Pinocchio (Obscure 1984 version)

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clemsonbasketball12_2004

New member
I had this video cassette in the 80s. It was HUGE and chunky and I remember the synthesised soundtrack/title song. It was a Saban like feature, with Pinocchio blue haired and accompanied by Timothy (?) Cricket. I seem to remember a scene where a fascist army gun down Pinocchio, I think next to a bonfire?

Does this sound familiar to anyone?
 
Yes, this was originally an anime television series called Kashi no Ki Mock by Tatsunoko Productions back in 1972. Ten plus years later Saban translated it into various European languages and a cut-down feature film version which you remember was also released.
 
This brought to mind another version I had as a kid that was probably released on VHS by Good Times. It seemed foreign but didn't have a Japanese look, as far as I recall. One scene I remembered well was Lampwick dying after being an overworked donkey.
 
So is the feature I remember just a reedit of 1972 footage but with an 80s soundtrack? I think it looks very "80s" in it's animation style (stilted, bland primary colour schemes, even Pinocchio's blue hair).
 
Actually, I have a copy of the feature version of this. And, to do some clarification. The feature version was not done by Saban but by Jim Terry for Harmony Gold and released in 1984. To add some confusion to the topic, at about the same time as the tv series came out, Tatsunoko released two short 25 minute featurettes. I don't know if these were made using tv footage or had new animation. As far as I can determine the feature version was made by Harmony Gold and never released in Japan.
 
Too many videos of Japanese cartoons that were seen in the US during the 80's often came from the 70's regardless of how they were presented or adapted (such as changing the music). Too often they were TV series that were re-edited into feature-length compilations and sold in that fashion than to try to sell someone on a multi-episode show that may never hit the airwaves at all.
 
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