SABAN SAILOR MOON:
Interesting Notes and Common Questions
Yes, I will attempt to answer some common questions about Saban's Sailor Moon. An achievement in itself, but why not?
1. Just what the HELL is this?
Answer: Saban's Sailor Moon is the Saban-ized vision of the American version of Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. Back in 1994, several companies bid for the rights to Sailor Moon, and Saban was among them.
2. Saban Sailor Moon?
Answer: Well, technically, there is no such thing as a Saban version of Sailor Moon; it's a misnomer name given to the footage throughout the years. As I said, Saban opted for the rights, their idea for the show being to scrap the entire original anime and start from scratch - using a blend of live action, and animated actions as well as CGI (which was done by Toon Makers, for a company called Renaissance Atlantic, for Bandai...phew!) to make a more "American" show, much like they had done for the Power Rangers. Obviously, the live action was for the schoolgirl scenes, and the animation and CGI was for fight scenes.
However, presumably (since no one knows for 100 percent sure at the moment) the budget was not favorable to the Japanese rightholders, and as the pilot was finished DiC won the rights because their idea of simply redubbing the original show was much cheaper (normally is) and more importantly, they were also more willing to shell out the extra money to get the rights.
3. Wait, so if Saban Sailor Moon doesn't technically exist, how did these images get here?
Answer: These images were from the trailer/music video that was presumably presented to Bandai and Toei - teasers as to what Saban planned on doing. The trailer, which is a couple of minutes long, is the only thing made public of the TV show Saban was planning. There was an entire episode made (where the trailer footage came from), but this has never been shown publicly.
As a matter of fact, it is possible that the full extent of knowledge of what was on the trailer would not even exist had it not been for a camera that was rolling during the '95 AnimeExpo, which was passed to other cons, and later to the Internet. The images on this site are from that screening, which is why it looks like the images were taken from an angle away from the screen, and also the constant interruptions from people who are laughing when you watch the full clip.
4. Ok, so this is a different version of Sailor Moon. Now, who the heck is who?
Answer: This is my theory on it, so....The girl you see the most - the one with the strawberry-blondish hair, who looks out the window, wears the moon earrings, and has her hair in a ponytail sometimes? That is most obviously Sailor Moon. Sailor Mercury is the black girl. Sailor Mars is the redhead in the wheelchair (!!). Jupiter is the Asian-looking (I say looking because I am actually not totally certain if she is Asian, though in Saban context, it would make sense) with the cropped hair. And finally, Venus is the girl with the blondish hair. Others have said that the black girl is Jupiter and the redhead in the wheelchair is Venus. Even the head of Toonmakers has a different idea of who's who (he says that the black girl might be Mars) - again, it's sort of uncertain.
The best way to see who is who, in terms of my own theory, is to look at the quick "strike a pose" moments where the other four are each wearing hats. It goes in the order of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus.
5. Who was silly enough to act in this dreck?!
Answer: ....In terms of who was in it, one person, Adrian Bardo is confirmed as being Queen Beryl and Queen Serenity. Sailor Mercury was played Ungela Brockman, or probably was, based on what is said in the Animefringe interview and on my own silly research.
I also believe that Saban Venus (the person I believe is Venus, anyway...) is Christine Taylor. However, this is my speculation based on the uncanny likeness of the person in the trailer and Christine Taylor. Obviously, I could be wrong, but for right now...I'll just say I'm right. :p
6. Where can I dowload this so I can make fun of it forever? Can you send me the video/why does the link lead somewhere else?
Answer:No, I will not send you the video. In fact, it's extremely easy to find the video and download it yourself, as opposed to me putting it on my site and potentially wasting bandwidth on it. I don't want to sound like a bitch, but on the other hand...I've seen the potential dangers of having a video on one's website. It can potentially crash the server, and I'd rather not crash the Lighthead.net server, as there's quite a few people who depend on it....
Anyhow, on the main page of this site section, I have provided the link to a site (Google Video) where you can download it and/or watch it online. Obviously, Youtube has several different versions of the Saban Sailor Moon trailer, including the unedited Anime Expo taping (where the unlucky Renaissance announcer had to introduce the trailer to a booing audience). Also, there is Toonamiarsenal.com, which has not only the Saban trailer, but the DiC syndication trailer as well. Heck, chances are, it's probably easier to find the trailer than it is to find my site.
7. "DiC Syndication Trailer"...?
Answer:Yes. Obviously, there's no way to confirm if this is also the trailer used to convince Toei and Bandai to give DiC the North American rights to Sailor Moon, but it's 90 percent likely that it wasn't, despite what some may think. Rather, this was the video used to convince local TV stations to use airtime for their soon-to-be-dubbed Sailor Moon show. The amazing thing is that somehow, DiC did sell Sailor Moon, given the quality of the trailer. Hence, the quality of the DiC trailer being comparable to that of the Saban Sailor Moon trailer, I added it to the site.
For a much better grasp on what was going on, this interview really does a much better job of explaining certain things than I do. It is, after all, the man who basically helped to create Saban Sailor Moon.
In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the site....and to those who are scared, writhe in agony at the Saban! :D