Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Opening Title Card
Format Action-Adventure
Created by Haim Saban
Shuki Levy
Starring Austin St. John
Thuy Trang
Walter Emanuel Jones
David Yost
Amy Jo Johnson
Jason David Frank
Steve Cardenas
Johnny Yong Bosch
Karan Ashley
Catherine Sutherland
Paul Schrier
Jason Narvy
Robert L. Manahan
Machiko Soga
Barbara Goodson
Carla Perez
Ed Neil
Robert Axelrod
Wendee Lee
Ami Kawai
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 155 (including Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers)
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 Haim Saban, Shuki Levy
Producer(s) Ronnie Hadar, Jonathan Tzachor
Supervising
producer(s)		 Winston Richard, Tony Oliver, Douglas Sloan
Co-producer(s) Ellen Levy-Sarnoff, Tony Oliver, Ann Austen
Story editor(s) Douglas Sloan, Jackie Marchand
Running time 22 minutes (without commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel Fox Network
Original run August 28, 1993 – February 16, 1996
Chronology
Followed by Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ("MMPR") was an American live-action television series, created for the American market, based on the sixteenth installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. The show and its related merchandise both saw unbridled overnight success, catapulting into pop culture in mere months. Under the original name Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the series ran from 1993 to 1996 and spawned a feature film, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

The second and third seasons drew on footage and elements from the Japanese series Gosei Sentai Dairanger and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger respectively, though the Zyuranger costumes were still used extensively; the main 5 Dairanger suits were never used at all, only the KibaRanger (White Power Ranger) suit was used. The series was produced by MMPR Productions and distributed by Saban Entertainment, and aired on Fox Kids.

In 1996, the Mighty Morphin label was retired as the series would follow in the footsteps of its Sentai source material, changing its name, cast and plot every year; thus the Power Rangers franchise was born. Power Rangers still runs in this format to this day, though currently the majority of post-MMPR series are not spin-offs in the traditional sense.

Contents

[edit] Series overview

The six original Power Rangers.
The six original Power Rangers.

The series takes place in the fictional town of Angel Grove, California. Two unwitting astronauts on the moon discover an extraterrestrial container (referred to as a dumpster as a result of its stench), and breach the unit inadvertently releasing the evil witch, Rita Repulsa, from 10,000 years of confinement. Upon her release, she and her army of evil Space Aliens set their sights on conquering the nearest planet, Earth. When the wise sage Zordon becomes aware of the release of the evil witch he was responsible for capturing so long ago, he orders his robotic assistant, Alpha 5, to find five "teenagers with attitude," to defend the Earth from Rita's attacks. The five socially diverse teens chosen are Jason Lee Scott, Kimberly Hart, Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan and Billy Cranston. Zordon gives the five teens the ability to morph into Power Rangers, including an arsenal of weapons at their disposal as well as large robotic machines called Zords, which can combine into the Megazord.

The series begins with five teenagers combating Rita Repulsa and her seemingly endless array of monsters, however, consecutive failures lead Rita to adopt a new method for conquering Earth and destroying the Power Rangers: by attacking them with one of their own. In possession of a special Green Ranger power, Rita kidnaps and brainwashes a local teen whose fighting skills prove to equal that of Jason's in a martial arts contest held in Angel Grove. The new teen, Tommy Oliver, passes Rita's tests, becoming the Green Ranger during the five-part story arc "Green with Evil." Eventually, the Green Ranger is overcome and the Sword of Darkness, the new source for the continuance of the evil spell he has fallen victim to, is destroyed by Jason. As a result, Tommy will use the Powers he's left with to defeat the evil that gave them to him in the first place. His Zord, the Dragonzord, retains the power to join with the other Ranger's Dinozords to form more powerful Zord combinations, including Dragonzord in Battle Mode, and the Mega Dragonzord.

Along the way, Billy works on improving his self-confidence while Tommy begins to court Kimberly, both sharing a great amount of screen time. Trini works to raise environmental awareness, Zack continues to pursue love interest Angela, while Jason continues to improve his skills. The entire team regularly makes efforts to contribute to their community outside of being Power Rangers, spending much of their personal time dedicated to volunteerism and helping the community.

As time goes on, discontent with regularly being defeated with the aide of the Green Ranger powers she believes are hers, Rita focuses her plans on eliminating Tommy and regaining the Powers. Utilizing a special wax touched by Tommy when he was evil, Rita uses a green candle (in a story arc under the same title) to sever Tommy's link to the Morphing Grid and slowly remove his powers, returning them to her. Because Tommy's proximity to the candle accelerates its melting process, Jason enters the Dark Dimension where the candle is guarded by Goldar to retrieve it. Unfortunately, Rita unleashes a monster attack in Angel Grove that keeps Jason and his friends from retrieving the candle. In the end, Tommy loses his Powers, however, he is able to prevent Rita from reclaiming it by transferring the remains to another Ranger who can operate them based on their own link to the Morphing Grid. Tommy chooses Jason who, feeling guilt for failing to protect Tommy's powers, accepts them.

The five Rangers continue to protect Earth from the ongoing threat of Rita Repulsa, with Jason wielding the Green Ranger powers in conjunction with his own Red Ranger Powers. In a story arc seeing the kidnap of the parents of all the students at Angel Grove High School, including that of the five Ranger teens, the Rangers are forced to give up their five Power Coins in trade for their parents' safety. In an act of subterfuge, Goldar accepts the Coins and keeps the captive parents. To make matters worse, Rita brainwashes Billy into stealing the Dragon Dagger and giving it to Goldar who unleashes the Dragonzord upon a town that no longer has the protection of the Power Rangers. With no powers of their own to use, Jason reveals that he is still in possession of the Dragonzord Power Coin. Tommy returns, agreeing to take part in a dangerous process in which Zordon will transfer energy from himself and into the Power Coin, allowing it to temporarily enable Tommy to Morph into the Green Ranger once more. He steals back the coins and Dagger, seemingly at the cost of his own life, having been electrocuted by a force-field protecting both sets of items. The Rangers regain their Powers and fight for the safety of their parents, to no avail. In a turn of events, Tommy is resurrected; it is revealed that he'd been energized by the power of the force-field that electrocuted him. He once again uses his Powers to save the day, but they are only temporary and can be re-generated only for a short time by Zordon who will continue to use his own energy to supplement Tommy's failing ones, making no attempts to hide the fact that the Green Ranger's Powers will ultimately fail. With every battle that occurs from here on, Tommy is left to decide whether or not he will get involved and waste away the last of his Powers.

Following multiple defeats, Rita's fortress is invaded by her superior, Lord Zedd. Disgusted with her failure, he takes over, discarding Rita back into space within another Space Dumpster, then launches his own campaign against the Power Rangers, this time focusing on turning living things into monsters in order to waver the Ranger's ability to destroy them. As Zedd focuses his attacks on the Green Ranger powers that continue to waste away with every battle he engages in, the other Rangers see an upgrade to their Powers as they adapt to take on the Power of Thunder, a power that also transforms their Dinozords into mythical beasts known as Thunderzords, also able to form a brand new, more powerful Zord combination; the Thunder Megazord. Eventually, Tommy loses his Green Ranger powers for good, and leaves the group for a time.

Tommy as the White Ranger.
Tommy as the White Ranger.

Things are complicated by the creation of the White Ranger and the Tigerzord (inevitably given to Tommy), the Power Transfer (from Jason, Zack and Trini to Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park and Aisha Campbell respectively), and the return of Rita, who ingratiates herself by slipping Zedd a love potion. Unhappy with the return of the evil witch who had mistreated him and forced him into servitude, Goldar makes several attempts to turn Zedd against Rita to get rid of her once and for all. However, after Goldar discovers that Rita gave Zedd a love potion, he is dismayed to find that even after he bullies Finster into administering an antidote, Zedd truly loves her anyway.

Rito Revolto, Rita's skeletal brother, later comes to Earth and, with the help from a group of monsters, manages to destroy the Rangers' Thunderzords and, consequently, the original Dino Powers along with them. Undaunted, they seek the aid of Ninjor, alleged creator of the Power Coins, who gives them new Ninja powers.

Later, an Australian girl named Katherine Hillard moves to Angel Grove. She befriends Kimberly, and displays an intense affection for Tommy. Later it is found that Rita had captured Kat and put her under a powerful spell. As a result, she steals Kim's Pink Crane Ninja Coin, vastly weakening the Pink Ranger whose life force, like that of the other Ninja Ranger's, is connected to their Ninja Power Coins. Kat eventually overcame the spell, and gave the coin back to Kimberly. Having already been disconnected from the Power Coin and Zordon's declaration that her time as a ranger has ended, Kim now has a chance to pursue her personal athletic dreams. She leaves to train for the Pan Globals, deciding to entrust the Crane Coin to Kat, making her the new Pink Ninja Ranger. Though her initial fear and hesitation keeps her from contributing fully to the fight against evil, Kat eventually becomes both more comfortable and capable of fulfilling her duty as a ranger.

After several more battles, Zedd and Rita are joined by Rita's father, Master Vile. Following his failed attempts to defeat the Rangers, he reverses time, destroying the Ninja powers and eliminating the threat of Ninjor. These events culminate in the Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers mini-series, and end with a cliffhanger seeing the destruction of the Command Center, with Zordon and Alpha 5 trapped inside. These events lead into the next season and incarnation of the Power Rangers series, titled Power Rangers: Zeo.

[edit] Production history

The Zyuranger series was taken up by Margaret Loesch of Fox in 1993. She had been a fan of anime since childhood. Zyuranger's action scenes were then spliced with new, American non-action scenes set in a U.S. highschool and juice bar. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, as the show was dubbed, became an "instant hit".[1]. Due to the unforeseen popularity of the series, Saban, the company that produced Power Rangers, was faced with the possibility of exhausting all of its Zyuranger footage with no more to fall back upon in order to continue producing the show. Saban contacted the Japanese companies that produce the Sentai series in Japan and monster suits requesting new footage specially for MMPR. The companies created 25 new monsters and battle sequences. This footage, known as "Zyu2" to Power Ranger fans, was used in all but a couple of the Season 1 episodes after "Doomsday" and the first few Season 2 episodes. Though there were some issues in the Season 2 episodes that used "Zyu2" monsters since when they decided to replace the Dinozords with the mecha from Dairanger in Season 2 (termed Thunderzords in Power Rangers), the Zord footage of the remaining "Zyu2" monsters became obsolete. To compensate for this, Saban attempted to splice the "Zyu2" and Dairanger footage to ensure that the "Zyu2" monsters were not seen fighting with the old Megazord that was not supposed to be there. In other words, it would show only the monster attacking followed by a shot of just the Thunderzords taking the damage. This did not always work, for occasionally the monster could actually be seen making physical contact with the old Megazord. Nonetheless, Saban was able to create their own battle sequences entirely from scratch starting from Season 3. An alternate ending to the episode "Doomsday, Part 2" was filmed. It was going to be the series finale and ended with the Rangers sealing Rita and her monsters up in another dumpster and sending her off into space. The ending more closely resembled that of the original Zyuranger ending (which, furthermore, was the footage-source for the battle "Doomsday Part 2" as the fight shown was the actual final battle in Zyuranger) but was never seen due to overwhelming feedback from fans.

The Power Morphers, are modified Dino Buckler toys from Zyuranger. In the original Sentai series of Zyuranger, the Rangers didn't call out the name of their dinosaur/beasts when morphing, but rather simply shouted out "Dino Buckler!" which referred to their "Morpher." The original "Dino Bucklers" were always worn by the Zyurangers, as the original devices had a reverse side which was bright, metallic gold with a large "Z" (for ZyuRanger) on it. The Buckler was attached to a connecting piece which was part of an actual belt. The Zyurangers would then flip the "handle" of the Buckler down to pull it out, and hit a button on the side to activate the device (just as the toy functions). In Power Rangers, the belt buckle feature was only used once during the first episode, possibly trying to emulate the concept in Zyuranger. However, they were not seen again after the first episode, we only occasionally see them on the ranger suits, but not when the teens are unmorphed. Thus the back of the US version of the Morpher was completely black and lacked a belt-clip. This explains, however, why the Ranger's original suits featured their "Morpher" on their waist. The shows "Power Morpher" props were actually the Dino Buckler toys released in Japan, with new "power rangers" labels pasted over. Despite this, the metallic gold Z sticker, which came pre-applied, was never taken off, and came be seen sometimes during the seires. This is especially noticeable during the first episode. The belt-clip, also included in the Dino Buckler set, is also used in the show.

The Power Coins used in the show were from the Dino Buckler toy for the Zyuranger toy line, and many of them were casted into resin copies for later use. The Green Ranger's was from the Dragon Buckler set also from Zyuranger. Again, the coin was re-casted into resin copies, and used for various other props. The Blade Blasters used were the rangerstick toys from Zyuranger. However, unlike the Dino Buckler, the labels were never changed so many of times during the series we can clearly see the gun says ZYURANGER on it. Many of the morphers worn during the stunts scenes were made of hard rubber. The Dragon Dagger used was not casted off a Zyusouken from Zyuranger, but rather an entirely new prop sculpted for the show. A notable error for the prop is that it is actually made backwards from the Zyusouken, which resulted in the Green Ranger holding the dagger very oddly in American footage.

The costumes used in Power Rangers had a drastic difference in quality compared to their sentai counterpart. Toei sent Saban their Zyuranger costumes and the prop department used them as reference to make their own cheaper versions. None of the original Zyuranger costumes however, were used in Power Rangers. Zyuranger had a much higher budget, and the costumes consisted of a very shiny and stretchy material. The helmets had inner clips which locked them together, but this was not the case for Power Rangers, where the clips were outside the helmets at all times. The most notable costume difference is the Green Rangers shield. In Zyuranger, the shield was made with hard foam, sometimes rubber, but in Power Rangers it was made with a very shiny polyester material. This made it very easy to tell the Zyuranger footage from Power Ranger footage. There was also a very noticeable change in contrast.

The Ninja and Shogun Ultrazords are the only Zord formations in Power Rangers history that are made from American footage. No suits or props were used in making them; the Bandai toys of each Zord were used to bring them to life on the show. The American versions of the toys were used for this, which presented some problems as the American versions are often noticeably different from the Japanese versions (and thus, the actual Zords on the show). For example, the left arm of the Japanese Shogun Megazord toy, the "Invincible General" from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (and the real Shogun Megazord/Invincible General) is white. For some reason, the left arm of the Shogun Megazord toy was repainted pink for the American version to match the main five colors of the Rangers being used in the United States at the time (the U.S. was still using the Zyuranger colors of Red, Black, Blue, Yellow, and Pink). Thus, the arm would suddenly switch colors whenever the Shogun Ultrazord was formed. Additionally, because the "Return of Titanus" version of the Titanus toy was used, the Ninja and Shogun Ultrazord formations mistakenly had the Dragonzord chest shield on the front of Titanus. Each formation, however, was used only once - Ninja Ultrazord destroyed the Face Stealer, and Shogun Ultrazord destroyed Dischordia, both events occurring in season 3.

The first ever cast actors to leave the show mid season were Austin St. John, Thuy Trang, and Walter Emmanuel Jones. During the middle of the second season, all three actors were suddenly written out of the show and replaced by Steven Cardenas, Johnny Yong Bosch, and Karan Ashley. It is believed that all three were holding out for more money. Power Rangers at the time was a non-union production and the actors were highly underpaid for their roles. Instead of giving them the money they wanted, they were written off the show in a story line involving the three Power Rangers being selected to represent the country in a peace conference. In order to smooth the transition, an arc of several episodes was made to introduce the replacement characters (Rocky, Adam, and Aisha) before Jason, Trini, and Zack were officially written off the show. Since St. John, Trang, and Jones had already left, their characters appeared mostly in Ranger costume and otherwise made only token out-of-costume appearances, "played" by stock footage or photo doubles shot from behind or at a distance, with their voices dubbed by uncredited actors. This arc culminated in the episode titled "The Power Transfer" (Parts 1 & 2). Austin would return to the show in Power Rangers: Zeo to temporarily play the Gold Ranger.

The series was extremely popular, to the point that it spawned numerous imitators and spin-offs. Series created from other Toei programs and Saban include VR Troopers, Big Bad Beetleborgs (Juukou B-Fighter), Beetleborgs Metallix (B-Fighter Kabuto), Masked Rider (Kamen Rider BLACK RX), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation which isen't based on any tokusatsu from Japan, but is based on the Ninja Turtles comics from Mirage Studios (incidentily the Ninja Turtles from 'Next Mutation' made a guest apprence in a Power Rangers in Space episode) and their original tokusatsu production Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. DIC Entertainment would also adapted a tokusatsu show from Japan into English; Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad (Denkou Choujin Gridman) from Tsuburaya Productions. DIC also worked on an original tokusatsu series of their own; Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills. In the Philippines they made their own movie pastiche of the show entitled; Super Ranger Kids.

As is commonly known now, despite the Yellow Ranger being a female within Power Rangers, in Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger the Yellow/TigerRanger, named "Boi", was male. Due to this, there is a more obvious change in the physique of the Yellow team member than the other team members when the show cuts to Sentai footage. This is also why the Yellow Ranger does not wear a skirt.

The order in which the Ninjazords and Shogunzords were acquired was reversed in Power Rangers. In the original source of those two Zord sets, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, the 'Shogunzords' were gained before the 'Ninjazords'. Also, there were only five Rangers in Kakuranger, and the Falconzord's Japanese counterpart was a separate sentient creature, not belonging to anyone of them. The Battle Borgs were known as the Jisho Fighters in Kakuranger, which were only used by the Alien Rangers, were the last of the Ninja mecha to appear, the only difference with the Battle Borgs and the Jisho fighters is that the Battle Borgs were telepathically controlled and the Jisho Fighters were self controlled.

Before each episode of MMPR started, there would be a preview teaser of what to expect on that day's episode. It would show the Power Rangers logo and the announcer would say "Today on Power Rangers..." while giving a sneak peak of what to expect, usually only showing some minor details that the announcer would talk of as they showed various clips, while leaving some major plot points a surprise. After the preview ended, the opening credits would promptly begin. This however would not happen in the UK version. When the show was being aired in the UK on GMTV for a peroid of 7 minutes each weekday morning between 1994-1995, there was an announcer for the second and third parts of a single episode who reminded the audience what had happened in the previous installment. The episode which would air on Thursday and Friday would have the entire episode aired in full (with a commercial break inbetween) on Saturday of that week.

Unlike the other Power Rangers, the White Ranger's belt buckle was not his Power Morpher. This is due to the fact that the core Rangers' suits from Zyuranger did not change whereas the White Ranger's suit is from the following season and is based on Gosei Sentai Dairanger's KibaRanger. The Dairangers' henshin devices (Morphers) Aura Changers were wrist mounted and not belt buckles and later appeared in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy as the Magna Defender morpher. The similar symbol found on the White Ranger's belt buckle can also be found on the Red Dragon Thunderzord's warrior mode head. This is due to the fact that the Heavenly Chi Beasts of Gosei Sentai Dairanger and the Thunderzords are one in the same.

The "Battle Bikes" appeared briefly in one episode ("Calamity Kimberly"), though they were never named as such on screen. Apparently, they were motorcycles the Rangers used with the Red Ranger having his own bike, and the Black and Blue Rangers had sidecars for the Yellow and Pink Rangers, respectively (based on the "Road Saurers" from Zyuranger).

Mighty Morphin' was one of the only two incarnations with a Christmas-themed episode ("I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger"). The other one was Zeo and the episode "A Season to Remember", which is more a holiday season-themed episode, not just Christmas-themed. There was also the episode "Alpha's Magical Christmas" though this was a direct to video release. It's interesting to note that in this special; Tommy was wearing his Green Ranger costume, but this video release was meant to take place after the power transfer from Jason, Trini and Zack to Rocky, Adam and Aisha as they are featured in this special, so Tommy should have been wearing his White Ranger costume. The reason for this is unknown.

[edit] Cast

[edit] The Power Rangers

Jason Lee Scott
The original Red Power Ranger and the first leader of the team. He was armed with the Power Sword. In the middle of season two, he was sent to be a representative at a peace conference in Switzerland. He was portrayed by Austin St. John.
Zachary "Zack" Taylor
The original Black Power Ranger and second-in-command. A practical joker, he used dance moves and martial arts to fight. He had a large Power Axe which could convert to an energy cannon, and it was passed on to his successor. In the middle of season two, he was sent to be a representative at a peace conference in Switzerland. He was portrayed by Walter Emanuel Jones.
Billy Cranston
The original Blue Power Ranger. He held his position for the longest, and was the smartest member of the team as well as the inventor. After Kimberly had left Billy became in second-in-command. He possessed the Power Lance, which he would keep until Power Rangers Zeo. He was portrayed by David Yost.
Trini Kwan
The original Yellow Power Ranger. She tried to set a good example and was able to translate Billy's technobabble. She was afraid of heights as seen in the episode "High Five" of season one, however she had conquered this fear by the end of the episode. She was armed with Power Daggers, which became the default Yellow Ranger weapon until Power Rangers Zeo. In the middle of season two, she was sent to be a representative at a peace conference in Switzerland. She was portrayed by Thuy Trang.
Kimberly Hart
The original Pink Power Ranger. She was a gymnast with a valley girl attitude as well as Tommy's girlfriend. When Jason, Trini and Zack had left, Kimberly became second-in-command. In the middle of season three, she went to be on the Olympic Gymnastics team. She was portrayed by Amy Jo Johnson.
Thomas "Tommy" Oliver
The Green Power Ranger and later the White Power Ranger. Originally a villain because of an evil spell. Once the spell was broken, he joined the Power Rangers until he lost his Green Ranger powers. He returned as the White Ranger in season two, and became the team's leader. As the Green Ranger his weapon was the Dragon Dagger which doubled as a remote control input for the Dragonzord. As the White Ranger he possessed Saba, a talking saber which also assisted him in the Tigerzord. Tommy was also Kimberly's boyfriend. He was portrayed by Jason David Frank.
Rocky DeSantos
The second Red Power Ranger, chosen by Zordon after Jason had to leave. He was portrayed by Steve Cardenas.
Adam Park
The second Black Power Ranger, chosen by Zordon after Zack had to leave. He was portrayed by Johnny Yong Bosch.
Aisha Campbell
The second Yellow Power Ranger, chosen by Zordon after Trini had to leave. She was portrayed by Karan Ashley.
Katherine Hillard
The second Pink Power Ranger, chosen by Kimberly after she had to leave. She was transformed into a cat/cat monster by Rita's magic, but was freed by Kimberly and the other Rangers. She was portrayed by Catherine Sutherland.

[edit] Allies

Actor Character
David Fielding Zordon (1993–1994)
Robert L. Manahan (Credited as Bob Manahan) Zordon (1994–1998)
Richard Steven Horvitz (Credited as Richard Wood) Alpha 5 (Voice)
Kim Strauss (Credited as Kurt Strauss) Ninjor (1995–1996) (Voice)
Paul Schrier Farkus "Bulk" Bulkmeier
Jason Narvy Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
Richard Genelle Ernie
Gregg Bullock Lt. Stone (1995–1997)
Henry Cannon (Uncredited) Mr. Kaplan (1993-1997)
Royce Herron (Uncredited) Ms. Appleby (1993-1997)
Ted Jan Roberts (Credited as T.J. Roberts) Prince Dex of Edenoi/Masked Rider (1995)

[edit] Villains

Main article: Villains in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Actor Character
Machiko Soga Rita Repulsa (1993–1994)
Barbara Goodson Rita Repulsa (voice)
Carla Perez Rita Repulsa (1994-1995, American Footage)
Ed Neil Lord Zedd
Robert Axelrod Lord Zedd, Finster, and Lokar (Voices)
Kerrigan Mahan (Credited as Ryan O'Flannigan) Goldar (Voice)
Tom Wyner Master Vile (Voice, uncredited)
Ami Kawai Scorpina
Wendee Lee (Credited as Wendee Swan) Scorpina (Voice)
Bob Papenbrook Rito Revolto (Voice)
Michael Sorich (Credited as Michael J. Sorich) Squatt (Voice)
Dave Mallow (Credited as Colin Phillips) Baboo (Voice)
Brad Orchard Hydro Hog (Voice, uncredited)

[edit] Arsenal

  • Power Morphers: Hand-held devices utilizing Power Coins, with each coin depicting a prehistoric creature. Upon calling out "It's Morphin' Time!" the Rangers morphed by holding their Morphers out and pressing the activation trigger while pronouncing the name of their respective creature.
  • "Dragonzord!" and later "Tigerzord!"
  • "Mastodon!"
  • "Pterodactyl!"
  • "Triceratops!"
  • "Saber-Toothed Tiger!"
  • "Tyrannosaurus!"

After the Rangers' powers were destroyed when Rito Revolto demolished the Thunderzords, the team journeyed to the Temple of Power in the Desert of Despair and met Ninjor, the creator of the Power Coins who gave them each the power and skills of the Ninja. Upon receiving their new Ninja Coins, the Rangers shouted the following phrases to morph:

  • "White Ranger Power!"
  • "Black Ranger Power!"
  • "Pink Ranger Power!"
  • "Blue Ranger Power!"
  • "Yellow Ranger Power!"
  • "Red Ranger Power!"

The Rangers, when fighting the tenga warriors, could also morph into a ninja form. The rangers would hold their hands out, with one hand on top, the other on bottom. With index fingers and thumbs extended, the rangers would shout, "Ninja Ranger Power, Now!" Lighting would emit from their hands and they would morph into their ninja form. Though this form isn't as strong as their ranger forms.

  • "Pink Ranger!"
  • "Blue Ranger!"
  • "Red Ranger!"
  • "Black Ranger!"
  • "Yellow Ranger!"
  • "White Ranger!"
  • Blade Blasters: Each Ranger carried a sidearm blaster that could also convert into a short sword. These weapons were used constantly throughout the first season, but were eventually reduced to a visual role.
  • Special Weapons: To defeat Rita's Super Putties, the Rangers needed these powerful blasters that were guarded by Titanus the Carrier Zord.
  • Power Blaster: A powerful assemblage of the 5 core Ranger's Power Weapons. It resembled a crossbow, and its two central pieces were the Power Bow and the Power Axe. The Power Blaster was formed by placing the Power Bow horizontally within the locking mechanism of the Power Axe-in-Cannon Mode, with the Power Dagger's and separated Power Lance Mace's connected to the length of the Bow, with their handles facing forward, acting as additional barrels to the cannon. The Power Sword, the key to the Blaster, was locked in on top of the cannon, similar to where an arrow would be placed in a crossbow.
    • Power Sword: Red Ranger's weapon, a one-handed sword capable of being energized and used as a directed energy weapon.
    • Power Axe: Black Ranger's weapon. Can be used as a traditional axe or, by sliding a locking mechanism down the handle, can be used as a powerful energy cannon. The Axe handle acts as the barrel of the cannon. In the episode A Different Drum, the Power Axe was called the "Cosmic Cannon" and in the episode "On Fins And Needles" it was powerful enough to shoot through the ground and reach the Slippery Shark monster.
    • Power Lance: Blue Ranger's weapon. Could be broken down into two mini-lances called Mace's. In the episode A Different Drum, the Power Lance was called the "Mighty Mace".
    • Power Daggers: Yellow Ranger's weapons. In the episode A Different Drum, the Power Daggers were called the "Dino Daggers".
    • Power Bow: Pink Ranger's weapon. In the episode "The Song of Guitardo", after discovering the music-based monster had to be fought with music, Kimberly's Bow sported a succession of strings, allowing it to be used as a harp that fires sonic energy attacks when played, and in the same episode, she fired the Dragon Dagger from it after energizing it with her Bow. In the episode A Different Drum, the Power Bow was called the "Battle Bow".
  • Dragon Dagger: Green Ranger's weapon. It could be played like a flute by the Green Ranger to either summon the Dragonzord or to activate his Dragon Shield's deflective capacities. It replaced the Blade Blaster in the Green Ranger's arsenal and was stored within a black holster although, in some American-made scenes, the Green Ranger's black hilt and Dagger are replaced by a white holster and a Blade Blaster. Tommy had a Blade Blaster when he got his temporary power boost from Zordon in the episode "Return Of An Old Friend". This was never explained in the show and is mostly likely a production error. In the episode "The Green Dream", the Green Ranger can be seen using an oddly shaped American prop version of the Dagger.
  • RADBUG: Billy modified a white Volkswagen Beetle that could fly through the air and go from 0 to 3,000 in 2.8 seconds. The RADBUG was used when teleportation in the Command Center was down for whatever reason.
  • Saba: An enchanted, talking sabre brandished by the White Ranger, used to summon and control the Tigerzord. Saba could also fly and emit lasers from his eyes. Because of the destruction of the Thunderzords, it eventually was reduced to a visual-only item. Saba was voiced by Tony Oliver.
  • Power Cannon: A giant bazooka that fires loadable spheres of energy, more powerful than the Power Blaster.
  • Dragon Shield: The golden shield worn by the Green Ranger was often almost impervious to attack, especially when the Green Ranger was playing his Dragon Dagger. Along with the chest shield, the Green Ranger also wore golden arm bands and his gloves and boots featured gold trim. The set of armor, or the individual shield, could also be transferred to other Rangers. As in the case in which Zach Taylor, The Black Ranger, was given the Dragon Shield to protect him in the season one episode "Oyster Stew". When Tommy's Green Ranger powers were slowly being drained by the magic of the Green Candle, he transferred his powers over to Jason, and he would be in possession of the Green Ranger powers, including the Dragon Shield, the accompanying armor, the Dragon Dagger, and the Dragonzord Power Coin. After regaining his Green Ranger powers, Tommy would once again possess the shield.
  • Metallic Armor: Special armor created for battling the new-and-improved Tenga Warriors. Enhances the Rangers' speed, strength & resistance to injury or magic spells.
  • Shark Cycles: Shark-themed motorcycles created by the fossilized fin of an ancient shark. They were only used twice during the third season. Katherine Hillard never used the pink Shark Cycle within the storyline.
  • Ninja Ranger Power: After they gained their ninja powers from Ninjor, the Rangers had a new power-up where they became Ninja Rangers. They wore masks and ninja outfits, and also wore an emblem of their Ninja Animal (similar to the Ninja Coins) on their uniforms (similar to how promotional materials for MMPR showed the Power Coin as a chest emblem). They also gained ninja powers such as super-speed, the use of illusions, and the ability to move underground to evade enemy attack.

[edit] Zords

Main article: Zords in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
The six Dinozords.
The six Dinozords.

[edit] Dinozords

The Dinozords were the first Zords that the Power Rangers had access to. They were based on prehistoric creatures. In the pilot episode they were known as Droids.

1 The Dragonzord could combine with the Saber-Toothed Tiger, Triceratops, and Mastodon Dinozords to form Dragonzord in Battle Mode.

[edit] Thunderzords

The six Thunderzords.
The six Thunderzords.

When the Dinozords were frozen and taken over by Lord Zedd, Zordon showed the Rangers how to transform their old Zords into the Thunderzords. These Zords were based on mythological creatures.

2 The Tigerzord could combine with the Thunderzord Assault Team to form the Mega Tigerzord. The Red Dragon Thunderzord in Warrior Mode could ride the Tigerzord as if it were a horse in an unnamed assault mode.

[edit] Ninjazords

The six Ninjazords.
The six Ninjazords.

When the Thunderzords were destroyed by Rito Revolto (and subsequent irreparable damage to the power coins which rendered them useless), the Power Rangers sought out Ninjor, who gave them new Ninjazords, and upgraded their powers.

[edit] Shogunzords

The five Shogunzords.
The five Shogunzords.

When Lord Zedd kidnapped Ninjor and stole the Falconzord (with help from a then-evil Katherine), he used Ninjor as a power source for the Shogunzords and copied the Ninjazords' battle technology using the Falconzord. With Kimberly in captivity, he forced the Rangers into using the Shogunzords for evil, but this failed to pan out when Billy found a way to use the Ninja Coins to obtain control of them.

[edit] Comparisons with later series

  • The original series has the distinction of being the longest-running incarnation with the most episodes produced, lasting for three years (1993-1996) with 155 episodes. This fact is somewhat parallel to the Super Sentai series, since Himitsu Sentai Goranger, the very first Super Sentai, ran two years with a total of 84 episodes, making it the longest Super Sentai series. Also, the second season of the original series mirrors the second Super Sentai series, J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai. Both series featured Red Rangers stepping down from their leadership of their respective teams and giving it to a White Ranger (J.A.K.Q.'s Big One is not officially a White Ranger in Super Sentai but his suit is mostly White. Also, Jason retconed his stepping down for Tommy when the former returned in Power Rangers Zeo).
  • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, Power Rangers Time Force and Power Rangers Wild Force are the only Power Rangers series where the gender of the Yellow Rangers for each series were changed to female, wherin their original Japanese counterparts are actually male.
  • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers S.P.D and Power Rangers Mystic Force are the only Power Rangers series to actually show actors/actresses from their original Super Sentai counterparts. In MMPR, Machiko Soga was actually cast as Rita Repulsa throughout season 1 through the use of stock footage and returned (still through stock footage) in the two-part finale of Mystic Force. In the episode Lost & Found in Translation of Dino Thunder, the "Japanese Rangers" appeared as characters from a foreign TV show. In S.P.D's episode called "Samurai", Ryuji Sainei, the actor who played the character Banban Akaza/DekaRed (Jack Landors/S.P.D. Red Ranger's counterpart/equivalent), made a guest/cameo appearance as the ancient samurai who took care of Katana.

[edit] Controversy

In the USA and Canada, the show was subject to much controversy from parents who felt the show was too violent for young children. Note that this was before television stations issued content warnings (in Canada), the V-chip and television ratings. In the USA, numerous complaints were sent to the FCC. In 1993, YTV obtained the Canadian broadcast rights to the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, which played to a receptive audience on weekday afternoons, trailing the American broadcast by several months. However, due to a handful of complaints sent to the recently formed Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, YTV was pressured to remove the series from their line-up due to its violent content. Despite not actually being a member of the CBSC board, YTV complied and pulled the series before the end of its first season. While a phone-in poll was conducted to see if viewers wanted Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers back on YTV, no further installments of the Power Rangers series ever aired on the network, although commercials for toys and videos were advertised on the network. Fox and the CanWest Global System stations were the only broadcasters of the series in Canada. Newer versions of the series are run on Family.[2]

In Malaysia, as part of its campaign against drugs, the word "Morphin" is censored, by substituting or muting footage where the word is spoken (the phrase "It's morphin' time") or displayed onscreen, for fear that it could encourage children to become addicted with the uses of morphine. When it was broadcast on RTM (along with its toy commercials), it was called Mighty Power Rangers, or simply Power Rangers or Power Ranger. Litt Tak, Malaysia-based distributor of the Power Rangers toys since the first broadcast of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, has advertised the same second season toyline for the third season. In 2005, Litt Tak has turned its attention from the distribution of the toys under the Power Rangers brand, in favor of the toys under the Super Sentai series starting from Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, whose footage was used on Power Rangers: Ninja Storm.[3]

In 1994, the New Zealand Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) upheld several complaints from members of the public about the level of violence in the show. The main concern of those complainants was that the show portrayed violence as the primary means of resolving conflict, and that this was influencing children to behave more violently more frequently. Immediately following the BSA decision, the second season of the show was all but canceled by Television New Zealand. New Zealand is the only country in the world where this show has been prematurely withdrawn from public broadcast to date.[4] DVD and video releases of the more recent Power Rangers series that were filmed in New Zealand can be found at The Warehouse, although general sales through video stores and other retailers are scarce.

Some of the original cast of Power Ranger's color-coordinations have been accused of playing up stereotypes and ethnic slurs[5], for example:

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Allison, Anne [June 2000]. "Sailor Moon: Japanese Superheroes for Global Girls", in Timothy J. Craig: Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. M.E. Sharpe, 259-278. 
  2. ^ [1] - Canadian Broadcast Standards Council - Ontario Regional Council October 24, 1994 decision regarding CanWest Global's broadcasting of the show.
  3. ^ Power Rangers toyline on the Litt Tak official website
  4. ^ Bpinnz.Pdf
  5. ^ VH1's "I Love the 90's"

[edit] External links

Preceded by
None		 Power Rangers
1993 – 1996		 Succeeded by
Alien Rangers
v • d • e
 
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  • Jungle Fury
Movies:
Characters:
Miscellany:
Video games
Related Saban series:
See also: