Summary

Charlie the German Shepherd welcomes his best friend Itchy the Dachshund into Heaven after he chokes to death on a chicken drumstick. Though Itchy is beginning to enjoy being in Heaven, Charlie finds it boring and is longing for some excitement. (“It’s Too Heavenly Here”)

Charlie’s former nemesis Carface the Bulldog is conspiring with a feline devil named Red who is plotting to imprison all the dogs of Heaven and take them to Hell. In order to do that he needs Gabriel’s Horn, a magical golden brass horn that opens Heaven’s Pearly Gates. In a secret attempt to steal the horn, Carface accidentally knocks the horn down a hole to Earth where it lands in San Francisco.

Annabelle, the Whippet angel, announces to all that Gabriel’s Horn has been stolen. Charlie convinces her to let him return to Earth to bring it back. Annabelle agrees, and sends Itchy with him for assistance, along with a miracle that he is only supposed to use in an emergency.

When Charlie arrives back on Earth, he decides to have some fun, so he and Itchy make their way to a club/bar where a talent contest is being held. To their dismay, they learn that none of the living can see nor hear them. Soon after this, a female canine named Sasha la Fleur, a pretty Irish Setter^note, enters upon the stage with a vocal performance of “Count Me Out” for the talent contest. As soon as Charlie lays eyes upon her, he immediately feels attracted to her.

Charlie and Itchy cross paths with Carface in the bar, who can be seen by the other living dogs. Carface tells them this is possible because of a special collar provided by a “friend”. Charlie, determined to talk to Sasha, drags Itchy along to meet Carface’s friend, Red (disguised as an elderly dog). Red gives them the collars, telling them that they will only last a day. Once they are gone, Red tells Carface that he needs Charlie to get the Horn, because only an angel can hear its “heavenly tones”, and Carface no longer qualifies as an angel. Here the song “It Feels So Good To Be Bad” is performed.

Charlie and Itchy meet Sasha back at the bar as she’s attempting to gather food to take with her. From Charlie’s persistent advances, and from a sudden scare by a waitress who notices her stealing, Sasha bolts leaving her food behind. Charlie and Itchy decide to follow her to return the food to her. When they catch up to her in an old abandoned courtyard, they learn that she is friends with a human boy named David, who ran away from home. Charlie uses up his one miracle to allow David to understand Sasha’s speech, as David can already understand Charlie and Itchy. Upon being convinced that Charlie and Itchy are in fact angels, David deems Charlie his guardian angel. Charlie approves of David’s plan to busk on Kennedy Square using his magic talents, but while traveling there, Charlie and Itchy hear the heavenly tones of Gabriel’s Horn at a police station. Charlie, Itchy, Sasha and David manage to work together to retrieve the Horn together and escape on a police motorcycle, but not without a police officer lady noticing David as a missing person and pursuing them. They manage to finally escape. Despite Itchy’s insistence, Charlie does not want to return to Heaven yet for he would like to spend a little more time with David and Sasha. He keeps the Horn hidden for safekeeping by throwing it into a crab net and letting it sink into the ocean by the dock.

David makes his first attempt on busking at Kennedy Square which starts out fine, but backfires when he falls into a fountain. (“On Easy Street”) Sasha and Charlie convince David to go home, and though he agrees, he says he would like to bring all the dogs with him. Charlie is saddened by this, and explains to Sasha that he has to leave but is extremely sad because he finally “found someone special.” (“I Will Always Be With You”). Sasha is about to kiss Charlie when the sun sets and the collars stop working, making him a spirit again.

Charlie runs off to meet Red, asking for another collar. He offers to trade the Horn for a collar, but insists that he get the collar first, so that he can pick up the Horn and bring it back for Red. They shake on it, and Red reveals his true form. Charlie and Itchy escape, though only Charlie is corporeal. Charlie searches for Sasha and David, learning that they left for the train station. At the train station, Charlie sees David grabbed by Carface, who orders Charlie to bring the Horn to Alcatraz in an hour, or David will be killed.

Charlie arrives at Alcatraz with the Horn as instructed. Red takes the Horn and blows it, causing a gateway to appear and all the dogs from Heaven to be sucked down into the prison cells of Alcatraz. Charlie and David manage to escape to a rowboat where Sasha and Itchy are waiting, but Charlie doubles back when he sees the other dogs in trouble. He tries to help, but it almost beaten by Red when David, Sasha, and Itchy step in. Itchy gets the Horn back, giving it to Charlie. After a struggle, Charlie blows the Horn and all the dogs in Heaven are sent back, the storm dies, and Red is sucked down a hole in the ground. Carface gets sucked down the same hole because Carface had, unknowingly, sold his soul for his collar (he thought Red said “sole”, the bottom padding of a shoe).

Charlie convinces David to let Sasha take him home while he and Itchy leave for Heaven with the Horn. Halfway there, Annabelle takes the horn and tells Charlie that for what he did he deserves a second chance. Charlie returns to Earth, where he and Sasha are invited to live with David and his family. Sasha decides that being Mrs. Barkin might not be so bad after all, and in the final scene the two share a kiss and walk into David’s home. (“It’s Too Heavenly Here Reprise”).