Well, after giving it some thought, I decided to ask some questions that have been plaguing me for almost twenty years now . . .

1) Who voices each character?
I know Pat Fraley is Fireball, Pat Musick is April, Peter Cullen is Commander Eagle and Ramrod, and Rob Paulsen is Jesse Blue, but who does everyone else's voice?! I've also heard Tress MacNeille as some of the side characters and I know Pat Musick also did some of the kid characters (like Snow Cone) and I've heard the VA for Lance as various extras too, but that's not really what's bothering me.

Townsend Coleman is in the "main cast" list (the list with the bigger names) so I assume he must do the voice of at least one Star Sheriff, but I've never been able to figure out if it's Colt or Saber Rider? It seems lately a lot of people are convinced Rob Paulsen voices Saber Rider . . . can anyone give us some "official" word? (Yeah, I'm looking to see if the reps can answer questions, but if any fans have some sort of definitive proof - voice clips that sound exactly the same or something, that'd be appreciated too!)

2. How OLD are the Star Sheriffs supposed to be? Fireball's been called the youngest repeatedly in the show (so I assume he's younger than April) and he's also the youngest racer to ever win the Yuma Grand Prix, so I'd guess he's still in his teens, maybe, but I don't think their ages are ever given? Was this ever established in some sort of series bible? (Should I e-mail Marc Handler and ask him?)

3. Okay, and this one hasn't been plaguing me for 20 years, but I really want to know if we really can't expect any more releases from you guys for this show, ever? I REALLY want to own the whole thing on DVD and I know you said that's not happening, but how long until your rights revert to Studio Pierrot? I kind of just want to know how long I've got until my long-cherished dream becomes an impossibility? (Sorry, but I've been a fan for 4/5s of my life - you gotta let a girl get a LITTLE dramatic here.)

quote:

Originally posted by April Shinji:
Well, after giving it some thought, I decided to ask some questions that have been plaguing me for almost twenty years now . . .

1) Who voices each character?
I know Pat Fraley is Fireball, Pat Musick is April, Peter Cullen is Commander Eagle and Ramrod, and Rob Paulsen is Jesse Blue, but who does everyone else's voice?! I've also heard Tress MacNeille as some of the side characters and I know Pat Musick also did some of the kid characters (like Snow Cone) and I've heard the VA for Lance as various extras too, but that's not really what's bothering me.

Townsend Coleman is in the "main cast" list (the list with the bigger names) so I assume he must do the voice of at least one Star Sheriff, but I've never been able to figure out if it's Colt or Saber Rider? It seems lately a lot of people are convinced Rob Paulsen voices Saber Rider . . . can anyone give us some "official" word? (Yeah, I'm looking to see if the reps can answer questions, but if any fans have some sort of definitive proof - voice clips that sound exactly the same or something, that'd be appreciated too!)

2. How OLD are the Star Sheriffs supposed to be? Fireball's been called the youngest repeatedly in the show (so I assume he's younger than April) and he's also the youngest racer to ever win the Yuma Grand Prix, so I'd guess he's still in his teens, maybe, but I don't think their ages are ever given? Was this ever established in some sort of series bible? (Should I e-mail Marc Handler and ask him?)

3. Okay, and this one hasn't been plaguing me for 20 years, but I really want to know if we really can't expect any more releases from you guys for this show, ever? I REALLY want to own the whole thing on DVD and I know you said that's not happening, but how long until your rights revert to Studio Pierrot? I kind of just want to know how long I've got until my long-cherished dream becomes an impossibility? (Sorry, but I've been a fan for 4/5s of my life - you gotta let a girl get a LITTLE dramatic here.)

The one and only Peter Cullen is also the voice of Nemesis -- the voice is very similar to Cullen's "Venger" character on "Dungeons and Dragons" and his "King Myzor" character in the short-lived "Vytor: The Starfire Champion".

Jodi

Apologies for length and funky formatting...first post on the WEP boards.

quote:

How OLD are the Star Sheriffs supposed to be?

According to the booklet that came with my Japanese DVDs:

Shinji/Fireball: 17
Bill/Colt: 16
Richard/Saber: 18
Marian/April: 15

Perios/Jesse is a Deathcula (Outrider) in the original (the "Cavalry Command" two parter is entirely original footage for the Western edition), so his age is not listed.

It's interesting to listen to the voice acting in both versions (and heck, since I have the German discs, let's make it three). The acting in the US version defiantely makes the characters sound older, but at the same time there's a sense of immaturity about them, making it hard to place the characters' ages. The German version is based off of the US scripts, but the acting, while still over the top, brings back a sense of adulthood to the roles. This is definately the "oldest" version of the show that I've seen, excluding the Polish edition which was one old guy reading the voices for everybody in a monotone. I haven't seen any of the French or Italian dubs except for the openings (French one is awesome), so I can't comment on them.

As for the Japanese, the voices lean towards the older side (they sound early to mid 20s), but the direction has a spryness to it that makes the character ages believeable. As a result, there is both a sense of maturity and youth to the characters (though how Bill rose in military rank and became an ace bounty hunter by the age of 16 requires an amazing leap of logic).

I too would love to sit down and pick Marc Handler's brain on the writing for this series, as his interview with the people at Anime World Order focused heavily on Voltron and his more recent work.

quote:

I REALLY want to own the whole thing on DVD and I know you said that's not happening, but how long until your rights revert to Studio Pierrot?

The impression that I got as a fan, from reading the original ad copy for the US DVD as well as some of the info on the German forums is that the license was for 20 years (or 10 with a renewal for another 10). The original copyright date on my Saber Rider DVDs says 1987, so it could be as early as the end of this year.

Regardless of the license terms, *something* happened between Peirrot, WEP, and Anime-House (the German SR DVD distributor) that kept the latter from putting forward a subtitled set of the original series. It could be that WEP's license would term before Anime-House could finish releasing a full set under the sublicense, or that Pierrot didn't want to release the remastered footage from Japan, or the music rights were up in the air, or any number of potential issues. Still, there was a special boxset rereleased of SR in Germany a couple months ago, so I wouldn't say never, but Saber Rider has never been the big hit in the US that it was in Europe, and it may not be seen as profitable to press another few thousand DVDs - especially if the license is terming in the near future.

Still, if you want more episodes than are available in the US, there are a handful of DVDs that came out in the UK with anywhere from 2 to 4 episodes, in original US broadcast order (some of the original episodes are placed between the Japanese ones). I believe these cover through episode 8, though I only have the first UK disc so I can't be certain. If you speak German, definately buy that release - the DVDs are excellent and loaded down with all kinds of extras from music remixes to a subtitled episode of the original Bismark. Oddly enough, the video quality on both of the European releases is vastly superior to the R1 release, despite an ancient analog PAL transfer.

If you're really having a hardcore craving for more episodes and you've got the cash, the Japanese Bismark DVDs feature a (relatively) new telecine (interlaced, but done on modern gear in 2000), though they're sparse on extras (a 24 page booklet, creditless OP/ED and a handful of ads for WEP's 1980s Saber Rider scratch card contest) and expensive as heck, even for secondhand. The second set had an unusually small pressing, and frequently goes for $400+ by itself, a figure higher than its original retail price (the first set goes for around $250 usually, which is below MSRP). If you're lucky, somebody in need of fast cash will post the two together at a "bargain" rate on the Yahoo Japan auctions and you can snag the whole series for around $300 plus courier service fees. Just note that there is no English on the Japanese discs.

I hope this answered your questions!