Yeah, I am one of those people who are more familiar with Disney's version of the tale of wooden puppet brought to life, but I had to see this after hearing about it for a long time. Basically Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night is a movie made by Filmation (the same company that made some low budget cartoons for TV, most notably, Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids and the original He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe cartoon and its sister series, She-Ra: Princess of Power, among others), and it has gotten a cult following over the years since its theatrical release was not so well recieved.
Basically, the story is set one year after Pinocchio becomes a real boy, and he gets in trouble with his father after trading a jeweled music box that was a gift to the mayor for a fake ruby from con artists Scallywag and Igor, a raccoon and monkey duo serving as the film's version of Honest John and Gideon. The kid runs away, and what results is an adventure where he goes to try to get the music box back.
Yeah, this film has a lot of similarities to the Disney original. So much, that Disney actually tried and sued Filmation, but failed because the original story was out of copright. Other than Scallywag and Igor, we have Gee Willickers, a wooden glow bug brought to life to serve as a replacement for Jiminy Cricket, and Puppetino, a puppetmaster working at the carnival, actually recognizes Pinocchio from a show he saw, which could tie in to him being the film's version of Stromboli, the puppet master of the Disney film. Other than that, the film actually introduces new characters, like Twinkle, a female puppet who serves as Pinocchio's love interest, Liutenant Grumblebee, a bumbebee, and The Emperor Of The Night, the main antagonist (who looks like Filmation redid some animation cels of Prime Evil from their Ghostbusters cartoon). Also, the voice cast has some notable actors, like James Earl Jones as the Emperor of the Night, Don Knotts as Gee Willickers, Johnathan Harris as Grumblebee, and even Frank Welker, a man who has done a lot of characters in animation, as Igor.
As for the story, it is okay. Supposedly set after happily ever after, I believe this has no connection to the Disney film at all, despite certain characters being replacements of characters from the Disney films. There are some scary moments in this film (like the scene where Puppetino captures Pinocchio as he's turning back into a puppet due to taking his freedom for granted, with the creepy puppets and disturbing music played), but I think it's only scary if you're not an older person as I am (it never scared me, yet I could still never brave the scene of Lampwick turning into a donkey in the Disney film). The film has its fair share of high points and low points, but it has Pinocchio learn lessons about freedom and responsibility. It's an okay movie, but may not be suitable for younger viewers due to the use of scary imagery that may or may not give them nightmares.
