Power Rangers

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The Saban era logo for Power Rangers
The Saban era logo for Power Rangers

Power Rangers is a long-running children's TV show adapted from the Japanese tokusatsu Super Sentai franchise, but is not simply an English dub of the original. Rather, it is a 'new' production with English-speaking actors spliced in with the original Japanese footage in varying ratios. Due to the very Japanese nature of many of Sentai's stories and design, the American shows are always at least slightly changed to fit a Western audience. However, the action sequences featuring the characters in costume, and the scenes featuring daikaiju and mecha (referred to as "Zords" in the English series), are typically dubbed.

The series that began the franchise was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which began broadcasting as part of the Fox Kids group of programs that aired on Fox. It lasted for three seasons. The franchise has continued, and as of 2006 has consisted of thirteen television series and two theatrical films. The fifteenth series, Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive, debuted on February 26, 2007.

The Power Rangers series was distributed by Saban Entertainment from 1993 until the end of 2001 and was broadcast on Fox. The franchise was purchased by the Walt Disney Company as a part of the buyout of what Fox Family Worldwide became ABC Family Worldwide, including what Saban Entertainment became BVS Entertainment, from News Corporation, Fox's parent company, and Haim Saban between 2001 and 2002, and the show continued to air on Fox until its Fox Kids package was dismantled in the United States. Since Fall 2002, all Power Rangers shows have aired on various Disney-owned networks (ABC Kids, Toon Disney and Jetix channels worldwide). Disney owned ABC Family also used to air Power Rangers until it did away with its Jetix timeslot after August 31, 2006.

Contents

[edit] What is a Power Ranger?

A Power Ranger is a person who morphs from an unpowered form into a powerful superhero wearing a brightly colored battle suit featuring a helmet with an opaque visor; in many cases, the helmet serves to protect his or her secret identity. A morphed Ranger generally possesses superhuman strength, durability, and hand-to-hand combat ability; unmorphed Rangers may possess other innate abilities (such as telekinesis, super speed, invisibility, great hand-to-hand combat ability, etc.) that are usually not directly related to his or her Ranger powers.

Rangers appear to retain their original physiology beneath their suits when in morphed form, as Rangers' helmets have been seen removed or broken on numerous occasions, revealing his or her natural form underneath (there are exceptions to this rule: Justin, the Blue Turbo Ranger, was in his early teens and was much shorter than his Ranger form when unmorphed; Anubis "Doggie" Cruger, the S.P.D. Shadow Ranger, has a muzzle [he is a humanoid dog-like alien] that seems to disappear beneath the helmet; and Daggeron, the Solaris Knight, transforms into his Ancient Mystic Mode while in the process of morphing). Helmets aside, the suits are donned and removed nearly instantaneously with a glow of light or some other effect. Sometimes, Rangers "de-morph" involuntarily due to powerful physical attacks.

Rangers regularly operate in teams of five, with a special sixth Ranger frequently joining the team part way into the series; sometimes a core team of three will later be joined by additional Rangers. Each Ranger's suit and energy spectrum will match a specific color, with red, yellow, and blue being joined by some combination of pink, green, black, or white. Rangers may be named after their respective colors, such as Red Ranger, Blue Ranger, etc., but numbers or other names may also be used. There is usually no more than one Ranger of a given color on a team, but exceptions of this rule are generally given alternate names (in Time Force, there were two Rangers with red-colored costumes; the first was the Red Time Force Ranger, the second was the Quantum Ranger). Each team's costumes are nearly identical aside from color, helmet design (most notably the shape of the opaque visor) and perhaps a numerical designation. Any additional Rangers will regularly have additional costume modifications, usually some form of additional armor.

The Rangers' color designation also influences their wardrobe throughout the series, as their civilian clothing is often the same color as their Ranger color. This correlation was joked about in Dino Thunder when Tommy Oliver (a former Green Ranger, White Ranger, and twice a Red Ranger) became the new Black Dino Ranger; he said that he had to go shopping because he did not own enough black-colored clothing.

[edit] Plot sequence

A normal Power Rangers episode can be broken down into an everyplot. The plot sequence is generally as follows:

  1. Rangers are seen in everyday life with a dispute to resolve.
  2. Rangers are attacked by an evil foe's minions/footsoldiers.
  3. Rangers fight minions/footsoldiers.
  4. Rangers morph.
  5. Rangers defeat the minions/footsoldiers.
  6. Evil enemy strengthens the minion and makes minion grow to gigantic proportions, followed by Rangers summoning giant machines known as Zords and/or their combined form, the Megazord.
    1. Optional: Rangers find that their current powers are insufficient to defeat minion and discover a new power, such as a Battlizer armor for the Red Ranger, or a sixth Ranger and/or a new Megazord.
  7. Rangers fight and defeat that particular giant minion.
  8. Rangers are shown back in everyday life, having learned a life lesson which solves the earlier dispute.

[edit] Elements of a Power Rangers season

Each team of Power Rangers, with few exceptions, obey a general set of conventions, outlined at the beginning of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and implied, though not stated explicitly, throughout many of the other incarnations. These include the Power Rangers being forbidden to use their Ranger powers for personal gain or for escalating a fight, explaining why the Rangers don't just step on the small monsters with their Megazord. The Power Rangers are also forbidden to disclose their identities to the general public, barring extenuating circumstances (although this rule was disregarded in Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue and Power Rangers: S.P.D., in which they were public servants [rescue squad, police officers, etc.]) (Following a Spartacus-inspired scene by Angel Grove's townspeople, this rule was also disregarded at the conclusion of Power Rangers in Space.) The penalty for disobeying these rules, at least in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, would be the loss of their power.

The arsenal available to the Power Rangers is also somewhat standardized: each Ranger is generally armed with a weapon such as a laser gun and/or a sword. Each Ranger also has a secondary set of weapons that can often combine to form a larger weapon (usually a cannon). As the series progresses, one or more of the Rangers are also usually given a motorcycle for long-distance travel, as well as individual Zords. In many series, a Ranger is also given additional Zords or weapons. In some cases, one Ranger may receive something that other Rangers may not have; an example of this is the Battlizer given to the Red Ranger of each series since Power Rangers in Space. Although much of the arsenal can also be found in Super Sentai, there are usually at least some that are not, generally added for the express purpose of marketing toys designed and sold by Bandai.

Power Rangers series regularly have villains of their own make which do not appear in the Sentai footage, though for budget and footage reasons there are always carry-overs from the Japanese source material. Less commonly, some series use only the Sentai designs and footage, though despite this some sets have to be replicated for original footage if they need it and an English speaking actor if at least one actor's face was shown, this was the case with Vypra in Lightspeed Rescue and Toxica in Wild Force. There was also one instance when to maintain the trend of the Sixth Ranger for a series where only five existed in the source footage, the Titanium Ranger was created for Lightspeed Rescue.

In seasons following Power Rangers in Space, it became common for each team to be part of a separate storyline from those of previous incarnations. A tradition in later seasons came about such that two teams of Power Rangers teamed up to take on a villain. In Power Rangers: Wild Force, the tenth incarnation of Power Rangers, this is taken to the next level, as ten Red Rangers teamed up in the episode "Forever Red". The only seasons not to feature this team up are Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, due to a shift back to non-SAG talent when production was moved to New Zealand and Power Rangers: Mystic Force, due to a relatively short series length.

[edit] Variations between series

No two Power Rangers series are alike, and aside from a Ranger of each primary color, almost every aspect of the show can potentially be changed depending on the series (and often depending on what the Sentai footage has dictated). Some of the things which are known to change regularly are:

  • Annual design theme, and whether or not it is incorporated into the American show
  • Number of Rangers, both at the beginning and the end of a series
  • Colors of Rangers outside of the primary colors, if any
  • Gender of the Yellow and Blue Rangers
  • Number of female Rangers, and the ratio thereof to male Rangers
  • Hierarchy of team, including which Ranger is the actual team leader
  • Situation of how the morpher is worn, and corresponding morphing call
  • Affiliation of Rangers prior to and during the series
  • Presence of a mentor and a headquarters
  • One or more Rangers' relation to a series villain or fellow Ranger

[edit] Seasons

Season Year Based on
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 1993 – 1995 Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger

(1st season)
Gosei Sentai Dairanger

(2nd season)
Ninja Sentai Kakuranger

(3rd season)
Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers 1996 Ninja Sentai Kakuranger
Power Rangers: Zeo 1996 Chouriki Sentai Ohranger
Power Rangers: Turbo 1997 Gekisou Sentai Carranger
Power Rangers in Space 1998 Denji Sentai Megaranger
Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy 1999 Seijuu Sentai Gingaman
Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue 2000 Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGo-V
Power Rangers: Time Force 2001 Mirai Sentai Timeranger
Power Rangers: Wild Force 2002 Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger
Power Rangers: Ninja Storm 2003 Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger
Power Rangers: Dino Thunder 2004 Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger
Power Rangers: S.P.D. (Space Patrol Delta) 2005 Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger
Power Rangers: Mystic Force 2006 Mahou Sentai Magiranger
Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive 2007 GoGo Sentai Boukenger

[edit] Spin-off

Main article: Masked Rider (TV series)

Masked Rider was an American adaptation of the tokusatsu series Kamen Rider BLACK RX, one of the many sequels of the popular Kamen Rider franchise. It was produced by Saban and aired in 1995. It was a spin-off of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

The main title character of Masked Rider was featured on a 3-part Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episode (A Friend in Need) before his own series was started. The Rangers themselves were never mentioned in the television run of Masked Rider, however, as Saban reformatted the series to sever links with Power Rangers, given that their popularity had been gradually beginning to slide following the first movie. However, the Rangers were featured in the home video release of the Masked Rider story Super Gold, in the form of narrated clips from A Friend in Need, and also made a guest appearance in Masked Rider's short-lived comic book adaptation.

It has been heavily criticised for splicing random footage from the Kamen Rider shows and movies, to the point it was obvious that the Rider was wearing different costumes.

[edit] Motion pictures

Teaser poster for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
Teaser poster for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

The Power Rangers series have also brought forth two theatrical films, which were distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Movie Year
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie 1995
Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie 1997

As of 2007, 20th's home entertainment division, long after 20th's parent company News Corporation and Haim Saban sold Fox Family (currently ABC Family) and the Power Rangers franchise to Disney, maintains worldwide home entertainment rights to these two Power Rangers movies.

[edit] Recent distribution

[edit] Power Rangers on DVD

Currently, there are only 18 DVD releases of Power Rangers in the USA (as listed below). Internationally, however there have been additional DVD releases (such as Lightspeed Rescue , Time Force and Wild Force in Germany) and as free DVDs attached to Jetix Magazine UK.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment is scheduled to release five new volumes of the upcoming season, Power Rangers: Mystic Force in 2006.

There has been much criticism over the releases of these DVDs; only five volumes per season are distributed, which does not amount to the full length run, and so viewers have to rely on reruns to see any other episodes not currently available. The ongoing concern over Power Rangers as a whole not yet being released on DVD Box sets has led to continued debate and frequent petitions. As of February 2006, however, Buena Vista Home Entertainment maintains there are currently no plans for any Power Rangers boxsets in the near future. [1]

The lack of official season sets has led to the spawning of bootlegged copies of entire season runs distributed through online auction sites such as eBay.

The current Power Rangers DVD titles are:

[edit] Power Rangers on iTunes

Power Rangers episodes have recently become available on the iTunes Music Store. So far, part of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and all of Power Rangers: S.P.D. are available, and the first 26 episodes of Power Rangers: Mystic Force are as well.

[edit] Power Rangers on Jetix.tv

Power Rangers is one of several shows made available for free online streaming, on Jetix's official website Jetix.tv. This scheme allows any U.S.-based web-user to watch entire episodes up to two weeks after broadcast. Episodes are even sometimes released via the website before airing on TV. However, most of the episodes have not yet begun streaming on the website and only sneak peeks and teaser trailers are available.

[edit] International

Power Rangers has always had success in foreign markets and still airs in many countries, except for New Zealand, today.

[edit] Trivia

  • Simon Cowell commissioned a single release of the theme song at the height of the Power Rangers' popularity. It reached #3 on the UK singles chart in December 1994 and sold over 250,000 copies in total.
  • Red, Blue, and Yellow are the only colors that have been a part of every Power Rangers team.
  • Blue, Yellow and White are the only colors that have been worn by both genders in the series run. Red was also worn by a female ranger who turned into a villain in Power Rangers: S.P.D., but she was not originally a part of the main ranger team.
  • The Japanese Super Sentai series regularly switches between male and female Yellow Rangers, while the American series nearly always cast the Yellow Ranger as a female (the exceptions being the Ninja Storm series and Mystic Force series, as well as the Alien Rangers mini-series) regardless of the physical appearance of the Yellow Ranger, as yellow is considered feminine in some Western cultures.
  • This is one of the first children's television shows to include bleeped swear words, this happened during the credits when outtakes were shown.
  • Tommy Oliver (Jason David Frank) is the only character to have worn four different colors as a Ranger. Frank, who appeared in more episodes of the series than any other actor, is the only one to have appeared in five incarnations in the same role, and he has shared screen time with Rangers of each of the first thirteen different seasons. His colors were Green (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers seasons 1 & 2), White (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers seasons 2 & 3), Red (Power Rangers: Zeo and Power Rangers: Turbo), and Black (Power Rangers: Dino Thunder).
  • Power Rangers featured episodes in which the Rangers teamed up with other heroes from the Saban universe: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Masked Rider.
  • In Japan, Power Rangers has been dubbed into Japanese for television and video. The voice actors for the dub are often pulled from past Super Sentai casts.
  • The Power Rangers have been spoofed in a number of media, ranging from MAD Magazine to videogames such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Also notably, the MTV television show The Mighty Moshin' Emo Rangers is a parody of the series which originally started out as a low-budget fan film.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Power Rangers characters

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Official websites

[edit] Fan websites

Power Rangers
Television series
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers  • Alien Rangers  • Zeo  • Turbo  • Space  • Lost Galaxy  • Lightspeed Rescue  • Time Force
Wild Force  • Ninja Storm  • Dino Thunder  • S.P.D.  • Mystic Force  • Operation Overdrive
Movies
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie  • Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie
Characters
Rangers • Zords • Villains • Enemy grunts • Monsters • Other Characters
Related series from Saban Entertainment
VR Troopers  • Masked Rider  • Big Bad Beetleborgs  • The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog  • Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
Other related series
Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad  • Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills
See also
Fox Kids • ABC Kids • ABC Family • Toon Disney • Jetix • Saban • Disney • Super Sentai
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