and destroyed everything, scaring away his thugs and freeing both Charlie and Anne-Marie and setting his lair on fire during the battle. He headbutted the ship which caused Carface to fall into the water and then he became King Gator's dinner, which got him wound up in heaven in the first place, and he swore revenge by using his watch, but was warned by Annabelle not to.

His family[]

It was shown in the Christmas special that he had a mother who always loved him no matter how he was, and he had several (unnamed) brothers and sisters, but it is unknown how many of his siblings were of which gender.

Episode Appearances[]

"The Doggone Truth"
"Dogs in the House"
"Mission: Im-Paws-Ible"
"Dog Eat Dog"
"La Doggie Vita"
"Kibbleland"
"The Rexx Files"
"The Big Fetch"
"All Creatures Great and Dinky"
"History of All Dogs"
"Whacked to the Future" (both as himself and an unnamed futuristic counterpart)
"Dr. Beagle and Mangy Hide"
"Charlie's Angle" (though "Carface" was really Chief in disguise here)
"Agent from F.I.D.O." (though he appears in the story-within-a-story as "Felonius Bentclaw")
"He Barked, She Barked"

Trivia[]

In the first film, Carface is the main antagonist. In the second film, Carface is the secondary antagonist.
His name could be a reference to Al Capone's nickname "Scarface," which is also the name of one of his henchmen in the Mean Street Dogs.
The way Carface walks on all fours suggests he has clubfoot because whilst the other dogs walk with their paws in front of them, Carface's front paws are turned slightly inward.
All in all, Carface is a recurring antagonist in the franchise, despite being the Heavy and serving Red and Belladonna, the ones behind the plots of the second and third movies.
He was voiced by the late Vic Tayback in the original All Dogs go to Heaven film, proving to be Tayback's last role before his death in 1990.
He was voiced by the late Ernest Borgnine in the 2nd and 3rd films along with the Television series.
In the first film, he spoke with a deep, hoarse menacing voice like a typical mafia or crime boss. He was also always seen smoking and his cigar always had smoke coming out of it. But sometimes he took it out of his mouth. Carface proved to be Tayback's last role after he died suddenly the next year in 1990 from a heart attack. After Tayback's death Carface's voice was taken over by Ernest Borgnine.
When Borgnine voiced Carface, his voice became more softer and less menacing. His cigar often stayed in his mouth, but he never smoked it.
Like he did with Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, Don Bluth allowed Vic Tayback and Charles Nelson Riley record their parts together to feed off each other.
He's very similar to Bill Sykes from Oliver & Company. They are both portrayed as criminal businessmen, they both smoke large cigars, they both kidnap innocent young girls (Sykes kidnaps Jenny and Carface kidnaps Anne-Marie) and they both have dogs for henchmen. The only difference is that Carface actually succeeded in killing the main protagonist (Charlie) before he was brought back to life from heaven.