Highlights
- The initial dub of Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon was heavily edited to make it more acceptable for American audiences, which was a common practice for anime shows at the time.
- One of the Sailor Moon movie projects, Sailor Moon R: The Movie, was released in America in an uncut form, but the release from Pioneer Entertainment had an animation mistake where Sailor Moon's mouth moved while Fiore was speaking.
- The mistake in the Pioneer release of Sailor Moon R: The Movie was due to receiving the original master with the incorrect animation, and this error had to be written and dubbed around in the English version. Viz Media's BluRay release has the corrected animation.
To edit or not to edit? This has been a debate that for years plagued many anime productions, as American companies tried to figure out the best ways to sell anime shows to Americans. Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon was not exempt from this, and the initial dub is notorious for the changes that were made to make the series acceptable for American audiences.
In a strange twist of fate though, while the TV series had a high demand for an uncut version, not only was one of the Sailor Moon movie projects released in America uncut, it was in a form that one executive described as "too uncut." What did he mean by this?
What is Sailor Moon R: The Movie?
Sailor Moon R: The Movie (also known as Sailor Moon R: The Movie - The Promise of the Rose) is a 1993 Japanese animated film directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The film is connected to the Sailor Moon R television series and takes place after the Makai Tree arc (though where it fits into the Dark Moon Arc is a little murkier). The story follows Sailor Moon and the Sailor Guardians as they confront Fiore, an alien who was a childhood friend of Mamoru Chiba (Tuxedo Mask).
Fiore seeks revenge against the humans for the way he was treated as a young boy and intends to use a deadly flower called the Kisenian Blossom to drain energy from Earth. The Sailor Guardians must stop Fiore and his flower from destroying humanity. As the first film in the Sailor Moon franchise, Sailor Moon R: The Movie featured the usual blend of magical girl action, romance, and drama that fans expected from the franchise (and for many it is still the best theatrical release of the franchise).
It was initially released in Japan on December 5, 1993, but it wasn't released in America until 1998 when Pioneer Entertainment would initially make the film available via a subtitled version on VHS before moving on to releasing a dub of the film on DVD a few years later.
Who Was Pioneer Entertainment?
Pioneer Entertainment (also known as Pioneer LDC and Geneon in later years) was a noted entertainment company that specialized in the production and distribution of various forms of media, including anime and music. Founded in Japan, the company expanded its operations to North America and ended up playing a significant role in expanding the anime industry in America, through the licensing and distribution of various anime series and films.
Some of the more popular titles they were involved with include Tenchi Muyo, Serial Experiments Lain, and (in relation to our topic) the movies and later seasons of Sailor Moon. In 2003, Pioneer LDC's name was changed to Geneon after a merger with Dentsu was completed. However, the company faced financial difficulties several years later, and the North American branch, Geneon USA, ceased in-house distribution of its titles in 2007. Various licenses were then picked up by other companies, and the Geneon brand itself was retired (though Pioneer the parent company still exists in Japan, where they specialize in electronics).
Before they folded they were the first company to release Sailor Moon R: The Movie in America. First on VHS and then on DVD. However, when the DVD was released, eagle-eyed viewers noticed something strange: there was an animation error in which Sailor Moon was talking, but the voice coming out of her mouth was that of the film's antagonist Fiore. Fans were quick to wonder what was going on. Turns out, there had been a rather embarrassing mix-up.
The Problem with their Release
The mistake from the animation was interesting: in an attempt to hit a deadline during the initial release of the film, an animator accidently animated Sailor Moons mouth moving even though Fiore was the one speaking. When the film left movie theaters and was released on VHS in Japan, Toei Animation reanimated the scene so that Sailor Moon was no longer moving her mouth during this scene and the scene would have the correct animation. When Pioneer received their master of the film though, they did NOT receive the master with the corrected animation; instead, they received the original master with the incorrect animation!
When fans in America noticed the change, a Pioneer representative explained what happened and joked that their release was "too uncut." This also meant that when it was time to dub the film the English writers had to write (and dub) around this animation mistake, as there was no getting a new master. As of this writing Sailor Moon R: The Movie has been released on BluRay from Viz Media, and (unlike Pioneer) they DID receive the proper master, so this mistake is no longer available to purchase! Still, for fans it was interesting to see how far a release could go with a major mistake before someone caught it.