Can I use a Bus Pirate to drive this VFD?
I would try using SPI Mode (http://dangerousprototypes.com/bus-pirate-manual/bus-pirate-spi-guide/), just do not connect MISO (the return path from the display to the bus pirate).

The BusPirate would be the master, the slave would be your device. Make sure that your signals are actually driven to the appropriate level (and you need not use a pull-up on any of your signals).