SARA
(September 16, 2000 - March 17, 2007)
Voice Artist: "Cowboy" Sally Timms
For a male-dominated block like Toonami, it's kind of strange that TOM is considered the face of the block while nowadays, Sara is the voice of Toonami. Heck, on many occasions, Sara has been the catalyst for change on the block in more ways than one.
Designed by Professor William Gill, an innovator in artificial intelligence,
SARA was the factory standard matrix in large starships and freighter for a long time. The matrix could serve as all roles aboard a ship for deep space missions, including navigator, pilot, and captain. Something Moltar considered when he decided to move primary Toonami operations in space. Of course, he didn't know how to fully implement the unit right away aside from a few basic commands. SARA was always on the Absolution (if you ever saw the relaunch of the block back in 1999, you heard her say "Hello"), but prior to the events of "The Intruder," it was in stasis. Sara became fully operational after being activated by the custodian droid known as TOM. Almost immediately, the two characters clicked with each other.
After TOM's "death" courtesy of a mysterious metal-eating intruder, SARA transferred TOM's AI matrix into a brand new shell, designed by SARA herself, which was more serpentine and battle ready. Over time, SARA has become a voice of consciousness and calm for the sardonic and superslick TOM. The yin to his yang. In short, his better half.
During Trapped in Hyperspace, Sara was infected by a vicious computer virus named Swayzak. Thanks to TOM's help, she recovered. However, the infection left a little damage. When she got kidnapped in Endgame, Sara outsmarted her opponent, despite witnessing the destruction of the original Absolution and the second death of TOM. Now, in a solid holographic body, Sara now literally stands arm to arm beside TOM at the controls of Toonami, proving that behind a good man, there's a strong woman.
Little Known Facts:
- Although there was much written about SARA, most Toonami fans are unaware of her voice artist, Cowboy Sally. In 2001 on the Deep Space Bass CD, her identity was revealed to the fans, but little was known about the actual person behind the interesting persona, Sally Timms.
- In case you couldn't tell by her distinctive voice, Sally Timms was born in Leeds, England and is a prominent alternative singer. She fronted her own punk band The She Hees in the 70s before joining the punk/country/rock band called The Mekons in the 80s. Ms. Timms has recorded numerous solo albums, including Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat, To The Land of Milk and Honey, and her highest profile release, Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos. She recently recorded In the World of Him in 2003.
- Years before she released Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos, Sally Timms first donned the persona of Cowboy Sally for the cult classic Williams Street production The Rudy and GoGo Cartoon Show for TNT. She wore cowgirl outfits, wrestled goats, and was quite evil in the role. Though the show was cancelled in 1997 (around the same time Williams Street created "a better cartoon show"), Ms. Timms kept the persona, turning her into a ballad-singing modern TV "cowboy."
- In addition to The Mekons, Ms. Timms also recorded with The Sixths, Marc Almond, The Aluminum Group, Jon Rauhouse’s Steel Guitar Show, The Sadies, Andre Williams, and A Grape Dope.
- She also performed in several festivals and plays over the past decade and occasionally writes articles and columns on pop culture.
