MapleStars Distribution is a American-Canadian-Australian-Worldwide entertainment company that it is a joint-venture of dubbing studios with regional voice actors United States of Dubbing Productions, Maple Syrup Dubbing Studio, Zound Studios, IntENGLISHional, Verbz Studios, and OmniVox Global and companies WildBrain (formerly known as Dream Hive Studios), Nelvana, DIC Entertainment, Harmony Gold USA, Saban Entertainment and Burbank Films Australia. It does distribution and dubbing of various animes, aenimos, western European animation shows and films, foreign shows and films, and others featuring the voice actors of said 6 dubbing studios. The company was the former distributor of dubs using the Hebrew dub by Zound Studios and Italian dubs as a base. It is also best known for its original shows and films.
MapleStars Distribution was officially founded on September 14, 1984, as a pioneering joint-venture in multilingual content production and global media distribution. Its headquarters were established across New York City, Toronto, and Sydney, reflecting its tri-national identity as an American–Canadian–Australian company.
The company was the brainchild of a diverse group of entertainment veterans, entrepreneurs, and dubbing specialists from around the world. Notable founders include Eleanor Westbrook, a American former radio drama producer and a visionary executive with a background in international broadcasting; Jean-Michel Laurier, a French-Canadian dubbing director and sound engineer; and Neptune Landon Valentina, a bold creative force with a passion for cross-cultural storytelling. Industry titans like Jean Chalopin, Haim Saban, Shuki Levy, Sharon Melamet, and Frank Agrama also played influential roles in financing and structuring the company’s early operations.
Originally focused on localizing anime and European animated content for North American audiences, MapleStars quickly expanded its dubbing services to include work in over 15 languages. Through strategic partnerships and acquisitions, it began offering full-scale distribution, voice casting, post-production, and international licensing.
By the mid-1990s, MapleStars had established itself as a hub for multicultural entertainment, known for its unique "accent-neutral" dubbing technique, blending regional voices for global appeal. The early 2000s marked its entry into original content production, with a slate of animated series, live-action dramas, and music-backed specials. Today, MapleStars Distribution operates as a transcontinental content house, bridging creators and audiences across regions and genres.
In 2001, Saban Entertainment was acquired by Disney from News Corporation and then 4 years later it was replaced by 9 Story Entertainment.
Subsidiaries and divisions[]
MapleStars Music[]
The company's record label that produces soundtracks of their original and dubbed shows and movies. It also has a music recording studio in their recording studio.
MapleStars Creative Post[]
The studios that dubbed the shows and movies are credited as the name. It also does audio and video post production, DVD authoring, writing, graphic design, ADR, transcoding, video onlining, Color correction, DCP production, sound design, music production, subtitling, closed captioning, localization, transliteration and sign-language accessibility (as under MapleStars SubText).
In 1999, with the closure of Zound Studios, the studio took its place with a original theme and ending song for their dubbed shows and movies including the songs by the singer/band. Composed by Daniel Ingram, Blain Morris, Hans Zimmer, Tslil Biran, Haim Gozali, Yuki Kajiura, and more.
OTT platform delivery specs (e.g. Netflix, Disney+).
HDR encoding.
Metadata packaging.
Al voice matching or clean-up.
Voice cloning safeguards (e.g. for archival dubs).
Automated subtitle QC.
Remote recording booths.
Cloud collaboration for directors & actors.
Real-time dubbing previews.
MapleStars Kids[]
The preschool division which best known for producing Bibi & the Moonberries and Safety Superheroes.
MapleStars Mature[]
The adult division which best known for producing Sweares.
MapleStars Tween+[]
The division of MapleStars Distribution targeted for teenagers which best known for producing Cosmic Critters and Chorno Knights Redux.
MapleStars Real[]
The documentary and factual division which best known for producing Voices Across the Sea and The Dubbing Diaries with best known international partners.
MapleStars Edge[]
MapleStars Mature's sub-brand for bold, experimental, and darker content.
MapleStars Licensing & Merch[]
The company's division for overseeing merchandising, retail licensing, and promotional materials with a online shop and licensing with theme parks and fast food chains.
MapleStars Academy[]
A educational/training for dubbing, voice actihg, translation, post-production, writing, casting, and animation. Located in New York, Toronto, Tel Aviv, and Melbourne.
MapleStars Originals[]
The flagship division for in-house productions across genres (animation, live-action, and hybrid projects) for franchises like Skyberry Squad and Neon Saints.
MapleStars Animation[]
The in-house animation studio for stylized traditional animation, photo-puppetry, CGI, stop motion, Flash animation, anime, aenimo, and more and best known for its own animation that combines with anime and western art styles.
MapleStars Live+[]
Best known for producing live-action series and films, especially co-productions with regional broadcasters.
MapleStars Global Voices[]
A world-class voice acting and casting agency under the MapleStars umbrella that produces dubbing and ADR for internal and third-party content, it was founded by Haim Saban and British voice actress Maria Darling in 2002.
MapleStars SubText[]
The division that does subtitling, closed captioning, and sign-language accessibility. Part of MapleStars Creative Post.
MapleStars Interactive[]
The company focuses on apps, games, interactive media, and digital experiences.
MapleStars EDU[]
Educational programming for schools, edutainment apps, and streaming platforms.
MapleStars Playhouse[]
The company produces touring stage adaptations of MapleStars properties, organizes fan events, musicals, and family stage shows, and manages puppetry and physical theatre content.
MapleStars TV[]
A television channel of this company airing their dubbed shows and movies with other programs from Saban, Harmony Gold, WildBrain, 9 Story, and Nelvana.
Star Light Star Bright Productions[]
Star Light Star Bright Productions is a television and film arm of MapleStars Distribution that produces content for all ages founded by Canadian-American voice actresses Kate Gordon and Tara Strong and British voice actor Rob Rackstraw in 1993.
Productions[]
Main article: List of MapleStars Distribution productions
Trivia[]
Cross-Regional Voice Acting: Its shows, movies, documentaries, animes, aenimos, and video games have voice actors from 5 different studios: United States of Dubbing Productions (New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Atlanta, Charlotte, Omaha, Miami, and Boston), Maple Syrup Dubbing Studio (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Halifax, Winnipeg, and Saskatchewan), IntENGLISHional, Verbz Studios and OmniVox Global (United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), Australia, New Zealand, France (Brittany, Corsica, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, French Polynesia), Italy, Germany, Finland, Spain (Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias Balearic Islands, Basque Country, Catalonia, Community of Madrid, Galicia, Valencia), Israel, and more). All the studios that listed were credited as its own dubbing and post-production company MapleStars Creative Post.
Example of the credits Taken from Cosmic Critters episode The Mystery of the Missing Leaf Pile
