HalfCentury
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.
YouKnowMyName68
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....
aneustein
Buried in the annals of my childhood fears is this movie that I saw when I was too young to experience anything except sensual sensation. I don't even remember the plot except that there was a horrible space whale with a weird thruster thing instead of a blowhole and terrible martian space monsters that absolutely scared the crap out of me. The whole film is extremely frightening and disturbing.I like it :)
TonyReynolds
...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.
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