Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

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This article covers a period during the first years of the show. For information on the corporate franchise, see Power Rangers.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (often abbreviated as "MMPR") is a live-action television and movie series, based on the Super Sentai series Kyoryuu Sentai ZyuRanger, literally Dinosaur Squadron Beast Ranger and often abbreviated as Zyuranger (after the Kunrei-shiki romanization). Its second and third seasons also drew on footage and elements from Gosei Sentai Dairanger and Ninja Sentai Kaku Ranger respectively. (By this time, the Super Sentai genre/series was already one of Japan's hottest tokusatsu properties and had been going for over a decade.) The show first aired on Fox Kids on August 28th, 1993, and ended on February 10th, 1996. Although it was a children's series, it launched a pop culture phenomenon and became known as one of the cultural icons representing the 1990s. 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.

The series takes place in the fictional town of Angel Grove, California. After an expedition to the moon revealed a dumpster, astronauts opened the dumpster and inadvertently released the villain Rita Repulsa from 10,000 years of confinement. When word of Rita's release came to Zordon, he ordered his robotic assistant, Alpha 5, to find five "teenagers with attitude," who would defend the Earth from Rita's attacks. The story would continue on to subsequent incarnations, often with new villains.

Although the series started off with five Rangers (colored red, blue, black, yellow, and pink), a sixth, the Green Ranger, joined later on in the episode arc "Green with Evil." The Green Ranger appeared on and off throughout the series through various storylines until he was converted into the White Ranger, who remained a permanent fixture from "White Light" until the end of MMPR.

Two films based on the television series were produced: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.


Contents

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Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Long ago, the ancient wizard Zordon did battle with the evil witch Rita Repulsa. After long years of battle, he managed to defeat her in a game by using 5 magic coins. As punishment for her loss, she was sealed in a canister on Earth's moon. However, before being sealed away, Rita trapped Zordon in a time warp, preventing him from participating in further battle against her. Image:Greentommy6.JPG

10 millennia later, Rita and her minions escaped their prison thanks to two unaware astronauts, and set out to conquer Earth. Zordon, desperate to stop her, had his assistant Alpha 5 recruit five "teens with attitude" to do battle with her. They were granted the powers of the dinosaurs, and became Power Rangers.

After several battles, Rita created an evil Power Ranger using a magic coin of her own, infused with the power of the Dragon. This Green Ranger caused major damage to his foes, until he was freed from her control by the other Rangers. Grateful, and now burdened with responsibility, he joined the Power Rangers.

Following several more defeats, Rita's fortress was invaded by Lord Zedd. Disgusted with her failure, he took over and sealed her away again, launching his own campaign against the Power Rangers. Despite his defeat of the Green Ranger, he was unable to beat the Rangers' new powers of the mythical beasts (their new Thunder powers). Things were complicated by the creation of the White Ranger, and the return of Rita, who gave Zedd a love potion. It was later discovered, after Zedd took an antidote, that he loved her anyway.

Rito Revolto later came to Earth and managed to destroy the Rangers' prev. powers. Undaunted, they sought the aid of Ninjor, creator of the powers, who gave them the new Ninja powers. After several more battles, Zedd and Rita were joined by Rita's dad, Master Vile. Following his failed attempts to defeat the Rangers, he turned back time, destroying the Ninja powers and eliminating the threat of Ninjor. These events culminated in Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, leading up to Power Rangers: Zeo.

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Cast

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The Power Rangers

Image:Powerrangers7.jpg

(Note: "Cranston", whilst generally accepted by the fanbase as Billy's last name, wasn't officially stated in the show's continuity.)

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The other good guys

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The villains

Image:Rita4-14a.jpg

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Arsenal

  • Power Morphers: Morphers used by Power Rangers, powered by magic coins.
    • Morphing Call: "It's Morphin' Time!"
      • Mastodon!/Black Ranger Power! (Black Ranger)
      • Pteradactyl!/Pink Ranger Power! (Pink Ranger)
      • Triceratops!/Blue Ranger Power! (Blue Ranger)
      • Saber-Toothed Tiger!/Yellow Ranger Power! (Yellow Ranger)
      • Tyrannosaurus!/Red Ranger Power!(Red Ranger)
      • Dragonzord!(Green Ranger)
      • Tigerzord!/White Ranger Power!(White Ranger)
  • Blade Blasters Each Ranger carried a sidearm blaster that could also convert into a short sword.
  • Personal Power Weapons
    • Power Sword: Red Ranger's weapon.
    • Power Axe: Black Ranger's weapon. Can be used as a traditional axe, and shoot energy from a hole in the handle.
    • Power Bow: Pink Ranger's weapon. Was once used as a harp, in concert with the Dragon Dagger as a flute, to defeat the music-based monster Guitardo.
    • Power Daggers: Yellow Ranger's weapons.
    • Power Lance: Blue Ranger's weapon. Could be broken down into two mini-lances.
      • Power Blaster: The personal weapons of the 5 core Rangers could combine into the Power Blaster for powerful attacks.
  • Dragon Dagger: Weapon of Green Ranger, used to summon and control Dragonzord.
  • Dragon Shield: The golden shield on the Green Ranger's upper body was often almost impervious to attack, especially when the Green Ranger was playing the Dragon Dagger. The shield repeatedly took heavy fire from a number of weapons, ranging from a Power Blaster to Titanus, and deflected the blasts. The shield could also be transferred to other Rangers.
  • Saba: Talking sword of the White Tiger Ranger, used to summon/control White Tigerzord. Also has the ability to fly and fire laser blasts from his eyes.
  • Shark Cycles: Shark-themed motorcycles created by the fossilized fin of an ancient shark.
  • Metallic Armor: Special armor created for battling the new-and-improved Tenga Warriors. Enhances the Rangers' speed, strength & resistance to injury or magic spells
  • Power Cannon: Giant bazooka that fires loadable spheres of energy.
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Zords

Main articles: Zord and Zords in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

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Season one

The Dinozords

  • Ultrazord (combination of Megadragonzord & Titanus)
    • Megadragonzord (combination of Megazord & Dragonzord)
      • Megazord (combination of Dinozords)
        • Tyrannosaurus Dinozord (Jason/Red)
        • Mastodon Dinozord (Zack/Black)
        • Triceratops Dinozord (Billy/Blue)
        • Saber-Toothed Tiger Dinozord (Trini/Yellow)
        • Pterodactyl Dinozord (Kimberly/Pink)
      • Dragonzord (Tommy/Green)
        • Dragonzord Battle Mode (combination of Mastodon, Triceratops, Saber-Toothed Tiger Dinozords & Dragonzord)
      • Titanus (the Carrierzord)
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Season two

The Thunderzords

  • Thunder Ultrazord (combination of Thunderzords, Tigerzord & Tor)
    • Thunder Megazord (combination of Thunderzords)
      • Red Dragon Thunderzord (Jason, then Rocky) (Red)
      • Thunderzord Assault Team (combination of Lion, Unicorn, Griffin & Firebird Thunderzords)
        • Lion Thunderzord (Zack, then Adam) (Black)
        • Unicorn Thunderzord (Billy/Blue)
        • Griffin Thunderzord (Trini, then Aisha) (Yellow)
        • Firebird Thunderzord (Kimberly/Pink)
      • White Tigerzord (Tommy/White)
        • Mega Tigerzord (combination of 4 Thunderzords & White Tigerzord)
      • Tor the Shuttlezord
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Season Three

Ninja Zords

  • Ninja Ultrazord (combination of Ninja Megafalconzord & Titanus)
    • Ninja Mega/falconzord (combination of Ninjazords, with or without Falconzord)
      • Falconzord (Tommy/White)
      • Ape Ninjazord (Rocky/Red)
      • Frog Ninjazord (Adam/Black)
      • Wolf Ninjazord (Billy/Blue)
      • Bear Ninjazord (Aisha/Yellow)
      • Crane Ninjazord (Kimberly then Kat) (Pink)

Shogunzords

  • Shogun Ultrazord (combination of Shogun Megafalconzord & Titanus)
    • Shogun Mega/falconzord (combination of Shogunzords and later Falconzord)
      • White Shogunzord (Tommy/Kimberly)then (Tommy/Kat)(White/Pink)
      • Red Shogunzord (Rocky/Red)
      • Black Shogunzord (Adam/Black)
      • Blue Shogunzord (Billy/Blue)
      • Yellow Shogunzord (Aisha/Yellow)
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Trivia

  • 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. The company contacted Toei (the company which produced/produces the Sentai series in Japan) as well as Rainbow Productions (the company that designed and produced the monster suits), requesting another half-season's worth of Zyuranger footage, specifically for Power Rangers. The two Japanese companies agreed, creating around 25 brand-new monsters and filming both human- and zord-sized battle footage for each, as well as incorporating elements from MMPR into the footage (a relationship between the Green and Pink Ranger and the Blue Ranger as the brains of the group being the most obvious examples). These monsters are collectively known in the Power Rangers fan community as "Zyu2." Around this time, Saban was also negotiating a deal with Toei to acquire footage from Gosei Sentai Dairanger, the sentai series which followed Zyuranger. Saban used more than half of the Zyu2 costumes in the remainder of Season One of Power Rangers. When they decided to replace the Dinozords with the mecha from Dairanger in Season Two (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.
  • "Bones" was the name of the first monster to ever battle the Power Rangers in the inception of the series. Although, in the lost episode (the original pilot), they battled "King Sphinx" (he was called Fly Guy in the pilot), and Sphinx appeared again in the episode titled, "A Pressing Engagement."
  • Similarly, "It's Morphin Time!" was first spoken by Zordon.
  • 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 than the Japanese versions (and thus, the actual Zords on the show). For example, the left arm of the Japanese Shogun Megazord toy , the "Muteki Shougun" from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (and the real Shogun Megazord/Muteki Shougun) 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, 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.
  • This is the first series where four Ranger colors had replacements : Red , Yellow , Black and Pink. Tommy however traded colors from Green to White Ranger.
  • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is the first show to feature two different Red , Black , Yellow and Pink Rangers. This would not happen again til Power Rangers Turbo.
  • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers holds the record with the most Episode produced before a Series change at 155.
  • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Power Rangers: Turbo hold the record for the most cast changes in any series with 4 members leaving and another 4 replacing the departing cast.
  • The first ever cast actors to leave the show mid season were Austin, Thuy and Walter. During the middle of the second season, all three actors were suddenly written out of the show and replaced by Steve, Johnny and Karin. It is believed that all three were holding out for more money and instead of giving them the money they wanted, they were written off of the show in a story line involving the three power rangers being selected to represent the country in a peace conference. Old footage from previous episodes and camera tricks were used in the last episode the characters of Jason, Trini and Zack were in so viewers would not realize the actors portraying them were not actually in the episode titled "The Power Transfer (Parts 1 & 2). This was different then when Amy left the show the next season, where she played her character of Kimberly until she gave the powers to the new Pink Ranger, Kat. That episode was titled "A Different Shade of Pink" (Parts 1,2 & 3). Jason and Kimberly would both return later on in the later seasons of the show with Austin and Amy reprising the roles. Jason would be the Gold Ranger in the second part of the Power Rangers: Zeo season and Kimberly would be along with Jason in the movie Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.
  • A USENET poster named "The Dark Ranger" created a pornographic fan fiction called "Agony in Pink", which was about the torture and death of Kimberly Hart at the hands of Lord Zedd and a fan character named "Tortura" (after the word "torture"). This story, first posted in the alt.sex newsgroup around 1994, caused a lot of commotion on USENET [1] due to its adult nature and subject matter. Sequels of the story were later created. The posting of the story lead to the Australian Broadcasting Group to censor a newsgroup. [2] Another posting of the story on Fanfiction.net was removed. The story was blamed for the banning all adult fan fiction on FF.net.
  • Billy the original Blue Ranger has the distinction of being the only Ranger to hold the same position for the longest time (3 years, 1993-1996) without ever switching colors, a record yet to be surpassed. Similarly, he is the only original Power Ranger to appear in every episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and remain there from the start to the end of the MMPR generation.
  • Being the original series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers also the favorite of all Power Rangers fans, winning a viewer contest conducted by ABC Family in 2004.
  • The original series has the distinction of being the longest-running incarnation lasting for three years (1993-1996). This fact is somewhat parallel to the Super Sentai series, since Himitsu Sentai Goranger, the very first Sentai, ran over three years with a total of 83 episodes, making it the longest Sentai series.
  • Ron Wasserman, under the alias of Aaron Waters, composed and wrote The Original Power Rangers theme song, a full length, 4 minute long track used for promotion. Its title is "Go Go Power Rangers!"
  • As is commonly known now, despite the Yellow Ranger being a female within Power Rangers, in Kyoryuu Sentai Zyuranger the Yellow (or Tiger) Ranger, named Boi, was male. Due to this, there is an obvious change in the physique of the Yellow team member when the show cuts to Sentai footage (this is most notable within Season 1).
  • 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'. In the same way, since there were only five Rangers in Kakuranger, the Falconzord was a separate entity not belonging to anyone of them. Ninjaman/Ninjor didn't need a 'Zord' since he could grow Zord-size.
  • Before each episode of MMPR started, there would be a preview teaser of what to expect on that days 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. It would quickly jump into the opening credits after this preview ended.
  • The "Battle Bikes" were motorcycles seen on rare occasion for the Red, Blue, and Black Rangers. The name was given by the Bandai toy company. They were seen in the episode "Calamity Kimberly".
  • The monster, "Brick Bully" was never destroyed by the Blue Shogunzord. In the Japanese version, he is destroyed by the Kakuranger's cycle attack.
  • Actress Thuy Trang died in an automobile accident on September 3rd, 2001, when the automobile she was riding lost control. She was not wearing a seatbelt. Her fellow passenger in the car was Angela Rockwood-Nguyen, the wife of fellow Vietnamese-American actor Dustin Nguyen. Rockwood-Nguyen survived the automobile accident despite not wearing a seatbeat, but she became quadriplegic. Two members of the original Power Rangers cast, David Yost and Amy Jo Johnson attended the funeral. An episode of Power Rangers: Time Force was dedicated in memory of Thuy Trang.
  • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has been banned from broadcast in Malaysia due to its violence.[3] Additionally, there is concern there that "Morphin'" sounds too much like "morphine"
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External links

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