More and more auctions for cels from the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon series have been popping up on eBay. I just wanted to share a few that stood out. The Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon series, known as Saban Moon or Fox Kids Sailor Moon, was a concept for a show, only ever developed as a pilot, which combined live action footage and North American animation.

Most notable in the new cels is that we can finally see the face of Darian, also known as Tuxedo Mask. This version of Darian is not decked out in a Tuxedo and Mask, something he may or may not eventually do. Many have remarked his similarity to a Disney Prince. His way of dressing is pretty ridiculous, but based on the voice-over script which we posted a transcript of, this is likely Darian from the past, before the “Princess Warriors” went to Earth to live as normal girls. I believe in his later appearances he would be dressed in a Tuxedo and Mask, but no images of that have been seen to date.

We also get a look at Sailor Mercury’s wheel chair! The live action version of Sailor Mercury, and one of her friends, is bound to a wheel chair. While the Princess Warriors fly around space in their Sky Flyers, Sailor Mercury has a flying wheel chair as she appears to be unable to walk even in Princess Warrior form. In addition to seeing Sailor Mercury in this chair we also get a better look at a few of the Princess Warriors on their own Sky Flyers.

Some other cels also give us a full look at the individual Princess Warriors Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter, as we see them standing and walking around. This gives us a look at their feet and foot wear. Fans should have no problem making accurate fan art and cosplay from now on!

We also get an interesting look at Queen Beryl’s Dark Galleon which she’s actually riding giving us a good idea of scale. In this very small first look at Beryl’s full body and costume we see that she is weilding some kind of staff or sceptre.

A lot of Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon cels are still for sale on eBay. The two sellers who currently have items for sale are vintagejunkster and kittyandcharlie. I’ve bought and received cels from both sellers and have been quite happy with my purchases and the transactions in general so I would recommend picking something up from either of them. Cels are selling in a wide variety of prices which should make them accessible to any fan looking to have a little piece of this obscure chapter in Sailor Moon history as a part of their collection.

I plan on getting better scans of those cels which I’ve purchased online. I’m still working on getting all of them processed before I can get some better pictures posted but rest assured that will come. For now I’m still working out getting some cels unstuck from their sketches and other paper before they’re in a good state to scan or photograph.

Here’s a Sailor Moon News exclusive first look at the full script for the animated segments of the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon series pilot. This concept of a show, which never made it past the pilot stage, was a mix of live action and North American animation. It’s often referred to as Saban Moon, Saban Sailor Moon or Fox Kids Sailor Moon. This script is for a voice-over session scheduled for May 11th 1994. The project was referred to as ‘Project “Y”‘ possibly to hide the specifics of this being about Sailor Moon, which seems futile as the name is all over the script.

This script was included in an eBay auction which I won along with a couple of cels from the series. Photographs of 8 of the pages of the script were included in the auction listing though 14 were included in the full document.

As this is a voice-over script it mostly covers animated segments but also voice overs for the live action footage. There is a big hole in the story between pages 7 and 8. This is because this portion would be filled with live action footage which would not require a voice-over. What specifically happens during this time isn’t clear but a large amount of time appears to have passed and all of a sudden all characters have begun acting like Earth teenagers when the originally had not been. The final two pages of the script included the “voice-over for live action”. This is mostly Luna’s lines. I inserted these two pages in the gap between pages 7 and 8 so that the narrative remained in order. It’s unclear how much time passed between each of Luna’s lines though individually numbered lines likely occurred as one piece of dialog. The lines may all have occurred within a single scene or throughout the entire episode for all we can tell.

Below you will find a complete transcription of the entire script. I have made an effort to preserve all formatting where applicable, which includes only two words that are lower case and a single italicized line. I will include scans of all 14 pages below this transcription. A number of hand written modifications to the original script occurred. I have only transcribed the original script. See the scans for all of the hand written details.

ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME, ONCE UPON
ANOTHER PLACE, OUR SOLAR SYSTEM WAS
BESIEGED.

THERE WERE MANY WARS AND FIERCE
BATTLES. WICKED QUEEN BERYL AND HER
EVIL FORCES OF DARKNESS ATTACKED
GOOD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.

SHE CAPTURED THE OUTER PLANETS OF
PLUTO, NEPTUNE, URANUS AND SATURN.
AND SEIZED THEIR JEWELS OF POWER.

THE PRINCESS WARRIORS RULED
MERCURY, VENUS, MARS, JUPITER AND THE
EARTH’S MOON.

TO BECOME ABSOLUTE RULER, QUEEN
BERYL MUST DEFEAT THE PRINCESS
WARRIORS AND OBTAIN THE REMAINING
COSMIC JEWELS OF POWER.

THE ROYAL FAMILIES OF THE FIVE INNER
PLANETS, LEAD BY THE BEAUTIFUL QUEEN
SERENITY, SOVEREIGN OF THE MOON…..

FORMED AN ALLIANCE TO DEFEAT QUEEN
BERYL, MAKING THE MOON THEIR CAPITOL.

TO AFFIRM THE NEW CONFEDERATION
QUEEN SERENITY ANNOUNCED THE
BETROTHAL OF HER ONLY DAUGHTER,
SAILOR MOON, TO DARIAN, PRINCE OF THE
EARTH.

A GREAT CELEBRATION WAS HELD ON THE
MOON TO HONOR THE MOMENTOUS
OCCASION.

SAILOR MOON WAS SURROUNDED BY HER
CLOSEST FRIENDS, THE PRINCESS
WARRIORS, SAILOR MARS, —-SAILOR
MERCURY,—-SAILOR VENUS,—–AND SAILOR
JUPITER.

SAILOR MOON WAS RESPLENDENT.

NOW THE DARKNESS SHALL HAVE
DOMINION. THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS MINE!!

BEHOLD QUEEN BERYL, AND DESPAIR!!

DESTROY THEM ALL, BUT BRING ME THE
JEWELS AT ALL COST!!!

—–DARIAN!! BEHIND YOU!!!!——

—-THERE’S TOO MANY OF THEM!! WE
MUST RETREAT!!!

—IT’S UP TO YOU TO PILOT THE GALLEON!!

QUICKLY, TAKE THE JEWELS!

YOU AND THE OTHER PRINCESSES MUST
ESCAPE WITH DARIAN TO EARTH.

YOU PRINCESSES NOW POSSESS THE
MOST POWERFUL PENDANTS IN THE
UNIVERSE. GUARD THEM WITH YOUR
LIVES!

—-YOU MUST GO NOW. ESCAPE INTO THE
VORTEX. BERYL CANNOT FOLLOW.

—-THERE YOU CAN HIDE IN A DIFFERENT
DIMENSION. —-BUT THERE’S NO TIME TO
EXPLAIN!

—I WILL FIND A WAY TO COMMUNICATE
WITH YOU, BUT YOU MUST LEAVE NOW.

—–WATCH OUT!!!!

—-KEEP THEM BACK!!!

NO! NO!, NOOOOOO!!!!

WE MUST SAVE THE JEWELS!!

ALRIGHT THEN,—- VEER THE SHIP AWAY.

TO THE VORTEX!! ——

——- AND BEYOND OBLIVION!!

THERE GOES ONE OF MY NINE LIVES!

—-GIRLS!

———–QUEEN BERYL IS ATTACKING THE
PEOPLE OF PLANET JUPITER. THEY NEED
YOUR HELP!!!!

SAILOR MERCURY!!

SAILOR VENUS!!!

SAILOR MARS!!

SAILOR JUPITER!!

–WHERE THEY ARE DISCOVERED AND
QUICKLY SURROUNDED. —– BUT QUEEN
BERYL’S FORCES WERE IN FOR A
SURPRISE.

—VENUS!

CAN ANY OF YOU UGLY CRETINS SAY
“ELECTRICITY”

BEN FRANKLIN BELIEVED IT COULD BE
TRANSMITTED RIGHT THROUGH AIR—-

—-HE WAS RIGHT!!

—-OH, I LIKE YOUR STYLE.

—-LET ME TEACH YOU A NEW STEP.

—-UH, OH —SPREAD OUT!!

—-WAIT FOR MY SIGNAL.

—-MERCURY, WAIT!!

—-TAKE THAT TALL DARK AND GRUESOME.

—-AAHHH!

ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!!

—THIS ONE IS POWERFUL!—-

—-AHH. TRY AGAIN!—-

Mustn’t QUIT.

THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS!

LOOK, HE’S GONE!!

I DON’T KNOW. I JUST DON’T KNOW.

Note that when the pages were stapled together pages 6 and 7 were reversed, making the order 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8 … although all indication seems to insinuate this was a mistake and that the pages were meant to be in proper numerical order. Because of this I have posted these in their correct numerical sequence, with pages 13 and 14 placed where the live action footage goes. Purists may feel free to read them out of order for thoroughly confusing authenticity…

Here are scans of all of the pages. To see these files in their highest resolution click on the thumbnail and then on the 1000xHHHH link on the next page.

Acquiring this script was not cheap and scanning and transcribing it was a lengthy process. I have not placed any watermarks on these images and I don’t mind if they are shared elsewhere but please provide a link back to this site if you post them online.

Some thoughts on this script…

While it previously seemed as if this was only the voice-over script for the opening scene, now that we see this in it’s entirety it seems more apparent that this is the script for all animated and voice over segments for the entire episode.

Darian mentions there’s a solar eclipse. They’re on the Moon. If the Earth experienced a solar eclipse then an observer on the Moon would actually see only a shadow on the Earth’s surface. He may have also meant that the Earth was obscuring the Sun. This happens quite often, and it means that an observer on the Earth is seeing a Lunar eclipse. This kind of eclipse would have the observer on the Moon seeing the Sun blocked out for considerably longer than the Moon blocks the Sun during a solar eclipse.

Sailor Mercury, who is in a wheelchair, makes a reference to teaching the enemy a “new step”. She is apparently a paraplegic who is well versed in dancing…

Darian has clearly survived his death given Sailor Moon’s reaction to the rose. Why Sailor Moon choses to lie about the identity of Tuxedo Mask is unclear. It stands to reason that the man she sees is wearing some sort of Tuxedo Mask uniform, though we have still not seen any such images.

Moon Tiara Action is referred to as a “frisbee” a description fitting of the disc that is produced when Sailor Moon does this attack.

It really isn’t clear how much time passes between the two animated segments, but so much behavioural change has occurred. Was there a full reincarnation and aging to teenaged years that occurred or did the girls simply adapt to high school life after arriving? Is there a different flow to time between the dimensions? Beryl was nearing Jupiter when the girls left and is still there when they return.

I think we’re all still hoping to see the full pilot at some point. Until then this script will have to do. It stands to reason that the final product was closer to the script including the changes written in marker, but we may not be able to verify this for some time.

For now there are a ton of Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon cels on eBay with more added every few days. Keep checking them out and as always we’ll let you know of any significant new images that pop up.

If any fans take it upon themselves to do a dramatic reading of this, please do let us know about it and we’ll share it on the site.

More and more cels from the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon show (known to many as Saban Moon) have been popping up on ebay giving us a look at many previously unseen characters. Now we’ve got a look at Queen Beryl, Tuxedo Mask and a monster which looks suspiciously like the monster that fat alley cat and Rainbow Crystal holder Rhett Butler turned into.

Queen Beryl looks just weird. She doesn’t look human, though the original Queen Beryl has no non human features. Her skin is blue, which is just bizarre. Her shoulders are excessive and she just looks angry! Many auctions for cels like this one are selling for $99.99.

We finally get a good look at Tuxedo Mask … sort of. Though Tuxedo Mask is not named in the script Darian is, which is no doubt the same character that would become Darien in the English dub. He is shown giving Sailor Moon her Star Pendant. Though the cels up for auction such as this one don’t show his face one of them has a sketch of his face visible behind the cel. That’s all we get for now but I’m sure more will pop up. Darian doesn’t look anything like Tuxedo Mask, but more like a Disney Prince. Maybe he was never meant to don his Tuxedo in this version.

One very peculiar monster, referred to as “Werewolf” in the item description bears a striking resemblence to the monster Bakene from episode 31 of the anime. Bakene was the monster which appeared when the Rainbow Crystal was extracted from the fat cat Rhett Butler that fell in love with Luna in a hilarious episode. Auctions exist for a cel showing this monster from behind as well as a sketch showing it’s face. The similarities are striking and include the two toned fur, the look of the face and claws and even stuff like the bracelets and necklace which are downright identical to those worn by the monster in the original Sailor Moon anime. Where this monster comes into the story is not clear as it is not seen in the clip or mentioned the script.

Finally there are a few auctions, such as this one, for cels showing the lava monster which who can be seen in the infamous music video of the show.

One forum poster learned from one of these auction sellers that there are hundreds of these cels to put up for sale so we certainly have not seen the last of the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon show! Stay tuned…

A lot more new cels from the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon show have surfaced on ebay. This show which was only ever made into a single episode pilot and has only been seen in this short clip, is infamous amongst fans.

We now have a great look at Queen Beryl’s ship from the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon show. Ever know Queen Beryl was in the show? Ever know she had a ship? It can be seen in this Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon cel auction. Here we have a look at “The Dark Galleon” which is Queen Beryl’s nasty looking ship previously seen only briefly in the online clip when it shoots a laser at another ship, destroying it. We know this name because in the script we talked about yesterday the Dark Galleon was mentioned as being Queen Beryl’s ship (it’s on page 3…).

SUDDENLY THE DARK GALLEON OF QUEEN BERYL APPEARED ON THE HORIZON AS HER FORCES DESCENDED ON THE GATHERING IN A BRUTAL ASSAULT.

What a cool looking ship! One sketch included in this auction even mentions “CHANGE ALL HEADS TO THIS”. What heads? Maybe there were other sketches with different or no heads? Maybe some other object has … multiple heads? Who knows! The auction also comes with other cels and refers to the show as “Project Y”, a name that also appeared on the script.

Many other auctions have popped up in the last few days. Some auctions are by kittyandcharlie, the same ebay seller mentioned earlier. This includes the Dark Galleon cel we just mentioned. Others, such as this one, which show Sailor Moon standing diagonally are selling for just $49.99, a far more reasonable price than the cels posted earlier. Browse kittyandcharlie’s Sailor Moon auctions to see all cels sold by this seller.

A different ebay seller, vintagejunkster, has also started to sell some Sailor Moon cels. All of these cels feature Sailor Moon herself and are selling for $79.99 a piece. At this price fans have starting buying these up so if you’re interested check out vintage junkster’s Sailor Moon auctions to find all of these cels. These include shots of Sailor Moon using her tiara and wearing her Star Pendant.

With news cels from this show popping up many times this week we can probably expect more great finds in the coming days. Keep your eyes on ebay for more. We’ll be sure to share anything interesting that pops up.

The story of the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon show, known to some as “Saban Sailor Moon” or “Saban Moon”, is a long and fascinating tale in what could have been. Basically in 1994 there was a plan to make an American Sailor Moon show featuring a mix of live action and animated bits that was something like Power Rangers meets She-Ra. The whole history is long and complex, most of which can be inferred from this article which shows it to have been a project by Toon Makers’, Bandai and Renaissance Atlantic. I’d love to go on explaining this at length but I will leave that for another time. All that has been available of this to date has been this short clip which played at a convention years ago… until now!

Cels used in the original pilot episode of this show have surfaced on ebay, which constitute by far the best quality images of this show that have been found online to date. You can easily find the remaining cels by searching for “toon makers sailor moon” on ebay. I’ve purchased a number of these cels and once I receive them I’ll be sure to share better pictures with all of you. Interestingly enough a lot of these cels are from scenes not seen in the short clip which has been made available online.

Most notable in these auctions are an auction (sold) for a cel of Sailor Moon which also includes a cel of her weird vehicle now known to be the “Sky Flyer” and a script for a segment of animation which seems to be from the first episode. I’ll transcribe that at a later time.

There’s also this auction for a cel of Sailor Moon’s transformation which also comes with a number of sketches of that sequence. This auction is currently still available for $499.99.

Here is an auction (sold) for cels of face shots of all of the Sailor Soldiers, now called Princess Warriors, as well as pencil sketches to go along with them.

There are also many, many, many auctions for cels of Luna, who is now a white cat, as well as one of Sailor Moon on her Sky Flyer. These single cels are all $99.99.

A lot of new things can be learned just from the postings of these items, mostly from the script itself. We learn of the name of the Sky Flyer, the name “Princess Warriors”, we see that Darian (Tuxedo Mask) was to be in it as well as Queen Beryl and that the girls will transform with “Jewels of Power”. It should also be noted that some of the sheets including information about the animation have the name “Rugrats” crossed off.

These cels aren’t cheap, and it remains to be seen if any of these might be reposted at lower prices if they don’t sell well. For now the seller has been adding more of these cels occasionally so it would be best to keep an eye out for them, I know I will. Though not part of a show that ever made it to air these products are a weird and truly rare part of Sailor Moon history that reminds us of a step to the path which ultimately gave us the Sailor Moon dub we all know and (some of us) love.

Thanks to Cutiebunny from the Sailor Moon forums for finding these.

If you haven’t watched it yet, here’s the video of the show: