Pinocchio und der Herrscher der Nacht

A creepy mysterious carnival comes to town, Pinocchio (voiced by Scott Grimes) has just celebrated his first birthday as a human has been given a special assignment from his dad Gheppeto (voiced by Tom Bosley) to return an important jewel box back to the mayor and has been granted the power of freedom from his Fairy Godmother (voiced by Rickie Lee Jones) as he must be responsible for it or else he'll end up a puppet again. He gets swindled by a scandalous Raccoon named Scalawag (voiced by Ed Asner) and his monkey assistant Igor (voiced by Frank Welker) for a worthless fake ruby, it upsets his dad so much that he decides to run away to join the carnival for he falls for the hypnotic singing of a beautiful female puppet named Twinkle (voiced by Lana Beeson) over there and is tricked by the evil Puppetino (voiced by William Windon) as he is magically changed back into a puppet. However, Pinocchio does escape as he looks for the two scumbags that swindled him for they go after the traveling carnival to get the box back and end up in the nightmarish Las Vegas-esquire hellish realm of the empire of the night ruled by the evil Emperor (Voiced by James Earl Jones).

Co-starring the voices of Jonathan Harris and Don Knotts, this is a highly underrated and hugely entertaining animated fantasy from Filmation (The studios behind "He-Man", "Fat Albert", "Star Trek Animated" and "She-Ra") for i believe this is their best movie besides "Starchaser: Legend of Orin" and "The Secret of the Sword". The film does have a few good songs such as the haunting "Love is the light inside your heart" by Rickie Lee Jones, the upbeat "Neon Carbret" and finally the most fun song of all "You're a Star".

I remembered back in 1987 when i was 5 on Christmas night when i lived in St. Louis, my mom took me to see this movie at a shopping mall theater and it sure scared the crap out of me. But now i love it for it's one of my favorite animated movies ever! the animation is just breathtaking here considering it's an improvement over any Filmation animated effort and the film really gets dark with such moments like the absolutely horrifying sequence where Pinocchio changes back into a puppet as he's surrounded by puppets for it will scare the hell out of kids considering it almost escape the "PG" rating plus the Emperor himself is quite an awesome villain here.

If you love animation and good fantasy stories then this is a must see! it's a rare forgotten 80's animated diamond in the rough.

Also recommended: "The Black Cauldron", "Rock & Rule", "Fire & Ice", "Wizards", "The Dark Crystal", "Aladdin", "Big Trouble in Little China", "The Phantom Tollbooth", "Transformers: The Movie", "The Wizard of Oz", "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs", "The Great Mouse Detective", "Sleepy Hollow", "The Corpse Bride", "Willy Wonka and The Chocholate Factory", "Return to Oz", "Oliver & Company", "The Little Mermaid", "The Last Unicorn", "The Secret of NIMH", "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory", "Mulan", "Spirited Away", "Making Contact (a.k.a. Joey)".

I saw this movie when I was about 10 or so and I absolutely loved it. The animation was fantastic and I actually thought it was better than the Disney movie. The story was very involved, but not too hard for a kid to follow. I hope to find this movie on DVD.

I think that when all of us were kids we had one or two movies that we loved so much that we sat down and watched them dozens of times. For me one of those movies was Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, which is definitely a lesser known animated feature but all the same still holds up today. After ordering a copy from Amazon.com and watching it again all these years later, I was pleasantly surprised that Emperor entertained me even at my usually cynical age.

Sure, you could nitpick that the animation is inconsistent, with some scenes appearing less detailed while others are excessively so, and that certain backgrounds are obviously repeated during chase scenes ala The Flintstones (it's even more pronounced here due to the visible line in the visuals), but frankly those didn't hamper my enjoyment of the film. The animation is usually quite vibrant and expressive, and the story takes the usual Pinocchio antics in a different direction by providing an actual villain in the uber-creepy Emperor (voiced by that staple of movie villains, James Earl Jones). In fact, much of the movie is downright dark, from the opening sequence where a demented carnival seems to set itself up to Pinocchio's transformation back into a puppet. I'm not saying any of this will scare kids today, as they've probably seen much worse, but it does give a good balance to the otherwise cheerful imagery.

I can't get through this review without mentioning the handful of songs which are peppered throughout Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night. I can't get enough of "Love Is The Light Inside Your Heart," which is just a beautiful little pop ballad that I can't get out of my head because it's so memorable. True, the Fairy Godmother may sound like she's doped up during her speaking lines, but the song is great. "Neon Cabaret" is more of a background song than "Love," but it still has a nice little jazz beat that goes well with its scene, a night club where children basically throw back green alcohol (come on ya know it was alcohol) and go nuts. Finally there's "Your A Star," which while not a phenomenal song once again fits with the visuals of the sequence. Like I said before, much of the visuals of the movie are extremely well done and give the movie a vintage '80s feel I couldn't help but like.

Now this is coming from a guy who's reviewed countless animated movie, but I think it's safe to say that young kids could still get a kick out of this movie. It's got everything the modern animated flicks have, but without the crass marketing. And the sidekicks aren't half as tiresome or irritating, with the only ones being a glow worm voiced by Don Knotts and a bee named Grumblebee. Some sections of the film may seem like filler, like the scene involving a toad and a city of insects which lasts a bit too long, but other than that I give Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night an enthusiastic recommendation. 3/4 stars

I grew up watching the Disney film, and also love the book by Carlo Collodi. This is a wonderful underrated gem from 1987, that is a lot of fun. If I had to decide which is better, Disney's "Pinocchio" or "Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night", the Disney film but only marginally.

For one thing, the animation is very impressive. The backgrounds are surprisingly detailed and the character movements are convincing. The animation on the Emperor of the Night is absolutely brilliant. Also, the songs are fun and memorable. "Love is the Light Inside Your Heart" is not only haunting but a genuine tearjerker. "Neon Cabaret", while more a background song is also great, while "You're a Star" is wonderfully upbeat.

Other advantages are an engaging, dark and heartwarming story that keeps to the spirit of the book, a strong script and good characters, including the hilarious Igor and Puppetino(the part when he turns Pinocchio into a puppet was quite frightening). Pinocchio is engaging enough, and the Emperor of the Night while very intense is a great villain. Oh and the Good Fairy is gorgeous.

The voice acting is top notch, you don't hear much of James Earl Jones but once again he does an awesome job as the voice of the Emperor of the Night. Tom Bosley is surprisingly good as Geopetto, while William Windom is unrecognisable as Puppetino. Also Frank Welker deserves credit for his hysterical performance as Igor. In conclusion, this is wonderful and something quite special. 10/10 Bethany Cox

In the second half of the 80's, Filmation announced, uh... ambitious plans to expand into theatrical animation with a "New Classics Collection," a series of movies based on existing fairy tales and stories, several of which-coincidentally-were already popularized by Disney adaptations. These movies weren't just adaptations, they were full on sequels inviting the audience to come see their favorites again. Many of these films never happened due to Disney lawsuits and Filmation being sold to L'Oreal (yes, that L'Oreal) and stripped for parts. Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night was one of the only two movies to see the light of day.

Serving as a sort of pseudo-sequel, this movie begins a year after the blue fairy turns Pinocchio into a real boy, with him presumably having learned his lesson along the way. She gives him a conscience in the form of Gee Willikers the glowbug (whose advice he mostly ignores). When Geppetto needs to deliver a jewel box to the mayor, Pinocchio volunteers to do it himself. He is immediately swindled by the raccoon and monkey con artist duo Scalawag and Igor, trading the box for a fake ruby. Mortified by his own gullibility, Pinocchio runs away that night and ends up in a creepy carnival where he meets a puppet girl named Twinkle. The ringmaster Puppetino turns Pinocchio back into a lifeless puppet, but the fairy is able to save him. Her powers are fading because of the influence of Puppetino's master, the Emperor of the Night, but she is able to restores Pinocchio. Twinkle isn't so lucky, with Pinocchio vowing to find a way to free her too. Pinocchio decides to get the jewel box back to prove his responsibility, a journey that eventually takes him into the twisted realm of the Emperor himself.

I've seen this hailed as one of the worst things to come out of Filmation, and, honestly... I don't quite agree. Sure, it's shameless in its "inspiration" from the Disney version of Pinocchio's story, filing off the serial numbers enough to be legally distinct, but it's the movie's attempts to swing wildly away from the familiar that makes it most interesting. Some of the set pieces are remixed and reorganized, with the Emperor's ship being a combination of Monstro and Pleasure Island. I ended up enjoying the presence of Scalawag and Igor more than Honest John and Gideon, as their change of heart halfway through the movie allowed them to be more involved in the plot right through to the end. And there are a few trippy and downright nightmarish sequences in the movie. The scene where Pinocchio is turned back into a puppet mentally scarred a lot of kids. You don't really get that kind of darkness these days. The biggest departure is the Emperor of the Night, a Satan-esque villain voiced by James Earl Jones. It may seem random at first, but a puppet child going up against a demonic entity that steals souls by tricking kids into signing contracts feeds into the theme of freedom.

What hurts the movie are all the things that are inherited as a Filmation production. It was made on a budget and in a short amount of time, leaving several parts undercooked. Animation quality can vary wildly from scene to scene, going from fluid and expressive to infamous stilted characters and flapping jaws. The scene where Pinocchio first meets Scalawag and Igor is bustling with animated energy; when he meets them again after the circus, they're suddenly stiff, rife with zoom ins and static characters akin to He-man's worst moments. It's like two different studios animated this movie, and the disparity can even happen in the same scene. The writing also isn't quite all there. Twinkle is less of a character and more of an objective for Pinocchio. Scalawag and Igor have a nebulous connection to Puppetino and the Emperor that's never elaborated on. And there's a ten minute detour halfway into the movie with Gee Willikers going to Bugzburg, a subplot that feels pointless and disparate, until you realize that Filmation was working on a Bugzburg spinoff series that never came to fruition. That script real estate would have better served to flesh out the main characters (and I think Scalawag and Igor make for better spinoff material anyway).

Despite those drawbacks, I'm a little more forgiving of this weird little movie. In some ways, it's like a glimpse into an alternate future where Filmation got to live on.