Familiar Voices, Hearing (and sometimes seeing?) a familiar voice? Don't be alarmed; the former Voice Artists of Sailor Moon have been busier than usual. Here's the update! Conventions The Canadian Anime Exposition regularly schedules Voice Artist panels at its conventions. This year (2003) Roland Parliament (one of the ADR directors and Melvin), Kristen Bishop (Zoicite, Emerald, Emerald, Kaori Knight, Fisheye and Lady Badiyanu) and Loretta Jafelice (Diana and Eugeal) made an appearance. Last year, it was Roland, Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) and Susan Roman (Sailor Jupiter). A few months after this year's convention, Roland started circulating a brochure advertising his new "Animation Voice Course" to be held in the Toronto area. At $440 (Canadian), the course does not come cheap and the prospect of employment very speculative. Interested fans should check it out anyway.
Animated Television Series Little People: Big Discoveries is a computer animated series based on a line of popular preschool toys manufactured by the Fisher-Price company. The show currently airs on Canada's Teletoon network on weekdays at 9:30am as part of their "commercial-free" preschool block. (It's hardly commercial-free as Little People is one, big, long commercial for Fisher-Price toys!) Definitely for the under 6 set, the show is only slightly more mature than Teletubbies. None of us have been able to sit through an entire episode. One of our members described one particularly memorable sequence as, "...(T)hey were discovering a garden, and in the garden was a caterpillar, and then they found the caterpillar, and then they sang a song about the caterpillar, and then they were looking at the caterpillar, and then I couldn't take it anymore!!!" Somehow recording this stuff without shooting themselves are Julie Lemieux (Sammy, Young Darien in the Sailor Moon R movie and Peruru) plays Michael and Mail Carrier Kelly, Susan Roman (Sailor Jupiter) is Eddie and Sarah Lynn, Tony Daniels (Jedite and Wiseman) is Farmer Jed, Jack, Police Officer Patrick and Tommy Topping, and Ron Rubin (Artemis) plays various other characters. This series marks the return of Karen Bernstein (Sailor Mercury #1) to the world of Voice Artists. She plays one of the stars (Maggie) in the show. As we understand Karen's situation, she started turning down jobs (including the television series, Sailor Moon S and Sailor Moon SuperS) to concentrate on her other career: producing documentaries.
Pecola is a computer generated series about a young mischievous penguin in a world of cubes. Though cheaply rendered, the animation & colors are pretty effective. Also effective, is how absolutely annoying this show can be. It's up to each viewer to decide for themselves: Pecola or Little People, Pecola or Little People, Pecola, Little People or jumping off a cliff. Getting special hazard pay are Stephanie Beard (Rini #2), Tracey Hoyt (Rini #1), Jill Frappier (Luna) and Julie Lemieux (Sammy, Young Darien and Peruru). Produced in Japan for Japanese television Pecola is handled by Nelvana for some markets. The series was shown on the Cartoon Network and is still in their library but is currently not scheduled.
John Callahan's Quads is about a drunken bum, Reilly O'Reilly, who gets run over by a millionaire who then gives the bum a mansion to make up for the injury. Reilly invites his other handicapped friends ("The Magnificent Severed") to move in with him to what they call "Maimed Manor." Hilarity ensues. Terri Hawkes (Sailor Moon #2) plays Franny, the hippie girlfriend of Reilly. Though some may think that this show is Canada's answer to South Park it was actually created by an American and produced in Australia and Canada. Animated entirely in Flash, Quads is the brainchild of handicapped cartoonist John Callahan. The dark (sometimes politically incorrect) humor has severely limited the scheduling and sales potential of the series to mature audiences only. In Canada, the show is on Teletoon at 11:00pm Monday - Thursday and then at 10:30pm & 2:30am Friday - Sunday. The series was aired by SBS Australia but could return.
Live Action Internet Shorts Oh Baby is one of many live action videotape shorts which have been produced by the "Rubber Chicken Farmers," a group of actors & technicians in British Columbia, Canada. The Farmers (as they like to be called) are using the internet to showcase their talents and get more work. Linda Ballantyne (Sailor Moon #3) co-wrote and appears in Oh Baby which starts off pretty dry but progessively gets funnier (and downright X-rated in the end song). Fans of Linda (wow--that's something we thought we'd never write!) can stream the short in the privacy of their own home via Quicktime in the Farmers "Films" section.
Live Action Television Movie Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story was a two hour TV movie produced by the USA cable network. The story concerns the personal, professional & political life of the famous New York City mayor leading up to the events of 9/11. Although much of the movie takes place in New York, most of the production was patriotically shot in Montreal, Canada. (They spent only 3 days filming in New York!) Kristen Bishop (Zoicite, Emerald, Kaori Knight and Fisheye) played Judith Nathan, a former club-hopping "nurse" who becomes the latest love in Rudy's life and is now married to him. (Kids, you got that? Judith Nathan is married to Rudy Giuliani--not Kristen Bishop. Kristen only played her in the film.) Although the star, James Woods, was nominated for an emmy for his performance, the movie itself was pretty lousy--offering no insight into Giuliani or how public perception of him changed so radically. The director, Robert Dornhelm, is infamous for his lack of working with actors so don't expect this to be Kristen's best performance. The movie has been licensed to all the major TV markets around the world and is available on DVD.
Live Action Feature Films The In-Laws concerns how a bride's father (Albert Brooks) reacts to discovering that the groom's father (Michael Douglas) is an out-of-control CIA agent. Released for the Memorial Day weekend in 2003, this film is actually a remake of the same-named production of 1979. Andrew Bergman wrote the original 1979 script and directed the 2003 version in Toronto (with some scenes in Chicago). Susan Aceron (Sailor Pluto #2, Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn, Mimet, Himeko and Kisenian) plays a nurse. Actually, none of us here saw this film nor knew Ms. Aceron was in it until we were researching this story. When the DVD comes out on October 7 we'll have to watch carefully 'cuz parts identified only as "Nurse" are usually pretty short. Congratulations to Susan nevertheless! The Death of Alice Blue is about a rookie advertising executive who is destined to become a vampire. (Aren't they all?) Completed earlier this year, this film has dropped off the radar with no announcements of when or who is going to release it. This seems to have gone against the dreams of the producers who added this tag line to all of their promotions: "Part I - The Bloodsucking Vampires of Advertising." Perhaps this movie is destined for the Blockbuster near you? Two VAs bare their fangs for this one, Barbara Radecki (Sailor Neptune) plays Sherry and Katie Griffin (Sailor Mars #1) keeps her own name with the character, Katie. First time director Park Bench (yep, that's his name) also wrote the script and co-stars in the film.
Cold Creek Manor was released on September 19, 2003 and stars Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone as a father and mother who move their family into a broken down country home. As they repair the house they find some unusual evidence that something may have gone terribly wrong there in the past. Meanwhile, the previous owner gets released from jail and wants to get his house back, at-all-costs. The film was mostly shot in Canada and was directed by Mike Figgis, who is best known for his experimental, star-driven, video to film efforts. The screenwriter, Richard Jefferies, is best known as the #1 writer in Hollywood who sells all his scripts but almost none of them ever get made. Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) plays a "local" which probably means 5 lines or less but maybe she's seen a lot? If you shouldn't be able to get into the official site (because of the Flash 6 requirement) there are friendlier sites on Yahoo and msn.com. And finally, Godsend stars Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Greg Kinnear who play a couple that agree to have their dead son cloned by a doctor (Robert DeNiro). All goes fine until the boy turns 8 years old. (Why do we think this is just a long Twilight Zone episode?) This Lions Gate film is scheduled to be released this Fall in North America and was shot (can we all guess where?) in Canada. (Toronto, to be exact!)You know that your new cloned son isn't going to work out when Tracey Hoyt (Rini #1) is playing your delivery nurse! (And what is it with VAs always playing nurses?!) Thus caps another VA Update! |
You Can't Tell The Players Without A Program! |
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VAs At A Glance |
Voice Actor | Character(s) Played
on Sailor Moon | Recent Roles / Activity |
Susan Aceron | Sailor Pluto #2, Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn, Mimet, Himeko, Kisenian Blossom | A Nurse - The In-Laws |
Linda Ballantyne | Sailor Moon #3 | Co-Writer & Actress - Oh Baby | Karen Bernstein | Sailor Mercury #1 | Maggie - Little People: Big Discoveries |
Stephanie Beard | Rini #2 | Coco and Pecola - Pecola
"Wicked" Screamer - revamped Crispy Crunch Commercials |
Kristen Bishop | Zoicite, Emerald, Kaori Knight, Fisheye, Lady Badiyanu | Canadian National Anime
Expo, August 2003 Judith Nathan - Rudy |
Tony Daniels | Jedite, Wiseman | Farmer Jed, Jack, Police Officer Patrick, and Tommy Topping - Little People: Big Discoveries |
Jill Frappier | Luna | Aunty Yorkshire - Pecola |
Katie Griffin | Sailor Mars #1 | Katie - The Death of Alice Blue |
Terri Hawkes | Sailor Moon #2 | Franny - Quads |
Tracey Hoyt | Rini #1 |
Hilary - Pecola A Delivery Nurse - Godsend |
Loretta Jafelice | Diana, Eugeal | Canadian National Anime Expo, August 2003 |
Julie Lemieux | Sammy, Young Darien in Sailor Moon R Movie, Peruru |
Michael and Mail Carrier Kelly - Little
People: Big Discoveries Various roles - Pecola |
Stephanie Morgenstern | Sailor Venus #1 | A Local - Cold Creek Manor
Canadian National Anime Expo, August 2002 |
Roland Parliament | ADR director, Melvin | Canadian National
Anime Expo, August 2003 and August 2002 "Animation Voice Course" Instructor |
Barbara Radecki | Serena's Mother, Sailor Neptune | Sherry - The Death of Alice Blue |
Susan Roman | Sailor Jupiter | Eddie and Sarah Lynn -
Little People: Big Discoveries Canadian National Anime Expo, August 2002 |
Ron Rubin | Artemis | Various roles - Little People: Big Discoveries |