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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Inconsistent, far from Disney, but pleasantly surprising at times., September 21, 2007
A year after Pinocchio's fairy godmother made him a real boy, he requests the task of delivering a special music box made by his father, Geppetto (Tom Bosley), for the mayor of their village. Of course, Pinocchio (Scott Grimes) gets sidetracked by a carnival and two greedy con artists, a raccoon named Scalawag (Ed Asner) and a monkey named Igor (Frank Welker). As you might expect from Pinocchio, he ends up trading the music box to the pair for a fake gem, and when he is scolded for his foolish mistake, he runs away so he will no longer cause trouble for his father. Pinocchio finds his way back to the carnival and a bit of trouble, but even that doesn't teach him a lesson. He soon is on a river journey with Scalawag and Igor to find the ship the carnival is traveling on, as it now carries the music box and also a beautiful, female puppet Pinocchio has grown fond of. But the carnival ship holds a mysterious secret! It's really the home of the wicked Emperor of the Night (James Earl Jones) who travels the land tricking children into giving up their freedom! Made by Filmation in 1987, "Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night" might be exactly what you expect in some areas, and a bit of a surprise in others. For one thing, the animation, for Filmation, is probably above what you'd expect. Granted, it's a bit inconsistent, as it gets much better in the 3rd act. In fact, the film itself gets must better, as the middle drags somewhat, in no small part due to the insect sidekicks that could easily have been written out of the film all together. In fact, meaning no disrespect to Don Knotts and Jonathan Harris, their wooden glow-bug and bumblebee characters really were the low points of the film. They simply were not necessary, and at times the movie focused on them entirely, never with very interesting results. The film boasts some original songs that aren't too shabby, but the general background music the rest of the time is nothing special. In general, it's a decent film, or it would be without the bug characters which I really feel were only included to remind one of Jiminy Cricket. In fact, the wooden glow-bug the fairy brings to life as a birthday gift for Pinocchio is named "Gee Willikers," another bit of expressive slang. The film also carries the stigma of appearing to be a wannabe sequel to the Disney classic. Of course, anyone can make public domain fairytale films, but it does seem suspicious that Filmation decided to start with sequel films rather than first trying their hand at something like Rapunzel or Little Red Riding Hood. Yes, another one they made was "Happily Ever After," a Snow White sequel. Clearly there was a hope here that doing a sequel story to something Disney had already done a successful original of might lead to higher ticket sales. Nevertheless, "Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night" is worth watching for its highpoints, which include its musical numbers and its whole third act. None of it is at Disney's level, but it's a nice bit of animated, 80's fantasy entertainment, if you find that type of film entertaining in general.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Melodious!, July 1, 2005
I wasn't around at the time Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night was released into theaters, but now I have the tape my dad gave me. I watched it the very night I got it, and it is simply wonderful! The story begins when a carnival mysteriously pulls up to shore from a ship, and Lt. Grumblebee (Jonathan Harris), seeing this, buzzes away since he doesn't want to go near it. Meanwhile, as daybreak comes, Geppetto (Tom Bosley; Happy Days, Murder She Wrote) bakes a birthday cake for his newly human son, Pinocchio (Scott Grimes, Who's the Boss?). Pinocchio is very happy, and makes a wish to see his fairy godmother (Rickie Lee Jones), who instantly appears. She tells him to take care of his freedom, especially freedom of choice, because if he should take it for granted, he might become a puppet again. After she leaves, Pinocchio volunteers to take a jeweled music box to the mayor, with strict warnings from Geppetto not to go near the carnival. As Pinocchio nears a fork in the road, he is tempted to go near the carnival, but his new found friend, Gee Willikers (Don Knotts, The Andy Griffith Show), whom Pinocchio made, begs him to not go. Meanwhile, a few miles away, a racoon named Scalawag (Ed Asner, Roots, Happily Ever After) and his assistant, Igor (Frank Welker, Happily Ever After, Aladdin, The Pagemaster) trick people out of their money by making them lose a find-the-mouse-under-the-shell game. After a narrow escape from angry contestants, the two tricksters find Pinocchio and the jeweled music box, and try to persuade him to give it to them. He resists at first, as well as Willikers telling Scalawag and Igor to leave him alone, but is stuck under a shell. Finally, Scalawag wants Igor to bring out the pharoah's ruby. Charmed by this remarkable jewel, Pinocchio makes the trade. Later on, back at home, Geppetto is angry at his son for making the trade, and to make matters worse, the ruby was fake! Ashamed at what he did, Pinocchio decides to run away to the carnival, so that he won't cause any more trouble to his father. At the carnival, Pinocchio sees a beautiful puppet named Twinkle (Lana Beeson) and her puppet master, Puppetino (William Windom). Puppetino tricks Pinocchio into joining the carnival by using a magic music box to turn him into a puppet again. Meanwhile, once again under a shell, Willikers sets off to find Pinocchio, but first saves Lt. Grumblebee from a pack of vicious spiders. Grumbelbee flies Willikers to the woods near the carnival, where he could crawl from there. When Willikers gets to the carnival, he sadly finds Pinocchio back into a puppet. Then, the fairy godmother appears, who transforms Pinocchio back to a live puppet, then a human again. When she asks him why he isn't at home, Pinocchio lies, and as you know, his nose starts to grow. Then, Pinocchio tells the truth, and his fairy godmother tells him not to take his freedom for granted, and the next time he might need help, she might not be there for him. And to make matters worse, Puppetino's master, the Emperor of the Night (James Earl Jones, The Lion King) would be very upset, for he uses children who go onto the carnival's ship to have fun, drink, and have all the toys they want, and makes them give up their freedom without them knowing about it. This makes the Emperor stronger, and the fairy weaker. Pinocchio, wanting to take responsibility for what he did, goes out to find Scalawag and Igor and demand them to give back his music box. He tells Willikers to go back to Geppetto and tell him not to worry. But Willikers, stubborn as he is, goes after him. Hardly keeping up with him, Willikers finds Grumblebee again, this time gathering honey, and asks him to help him once again. Grumblebee, first, flies Willikers to a little bug village, where the mayor, Beeatrice (Linda Gary), tries to figure out a way to keep a gigantic frog from terrorizing their village. Upon this discussion, the frog comes, and nearly eats Willikers, Grumblebee, and Beeatrice. But with quick thinking, Willikers tricks the frog, and becomes a hero to the village. A few miles away, Scalawag and Igor try to find Pinocchio, for whoever does, will be rewarded 50 gold pieces by Puppetino. They find him, and when Pinocchio asks them to give him back the music box, Scalawag tells him that it is actually stolen by people from the carnival, and must get it back from them. And so begins the adventure of Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night. I learned a lot from this film, and it definitly has morals to live by: *Don't tell lies *Don't fall into temptation *You have a freedom of choice, and a freedom of will; use it wisely *Follow your heart, not someone else's. This film also has some great songs. The best one is "Love Is the Light Inside Your Heart". It is performed beautifully by Rickie Lee Jones, and has a nice message to all people: Love will set you free. This film is great! It can be watched by people of all ages, and still the story of Pinocchio touches your heart. It is funny, adventurous, exciting, and magical. And that's no lie!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still like it!, September 1, 2003
This review is from: Pinocchio & The Emperor of the Night [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I watched this around the same time as I first saw Unco and it still has stayed with me. I never was much for Pinocchio side kicks in it, but the Emperor himself is a truly fearsome sight and I love the fact that at the very end after the evils defeat, the puppet Pinocchio loved so much was turned alive. I am 20 myself and I have to say, age doesn't matter when it comes to classics, and this is truly one of them. For those looking for movies of the same type Little Nemo would be another great film to pick up:)
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