Sometime in the 80s, I remember seeing what I think was an adaptation of the Pied Piper on Nickelodeon, but it doesn't seem to be any of the ones listed on the IMDB or Wikipedia. Maybe you remember? Details inside...
Details:
-It was animated, and I remember it being feature length.
-It was primarily a comedy.
-The animation style was very flat, possibly involving cut outs. It had lots of primary colors and very simplistic backgrounds. The character designs were very simple and cartoony, a bit like
Ed Emberley's drawings.
-There are two characters that I don't think are usually in the story. One was a Princess who was very much not the traditional fairy tale princess (she was outspoken and take charge, and didn't defer to the piper/hero). The other was a version of the devil. He had a punning name along the lines of B. L. ZeBub or B.L. Zeebob.
-It was a musical. One of the piper's song had lyrics along the lines of:
I am the piper
And my father's son,
And I am the one
To do what must be done!
Willy-nilly,willy-nilly
I am the one!
Willy-nilly, willy-nilly
I am the one!
-I think title cards (like in a silent movie) were occasionally thrown up on the screen. I remember one that said something like "And now Mr. Zeebub is going to sing a nasty song! Cover your ears!"
-The voice actors were British.
None of these details have brought anything back on Google, probably because I'm just off enough on the exact wording, etc. for it to matter.
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Plot synopsis: intelligent rats pull a scam by "taking over" cities, musically-talented-but-otherwise-dim boy comes in and earns money by piping to get rid of them, they go along to the next city, and take their cut in the form of cheese and food stuffs. The "princess" character you mention is a smart, rather dramatic girl with grandiose ideas of her own self-importance, who figures out the scam. The "Maurice" in the title is not the Piper but the rather sneaky cat who came up with the scheme...look, it makes sense when he tells it.
posted by misha at 8:46 AM on December 4, 2007