Imagine If... | DiC Continued Working on Sailor Moon

Originally Posted by Jeff Harris

Actual Events:
In 1999, Cloverway, a US-based division of Toei Animation that became Toei Animation US recently, took control of the dubbing rights of Sailor Moon from DiC Entertainment, who had previously assumed all rights to the property in the US in the early 90s. In 2000, Sailor Moon S and SuperS premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami block, a block that was instrumental of the renewed interest in the series after debuting it in 1998. Years later, DiC (now free from Disney control) and ADV Films brought the Sailor Moon "Classic" and R seasons to DVD with the uncut dubs. Then, in 2004, Toei decided out of the blue to take Sailor Moon out of North America for good, ending the sales and syndication of all things Sailor Moon and America without Sailor Moon Stars, the last chapter of the series. And DiC became a part of Cookie Jar Entertainment.

When DiC announced plans to bring the popular Japanese animated series Sailor Moon to United States, some people scoffed. Afterall, this was the first major animated Japanese franchise since Robotech to air in America, and this one was more or less aimed towards girls. Still, with her wide-eyed Barbie doll looks, DiC hoped that American girls would warm up to Sailor Moon as they do the popular doll franchise.

And they did.

After initially airing the first season exclusively in syndication and becoming a bonafide hit by the winter, the Fox Kids block eventually picked up broadcasting rights to the series that spring. As the ratings continued to climb, DiC began dubbing the "S" season of Sailor Moon for Fox Kids retaining the same Vancouver-based cast as the first season. That summer, Fox Kids premiered the remaining episodes of the Sailor Moon "R" season after the initial 65 syndicated episodes aired, giving the block higher than usual ratings.

Most of the "S" episodes were edited, and a few (mostly filler episodes) were skipped altogether because of stringent network standards, but little girls who were fans of the series didn't mind or even notice. This season showed an increase in boys watching the series because of the increased action quotient.

The following season, the "SuperS" season aired with mixed results. Although the girls remained, some of the boys stopped watching because of the overtly girly episodes. In the meantime, reruns of the first two seasons were popular on weekdays and was a strong lead-in to a lineup that also included Animaniacs, Batman, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The final season, "Stars," was kind of a touchy one for DiC's corporate owners Disney to handle. The final season was split into two on a new network, ABC, ending a series that had come out of obscurity to become one of the most popular animated series in the country.

Back to reality: Sailor Moon could (and should) have been bigger in the United States than it was. The Powerpuff Girls, Totally Spies, W.I.T.C.H., and Winx Club all should pay respect to the series. Perhaps Sailor Moon came to the US too soon. DiC's original reinvention of Sailor Moon may have left fans of the original version with a bitter taste in their mouths, but at least it was relatively faithful. Perhaps Toei felt that America didn't like the way DiC was marketing the series, though in all honesty, the distributor was treating it as a girls' franchise with dolls and other accessories, which it is. Or maybe Toei pulled the series because they didn't want to cause any headaches from their Stars season, which had a lot more gender benders than Zoicite. Who knows? But still, it would have been poetic justice to see a show like Sailor Moon headline the Miguzi block, bringing in even more girls, which was obviously a problem for Toonami back in the day.

But you have to realize that even though DiC brought the series to America, the company couldn't truly control the show's destiny. In most markets, the series was stuck in poor early morning timeslots. If they had convinced Fox Kids to air more than just one episode of Sailor Moon, they would have continued dubbing the series because there would have been a demand from audiences to bring the series to the lineup. But alas, Sailor Moon remains a postscript in the history of DiC.

Enter Cycle Three of Imagine If.