Pinocchio and the emperor of the night is a film I am sure would have repelled more 4-year olds than draw them in with its horrifying imagery for a G rating. But as a film for anyone over 9 years old, I think it is a movie that holds up very well, and is often forgotten. I think it even trumps the Disney film! But why? Well, here we go! This was made by filmation, who also created He-man and all the Archiecomics cartoons. The animation is stunning and you can tell a lot of effort was put into it. The characters are believable and fun to watch. Especially the main villain, the emperor of the night, which has that whole Shiva thing going on with more than two arms. This movie is an alternate time line to the original fairytale, in which the event where the blue fairy changed pinocchio happened, but nothing else. At least I think it is. Everyone else I run into thinks it is a direct sequel, but I personally think it has to be an alternate time line, but the film doesn't explain very well, mystifying most people. However, the songs are mostly bland and forgettable. They are okay at best, except for the blue fairy song, which is horrendous. But, this movie has great voice acting and a very ambient and well- defined tone to it. It has great action, and can be suspenseful and fun, especially near the end when Pinocchio and the emperor of the night are battling over buying Pinocchio's soul. The character designs are really cool. I especially love Pinocchio and Gee willikers, the movie's replacement of Jimminy cricket. I also liked their design of the blue fairy over the one from the Disney version. This is a very well done movie with plenty of good things going for it. I recommend to check it out if you are deep into obscure animated movies with an edge that time forgot.
