Sailor Moon (North American Live Action Adaptation)

One proposal to bring Sailor Moon to North America in the '90s was as a live action and animated show with a completely different story line to that of the Japanese manga and anime franchise. Though the pilot never went forward, the public eventually learned of its existence and its fans often call it Saban Moon.

History

Toei and Bandai were trying to expand the incredibly popular Sailor Moon franchise into the English Speaking world. Renaissance Atlantic and Toon Makers showed an interest and they proposed a live-action project in which the story would have live-action actors on Earth showing their civilian lives, and characters would be animated when transformed, in action scenes, and when in space on other planets.

They had plans of having their version air on FOX in the fall of 1994. A pilot was filmed and edited. However, this project was later scrapped and not approved by the network. Bandai ultimately decided to allow animation company DiC Entertainment to dub the series in English. The Toon Makers and Renaissance Atlantic series was never completed or aired, although many fans wonder what could have came from it.

Toon Makers made a two minute music video for the pilot likely for its opening. In the music video it shows the different Sailor Guardians, now called "Princess Warriors", and other characters such as Luna. The music video was a product of mixed media; When the Sailor Guardians were in their civilian forms, they were shown in live action, but were animated after transforming. Like the pilot, the music video was never publicly shown. However, Allen Hastings of Toon Makers showed the video at a panel at 1995 Anime Expo in Los Angeles. One of the attendees recorded the video with a camcorder which was eventually uploaded online and became known as "Saban Moon" due to its many similarities to Power Rangers and the involvement of Renaissance Atlantic.

In 2022, Raven "RayMona" Simone created a two-part documentary on the nebulous project to clear misconceptions, learn more about it, and hoping to find the lost media as part of her "Tales of the Lost" series. She interviewed Toon Makers and Renaissance Alliance personnel, and select actresses who portrayed the Sailor Senshi. She achieved her goals and cleared many misconceptions and uncovered more information about the project. This also included discovering and getting permission to retrieve high quality versions of the viral music video and the full length pilot which were archived in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C..

Behind The Scenes

Thanks to YouTuber and animation Vlogger, Raven "Raymona" Simone, behind the scenes information, is as follows.

Bandai and Toei animation, had a project named, "Project Y." This project, (through any means or methods necessary) to bring the Sailor Moon franchise, to an American Audience. Several ideas were originally in development. From a live-action film, to an unrelated cartoon series, or to hire voice actors to dub the series in the English Language.

In 1993, "Project Y." further developed, into introducing Sailor Moon to North America, as both a Teen Drama live-action televised series, with the actual Sailor Moon lore, and outer spaced themed storyline, being featured with the live-action actresses, being animated in cartoon form. The idea was very peculiar and convoluted, but the project went further into development, and planning.

With Vlogger, "Raymona", gaining several more information, by speaking with an array of individuals involved with this project, it was revealed the project had many problems, on the animation aspect. Toon Makers, were given poor outlines and resources to work with, and also being unfairly rushed to complete animation deadlines. They were also given very specific details, on how to design each Sailor Senshi, to include a broad level of diversity with design. The Northridge Earthquake, also caused many problems during animation production, and more errors to the project being rushed, with Toon Makers having to relocate their services, and most of their work being destroyed and lost. Toon Makers despite all this, tried their best to make the animation flawless.

On the live-action aspect of production, thousands of girls auditioned, at a rented apartment complex in Los Angeles, with Toon Makers producers, Raymond Iacovacci, Rocky Solotoff, and Steven Wilzbach, personally deciding which of the final five girls, would make up the Sailor Senshi. Their goal was to create a diverse group of girls, to make up the Sailor Senshi. Production of the live-action scenes, and the boarding school set, was the identical set used in the series, Saved By The Bell, at CBS/Sunset Gower Studios, on Sunset Boulevard, and Gower in Los Angeles. Through the help of "Ray Mona", interviewing the actress who portrayed Sailor Jupiter, Tami-Adrian George, this is the confirmed cast list, of the major characters. (The exceptions being the actress who portrayed Sailor Venus and the voice actor for Prince Darian, both are concurrently inconclusive.)

Performer	Character
Stephanie Dicker	Victoria/Sailor Moon
Melinda "Mindy" Cowan	Sailor Mercury
Danny "Dani" DeLacey	Sailor Mars
Tami-Adrian George	Sailor Jupiter
N/A (Not currently confirmed yet)	Sailor Venus
N/A (Not currently confirmed yet)	Prince Darian/Tuxedo Mask
Melendy Britt	Luna
Adrienne Barbeau	Queen Serenity/Queen Beryl
Patricia Alice Albrecht	Narrator

"Project Y.", was later reconstructed into a completely different idea. Toon Makers, and Renaissance Atlantic were given the cut by Bandai. With only an exclusive Motorcyle weapon toy, created for this project, which was actually circulated into retail stores, being the only official merchandise released. The "Sailor Moon" logo Toon Makers designed was kept as the official English logo on Bandai and DiC releases. "Project Y." was very quickly adapted, into Sailor Moon being dubbed, into the English language.

Plot

Victoria, is a sixteen year old blonde girl, who daydreams constantly. She goes to an all girl boarding school, and hangs out with her roommates and friends. Meanwhile, Queen Serenity, asks Luna, a talking cat, to visit Earth, and grant Victoria, the power to become Sailor Moon, and grant her friends, the powers to become Sailor Soldiers, to defeat the evil, Queen Beryl. Queen Serenity also sends the handsome, Prince Darien, down to Earth to guide the Sailor Soldiers.

Victoria, and the rest of the Sailor Soldiers, like fashion, makeup, parties, going to dances and functions, and going to the mall. However, Victoria constantly has premonitions of an evil force, but doesn't tell her friends this. Victoria also struggles with her studies, and would rather gossip to her friends during class.

It is up to Sailor Moon and the Sailor Soldiers, to defeat Queen Beryl.

Character Design

The original characters were depicted differently as well, one reason being that Toon Makers wanted to include a wider range of characters. Several of the girls were from different races with rewritten personalities; Sailor Mercury was a wheelchair-bound redhead who liked parties and showed airheaded tendencies. Sailor Venus was a Latina valley girl who would get angry if one of her nails broke, or, in one occasion, because they had to fight during a gathering that she wanted to attend. Sailor Jupiter was African American and frequently did comedic impressions, while Sailor Mars was the only member who retained her original Asian race. Sailor Moon was depicted as a smart, strong leader. When in space, the Senshi would travel on sailboards called "Sky Flyers", bar Mercury, who traveled on a rocket-powered wheel chair. The promotional video seems to confirm this.

Opening Music Video Lyrics

She looks like an angel
Flying higher than a bird
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!
She's got a life in the sky
And another here on Earth
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!

Her talking cat Luna
Gives her advice
The Princess Fighters
Stand by her side!

SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!

Sometimes she's a fun-loving
Sixteen-year-old girl
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!
Other times she's a superhero
For the world
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!

She can get dressed up
And look so sweet
Then morph into a force
That can't be beat!

SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!

She's ready to fight
For all that she believes
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!
She's gonna stop evil forces
And save the galaxy
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!

She and her four
Princess Fighter friends
Are gonna crush crime
Time and again!
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!
SAILOR! SAILOR MOON!

Videos

Official Saban Moon Pilot Episode (1994) Toon Makers Sailor Moon

The full pilot episode stored by the Library of Congress and retrieved by Ray Mona

Saban Moon Pilot Opening Intro (1994) Toon Makers Sailor Moon

The opening music video stored by the Library of Congress and retrieved by Ray Mona

Toonmakers "Saban" Sailor Moon HQ

The camcorder recorded music video that was shown at Anime Expo 1995.

Gallery

Darian giving Sailor Moon a star pendant

A cel of Sailor Moon

A cel of Sailor Mercury

A cel of Queen Beryl

A cel of Prince Endymion

Trivia

• Had the pilot had been picked up for a full series, this would have been the first live-action television version of Sailor Moon, predating Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon by nine years. It would have been several years after the first Sera Myu however.
• The identity/source of the person who filmed the camcorder footage of the opening music video is unknown. The clip was said to have started to gain popularity on Newgrounds.
• Storyboard art and a partial script of the pilot were discovered in the early 2000s after a Toon Makers employee's unpaid storage locker, was auctioned off.
• Why the project featured both animation and live-action elements is still puzzling. One assumption is they could have possibly wanted to combine a teen drama show, with an action cartoon show, both of which genres were popular during this time in television.
• The "Sailor Moon" logo used in the official music video was later bought by DiC Entertainment and used for their dub of the '90s anime series.
• In the Toon Makers version, Sailor Moon keeps the same name in both her Sailor Guardian and princess form.
• Just like the DiC English dub, Mamoru was renamed Prince Darian, albeit spelt differently.
• Queen Beryl had a minion/ally called Ursus.
  • One of the monsters looks just like Bakene of the '90s anime.
• Sailor Moon's brooch in the live-action segment is an imported Bandai Crystal Star toy. It has been modified to cover the mirror and screws have been removed.
• In an interview with Animefringe, Rocky Sotoloff, the president and founder of Toon Makers, said that they tried to make the characters and animation more Americanized and they went for a Filmation-like art style because of the very low budget they had at the time. To this day, the people of Toon Makers are not pleased with how the animation turned out.

External Links

• ToonMakers Official Website
• Cecilia D'Anastasio's 2018 Feature