Pinocchio in Outer Space

"Pinocchio in Outer Space" may not be in the same "all time classic" league as the Disney "Pinocchio", but what it lacks in budget and grandeur it makes up for in imagination and well-crafted ambience. Rather than being a lame attempt to cash in on the audience's good memories of the Disney version, this film is actually an exercise in the classic science-fiction "what-if" scenario. And it works. It has some of the most evocative outer-space scenes ever animated, with some truly haunting extra-terrestrial landscapes and a host of alien monsters sure to thrill the still young-at-heart. It's not for everyone, but for those who can find themselves enthralled by its peculiar charms, this film is a gold mine of Sunday morning kraft dinner bliss.

I actually saw this film rather late in life, most folks seem to have seen this as children, but I was into my 30s before I saw it and the big kid that I am....I love it.

The opening song and 'It's a Goody...Good Morning' are my favorites, but heck, they are all catchy little tunes. I think the animation is very good, is it me or did animation of the 60s still have that 'innocent' look? This is one of those films, where you hear about it, but until you actually see it, you can't believe it. Kind of along the same vein as, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians or the Mexican film, Santa Claus. Hey, 71 minutes of your life is definitely worth it, if you've never seen it and if you have young kids, use them as an excuse to check it out!

I remember being amazed when I saw this aired on television in 1978 and am glad to have it on DVD! I tend towards science fiction and so I gravitated more to this non-Disney like approach to the wooden little boy story! Space ships, left over alien technology, alien intelligence (Murtle?), mutant monsters, space flying whale (Monstro!), memorable songs, good, very good, animation and design and just overall a very enjoyable and most worthy of praise for the people who all worked to bring this project through!!! My recommendations for any age! There should have been more science fiction type animated movies with even this level of animation( which is in actuality very, very skillful and superb)I distinctly remember from the documentary contained in the DVD that this is not a product of the United States. Which is also an amazing fact. There could have been other animation houses doing more interesting work than from warner bros., Disney, hanna barbera, and other animation companies....

I saw this on the big screen. It changed my life. Well, OK. Perhaps I would have become a Sci-Fi fan anyway, but at age six, this was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I should note that when this came out, I still thought Clutch Cargo was at least moderately cool. Years after I had seen it, I had dreams about it. As an adult, I remembered this little tale whenever I saw a reference to "Pinocchio". (Disney tosses them around like beads at Mardi Gras) It was so obscure that I thought I might have dreamed it up myself. I was excited to have unearthed this gem and bring it into the light of today. I think it might be fun to see this again just for the nostalgia. Then again, I've listened to some of the music I liked so much back then and found it just... scary. Perhaps this should remain wrapped in the rose colored cloak of the past as my first full length, animated, Sci-fi feature film. For that alone, I'll give it six stars.

I'm transferring my VHS copy of this film to DVD right now and I'm re-appreciating the hard work to make this above average animated sci-fi fantasy. Great character design reminiscent of the Fleisher era Popeyes. Lots of imaginative monsters. The animation is never lazy, lots of full character shots of walks and runs and good "acting" to go with the voice track. I mistakenly thought this was an example of the early Japanese animation like Astro Boy. It's actually French-Belguim. I saw this when it came out in the sixties when I was about 12 or 13. At the Knob Hill theater in Oklahoma City. Probably co billed with something like Hercules vs The Vampires.