This article is about a/an series entry (the 1st) in the Power Rangers franchise. |
- For the team, see:Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (team)
- For the show's seasons, see:Season One, Season Two, Season Three
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (often abbreviated as "MMPR") is a live-action television and movie series based on the Super Sentai series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, literally Dinosaur Squadron Beast Ranger and often abbreviated as Zyuranger (after the Kunrei-shiki romanization). Although Zyuranger was the main Sentai used for MMPR, it also uses elements (mecha and monsters) from Gosei Sentai Dairanger, literally Five-Star Squadron Dairanger, in its second season and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, or Ninja Squadron Kakuranger, in its third season. At the time, the Super Sentai genre was one of Japan's hottest tokusatsu properties, and Haim Saban seized an opportunity to adapt it for American audiences.
The show first aired on Fox Kids on August 28, 1993 and ended on February 17, 1996. On January 2, 2010 a reversion of the series with a new logo, comic book-referenced graphics, and alternative special effects began airing on ABC Kids but was cancelled after airing 32 first-season episodes due to immense negative backlash from fans and as well as Saban buying back the rights to Power Rangers.
The theme music, "Go Go Power Rangers," was often parodied, and many of its subsequent incarnations contain the words "Go" or "Power Rangers" in their theme music.
Production
"Ay-yi-yi, this place is a disaster!" Actually, this article/section is in need of clean-up. You can help us out by editing it! Reason: grammatically and stylistically messy |
Before Power Rangers became a worldwide hit during the decade of the 1990s, Super Sentai had been very popular in Japan for decades. Having seen the Japanese program during a trip, Haim Saban began work to adapt it for American television. He realized he could produce an effective adaptation, initially to be called "Dino Rangers," by combining original American footage with the Japanese Sentai stock footage, primarily of action scenes. The pitch was initially rejected by several U.S. networks until Fox head of children's programming, Margaret Loesch, championed the show and ordered 40 episodes.
For the first season of what would eventually become Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Saban chose to adapt 1992's Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, which had a dinosaur motif. After a nationwide search, five actors were cast as the Power Rangers: Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (the Red Ranger), Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Ann Hart (the Pink Ranger), Walter Jones as Zack Taylor (the Black Ranger), Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan (the Yellow Ranger), and David Yost as Billy Cranston (the Blue Ranger).
Zyuranger involved five ancient warriors who were awakened to use their dinosaur powers to fight an evil witch. While Power Rangers used Zyuranger footage, it had a different storyline. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers would feature an evil queen,Rita Repulsa, who was freed from her prison on the moon after 10,000 years. In response, an ancient wizard named Zordon recruited five "overbearing" teenagers. Rita Repulsa's scenes were adapted from the Sentai footage of Zyuranger's main villain, Witch Bandora. Rita's voice was dubbed by Barbara Goodson. The voices of her various underlings and featured monsters would be dubbed by American actors as well.
A pilot episode was filmed but did not air until 1999 as a special "lost episode". A rewritten second pilot, titled "Day of the Dumpster," aired on August 28, 1993. The show became an overnight sensation and was beating Fox Kids' highest-rated show, Batman: The Animated Series, within two weeks of its premiere. A heavy merchandising rollout soon followed, with the Power Rangers being featured in a line of toys by Bandai, as well as apparel, school supplies, video games and more.
The show's popularity was bolstered when a new 6th Ranger named Tommy Oliver (Jason David Frank) was added to the canvas. His introduction in the five-part episode, Green With Evil, took the fast-growing phenomenon to new heights. In keeping with the Zyuranger footage, Tommy's Green Ranger character was written out of the show, causing significant backlash among fans.
Fox eventually extended its 40 episode order to 60, leading the show's producers to alter the ending of the planned series finale, "Doomsday," Because that episode used footage from Zyuranger's final episode, Saban struck a deal with Toei Productions to provide several dozen episodes' worth of additional footage, which allowed the Green Ranger to return. Toei agreed to make subtle modifications to certain elements in order to make its footage more closely match the American storyline. This included changes in personality among the Rangers, and the acknowledgement of a romantic subplot between the Pink and Green Rangers. This supplemental footage is commonly referred to by fans as "Zyu2", and would continue to be used well into the second season.
Now a ratings and merchandising juggernaut, MMPR returned for a second season in the summer of 1994. Fox aired the three-part season premiere in primetime, pairing the latter two episodes with Saban's other Fox megahit, the animated "X-Men" series. Season two brought major changes to the storyline and look of the show. Rita Repulsa was replaced in favor of an original villain, Lord Zedd, which had no Japanese counterpart. The Rangers' original Dinozords were also retired in favor of the Thunderzords utilizing footage from a second Sentai series, Gosei Sentai Dairanger. Saban, meanwhile, was still using up the remaining Zyu2 footage, which forced the Zord battles to be edited in such a way that the Zords and monsters were never seen in the same shot (because the Zyu2 battles included the Dinozords) and, in several instances, Thunder Megazord and Dragonzord would participate in the same battle despite being from two different Sentai productions.
Early in the second season, the Green Ranger's powers were lost for good, and the popular Tommy character was once again written off the show. He would return just a few episodes later as the new White Ranger, which was based on the Dairanger's KibaRanger character. As a result, Saban began producing more original footage of morphed Ranger battles in order to include characters from two disparate Sentai properties, including monsters. But the inclusion of the White Ranger opened the door for Dairanger's Zord battles to air as intended, complete with the new White TigerZord
Walter Jones, Austin St. John, and Thuy Trang all left the show early in season two. At the time of their departure, they had filmed several additional episodes worth of scenes, but were unable to complete additional dialogue recording (or ADR) for quite a few episodes. As a result, footage of Jason, Zack and Trini (while morphed) were dubbed over with different voices. Eventually the trio was written out of the show and replaced by three new Rangers: Rocky DeSantos (Steve Cardenas) as the new Red Ranger, Adam Park (Johnny Yong Bosch) as the new Black Ranger, and Aisha Campbell (Karan Ashley) as the new Yellow Ranger.
Episode variations
Some of the episodes seen on Netflix and outside of the US vary from their original Fox Kids broadcasts. See article: Domestic vs. international masters
Synopsis
Long ago, the ancient wizard Zordon did battle with the evil witch Rita Repulsa. He eventually managed to defeat her in a game using five magic coins. As punishment for her loss, she was sealed in a canister on Planet Nemesis, a planet that travels close to Earth every 10,000 years. However, before being sealed away, Rita trapped Zordon in a time warp.
Millennia later, Rita and her minions escaped their prison and set out to conquer Earth. Zordon, desperate to stop her, had his assistant Alpha 5 recruit five "teenagers with attitude" to counter her threat. They were granted the powers of the dinosaurs, and became the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
After several losing battles, Rita created an evil Power Ranger using a sixth power coin. This Green Ranger, Tommy Oliver, caused major damage to the Power Rangers until they were able to break Rita's spell. Grateful, and now burdened with responsibility, he joined the Power Rangers but was stripped of his powers soon after by Rita's enchanted green candle. Tommy's powers were temporarily transferred to Jason. Later, Zordon was able to directly infuse Tommy's power coin with his own power, and the Green Ranger returned to the team, though his powers would prove unpredictable and would fade over time.
The Rangers continued to thwart Rita's attempts to destroy them. Lord Zedd, Rita's evil overlord, came to the moon and relieved her of her duties, taking over her moon palace and sealing Rita in a dumpster once again. In his first encounter with the Power Rangers, Zedd's Pirhantishead monster froze four of the Dinozords and took control of the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord and Tommy's Dragonzord. Though the Rangers were able to wrest control away from Zedd, the Dinozords would prove to have insufficient power to combat Zedd's more powerful monsters. Before Zedd was able to destroy them forever, Zordon and Alpha 5 used the Dinozords' remaining power to create the Thunderzords, a set of fighting machines in the form of mythical creatures. The Dragonzord would remain, but shortly after Zedd's arrival, Tommy's Green Ranger powers were lost permanently. Dragonzord would return to its slumber under the sea.
Tommy would not be gone for long, however. Zordon and Alpha created new White Ranger powers for him, and he returned as the leader of the Power Rangers, complete with a new White Tigerzord. A short time later, Jason, Zack and Trini were selected to represent their hometown of Angel Grove at a global youth peace conference, forcing them to leave the team. They were replaced by Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park and Aisha Campbell, respectively, who had recently transferred to Angel Grove High School from nearby Stone Canyon.
While the Rangers were on a school trip to Australia, Rita Repulsa made her way back to the moon and worked with her loyal minion, Finster, to give Lord Zedd a love potion while he was deep asleep in his 100 year recharge. When he awoke, he was madly in love with Rita, and the two were quickly married. Zedd later learned of the deception and took an antidote, but realized he loved Rita anyway.
Rita's brother Rito Revolto came to Earth and dealt the Rangers a crippling blow when he and Goldar destroyed the Thunderzords and, along with them, the Rangers' powers. Undaunted, they sought the aid of Ninjor, who had created the powers. After an arduous quest, Ninjor bestowed upon them the new Ninja powers, and fought alongside the Rangers as an ally against Rita and Zedd's combined forces.
Dissatisfied with his daughter's failure to destroy the Power Rangers--and displeased with her choice in a husband--Rita's father, Master Vile, took on the challenge. He was able to turn back time, turning the Rangers into children and removing Ninjor from the equation. While the Rangers embarked on a quest to find five pieces of the mystical Zeo Crystal in order to restore them to their proper time, Zordon enlisted the assistance of the Alien Rangers of Aquitar in the interim. Aisha's Zeo quest took her to her ancestral home of Africa, where she met a young girl named Tanya Sloan. Wanting to use her knowledge of the modern world to help the impoverished people of the land, Aisha chose to stay behind in Africa and sent Tanya back to Angel Grove with the yellow portion of the Zeo Crystal.
Mere moments after uniting the Zeo Crystal and restoring the flow of time, Goldar and Rito Revolto invaded the Command Center and stole it, while also planting an implosion device. Its detonation caused catastrophic damage to the Command Center, and Alpha 5 was able to teleport the Rangers away with just seconds to spare. The Rangers watched as the Command Center was reduced to a pile of flaming rubble.
Characters
Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Color | Role | Actor |
---|---|---|
White Ranger | Tommy Oliver | Jason David Frank |
Red Ranger | Jason Lee Scott ► Rocky DeSantos | Austin St. John ► Steve Cardenas |
Black Ranger | Zack Taylor ► Adam Park | Walter Jones ► Johnny Yong Bosch |
Blue Ranger | Billy Cranston | David Yost |
Yellow Ranger | Trini Kwan ► Aisha Campbell | Thuy Trang ► Karan Ashley |
Pink Ranger | Kimberly Ann Hart ► Katherine Hillard | Amy Jo Johnson ► Catherine Sutherland |
Green Ranger | Tommy Oliver / Tom Oliver | Jason David Frank |
Wild West Rangers
Color | Role | Actor |
---|---|---|
Red Wild West Ranger | Rocko | Steve Cardenas |
Black Wild West Ranger | Abraham | Johnny Yong Bosch |
Blue Wild West Ranger | William | David Yost |
Yellow Wild West Ranger | Miss Alicia | Karan Ashley |
Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers
Color | Role | Actor |
---|---|---|
Red Aquitar Ranger | Aurico | David Bacon |
White Aquitar Ranger | Delphine | Rajia Baroudi |
Blue Aquitar Ranger | Cestro | Karim Prince |
Yellow Aquitar Ranger | Tideus | Jim Gray |
Black Aquitar Ranger | Corcus | Alan Palmer |
Allies
Ninjor | Ninjor |
Masked Rider | Dex Stewart |
Civilians
- Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier
- Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
- Ernie
- Lt. Stone
- Ms. Appleby
- Mr. Caplan
- Angela
- Richie
- Curtis
- Veronica
- Dr. Kender
- Sam Trueheart
Villains
Power Rangers Villains
- Rita Repulsa
- Lord Zedd
- Master Vile
- Hydro Hog
- Goldar
- Scorpina
- Rito Revolto
- Professor Longnose
- Squatt
- Baboo
- Finster
- Lokar
- Billy Cranston (clone)
- Primator
- Blue Globbor
- Putty Patrollers
- Z Putty Patrollers
- Tenga Warriors
- Evil Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
- Mutant Rangers
- Dark Rangers
Monsters
- List of Mighty Morphin 1 Monsters
- List of Mighty Morphin 2 Monsters
- List of Mighty Morphin 3 Monsters
Masked Rider Villains
Arsenal
Main Articles: Arsenal (MMPR), Arsenal (MMPR2), and Arsenal (MMPR3).
- Power Morphers: Used by the teens to morph into their Power Ranger forms. Powered by magic power coins.
- Dragon Dagger: Green Ranger's weapon used in combat, and also to summon and control the Dragonzord.
- Blade Blaster: Standardized Ranger weapon. Can be used as blaster or short sword.
- Saba: White Ranger's sentient, talking sword. Used to summon and control the White Tigerzord. Also has the ability to fly and fire laser blasts from his eyes in combat.
- Shark Cycles: Shark-themed motorcycles used for rough terrain.
- Metallic Armor: Special armor created for battling an improved breed of Tenga Warriors. Enhances the Rangers' speed, strength, resistance to injury and resistance to magic spells.
- Power Cannon: Giant bazooka that fires loadable spheres of energy.
- Power Weapons: Five individual weapons that can combine into the Power Blaster for powerful attacks. Red Ranger uses the Power Sword, Yellow Ranger uses the Power Daggers, Blue Ranger uses the Power Lance, Pink Ranger uses the Power Bow, and Black Ranger uses the Power Axe.
- Sword of Power
- Sword of Light: A sword that acts as a transfer conduit in order to confer the Rangers' powers between individuals.
- Sword of Darkness: A weapon temporarily wielded by the Green Ranger while under Rita Repulsa's control. Believed destroyed, but the Sword (or a facsimile) returned on several occasions.
- Power Coins: Source of the Ranger's power. When inserted into Power Morphers, gives each teen the ability to morph into Power Rangers. Also allow access to Zordon's Command Center.
Zords
Rangers Zords
Season One
- Ultrazord ◆◆◆◆◆◆➲
- Mega Dragonzord ◆◆◆◆◆◆
- Titanus the Carrierzord ➲
- Alternate Combination -Dragonzord Battle Mode◆◆◆◆
Season Two
- Thunder Ultrazord ◆◆◆◆◆◆➲
- Alternate Combination - Mega Tigerzord ◆◆◆◆◆
Season Three
Ninjazords
- Ninja Ultrazord ◆◆◆◆◆◆➲
- Ninja MegaFalconzord ◆◆◆◆◆◆
- Ninja Megazord ◆◆◆◆◆
- Falconzord ◆
- Titanus ➲
- Ninja MegaFalconzord ◆◆◆◆◆◆
Shogunzords
- Shogun Ultrazord ◀▶◆◆◆◆➲
- Shogun MegaFalconzord ◀▶◆◆◆◆
- Titanus ➲
Battle Borgs
Evil Zords
Episode Guide
Season 1
- Day of the Dumpster
- High Five
- Teamwork
- A Pressing Engagement
- Different Drum
- Food Fight
- Big Sisters
- I, Eye Guy
- For Whom the Bell Trolls
- Happy Birthday, Zack
- No Clowning Around
- Power Ranger Punks
- Peace, Love and Woe
- Foul Play in the Sky
- Dark Warrior
- Switching Places
- Green With Evil Part I: Out Of Control
- Green With Evil Part II: Jason's Battle
- Green With Evil Part III: The Rescue
- Green With Evil Part IV: Eclipsing Megazord
- Green With Evil Part V: Breaking The Spell
- The Trouble with Shellshock
- Itsy Bitsy Spider
- The Spit Flower
- Life's a Masquerade
- Gung Ho!
- Wheel of Misfortune
- Island of Illusion, Part I
- Island of Illusion, Part II
- The Rockstar
- Calamity Kimberly
- A Star Is Born
- The Yolk's on You!
- The Green Candle, Part I
- The Green Candle, Part II
- Birds of a Feather
- Clean-Up Club
- A Bad Reflection on You
- Doomsday Part I
- Doomsday Part II
- Rita's Seed of Evil
- A Pig Surprise
- Something Fishy
- Lions & Blizzards
- Crystal of Nightmares
- To Flea or Not to Flee
- Reign of the Jellyfish
- Plague of the Mantis
- Return of an Old Friend Part I
- Return of an Old Friend Part II
- Grumble Bee
- Two Heads are Better than One
- Fowl Play
- Trick or Treat
- Second Chance
- On Fins and Needles
- Enter… The Lizzinator
- Football Season
- Mighty Morphin' Mutants
- An Oyster Stew
Season 2
- The Mutiny, Part I
- The Mutiny, Part II
- The Mutiny, Part III
- The Wanna-Be Ranger
- Putty on the Brain
- Bloom of Doom
- The Green Dream
- The Power Stealer
- The Beetle Invasion
- Welcome to Venus Island
- The Song Of Guitardo
- Green No More, Part I
- Green No More, Part II
- Missing Green
- Orchestral Maneuvers in the Park
- Beauty and the Beast
- White Light, Part I
- White Light, Part II
- Two for One
- Opposites Attract
- Zedd's Monster Mash
- The Ninja Encounter, Part I
- The Ninja Encounter, Part II
- The Ninja Encounter, Part III
- A Monster of Global Proportions
- Zedd Waves
- The Power Transfer, Part I
- The Power Transfer, Part II
- Goldar's Vice-Versa
- Mirror of Regret
- When is a Ranger Not a Ranger?
- Rocky Just Wants to Have Fun
- Lights, Camera, Action
- Where There's Smoke, There's Fire
- Scavenger Hunt
- The Great Bookala Escape
- Forever Friends
- A Reel Fish Story
- Rangers Back in Time, Part I
- Rangers Back in Time, Part II
- The Wedding, Part I
- The Wedding, Part II
- The Wedding, Part III
- Return of the Green Ranger, Part I
- Return of the Green Ranger, Part II
- Return of the Green Ranger, Part III
- Best Man for the Job
- Storybook Rangers, Part I
- Storybook Rangers, Part II
- Wild West Rangers, Part I
- Wild West Rangers, Part II
- Blue Ranger Gone Bad
Season 3
- A Friend in Need, Part I
- A Friend in Need, Part II
- A Friend in Need, Part III
- Ninja Quest, Part I
- Ninja Quest, Part II
- Ninja Quest, Part III
- Ninja Quest, Part IV
- A Brush with Destiny
- Passing the Lantern
- Wizard for a Day
- Fourth Down and Long
- Stop the Hate Master, Part I
- Stop the Hate Master, Part II
- Final Face-Off
- The Potion Notion
- I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger
- A Ranger Catastrophe, Part I
- A Ranger Catastrophe, Part II
- Changing of the Zords, Part I
- Changing of the Zords, Part II
- Changing of the Zords, Part III
- Follow that Cab!
- A Different Shade of Pink, Part I
- A Different Shade of Pink, Part II
- A Different Shade of Pink, Part III
- Rita's Pita
- Another Brick in the Wall
- A Chimp in Charge
- Master Vile and the Metallic Armor, Part I
- Master Vile and the Metallic Armor, Part II
- Master Vile and the Metallic Armor, Part III
- The Sound of Dischordia
- Rangers in Reverse
Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers (Mini Series)
- Alien Rangers of Aquitar: Part I
- Alien Rangers of Aquitar: Part II
- Climb Every Fountain
- The Alien Trap
- Attack of the 60' Bulk
- Water You Thinking?
- Along Came a Spider
- Sowing the Seas of Evil
- Hogday Afternoon: Part I
- Hogday Afternoon: Part II
Specials
- Alpha's Magical Christmas
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Live
- Lord Zedd's Monster Heads
- The Good, the Bad, and the Stupid
Notes
See also
- Mighty Morphin 1, the first season.
- Mighty Morphin 2, the second season.
- Mighty Morphin 3, the third season.
- Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, a miniseries concluding the third season.
- Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, the aesthetic counterpart for the rangers and the first season.
References
Footnotes