From: colinp@engr.mun.ca (PETERS Colin G.)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: [SMOON] Sailor Moon interview on CBC radio.
Date: 22 Feb 1995 01:24:33 GMT
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Message-ID: <3ie3oh$i6h@coranto.ucs.mun.ca>
Keywords: Sailor Moon
X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.0 #15 (NOV)
Here is an interview about the upcoming release of Sailor Moon in the
U.S. as carried on the CBC show "As it Happens", Tuesday, February 21st
at 7:00 NST.
I have edited out most of the umms and ahhs, but I have left in
grammatical errors, and probably added some of my own. Some, maybe all,
of the names may be spelled wrong since (a) I am not really that
familiar with Sailor Moon, and (b) I don't spell very well. If I am
unsure of something it is marked with a question mark.
I have not inserted any editorial commentary... that's up to you...
^_^.
--
[Barbara Budd (?)]: Girls can be super-heros too, you know... That's the
pitch for Sailor Moon. Fresh from Japan, she promises to be the biggest
thing in kids TV since the Power Rangers. We're not talking about a
run-of-the-mill super-hero here. This female role model fights sexism,
and bad guys, while wearing go-go boots and a tiara. Jeff Pryor (?) is
the spokesperson for the show "Sailor Moon." He's in Burbank,
California.
[Michael Enwright (?)]: Mr. Pryor how big is Sailor Moon in Japan?
[Jeff Pryor]: Sailor Moon in Japan is gigantic. It is a very successful
television franchise, and licensing and merchandizing property. In fact
it is so popular that if you take Power Rangers and the Ninja Turtles it
is even more popular than both those shows combined.
[M]: What a scary thought!
[J]: (laughs)
[M]: Is it a cartoon or animated... what is it?
[J]: Yes, it's a cartoon series. Basically what it is, is that the show
centers around a fourteen year old girl who transforms into Sailor Moon
and she is one of the first super-heros for girls that's going to be
coming to television. She also has a team of other schoolmates who
transform also into super-heros, and they all take the name from the
planets. There's a Sailor Mercury, a Sailor Mars-
[M]: Oh, I see-
[J]: And a Sailor Jupiter, and they all form a super team that battle
the evil Queen Berl (?).
[M]: Queen Berl?
[J]: Yes.
[M]: I see. What does she look like? Is she a kind of... sort of... a
barbie doll... kind of?
[J]: Well, Sailor Moon?
[M]: Yes.
[J]: When she's in her super-hero form she has long boots, and she has a
sort of a mini-skirt, and she also has a tiara and a wand that give her
powers to fight Queen Berl and her evil henchmen.
[M]: Uh huh.
[J]: We don't really think that, you know, she's really comparible to
Barbie. In fact, the way we take a look at it is that she's almost just
the opposite of Barbie, and it really gets into what we think is meeting
a need into the marketplace. And it-
[M]: That need being?
[J]: Well, that need being that little girls growing up today are a lot
different than they were thirty years ago. Today girls are taught to be
more ambitious and self-sufficient than ever before, especially in
households where both parents are required to work and the kids are
spending their formative years in daycare or preschool. And today's
young girls are being taught to follow the same principles that boys...
and in many respects the gender gap has almost disappeared.
[M]: But, Sailor Moon, is she a feminist? Is that part of the
attraction?
[J]: Well, a feminist is, I think, a strong word for a show that's
targeted for girls between the age of five and eleven.-
[M]: Uh huh, yeah-
[J]: What we like to say is that I think what our target audience will
get out of this is several things. First is there is wish fulfillment,
there's empowerment, there is romance in the series. These are the
aspects of the show which we really think are going to captivate the
little girls audience. But, on the other hand there's also a lot of
action in Sailor Moon, and the bad guys are really bad-
[M]: Right.
[J]: So we think that the boys are also going to enjoy the series as
well.
[M]: You had to make some alterations though, in the show? Is that
right?
[J]: We are making some changes in the show, most notably the title: in
Japan the show is known as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, in the U.S. it
will just be known as Sailor Moon.
[M]: And, I take it there will be the spinoffs in the toy industry...
the clothes, the wardrobe, the makeup...
[J]: Yes, Bandai, which is the same company that produces toys for Power
Rangers in Japan, and also in the United States, has been signed as the
licensee to do Sailor Moon. One of her mentors is a cat... It's
actually a celestial god that comes down in the form of a cat. The
cat's name is Luna. And Luna speaks, uh, can only speak to Sailor Moon.
So we have a plush Luna the cat that talks. When you hug the cat
there's a voice chip that will then say, you know, "You're outta this
world Sailor Moon." So there's also some other accessories like nail
polish or nail gloss that sparkles when little girls put it on.
[M]: What about Canada? Are we going to see it north of the border?
[J]: Absolutely, the reception here in the United States has been
terrific. We are just launching the project here in the U.S. We are
now going to take a look at Canada and other markets where Sailor Moon
is not mar- is not airing currently, and introduce the property in those
markets as well. Again, one of the things that's creating a lot of
excitement for this program, is any time that you have a program that
bucks the trend it creates a lot of excitement.
[M]: Mr. Pryor, thank you. Thank's for being with us, and telling us
all about it.
[J]: Ok. Thank you.
[M]: Goodbye now.
[J]: Goodbye.
[Barbara Budd]: Jeff Pryor is the spokesperson for the show Sailor Moon.
He spoke to us from Burbank, California.
--
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