Power Rangers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 daikaiju 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 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 anniversary series, Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive is set to air in 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 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, Toon Disney and Jetix channels worldwide).

[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 telepathy, 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). 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, 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, a sixth Ranger, or a new Megazord.
7. Rangers fight and defeat the said 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, 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 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] 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 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.

• 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.

• 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. Recently, however, it has been confirmed that the Black Ranger for Operation Overdrive will be of African descent, or at least, dark-skinned.

• 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 children would hurt themselves by recreating the moves in the series. As a result, GMTV (which 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.

• 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.

• There are those of the Tokusatsu fandom that expressively loathe Power Rangers because, according to many enthusiasts, the franchise mocks the original Japanese source and 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 is similar to the debate in anime community over the relative merits of "subtitles" versus "dubbing."

[edit] Seasons

[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. ^{[citation needed]} 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

The Power Rangers series have also brought forth two theatrical films.

Both movies have no relation to each other; the second one is not a sequel for the first one as originally believed. The first film released in 1995 takes place in an alternate timeline than that in the series. The second film released in 1997 actually is tied in with the series, bridging the gap between Power Rangers: Zeo and Power Rangers: Turbo.

[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:

• 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: S.P.D. Volumes 1-5 Boxset (UK), 2006, BVHE- http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/product/index.jhtml?pid=50754025
• Power Rangers: Mystic Force Volumes 1, 2006, BVHE
• Power Rangers: Mystic Force Dark Wish, 2006, BVHE

[edit] Power Rangers on iTunes

Power Rangers episodes have recently become available on the iTunes Music Store. So far, all of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Power Rangers: S.P.D. are available, and the first 25 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 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.

[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.

• The Japanese Super Sentai series regularly switch between male and female Yellow Rangers. This was confusing to some fans in the beginning, since the Super Sentai featured a male Yellow Ranger, while the American series featured a female, as yellow is considered feminine in some Western cultures. Thus, 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 and 'Mystic Force' 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 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. Recently, there have been television promos in Japan for "Super Hero Time" (a programming block that shows both Super Sentai and Kamen Rider) that have shown Satoru Akashi/BoukenRed and Souji Tendou/Kamen Rider Kabuto interacting together, but these appear to be intended for humor.

• In Japan, Power Rangers has been dubbed into Japanese for television and video. The voice actors for the dub are often pulled from past Sentai casts.

• Kendrix Morgan was the only Power Ranger to be killed off in order to be replaced.

[edit] In popular culture

With the introduction of Power Rangers to English speaking audiences, they have been mentioned and parodied in various other media. One major reference to the series occured in the Canadian CGI animated series ReBoot. In the episode "Nullzilla," four of the main characters (Bob, Dot, Enzo, and Frisket) and a minor character (Mike the TV) wore Power Ranger-like costumes that resembled insects (Bob was a beetle, Dot was a ladybug, Enzo was a grasshopper, Frisket was a bee, and Mike was a gnat), and had insect-like vehicles, like Zords, that resembled their costumes. All 5 insect vehicles combined into a giant robot that resembled a Megazord.

In addition to this, the show Mighty Moshin' Emo Rangers parodies the Power Rangers series, with five emos in black Zentai fighting the "hoodie patrol".

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Power Rangers characters

• Rangers
• Villains
• Enemy Grunts
• Monsters

[edit] 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

[edit] External links

[edit] Official websites

• Jetix' Official Power Rangers website
• Bandai's Official Power Rangers website (for the toyline)
• Power Rangers at TV.com

[edit] Fan websites

• Power Rangers Central
• Rovang.org's Power Rangers Timeline
• Rovang.org's Writers Guide To The Power Rangers Universe
• Naks Power Rangers
• GrnRngr.com
• Power Rangers Online
• Galaxy of Chaos, a Power Rangers Wiki
• Power Rangers On Air Central
• Power Rangers Information Archive
• The Ranger Files
• Jen's Power Rangers Online V2
• Fuñaroverse

[edit] Message boards

• Rangerboard
• Ranger-Power
• Fuñaroboard

es:Power Rangers fr:Power Rangers hr:Power Rangers it:Power Rangers nl:Power Rangers ja:パワーレンジャー pl:Power Rangers pt:Power Rangers sr:Моћни ренџери fi:Power Rangers sv:Power Rangers