Since the voice over script for the somehow-still-unreleased Toon Makers Sailor Moon (TMSM) proof-of-concept was made available (seven years ago!!!!), we've known that several elements of the DiC dub likely originated from there (e.g. the use of a narrator, the name Darian/Darien, the Sailors' all being princesses, and Sailor Moon and Prince Darian/Darien's being engaged in Moon Kingdom times). As a result, I've often wondered whether or not other elements of the DiC dub (like the names Serena, Amy, Raye, etc; Amy's being a transfer student; etc) also came from TMSM. (After all, originally DiC was going to call the girls Victoria, Blue, Dana, Sarah, and Carrie.)
More recently, however, I've been wondering how and why DiC borrowed elements from TMSM in the first place. It can't be just a coincidence that the two have these commonalities, and I can't see Toon Makers altruistically volunteering their materials for their competitor's perusal, nor can I see DiC reaching out to Toon Makers to take a look at the version of Sailor Moon they'd been working on. Thus it would seem DiC could only have acquired those materials via Toei, which raises the question of why Toei would have given them those materials.
It's quite possible that Toei simply and carelessly had lumped all their English-language Sailor Moon materials together in one big mess and sent that off to a befuddled DiC, and that DiC used the concepts from TMSM that they did by mistake/out of confusion, or simply because they liked what they saw. But what if Toei purposely sent DiC the TMSM materials and requested/required that they incorporate some of its elements?
My underlying point here, I suppose, is that I don't think we quite know who - Toei or DiC - was responsible for what changes that were made in the original dub, so it seems silly and arbitrary to "blame" DiC for everything. (Obviously I quite enjoy most of the changes made in the original dub, but just as obviously many here do not.) At the very least, this seems to prove that either Toei actively wanted some of these changes, or they didn't care enough about the series to make sure the materials it was sending out were correct.
More recently, however, I've been wondering how and why DiC borrowed elements from TMSM in the first place. It can't be just a coincidence that the two have these commonalities, and I can't see Toon Makers altruistically volunteering their materials for their competitor's perusal, nor can I see DiC reaching out to Toon Makers to take a look at the version of Sailor Moon they'd been working on. Thus it would seem DiC could only have acquired those materials via Toei, which raises the question of why Toei would have given them those materials.
It's quite possible that Toei simply and carelessly had lumped all their English-language Sailor Moon materials together in one big mess and sent that off to a befuddled DiC, and that DiC used the concepts from TMSM that they did by mistake/out of confusion, or simply because they liked what they saw. But what if Toei purposely sent DiC the TMSM materials and requested/required that they incorporate some of its elements?
My underlying point here, I suppose, is that I don't think we quite know who - Toei or DiC - was responsible for what changes that were made in the original dub, so it seems silly and arbitrary to "blame" DiC for everything. (Obviously I quite enjoy most of the changes made in the original dub, but just as obviously many here do not.) At the very least, this seems to prove that either Toei actively wanted some of these changes, or they didn't care enough about the series to make sure the materials it was sending out were correct.