How to make Sailor Moon: The Movie

PrimoPiccolo · 02/13/08, 05:47 AM

Okay, we've all heard the craptastic falsehood of Lindsay Lohan being offered the lead for a live-action Sailor Moon movie way back when. While that set off something of a world of imagination on my part, only the recent developments of this year's live-action Dragon Ball really made me start thinking about how Sailor Moon would realistically be pulled off.

The characters would have to be 18 or so for mature casting, if they were 15 the actors would look like they're from High School Shouj-ical. Obviously the girls would all get their powers at the same time, it would simply be a waste of film to give each Scout a solo introduction. The whole talking cat deal might remind those not familiar with the anime of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but that wouldn't be a big deal, especially given the special effects of today would make Luna and Artemis look as good as something out of the Chronicles of Narnia. But the one thing that's hard to figure is which villains make the cut.

Nowadays, every movie seems to get a sequel greenlit. When it comes to science fiction and fantasy titles, 3-movie deals are almost commonplace. And while exceptions to this rule are ever growing (Harry Potter and X-Men come to mind), execs still try to condense the major plot points of every adaptation into a hattrick.

Coming back to my thought, which forces of evil would be given the big screen treatment? (Dub names to follow, duh) Queen Beryl and the Negaverse immediately come to mind since they were first chronologically, and probably had the only lackeys whose personalities weren't one-dimensional and their resolutions memorable. The Negamoon Family could easily be altered for a sequel to pose a cliché "evil Sailor Scout" angle, since the four sisters have the black moon symbol on their foreheads and mimic the signature elemental attacks. Only problem with including them in the franchise is it would somewhat lessen the impact of potentially introducing the Outer Scouts later on, because the non-fanatics wouldn't know what constitutes the true Sailor Scouts. Or maybe to that effect, they could instead use Uranus and Neptune and make them sisters (I know, I know) who were tainted by Rubeus. Then of course there's the Heart Snatchers, the Dark Moon Circus and Shadow Galactica, all of which surround the identical task of seeking out some mystical part of the human body that only a select group of people hold within them. I'd want Sailor Saturn for the final film, which would fit perfectly since Pluto's no longer a planet ( ;_; ) and Mini-Moon sucks ( ^_^ ), but using a future Sailor Scout as a tool for evil would be a repetitive notion if I included my concept for the second film. Same goes for Sailor Galaxia as the antagonist, and she's the only true evil Sailor Scout.

So, as you can see, there are a number of ways to go. Three films, chronicling the villains from Classic/R, focusing purely on the first five Scouts. Three films, the second debuting Uranus and Neptune, the third Saturn. Five movies, each covering one of the five series. Then there's a ton of combinations for those choices to condense the anime to its most important elements. Option A sounds best, but I just wanted to gauge if I'm the only fan whom such an approach would please.

Kamen Rider Decade · 02/13/08, 07:12 AM

Unless Uranus and Neptune are lesbians, I wouldn't bother watching. Same goes for any other adaptations that deviate from the original source material, no matter how tiny. Luna is made into a orange and white cat, I won't watch regardless if Luna is identical in any other way.

PrimoPiccolo · 02/13/08, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Virginian

Unless Uranus and Neptune are lesbians, I wouldn't bother watching.

Come on, if America ever did approach this, you know it would be marketed for kids, and openly embracing that culture just isn't a step we're ready to take.

Besides, movie adaptations ALWAYS make changes, mostly for the sake of time. And while Haruka and Michiru were the cutest of couples, I don't see them having enough time to spend on their relationship as well as Usagi and Mamoru's. Making them family would both embrace what the dub already provided and give them an instant bond that wouldn't require as much nurturing.

Spidey got organic webbing, Juggernaut was mutant instead of mystical, Piccolo Daimaou kills Goku's grandpa instead of his own Oozaru form. Change is inevitable for the sake of expansion.

PRangerX · 02/13/08, 08:56 PM

I think they could just have Uranus and Neptune just be good friends. Present it like Xena and Gaberille ( afterall Xena Worrier Princess had its kid frendly momments). Being a movie would probably give them a bit more freedom then a cartoon. They'd have their own footage to shoot the way they would want. Besides Uranus and Neptune are never explicityly stated to be lesbians. Naoko won't even admit it in interviews. So its not like the movie would have to come out and say they were lesbians.

christphern · 02/13/08, 11:10 PM

I actually had an idea for doing a Sailor Moon movie, that I think would work quite well for the constraints of time, and while doing it's own thing would have throwbacks to the Sailor Moon anime, manga, and live action series.

I won't go into too much detail, as I don't want a really long post to detail all of my ideas.

Anyway, my idea basically started off with Sailor V fighting Youma in London, ala the anime. The film would kick off with her and Jadeite fighting. Upon defeating him, with his dying breath, he scathingly declares her efforts futile, as a plan to destroy the other senshi is already in motion.

Anyway, long story short, the movie would basically be a rehash of the first season, condensed into 2 hours. It'd be different enough to stand on it's own, but similar enough to pay homage to the source material. Minako would be there from the start, sort of working in the background to track down all of the senshi by tracking Youma activity in Tokyo. Also, like the live action series and the manga, Venus would be the leader of the senshi, instead of Moon.

A lot of changes would have to be made, and pretty much all of the Youma, sans a few, would need to be dropped, as there's simply too much ground to cover in far too little time. The other senshi's joining may also have needed condensed into a montage in order to fit them all in. Moon, obviously, would have to be the exception, but the other 3 could be compressed into a montage, and then cover their characters and interactions with the group afterward, as the movie would build toward the climactic battle with Beryl.

Anyway, just how I would do it. Obviously, the other seasons would be saved for any potential sequals. As for Haruka and Michiru, if they can get away with having Marissa and Alex on the OC, and all the subtext in kids shows like Kim Possible (Kim and Shego's verbal sparring is flirting, no matter how you look at it), then I think they can get away with Haruka and Michiru. As was said, they never explicitly stated they were lesbians (though, contrary to the above posts, I have read that Takeuchi-san confirmed this). So, a bit of hand holding, maybe them touching more than necessary, whatever, I think it wouldn't be a problem. They never have to say it. Besides, us true Moonies know the truth.

And, while my stance isn't quite as violent as the above poster's, no respect to anything the dub did. The dub is evil, and should be ignored at all costs. It's not Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. It's the cheap nock-off.

Chris

PRangerX · 02/15/08, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christphern

I actually had an idea for doing a Sailor Moon movie, that I think would work quite well for the constraints of time, and while doing it's own thing would have throwbacks to the Sailor Moon anime, manga, and live action series.

I won't go into too much detail, as I don't want a really long post to detail all of my ideas.

Anyway, my idea basically started off with Sailor V fighting Youma in London, ala the anime. The film would kick off with her and Jadeite fighting. Upon defeating him, with his dying breath, he scathingly declares her efforts futile, as a plan to destroy the other senshi is already in motion.

Anyway, long story short, the movie would basically be a rehash of the first season, condensed into 2 hours. It'd be different enough to stand on it's own, but similar enough to pay homage to the source material. Minako would be there from the start, sort of working in the background to track down all of the senshi by tracking Youma activity in Tokyo. Also, like the live action series and the manga, Venus would be the leader of the senshi, instead of Moon.

A lot of changes would have to be made, and pretty much all of the Youma, sans a few, would need to be dropped, as there's simply too much ground to cover in far too little time. The other senshi's joining may also have needed condensed into a montage in order to fit them all in. Moon, obviously, would have to be the exception, but the other 3 could be compressed into a montage, and then cover their characters and interactions with the group afterward, as the movie would build toward the climactic battle with Beryl.

Anyway, just how I would do it. Obviously, the other seasons would be saved for any potential sequals. As for Haruka and Michiru, if they can get away with having Marissa and Alex on the OC, and all the subtext in kids shows like Kim Possible (Kim and Shego's verbal sparring is flirting, no matter how you look at it), then I think they can get away with Haruka and Michiru. As was said, they never explicitly stated they were lesbians (though, contrary to the above posts, I have read that Takeuchi-san confirmed this). So, a bit of hand holding, maybe them touching more than necessary, whatever, I think it wouldn't be a problem. They never have to say it. Besides, us true Moonies know the truth.

And, while my stance isn't quite as violent as the above poster's, no respect to anything the dub did. The dub is evil, and should be ignored at all costs. It's not Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. It's the cheap nock-off.

Chris

The dub is the gateway into the subs. No one in North America would know what Sailor Moon was if it weren't for the dub. The dub was neccessary for Sailor Moon to exist as a franchise in the US. The dub did produce some good battle songs, as superficial as that sounds.

In a movie, they should have the Sailor Soldiers already formed. Have Moon be the last to join, during the movie. That way you don't have to rush the others jioning. And if a movie franchise was a a success, their orgin stories could be explained later.

PrimoPiccolo · 02/17/08, 04:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christpher

Also, like the live action series and the manga, Venus would be the leader of the senshi, instead of Moon.

Only problem I'd see with that approach is the uninformed moviegoers wondering why the movie isn't called Sailor Venus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Virginian

Spidey had in the comics as well.

That wasn't until mid-2004. They got the idea to give Spider-Man biological webbing from the movie.

Kamen Rider Decade · 02/13/08, 10:39 PM

Quote: