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@Umino came across an old Google group post that shared a couple of e-mails from Andy Heyward (former head of DIC and executive producer of the dub) and an interview with him and Janice Sonski (another producer on the dub) from an SOS mailing list. They're all dated April 1996 and thus shed some light on what was going on with the Sailor Moon license between the original 65 episode syndication package released in 1995 and the dubbing of the "lost" remaining episodes of R in 1997:
Some highlights:
Some highlights:
- Heyward says everyone at DIC was "devoted to [the] show" and found it "compelling and rich"
- Points out that it was "a herculean effort" to get the show cleared in the US market which is "very unique, and very difficult to clear tv programs" in.
- He basically points the finger for the show's lackluster performance in the US at:
- Bandai's marketing department for not doing enough to support the show. (They didn't invest enough advertising money to secure the show a better time slot on local stations throughout the US, choosing instead to throw most of their financial support behind two other shows they were launching at that time. [This is presumably what led to the show moving from syndication to cable, and perhaps also why Irwin Toys took over as the main toy licensor/sponsor.] Bandai was disappointed in toy sales for the series, but if they'd invested in getting the series better timeslots, it would have had more exposure and the toys would have probably sold better.]
- Local stations for being greedy and demanding too much money to air the show
- The highly competitive syndication market
- Seagull, the syndicator/distributor of the show, for lacking the influence to secure better time slots and stations
- Basically, this is why Sailor Moon ended up in 5 am time slots and did so poorly in the ratings. (They did fine in LA, but terrible in Chicago, for example.) Of course, the situation was the complete opposite in Canada, where the show did very well and may even have been the #1 animated series.
- There's a vague implication that the "Sailor Says" segments were necessary in making the show attractive to local stations, since they're required to air a certain amount of educational content and with the "Sailor Says" segments attached, Sailor Moon potentially could have helped stations satisfy that quota.
- He mentions DIC's having "a tentative commitment from TBS/Cartoon [Network] to run the series and produce 26 new episodes," which would have brought them to episode 98 ("To Save Our Friends: Moon and Uranus Join Forces") assuming no episodes were skipped.
- Bandai had fired their old ad agency for mishandling Sailor Moon; their new ad agency brokered the tentative deal with TBS
- If the deal had gone through, the episodes would have been readied for broadcast in November that year
- He also mentions that "DIC has [exclusive] rights to Sailor Moon for the next 7 years and for an additional 7 years should we [extend] our option." This means DIC had the rights until 2003, and could have had them until 2010 if they so wished, which makes me wonder what happened that resulted in CWI's taking over the license in 2000.
- "Janice Sonski who oversees the translations has done her best to respect the integrity of the property as well as be faithful to it. This is a narrow tightrope to walk, since many of the items in the show are too risque to go on as they were [originally] done, and of course have to be edited to be able to be broadcast in the US market, which is still a bit prudish in many respects. Frankly, this is a series which would play well on MTV since it has a following that is in many respects older and more [sophisticated] than that of the kids audiences and time periods."
- Bandai had the rights to make Sailor Moon video games in the US but didn't
- Bandai's target demographic for the show was 4-8 year old girls and they didn't understand how to capitalize on older fans
This led me to a press release from August 26, 1996 in which DIC announces they've renewed broadcast rights in Canada through 1998, will start airing the show in Australia and New Zealand, and that they are still hoping to produce more episodes. (Obviously, as we all know, that TBS deal fell through.) Irwin Toys is also announced as the new master toy licensee, as is a deal with Croner-Tyco to produce Sailor Moon toys in Australia. (As far as I know, Australia didn't get any locally produced merchandise? Any Australian Moonies here who can comment on that?)
I also found this interview between SOS and Roland Parliament from March 1996 where Roland says DIC was planning to dub an additional 40 episodes for "season 2," which would have brought them up to episode 112 (Super Sailor Moon's reveal/debut). Roland also mentions that Kaleidoscope Entertainment (the dub's distributor in Canada) was getting greedy and demanding a bigger portion of the profits, which was also complicating matters.
So basically from all this we can determine that DIC wanted to dub at least part way into S back in 1996, but the botched handling of the show's US syndication run (largely thanks to Bandai's marketing team) prevented that from happening. They needed to move the show to cable and neared a deal with TBS and Cartoon Network to produce 26 to 40 more episodes, but that didn't end up happening. It wasn't until the following year that Irwin was able to finance the dub of just the final 17 episodes of R.
It sucks that they weren't able to dub those episodes when they wanted to. We probably would have gotten all of S and SuperS with at least most if not all of the original cast and dub score. :\
(And now I'm imagining what it would have been like had Sailor Moon aired on MTV
)
I also found this interview between SOS and Roland Parliament from March 1996 where Roland says DIC was planning to dub an additional 40 episodes for "season 2," which would have brought them up to episode 112 (Super Sailor Moon's reveal/debut). Roland also mentions that Kaleidoscope Entertainment (the dub's distributor in Canada) was getting greedy and demanding a bigger portion of the profits, which was also complicating matters.
So basically from all this we can determine that DIC wanted to dub at least part way into S back in 1996, but the botched handling of the show's US syndication run (largely thanks to Bandai's marketing team) prevented that from happening. They needed to move the show to cable and neared a deal with TBS and Cartoon Network to produce 26 to 40 more episodes, but that didn't end up happening. It wasn't until the following year that Irwin was able to finance the dub of just the final 17 episodes of R.
It sucks that they weren't able to dub those episodes when they wanted to. We probably would have gotten all of S and SuperS with at least most if not all of the original cast and dub score. :\
(And now I'm imagining what it would have been like had Sailor Moon aired on MTV
)
Interesting.
I always wondered what happened to Sailor Moon in the UK. Though I live in Japan now, I remember the DiC dub being syndicated on cable (Fox Kids) from late 1999 to around 2003-ish. I also remember S being advertised along with Digimon Frontier but neither were ever aired. I find it so weird because them advertising the shows must have meant that they have paid for the rights to broadcast it but then just.. never did? Fox Kids also gave broadcasting rights to ITV (terrestrial TV broadcaster with a far wider reach) but only for the first 13 episodes. It aired along side Pokémon in a really lucrative time slot but Fox Kids never gave them any more broadcasting rights beyond that. Fox Kids honestly really ‘effed up any chance of Sailor Moon gaining traction in the UK.
Kids don’t realize how good they have it these days. I remember waiting for years just to watch S. The fact that their were other Senshi outside of the Inners and Pluto? Imagine being an obsessed 10 year old Moonie having that tantalizing morsel of information but with no way to access the show. Trying your best to download Real Media files on dial up only for them to fail halfway through
I only got to see it after begging my parents for the Pioneer box sets and even then they were Region 1 and wouldn’t work on my DVD player.
The struggle was real.
I always wondered what happened to Sailor Moon in the UK. Though I live in Japan now, I remember the DiC dub being syndicated on cable (Fox Kids) from late 1999 to around 2003-ish. I also remember S being advertised along with Digimon Frontier but neither were ever aired. I find it so weird because them advertising the shows must have meant that they have paid for the rights to broadcast it but then just.. never did? Fox Kids also gave broadcasting rights to ITV (terrestrial TV broadcaster with a far wider reach) but only for the first 13 episodes. It aired along side Pokémon in a really lucrative time slot but Fox Kids never gave them any more broadcasting rights beyond that. Fox Kids honestly really ‘effed up any chance of Sailor Moon gaining traction in the UK.
Kids don’t realize how good they have it these days. I remember waiting for years just to watch S. The fact that their were other Senshi outside of the Inners and Pluto? Imagine being an obsessed 10 year old Moonie having that tantalizing morsel of information but with no way to access the show. Trying your best to download Real Media files on dial up only for them to fail halfway through
I only got to see it after begging my parents for the Pioneer box sets and even then they were Region 1 and wouldn’t work on my DVD player.The struggle was real.
Trying your best to download Real Media files on dial up only for them to fail halfway through I only got to see it after begging my parents for the Pioneer box sets and even then they were Region 1 and wouldn’t work on my DVD player.
I only got to see it after begging my parents for the Pioneer box sets and even then they were Region 1 and wouldn’t work on my DVD player.
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Holy [BLEEP]! This and your following post are a great find. Great job @MementoNepenthe and @Umino !!
I think (correct me if I'm wrong) DiC ended up parterning up with Program Exchange who ended up getting them the deal on the USA Network and then Cartoon Network.
I just assumed DiC only licensed Classic and R and didn't go beyond that because they were only committing to 65 episodes (with the final 17 episodes being done under obligation from Irwin Toys paying for it). The fact that they were making deals to dub 26 and later 40 episodes puts a damper on my theory they were only interested in the show as a 65 episode cartoon. But still I can't imagine they had the license to S and SuperS. Were they making deals to dub more episodes than they had licensed to under the impression they could just nab Sailor Moon S? Maybe that's why they only dubbed the final 17 episodes of R for the fall of 97 because they realized that's all they had the rights to? (And presumably any negotiation to license Sailor Moon S fell through and Cloverway stepped in)
I think (correct me if I'm wrong) DiC ended up parterning up with Program Exchange who ended up getting them the deal on the USA Network and then Cartoon Network.
I just assumed DiC only licensed Classic and R and didn't go beyond that because they were only committing to 65 episodes (with the final 17 episodes being done under obligation from Irwin Toys paying for it). The fact that they were making deals to dub 26 and later 40 episodes puts a damper on my theory they were only interested in the show as a 65 episode cartoon. But still I can't imagine they had the license to S and SuperS. Were they making deals to dub more episodes than they had licensed to under the impression they could just nab Sailor Moon S? Maybe that's why they only dubbed the final 17 episodes of R for the fall of 97 because they realized that's all they had the rights to? (And presumably any negotiation to license Sailor Moon S fell through and Cloverway stepped in)
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So it was Bandai was at fault with the US market? 
Likewise with Teen Titans. Despite the girl Titans being popular with boys and girls, and the show being fairly progressive in having the girls be more powerful than the boys, Bandai almost never released toys of them and their commercials only included the male Titans
So yeah no surprised Bandai screwed the show over because they didn't think girls bought toys or something stupid.
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