The New Adventures of Pinocchio (TV series)

The New Adventures of Pinocchio is a 1961 syndicated stop motion animated television series produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in the United States and made by Dentsu Studios in Japan. Created by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and his partner Jules Bass, it was based on the 1883 book The Adventures of Pinocchio written by Italian author, Carlo Collodi. The series was Rankin/Bass' first production to be made in "Animagic", a stop motion puppet animation technique which, in association with the company, was done by Tadahito Mochinaga's MOM Productions.

A total of 130 five-minute "chapters" were produced in 1960–61. These segments made up a series of five-chapter, 25-minute episodes. The show was deliberately designed to not emulate Walt Disney Animation Studios' popular 1940 version of Pinocchio in character design or characterization; the puppet wore a T-shirt and shorts instead of a Tyrolean hat, the Cricket (not Jiminy Cricket) had a high-pitched, grating voice, and Geppetto was calm and deliberate, unlike Disney's excitable and absent-minded woodcarver.

The series premiered the week of February 6, 1961 on select local stations. During 1963–64, the series was also aired in Japan on Fuji TV as part of another stop motion TV series, Prince Ciscorn (シスコン王子, lit. Ciscorn Ōji), based on the manga by Fujiko Fujio and also produced by Tadahito Mochinaga for Studio KAI and Dentsu.

Twenty years later, in 1980, Rankin/Bass produced another stop motion adaptation of the novel for the American Broadcasting Company, a Christmas special called Pinocchio's Christmas, which featured a different voice cast including George S. Irving as Geppetto; Todd Porter as Pinocchio; Alan King as Maestro Fire-Eater; Allen Swift as the Fox; Pat Bright as the Cat; and Diane Leslie as Lady Azura.

Summary
An old wood carver Geppetto narrates the series, explaining on how he made a magically living puppet named Pinocchio, who can walk, jump, run and do other things without strings. In addition, he is also known to have his nose grow whenever he tell lies on anything be it right or wrong. Displeased with the need to continue living as a puppet, Pinocchio sets off on a journey with his friend Cricket to find the Blue Fairy, hoping that she can transform him into a real boy (in other words, a human) with her magic. But along the way, Pinocchio and Cricket encounter the two anthropomorphic animal cons, Foxy Q. Fibble and Cool S. Cat, as well as the greatest adventures, mishaps, danger and excitement than they would ever imagine.

Character voices

 * Stan Francis - Geppetto
 * Larry D. Mann - Foxy Q. Fibble
 * Paul Kligman - Cool S. Cat
 * Carl Banas - Cricket
 * Claude Ray
 * Joan Fowler
 * Jack Mather

Production staff

 * Writers/Producers/Directors - Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass
 * Animation Director - Tadahito Mochinaga (uncredited)
 * Puppet Makers - Ichiro Komuro, Kyoko Kita, Reiko Yamagata, Sumiko Hosaka (all uncredited)
 * Animation - Hiroshi Tabata, Koichi Oikawa, Fumiko Magari, Tadanari Okamoto (all uncredited)

Episodes

 * 1) It's No Joke Picnic
 * 2) Ring・a・ding・ding・ding
 * 3) Sprinkle Sprinkle Little Star
 * 4) Ten Cents a Glance
 * 5) Pretty Pussycat Nips
 * 6) Rocket to Fame
 * 7) Short Circuit
 * 8) It's Cool in the Cooler
 * 9) Back Stage Life
 * 10) All Down Hill
 * 11) Too Many Ghosts
 * 12) Horse Sense
 * 13) One Little Indian
 * 14) Cattle Rattle
 * 15) By Hook or By Crook
 * 16) Not So Private Eye
 * 17) Cash and Carry Harry
 * 18) Dognet
 * 19) The Gold Brick Trick
 * 20) Simoro's Last Chance
 * 21) Romin' in the Glomin'
 * 22) Flying Bagpipes
 * 23) Hide and Seek
 * 24) Stop Gap Sap
 * 25) Feud for All
 * 26) Glockenspiel
 * 27) Peanut Butter Battle
 * 28) Upside Down Town
 * 29) Robot Rhapsody
 * 30) Big Bomb Cake
 * 31) Back Track
 * 32) Hot Rod Hobo
 * 33) Duck Luck
 * 34) Danny the Boon
 * 35) Dynamite Bright
 * 36) O'Lafferty the Magnificent
 * 37) Lock Stock and Crock
 * 38) Hup Two Three Four
 * 39) No Banks Thanks
 * 40) The Crick Trick
 * 41) Grab Bag
 * 42) Pick a Pocket
 * 43) Kangaroo Capers
 * 44) Paunchy Pouch
 * 45) Kangaroo Caught
 * 46) Havin' a Ball
 * 47) A Choice of Voice
 * 48) The Pale Inhale
 * 49) Down the Hatch
 * 50) Cricket High
 * 51) Detour for Sure
 * 52) Once Around Please
 * 53) The Vast Mast
 * 54) The Treasure Measure
 * 55) Not So Hot Knot
 * 56) The Big Top Stop
 * 57) Monkey See
 * 58) Big Shot
 * 59) A Ticklish Situation
 * 60) Clowning Around
 * 61) Stroll Around the Pole
 * 62) The Bear Facts
 * 63) Something's Fishy
 * 64) Fast Talk
 * 65) Snow Use
 * 66) The Highway Man
 * 67) To Track a Thief
 * 68) Sleep Watcher
 * 69) A Dog's Best Friend
 * 70) Thrown by the Throne
 * 71) The Cast Offs
 * 72) Mutiny on the Clipper
 * 73) Floundering Around
 * 74) The Litterbugs
 * 75) Atlantis City
 * 76) Steed Stallion
 * 77) Chief Big Cheese
 * 78) The Water Boy
 * 79) The Little Train Robbery
 * 80) Simon Says
 * 81) Sky Spy
 * 82) Glockenspiel's Spiel
 * 83) The Gas Man Cometh
 * 84) The Impatient Patient
 * 85) The Astronuts
 * 86) Special Delivery
 * 87) Go Fly a Kite
 * 88) Marooned
 * 89) The Foot Print
 * 90) Homeward Bound
 * 91) Wish Wish and Away
 * 92) Lead on Leprechaun
 * 93) Westward Whoa
 * 94) TV Time
 * 95) Baby Big
 * 96) Follow That Horse
 * 97) Stage West
 * 98) Draw Pardner
 * 99) The Race
 * 100) The Gold Bug
 * 101) Away with the Wind
 * 102) The Hard Sell
 * 103) The Witch Switch
 * 104) Sky High
 * 105) Romeo Fibble
 * 106) Wanted
 * 107) Going Down
 * 108) Under Ground Found
 * 109) The Gold Bird
 * 110) The Big Heist
 * 111) Willy Wiggly
 * 112) Substitute
 * 113) Borschtville
 * 114) A Fair Trail
 * 115) The Rescue Rock
 * 116) Writers in the Sky
 * 117) The Zany Zombies
 * 118) Sleep Head
 * 119) The Boss Who Came to Dinner
 * 120) Witch Switch
 * 121) Witching You Well
 * 122) Candy Land
 * 123) Aw Fudge
 * 124) The Phoney Fairy
 * 125) The Fastest Wind
 * 126) Willy Nilly
 * 127) Hog Bellows
 * 128) An Ace in the Hole
 * 129) Rosco Romp
 * 130) Lady Barber