George's Sailor Moon Voices

YTV

Here is a picture of Susan Roman from the YTV interview she did with Stephanie Morgenstern in 1996 (I think).

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The Tube

96-08-22 FILM: Japanese cartoon shoots for Canadian stars

by Gemma Files

"What we're looking at here," says actor/director turned Internet entrepreneur Roland Parliament, "is the possibility that a Japanese kids' cartoon show may contribute to English-speaking Canada developing its first real star system."

The show in question is Sailor Moon, yet another in a long line of anime TV imports bought up and retooled for the Northern American youth market. Half high school soap opera, half superhero action adventure, Sailor Moon balances a preponderance of leggy pubescent chicks in very short-skirted sailor suits with an uneasily translated new subtext of feminine empowerment. (In Japan, the original theme song began "I'm sorry I'm not more pretty and obedient." Here, it talks about "Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight, and never running from a real fight.") Ditzy main character Serena and her friends do homework, argue and slobber over boys before using their cosmic powers to whup the butts of various villains from the encroaching Negaverse.

"In terms of ratings, we got off to kind of a shaky start," says Parliament, who was hired to cast and direct (as well as act in) the North American version of Sailor Moon. "The fan response was immediate, however -- and amazing."

And now that the show's popularity -- and merchandising potential -- are reaching Power Rangers proportions, has any of this success rubbed off on the all-Canadian cast and crew behind this cartoon phenomenon? Parliament shrugs. "In Japan, the voices behind Sailor Moon are major celebrities. Here, people assume we just stand in a booth and lip-synch. Nobody's interested."

Except said fans... and especially those on the Internet.

After a fan swore his fellow Sailor Moon obsessees would pay to download "candid" snaps of the cast at work, Parliament set up http://www.voicestars.com, a website that showcases the actors -- vital statistics, work histories, 8-by-10 glossies. Over the first three weeks of its existence, with no publicity, voicestars.com quickly amassed -- and surpassed -- the normal number of browser "hits" (around 2,000) garnered by most new Net sites. And though none of them turned out to be from paying customers, Parliament points out, this continuing and entirely unsolicited interest confirms his theories about the site's audience

"People really had to go out of their way to find and access the site," he says. "To quote a phrase, we built it, and they came."

The implications of such fan-based Internet interest in Canadian actors have not gone unnoticed by representatives of ACTRA, the actors' union.

"Naturally, we're interested in exploring anything that boosts performers' recognition," says ACTRA works coordinator Neil Daynard. "We hope to have our own home page up and running on the net by December, and one of the things we want to do with it is to provide an intermediary liaison with sites like Roland's, allowing fans from all over to access information on any Canadian production or actor who takes their fancy.

"The idea of a star system has never really caught on in Canada, outside of Quebec, and this is mainly because our press is segregated by distance. But the Internet gives fans everything from photos and resumes to sound and video clips."

"Strange as it may seem," Parliament says, "all the things Canadians actors have wanted for decades -- respect, recognition, credit where credit is due -- these fans go out of their way to provide. The very least we can do is indulge them."

Sailor Moon can be seen on YTV weekdays at noon, Friday evening at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Also note the date on this article. As of now YTV doesn't show Sailor Moon anymore. They still have a section for the show on their web page though.

In Toronto you can still see Sailor Moon on Buffalo's WUTV at 8:00 in the morning on Sunday as of October 1999.

Naomi's Road

Here is something from the Toronto Sun, April 16, 1992, a picture of Dennis Akiyama aka "Malachite" in a play called "Naomi's Road". He was also the voice of "Spartan" on the WildC.A.T.s cartoon. You may have seen Dennis in a Toronto band in the 1980s called "Pukka Orchestra" as the trumpet player.

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Blessings

Here is another mention of Dennis from a theatre review in the Globe and Mail, Friday, November 22, 1996.

"On the other hand, Denis Akiyama as Soo's dad can manage to build a figure of fun - a variety store owner glued to ridiculous soaps - into a real character of physical exhaustion, repressed anger and injured manhood."

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Forbidden Hollywood

There is a mention of Sailor Moon #1, Tracey Moore in now, a Toronto entertainment paper, dated June 7, 1996. It is about a play she and three others will be doing at the Atlantis Complex in Ontario Place on 955 Lakeshore Blvd. W. called "Forbidden Hollywood". She is playing a number of characters and the article mentions her experience as a cartoon voice as being a big help.

"This version has been Canadianized to some extent" says Tracey Moore. "Bette Midler talks about shooting a film in Toronto, but even without the local associations, there's plenty to laugh at in Streep, Streisand, Minelli, Travolta, Taylor and Demi Moore".

"How these figures come at the world is often through how they sing or speak. There's a nice synchronicity in going from directing cartoons to being a cartoon figure onstage."

The Globe and Mail, Tuesday, June 11, 1996 says: Formula for laughs soon wears thin. Satirical lyrics, old pop tunes and movie spoofs can carry a show just so far.

I see Tracey Moore is the voice director for a 1998 cartoon series called Mythic Warriors. I also spotted Susan Roman and Colin O'Meara in the credits playing Aspasia and Cimon in a story about Theseus and the Minotaur. I see Terri Hawkes did the voice of Pandora in an episode about Prometheus.

Hello Kitty

Terri Hawkes

This is the voice actress who played Sailor Moon #2, Terri Hawkes. She came in after Tracey Moore. Here is a screen capture from the TV show "Traders" where she played the character Monica in the first season. Terri was a minor character on a show with a huge cast so she almost never had any lines to speak. Fans might do better looking for her in "The Killing Man" aka "The Killing Machine" starring Jeff Wincott at their video store.

The rest of the material has been moved to a separate Terri Hawkes page at WBS .

Twin Dragons

River Lady

Here is a picture of Stephanie Morgenstern aka Sailor Venus from the the August 15, 1996 cover of eye promoting the play "River Lady".

96-08-15 Eye: SummerWorks

"She's reached a point in her life where she's not got much hope any more," says Widdicombe. "All the little meanings she once had no longer have any value for her, and she's questioning whether her life is worth living. Tyler is in a similar situation, though not as desperate. He too can't make sense of the world as reflected by the nightly TV news, and his first inkling is to create a simpler existence, a religion based on Planet Of The Apes."

Not a happy match.

"It's a gritty play about characters on the edge of society," adds director and former CBC-TV asset Albert Schultz. "David is very good at writing voice. These characters have great -- in the sense of large -- back-stories. Their sense of loss and need is well established. It's remarkable how much he achieves in 45 minutes. He manages to create quite a dance of love and sex and death. That's what we watch, a mating ritual full of awkwardness and small hopes."

Both director and playwright acknowledge that the tone of piece is somewhat sad, but note also that there is ample humor.

"The writing is terribly humorous," says Schultz. "Not funny, but humorous. A humor that comes from a place of pain."

Footsoldiers of the Arts

From Shakespeare to Sailor Moon, Stephanie Morgenstern does it all

"Morgenstern's career, with its blend of high profile and no profile, is typical of what many journeyman actors go through. Unless you're a dedicated theatre-goer, you probably wouldn't recognize Morgenstern's fair, mobile face, but your girl children certainly would know her voice, at least when raised to a girlish squeal. It's the voice of Sailor Venus in the hugely popular animated series Sailor Moon, an engagement she does not try to hide - there are stickers of her character in her appointment book, and a tiny Sailor Venus dangles from her key chain."

Globe and Mail, November 16, 1996

Sailor Moon's voice of reason

Sensible Footwear

Here is another article I got from eye dated Sept. 12, 1996 featuring Tracey Hoyt the voice of the first Reenie. She is part of a comedy troupe called Sensible Footwear. I remember them getting some press coverage a few years back when they did a street performance where they pretended to be tourists.

Tracey got another mention in the Toronto Star, Sept. 17, 1996 on page C7.

Here is a joke from their new show Mid Life Crisis: "You know you're mature when you find David Letterman attractive."

Did anyone see the June 12, 2000 issue of the Globe and Mail newspaper? There was an article called "Rude and Ruder" about how Canadians are ruder than before and Tracey Hoyt the voice of Rini was asked her opinion. Here it is:

                     But stressed-out families aren't the only
                     reason kids don't seem to care about civility.
                     There's also the aggressiveness rampant in
                     popular culture. Tracey Hoyt, a Toronto
                     actress who teaches improvisation to
                     teenagers, finds their behaviour -- especially
                     that of the boys -- to be powerfully influenced
                     by TV, the Internet, action movies and music
                     videos. The kids are drawn to the shock value
                     of shows like comedian Tom Green's.

                     "Teenagers are so incredibly media-literate,"
                     Ms. Hoyt says. "That's part of the reason why
                     their attention span is so low. They're so used
                     to everything being fast and varied. It's been a
                     real challenge to get them to slow down and
                     actually listen to each other." 

Electra

This movie was part of Fantasia '97, Le Festival International du Cinema Fantastique in Montreal. The festival book says this film was shot in 18 days on a very low budget which explains a lot. It says that the director, Julian Grant, had deliberately put in some in-jokes about Hong Kong action films which accounts for the "flying combat" sequence.

Sabrina Grdevich

Also, Sabrina Gredvich plays the part of Kathy (Jack's sister) on the show
Traders.  In the show, she's a mother of one son and looks like Kes from
Star Trek:  Voyager.  Until midway through the Voyager's third season.

Jason Huhn
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/6798

This is Ron Rubin the voice of Artemis at a party at the Reservoir Lounge. The picture comes from the Toronto Star Thursday April 30, 1998. You might recognize him from Reactive antihistimine commercial in Canada.

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Let me know if you've met with any of the voice actors.