Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Hal Sutherland

Writers:

Robby London (screenplay) &
Barry O'Brien (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Adventure. Excitement. Fantasy. One boy has a nose for it all!

Plot:

Pinocchio and his friends, a glow worm and a marionette, search for a magic music box. However, so is the evil Scalawag and the Emperor of the Night.

Plot Keywords:

Pinocchio | Foreign Language Adaptation | Independent Film | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Cast

Edward Asner	...	Scalawag (voice)
Lana Beeson	...	Twinkle (voice)
Tom Bosley	...	Geppetto (voice)
Linda Gary	...	Beatrice (voice)
Scott Grimes	...	Pinocchio (voice)
Jonathan Harris	...	Lt. Grumblebee (voice)
James Earl Jones	...	Emperor of the Night (voice)
Rickie Lee Jones	...	Fairy Godmother (voice)
Don Knotts	...	Gee Willikers (voice)
Liza Minnelli	...	(voice)
Frank Welker	...	Igor / Mayor of Bugsburg (voice)
William Windom	...	Puppetino (voice)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | USA:G | UK:U

Company:

Filmation Associates

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Fairy Godmother gives Pinocchio his freedom back, she also transforms him back into a real boy. A few shots later, when she asks him why he isn't at home in bed, he is a puppet again.

Remember kids! Just say "NO!" to selling your soul!

If I'm not mistaken, I think it's just about my one-year anniversary here at IMDB. Now I'm sure my raging fans (all two of you) are well aware that I can't get enough of weird cartoons. I happened to run into "Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night" in the bargain bin of a thrift store recently, bought it remembering only that I had rented it several times as a kid, and came away concluding that it's going to take one heck of a cartoon to beat this one!

This movie is crazy. It's like somebody wanted to do an animated film of _Faust_, got bored with it, and decided for the heck of it to throw Pinocchio and Gepetto in it (other characters from the _Pinocchio_ story show up in poor disguises). Pinocchio's adventure leads him from an evil carnival to a freakish neon Hell populated by small children and lastly to the domain of a quadrimanous Satan. Along the way, he has run-ins with a wooden insect, a monkey who is eerily prescient of JarJar Binks down to the last stupid big tooth, and a pretty girl puppet owned by Satan's minion. This last character (the puppet, not the minion) is the focus of a crush from Pinocchio, and I guess this is supposed to be romantic but it comes across as very creepy. (I mean, he's a real boy lusting over a *doll* people; look at the looks he's giving her!)

This is a very trippy movie. On that level, it isn't half bad. I actually rather enjoyed it.