Sailor Moon is one of several English dubs of 美少女戦士セーラームーン. Produced by Optiumum Productions in Canada, it premiered on YTV in said country on August 28, 1995 and in syndication in the US on September 11 of that same year and ended its complete run on Cartoon Network in the US on November 16, 2000.
History[]
The North American rights to Sailor Moon were purchased by DIC Productions L.P. (at that time majority-owned by Capital Cities/ABC, which would end up being bought out by The Walt Disney Company two years later), SeaGull Entertainment and Sachs Finley Media in 1994 from Toei Animation, outbidding Toon Makers and Renaissance-Atlantic Entertainment (which usually partnered with Saban Entertainment) who wanted to produce a live-action adaptation. DiC mainly collaborated with Toei Animation for animation services for DiC's productions during the 1980s among many others, this was the first show produced in-house at Toei to be distributed by them. The dub first premiered on YTV in Canada on August 28, 1995 and on syndication in the US on September 11th of that year, Seven episodes from the 65-episode package that made up the series were removed. The dub was recorded at Optimum Productions in Canada marking this the first Sailor Moon English dub to be recorded. On Novmeber 1995, DiC canceled the dub after the show received low ratings in the US.
However, in 1997, the Program Exchange began distributing the dub, which led to the show airing on USA Network that same year and because of this DiC Entertainment purchased and dubbed the remaining second season that year. The series gained wider popularity when Sailor Moon started airing on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in the US beginning on June 1, 1998, as Canada enjoyed the series from the beginning, the rest of the series was sought after.
In 2000, Cloverway International acquired the North American rights to Sailor Moon, picking where DiC left off until Super S. CWi continued the dub as it was faithful to the original such as retaining the original music tracks and gave Optimum full creative freedom. The Program Exchange managed the original two seasons' syndication rights from 1997 to 2004. North American video rights were handled by Buena Vista Home Video (which inherited ABC's video division the year prior due to the Disney-ABC merger) from 1997-2000 and ADV Films from 2000-2004, the latter also had rights to release the uncut and original Japanese version in North America for the first time.
The Optimum Productions dub of Sailor Moon was also broadcast in countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Cast[]
- This section is incomplete. You can help The Dubbing Database by finishing it.
Character | Actor | ||
---|---|---|---|
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Serena
Sailor Moon |
Tracey Moore (episodes 1–11, 15, 21) | |
Terri Hawkes (episodes 12-14, 16-20, 22-82) | |||
Linda Ballantyne (episodes 83-159) | |||
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Amy
Sailor Mercury |
Karen Bernstein (seasons 1-2) | |
Liza Balkan (seasons 3-4) | |||
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Raye
Sailor Mars |
Katie Griffin (episodes 1-65, 83+) | |
Emilie Barlow (episodes 66-82) | |||
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Lita
Sailor Jupiter |
Susan Roman | |
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Mina
Sailor Venus |
Stephanie Morgenstern (seasons 1-2) | |
Emilie Barlow (seasons 3-4) | |||
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Rini
Sailor Mini Moon |
Tracey Hoyt (season 2) | |
Stephanie Beard (season 3-4) | |||
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Darien
Tuxedo Mask |
Rino Romano (episodes 1–11) | |
Toby Proctor (episodes 12-40, 42-82) | |||
Vincent Corazza (episodes 41, 83-159) |
Music[]
Song | Singer(s) | ||
Brynne Price | |||
Nicole Price | |||
I Wanna Be a Star
|
Jennifer Cihi | ||
My Only Love
|
Jennifer Cihi | ||
Sandy Howell | |||
Carry On
|
Jennifer Cihi | ||
It's a New Day
|
Jennifer Cihi | ||
Rainy Day Man
|
Patricia Tollett | ||
Call My Name (And I'll Be There)
|
Sandy Howell | ||
Oh Starry Night
|
Sandy Howell | ||
Only a Memory Away
|
Shandi Sinnamon | ||
She's Got the Power
|
Stan Bush | ||
The Power of Love
|
Jennifer Cihi | ||
Who Do You Think You Are?
|
Jennifer Cihi | ||
Sandy Howell | |||
Love Soldiers/Tear Our Hearts in Two
|
Esther Thibault | ||
I Am Sailor Moon
|
Esther Thibault | ||
Wanting to Be Us
|
Esther Thibault | ||
Theme of the Sailor Team
|
Esther Thibault |
Episodes[]
Localization[]
The dub was localized to appeal to an American audience. The names of the majority of the main characters were changed. The genders of the characters (Zoisite and Fisheye) were changed, and the dialogue was changed to include a lot of American slang.
Censorship[]
- Five episodes were removed from the season entirely, and footage from the episodes was also removed. The final two episodes were merged due to how much footage was cut from both of them.
- The second season received a similar treatment, with one episode cut, bringing the total number of episodes lost to seven. Changes made in the dub included the removal of any hint of violence and the removal of breast lines in transformation sequences.
- Various LGBTQ+ relationships were censored: Zoisite's gender was changed to female to make his relationship with Malachite (Kunzite) a heterosexual one, while Amara (Haruka) and Michelle (Michiru) were infamously referred to as cousins.
References[]
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