Earlier this week, a beloved but dormant DeviantArt page sprang back to life to life with vibrant manga-style pieces from user sparklearmy. It was a welcome return for fans of the artist, whose Sailor Moon mashup pieces have been earning him acclaim for years.
It also gave the Internet an opportunity to fall back in love with his mashup fan art pairing the Golden Girls with Sailor Moon, which first went viral in 2014. Artist Abraham Perez uprooted the Shady Pines retirement community and gave it a little moon prism power.
And the whole gang! pic.twitter.com/N11wggbMkE
— Ookie the Frog (@ookiethefrog) October 8, 2014
Even Dorothy Zbornak’s complicated love interest got the Sailor Moon treatment. Tuxedo Stan hints at a spin-off led by the sardonic Zbornak—a career defining role for actress Bea Arthur that fans would undoubtedly love to see revived.
“That would be awesome if Golden Girls was an anime or manga, especially a magical girl (magical woman?) genre! I’d love their legacy to live on,” Perez tells the Daily Dot. “Personally, I’d love to see some Sailor Golden Girl cosplay!”
The mashup was inspired by his twin brother, who casually wondered if a Golden Girls anime had ever been made. Perez took the idea and ran with it. It’s something the siblings have grown accustomed to when it comes to Perez’s creative side. Though his academic focus had been music, drawing was always a large part of his life.
“I drew a lot as a kid with my twin brother. Later, in high school and college, I took a couple of art courses for fun, but my focus was on music,” Perez explains. “I haven’t done much anything with music, but I’ve always enjoyed drawing so I just kept drawing.”
Perez now works at Disney World theme parks and resorts. He finds constant inspiration from the park’s many festivities, including the rollicking Festival of Fantasy parades.
“It’s a beautifully elaborate parade that so many talented people have worked really hard to bring to fruition,” Perez said, explaining its debut as “new and shiny and such a fun experience that it just left a lasting impression.”
That impression has served as inspiration for his latest series of offerings, which include a forthcoming series of Sailor Moon mashups. A piece is already up on DeviantArt depicting one of Disney’s Cha Cha Bingo Girls in full sailor scout regalia.
Park favorites like the Chippewoks have also received the Perez treatment. The Disney mashup pairs Chip and Dale with the patchwork wardrobe and hand-forged weaponry of Star Wars‘ Ewoks. Though many have seen the characters cosplay at Disney World, few pieces of fan art are devoted to this brilliant pairing.
“Chip and Dale get dressed up in Ewok-inspired cloaks and meet and greet with guests [at Disney World],” Perez explains. “I haven’t seen a lot of fan art of the Chippewoks before, so I wanted to draw some of my own.”
Perez is similarly passionate about classics like the Golden Girls, so expect a few more brilliant revivals down the road. “I’ve been meaning to draw fan art of some older sitcoms and dramas,” Perez says. “It’s nice to keep those series alive, even in a little way.”
