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Revision as of 02:30, 5 August 2006
Power Rangers is an ongoing, American franchise of superhero children's television programs. The franchise is currently owned by The Walt Disney Company, but was previously produced by Saban. Given a new title and theme annually (after the third season of the first series), the franchise is headlined by similarly self-replicating television series and is directly tied to the vast merchandising empire owned largely by Japanese toy company Bandai.
The show is 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 kaiju and mecha (referred to as "Zords" in the English series) are typically dubbed. The vast majority of the toy line is similarly adapted, though there are toys exclusive to English-speaking countries.
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 the Fox Network. It lasted for three seasons. The franchise has continued, and as of 2006 has consisted of thirteen television series and two theatrical films.
The Power Rangers series was distributed by Saban Entertainment from 1993 until the end of 2001 and was broadcast on the Fox network. The franchise was purchased by Disney as a part of a Saban buyout 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, ABC Family, Toon Disney and Jetix channels worldwide).
What is a Power Ranger?
A Power Ranger is a person who morphs from a natural, unpowered form into a form fitting battle suit, which also has a helmet with an opaque visor, which in many cases 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 telepathy, super speed, invisibility, great hand-to-hand combat ability, etc.) which 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 a different creature 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. Rangers are known to "demorph" involuntarily due to powerful physical attacks.
Rangers regularly operate in teams of five or six, with a special sixth Ranger frequently rounding out the bunch; 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. The 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.
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 Power Rangers: Dino Thunder when Thomas Oliver (a former Green Ranger, White Ranger, and Red Ranger, twice) became the Black Dino Ranger and said that he had to go clothes shopping because he did not own enough black colored clothing.
Plot Sequence
A normal Power Rangers episode can be broken down into an everyplot. The plot sequence is generally as follows:
- Rangers are seen in everyday life with a dispute to resolve.
- Rangers are attacked by an evil foe's minions/footsoldiers.
- Rangers fight minions/footsoldiers.
- Rangers morph.
- Rangers defeat minions/footsoldiers.
- Evil enemy revives minion and makes minion grow to gigantic proportions, followed by Rangers summoning giant machines known as Zords and/or their combined form, the Megazord.
- 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, a sixth Ranger, or a new Megazord.
- Rangers fight and defeat said giant minion.
- Rangers are shown back in everyday life, having learned a life lesson which solves the earlier dispute.
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.). (Following a Spartacus inspired scene by Angel Grove's townspeople, this rule was also disregarded at the conclusion of Power Rangers in Space, although the battle afterward was the last for the former Turbo and Space Rangers.) 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 Leelee in Mystic Force (she is currently the only original villain in Mystic Force).
In seasons following Power Rangers: In Space, it is common for each team to be separate, storywise, from those of previous incarnations. A tradition in later seasons is for two teams of Power Rangers to team up and 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 season not to feature this is Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, due to a shift back to non-SAG talent when production was moved to New Zealand.
Variations Between Series
No two Power Rangers series are alike, and aside from a Ranger of each primary color, with the male Red being the series lead, 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
Criticisms
- Original Executive Producer Haim Saban was criticized heavily for his use of non-SAG actors, and the one-sided contracts that the actors were bound to for appearing on the show. The "Mighty Morphin" cast was bound to five-year contracts with no benefits and insultingly low pay (reportedly $500 U.S. per week), which were non-negotiable. When the series hit big time, Fox signed the show to a two-picture deal, and actors Austin St. John, Walter Emmanuel Jones and Thuy Trang left the series when none of their demands were met. They were immediately replaced, to no negative effect on the show's ratings.
- The Power Rangers seem virtually invulnerable to harm, as when they are hit or thrown to the ground, they will immediately get up and continue to fight.
- Many critics of the early Power Rangers series claimed that the Power Rangers use unnecessary force to destroy their monsters, and often get into fights when better alternatives were available. In some cases, networks pulled Power Rangers from its lineup, citing such concerns. Later incarnations of Power Rangers often attempt to explain the actions of the Power Rangers, but many still believe that Power Rangers remains a series too violent for young children. For a time Power Rangers was pulled from Malaysian television screens as the word "morphin'" (in the phrase "It's Morphin' Time!") sounded similar to the drug morphine, which is banned in Malaysia.
- The first season of Power Rangers also drew criticism from some groups claiming that the Ranger colors were racist, specifically referring to Zack, the Black Ranger (played by African American actor Walter Emmanuel Jones) and Trini, the Yellow Ranger (played by Asian American actress Thuy Trang; Asian-Americans were once referred to as Yellow in the same way African-Americans are called Black). This criticism was rendered moot when the two actors left the show halfway through Season Two and were replaced with Asian-American actor Johnny Yong Bosch as the Black Ranger, and African-American actress Karan Ashley as the Yellow Ranger. This was mentioned on VH1's I Love the 90s. Amy Jo Johnson and Walter Emmanuel Jones appeared in the "1993" episode. Since then, no Asian-American actor or actress has played the Yellow Ranger, and no African-American has played the Black Ranger. The only exception to this is in the instance of the Dark Rangers in which the actors were chosen to resemble the evil counter-parts of the Black and Yellow rangers.
- The few-and-far-between links between the later series of Power Rangers are often resented by older fans of the show. The first five years of the series featured ongoing storylines that carried through the different seasons, and retained most of its cast members for several years. Veteran Rangers and villains also occasionally appeared after their stories had run through, most notably in Power Rangers: In Space, in which the central plot involved an attack on the entire universe. Space's finale, "Countdown to Destruction," acted as Power Rangers' version of Crisis on Infinite Earths, killing off or redeeming all of the older villains and largely cleaning up the existing continuity. Subsequent series are able to start with new Rangers and villains annually without having to incorporate unresolved plot points from the previous season. Team-ups between a current cast and the one before it occur almost annually now, but are generally superfluous to the larger storylines.
- The new Executive Producer Bruce Kalish has attracted criticism and resentment from some fans. This first occurred when he admitted he deliberately didn't watch any of the older episodes when he was hired to work on Power Rangers: S.P.D. so he'd be able to make a clean start (he has since watched some of the earlier episodes). He also came in for some criticism when S.P.D. was thought to be relying too heavily on sentai footage & plots, and for saying that the series' writers are only contracted by Disney to do adaptations of sentai and not original stories.
- In the UK, the first incarnation sparked fears that kids would hurt themselves by recreating the moves in the series. As a result, GMTV (who is still the analogue host in the UK) had to issue a warning at the end of an episode stating, "The Power Rangers are specially trained martial arts experts, so don't you copy them!" GMTV no longer issues this warning. However, Jetix in its British incarnation still issues a generic warning for the entire series that was used since the beginning of Power Rangers: In Space. It has received only minor changes over time (background image, wording, etc) and is currently delivered by a male announcer in a Zordon-like voice, likely to gain the young audience's attention, despite Zordon not actually being in the show.
- After just a few weeks of airing, the show was banned in New Zealand. This was due to children practicing the moves on one another in school. [1]
- When Power Rangers was first released, it was classified as children's programming. However, since its release, the show has continued to evolve into a program that is enjoyed by more mature audiences, partly due to its aging original fans. This has led to some fans requesting that the tone and format of the show be changed in order to better suit its more mature audience. However, whereas Power Rangers still appeals to older viewers, the show's producers feel that a more mature show might alienate their largest demographic: children. It would also cause them to lose revenue in toy and merchandising sales, which finance the shows.
- Many also credit Power Rangers for an increased interest in the martial arts by suburban America. This fad-like popularization of martial arts in mainstream youth culture is often looked at as one of the reasons the McDojo has become a somewhat prevalent phenomenon.
- Animation fans also despise Power Rangers for being on Toon Disney, as it is not actually an animated series.
- Some of the Tokusatsu fandom expressively loathe Power Rangers because not only does the series mock the original Japanese source, but many feel that it tarnished the reputation of the genre as a whole; not only insulting Super Sentai, but having things like Godzilla, Ultraman and Kamen Rider being associated with it despite the obvious differences. Some fans overreact, calling the series "racist", this resulted in a term used by PR Fans, "Sentai Snob" (which now evolved to "Toku Snob"). It was countered with the term PR Snob (or Anti-Sentite). This form of debating is found within the animé community when it came to the subject of "subtitles" and "dubbing."
- Another less common criticism is the lack of balance in the team's power. Over time, the Red Ranger becomes stronger than all the other Rangers together, by the ways of the Battlizer or the excessive arsenal he collects. Red is also mostly "the chosen one" (e.g. Andros in Countdown to Destruction), "the day's savior" (e.g. Cole in The Master's Last Stand) or the one who defeats the main villain. Notably, Wild Force transformed Cole, the series Red Ranger, into the single protagonist of the season, pulling the other main Rangers back to a background profile, with a weak development if compared to the Red Ranger.
- A similar criticism to above also ties to "sixth Rangers", characters who arrive suddenly and join the team in later episodes. Most of them, upon arrival, seem to have powers that dwarf or belittle those of the original roster (including the series' Red Ranger), only to suffer some situation intended to limit the character (such as a power loss, curse, or even death). In actuality, the "limitation" makes the hero weaker than even the "non-Red" Rangers (usually to a point in which the rest of the team openly protests going into battle with their "stricken" comrade). The first such character to be weakened this way is Tommy Oliver, the original season's Green Ranger. (Ironically, this happens to him twice as Dino Thunder's Black Ranger.)
Seasons
Spin-off
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 before his own series was started. The Rangers themselves were never mentioned in Masked Rider, however, as Saban reformatted the series to sever links with Power Rangers, as their popularity had been gradually beginning to slide following the first movie. However, the Rangers made a guest appearance in Masked Rider's short-lived comic book adaptation.
Motion Pictures
The Power Rangers series have also brought forth two movies.
Movie | Year |
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie | 1995 |
Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie | 1997 |
Both movies have no relation to each other; the second one is not a sequel for the first one. The first one released in 1995 takes place in an alternate universe than in the series, yet it was implied that the movie took place in the same location as the series. The second film released in 1997 is more like a beginning for the upcoming season at the time (Power Rangers: Turbo).
Contrary to wild Internet speculation, there have never been plans for a third Power Rangers movie.
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. [2]
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:
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, 1995; Fox Home Entertainment
- Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, 1997; Fox Home Entertainment
- The Best of the Power Rangers: The Ultimate Rangers, 2003; BVHE (DVD compilation of episodes from five different seasons of Power Rangers. The episodes Forever Red and The White Light [Tommy's reintroduction as the White Power Ranger] are amongst them)
- Power Rangers: Ninja Storm Volumes 1 - 5, 2003; BVHE
- Power Rangers: Dino Thunder Volumes 1 - 5, 2004; BVHE
- Power Rangers: S.P.D. Volumes 1 - 5, 2005, BVHE
- Power Rangers: Mystic Force Volumes 1, 2006, BVHE
Power Rangers on iTunes
Power Rangers episodes have recently become available on the iTunes Music Store site. So far, 77 Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers episodes are available, as are the first 17 episodes of Power Rangers Mystic Force.
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 allow's any US-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.
Trivia
- According to the website Tv.com, Skylar Deleon, who had appeared as an extra in an episode of Power Rangers, is accused of murdering a couple in California named Thomas and Jackie Hawk. In a strange twist, the episode in question where Skyler appeared aired on the same week as his conviction on ABC Family.
- 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.
- The 2002 episode "Forever Red" gathered many different cast members from the show to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the franchise. The Kimberly character was mentioned as well, but Amy Jo Johnson never makes a re-appearance.
- Red, Blue, and Yellow are the only colors that have been a part of every Power Rangers team.
- The Japanese Sentai series regularly switch between male and female Yellow Rangers, but as yellow is considered feminine in Western cultures, women were traditionally cast in the part for the Power Rangers adaptations regardless. Stock footage of the Japanese series became confusing to even casual viewers, but was considered acceptable because the Yellow Ranger would be relatively inconspicuous among five or more Rangers; this convention was broken with the Ninja Storm series, though die-hard fans will point out that the Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers mini-series had a yellow male Ranger as well.
- This is one of the first children's television shows to include bleeped swear words, 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 follows a few unofficial anime conventions, namely that a villain cannot shoot while Rangers are morphing or while a Megazord is forming. Vice versa, Rangers cannot shoot at a growing monster. There are occasional exceptions, however.
- 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. On a side note, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Masked Rider team up is the closest thing to a team up with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai, as Toei has not teamed these tokusatsu factions as of yet.
- In Japan, Power Rangers has been dubbed into Japanese for television and video. Power Rangers: Zeo, however was never released. The voice actors for the dub are often pulled from past Sentai casts. This led to Machiko Soga doing the voice for Rita Repulsa, the American counterpart to Bandora (Kyoryuu Sentai ZyuRanger), the same character she played.
- Recently it has been announced that a Power Rangers fan convention will take place on June 22-24, 2007 in Los Angeles, although the date is subject to change. The event has been dubbed PowerMorphincon, so it is not to be confused with the similarly-named furry convention.
- Kendrix Morgan was the only Power Ranger to be killed off in order to be replaced. She was downed by the Pink Psycho Ranger in "Power of Pink", and was replaced by Andros's sister, Karone, who was once Astronema. This was because Valerie Vernon, the actress who portrayed her, was diagnosed with leukemia during production of the series. Her character was brought back to life at the end of the series and she later reprised her role as Kendrix in the team-up episode for Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue and Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy.
- Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy was the first season to feature archvillains who are permanently destroyed at the end of the season by a Ranger team (Scorpius and Trakeena, though Trakeena is shown at the end of Lost Galaxy of leaving Terra Venture in spirit form). In the previous and future seasons:
- Season 2: At the beginning of Season 2, Lord Zedd deposed Rita Repulsa and sent her from his palace in a dumpster, but he did not kill her.
- Season 3: Lord Zedd and Rita remained in command at the beginning of Season 3.
- Season 4: Lord Zedd and Rita were driven from the moon palace by the arrival of the Machine Empire, but they were not killed.
- Season 5: At the end of Season 4, Lord Zedd assassinated the Royal House of Gadgetry. He and Rita then left for a vacation, leaving the planet open for the arrival of Divatox.
- Season 6: At the end of Season 5, Divatox voluntarily retreated from Earth. Later, master villain Dark Specter was killed by Darkonda, and Astronema was defeated by Andros, but not destroyed.
- Season 8: The season made it clear that when demons are destroyed, they are sent to the Shadow World, and was later reinforced with the reappearance of the demon Diabolico in the finale emerging from the Shadow World. This being stated, it is pretty likely that Queen Bansheera never died in the finale and is just being beaten by her minions for eternity rather than being destroyed. Loki, Olympus, and Vypra are all destroyed, but possibly made their way to the Shadow World.
- Season 9: Ransik and Nadira both turn to good and see the error of their ways. Gluto is rearrested and Frax is destroyed.
- Season 10: Master Org is destroyed, however three Orgs (Jindrax, Toxica, and Zen-Aku) are alive and reformed.
- Season 11: Lothor is sent to the Abyss of Evil, which is similar to the Shadow World. His generals are destroyed and his nieces return to the side of good.
- Season 12: Mesogog and Zeltrax are destroyed, Elsa is returned to being good.
- Season 13: All three major villains are captured (arrested) and are not destroyed.
- The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers are briefly featured in "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" as one of the many called upon to defeat Chuck Norris (the song mentions "Every single Power Ranger," although only the original team are seen in the flash animation).
Characters
Rangers | Villains | Enemy Grunts | Monsters
See also
- Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills
- Super Sentai
- VR Troopers
- Masked Rider
- Big Bad Beetleborgs
- Digimon
- List of Power Rangers villains
- List of Power Rangers monsters
- Zord
- List of Power Rangers planets
- List of Power Rangers episodes
- Battlizer
- Enhancement Modes in Power Rangers
External links
Websites
- Power Rangers Central
- TV.com
- The Writers Guide To The Power Rangers Universe
- JETIX-Power Rangers
- Naks Power Rangers
- GrnRngr.Com
- Power Rangers Online
- Power Rangers Timeline
- Chaos Guide to Power Rangers
- Power Rangers On Air Central
- Power Rangers Information Archive
- The Ranger Files
- Jen's Power Rangers Online V2
- 1Ranger.com
- Power Rangers Zone