Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night

G

1987

1 hr. 31 min.

Kids & Family

Fantasy

Animation

List

43%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

61%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Pinocchio falls into the clutches of evil carnival people who attempt to turn him back into a lifeless puppet.

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Tyler e

Did you all thing that Disney's Pinocchio was the darkest Disney movie? You are gonna be so wrong about that. This movie is bad, but it has something that makes it stand...It is so fucking dark. Jesus Christ, this movie manage to beat the Jackass scene in the original. Its that dark that it is apparently the sequel to the book. I think you should check it out. It's not the best, but it is dark. You might enjoy it.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/29/22

Full Review

Paul W

Best pinocchio movie ever very unrated film of the late 80s from filmation

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/11/22

Full Review

Audience Member

One of Filmation's last works, indirectly caused by Disney catching on to what they were doing and suing, Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night has its problems. And it's not just the inevitable comparisons to the Disney magnum opus thanks to blatantly taking plot elements from it and having the side characters be obvious substitutes. But also because of that Grumblebee whose side of the story was clearly meant to be a backdoor pilot that never came into fruition. And yet, Pinocchio "2" is honestly better than it sounds thanks to much better animation than you'd expect from this company, actually really good musical numbers and remaining surprisingly dark (Pinocchio's transformation is quite a disturbing example of family-friendly body horror) whilst dealing with themes that the Disney movie never truly explored make this movie better than Disney's failed lawsuit would imply. That's the thing about big-screen animated movies in the '80s before The Little Mermaid; they weren't all classics like The Secret of NIMH but they were worth watching at least once for their more experimental nature and willingness to go dark in a manner that you don't see too often in modern animated movies that aren't made by the stop-motion masters over at Laika.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night" is one of those films that's unknown to most of the public (except for people who love the Pinocchio lore and want to watch every single movie released that's about Pinocchio). This is easily one of the darkest and weirdest interpretations of "Pinocchio" that I have ever seen and I was surprised that the people behind the "He-Man" and "She-Ra" series were behind this film! If there was an issue I had with this movie, it's that the plot is a bit too similar to the original Italian folktale, especially since this was supposed to be a sequel to the original folktale. Overall, "Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night" is a great film to watch if you are a huge fan of "Pinocchio" in general!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not better than the Disney version of Pinocchio by any means, but it is still very entertaining.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I watched this film a long time ago I was scared of the Emperor of the Night at the time but I like the film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Hal Sutherland

Director

Ed Asner

Scalawag

Lana Beeson

Twinkle

Tom Bosley

Geppetto

Linda Gary

Bee Atrice

Scott Grimes

Pinocchio

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Alexander Walker

London Evening Standard

This animated version of the spunky wooden puppet’s story has an easy-to-follow vigour and a surprising lot of narrative novelty even for people familiar with Disney’s classic.

May 20, 2022

Full Review

Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

Despite all of its elements that are individually deranged and visionary and feel like they were wrenched out of the pitch-black recesses of some underground animator's brain, the thing as a whole feels like such yawning, uninspired hackwork.

Rated: 2.5/5

Apr 14, 2024

Full Review

John Coleman

Observer (UK)

Unfortunately the dialogue is nearly joke-free and the cheapo animation would have the Disney of that 1940 gem showing Mr. Scheimer the door.

May 20, 2022

Full Review

Tom Cassidy

Common Sense Media

A cross between a 1980s cute and cuddly Saturday morning cartoon and a 1970s psychedelic rock album cover nightmare, this animated adventure is an impressive piece of art.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 13, 2021

Full Review

Juan Carlos Coto

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Throughout the film, Pinocchio acts in a manner convenient to the plot, but winds up looking like a downright blockhead, instead of a cartoon hero that a child can love or admire.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 19, 2021

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Richard Freedman

Newhouse News Service

Practically everything else in this Pinocchio is ripped off from somewhere.

Rated: 1/4

Nov 4, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Pinocchio falls into the clutches of evil carnival people who attempt to turn him back into a lifeless puppet.

Director: Hal Sutherland
Screenwriter: Robby London, Barry O'Brien, Dennis O'Flaherty
Production Co: Filmation Studios
Rating: G
Genre: Kids & Family, Fantasy, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 12, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.7M
Sound Mix: Surround

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