Pinocchio in Outer Space

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....

...despite the fact that they made him a blonde... It's true that while this film is a visual departure from the Disney version (as it should be, IMO), it does have some elements that make it enjoyable nonetheless. The songs ("In the Little Toy Shop", "Goody Good Morning" and "Doin' the Impossible") are very decent and fun to listen to. Then there's the combination of a classic fairy tale and the space age (Pinocchio saves the Earth from Astro the flying whale). Throw in Arnold Stang (Nertle the Turtle), some scary intergalactic mutants, an atomic blast, and you've got...well, a decent 60's animated movie about a puppet saving the world.

You know, this wasn't half bad. It can't compare to arguably the greatest animated film of all time, but "Pinocchio In Outer Space" has its own merits. The animation is good. (It's much better than most modern animated TV shows.) The story is interesting. Even the three songs are lively and pleasant. It's also clear that the film strove to be a bit educational, as a number of space facts are brought up. Pinocchio and his friend Twertle, voiced by the inimitable Arnold Stang, have good chemistry and a pretty exciting adventure. If you have a small tot, there are many, many worse kid's movies you could rent for them.

"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.