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This article is about the first installment in the series. For the media franchise, see Power Rangers.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (abbreviated as MMPR) is an American live-action television series, created for the American market, based on the 16th installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Both the show and its related merchandise 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 1995 and spawned a feature film, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. The second and third seasons drew on footage and elements from the Super Sentai series Gosei Sentai Dairanger and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger respectively, though the Zyuranger costumes were still used for the main five Rangers and several regular villains. Only the Zords and the Kiba Ranger suit (worn by the White Ranger) were retained from Dairanger for the second season, while the five Kakuranger suits were used in the mini series, Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers; however, the Kakuranger Zords were featured extensively in season 3 of the show, and served as the basis for the Zords seen in the movie produced between seasons 2 and 3 (although they appeared in American-produced CGI in that film). The series was produced by MMPR Productions, distributed by Saban Entertainment, and aired on Fox Kids. In 1996, the Mighty Morphin label was retired as the series began a rebranding as the Power Rangers franchise: renaming the series every year and using costumes, props, and footage from subsequent Super Sentai series and also changing the cast and storyline. While an overarching storyline would continue through Power Rangers in Space, subsequent series after MMPR are not sequels or spin-offs in the traditional sense. The series is set to return to TV in January 2010 on ABC Kids, and Bandai will produce brand new toys to coincide with the series.[3][4]
[edit] Series overview[edit] Season 1 (1993-94) The series takes place in the fictional town of Angel Grove, California. On an exploratory mission, two unwitting astronauts discover an extraterrestrial container (referred to as a dumpster as a result of its stench) and breach the unit, inadvertently releasing the evil alien 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 mighty Megazord.[5] 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 the Mega Dragonzord.[6] 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 volunteering 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.[7] 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 Dragon Coin. Tommy returns, agreeing to take part in a dangerous process in which Zordon transfers energy from himself into the Dragon 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 continues 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.[8] Season 1 marked a lot of stock footage from its Super Sentai counterpart, each season after that used less and less to fit the Americanized story lines. [edit] Season 2 (1994-95)Lord Zedd, emperor of all that he sees, arrives at the Moon Palace of Rita Repulsa, where he takes her place and throws her into a space dumpster again. He then begins to attack the Power Rangers with Pirantishead, a stronger monster than the Rangers are used to fighting. Pirantishead freezes four of the Dinozords and takes control of the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord and the Dragonzord. The Rangers need to upgrade their Dinozords into the stronger Thunderzords, which can combine together to form the Thunder Megazord. They defeat Pirantishead and give Lord Zedd his first defeat. Soon after that, Lord Zedd realizes he needs to destroy the Green Ranger. He does so with a special Green Gem, using it to take away the Green Ranger's powers permanently since he had limited powers after Rita had taken away most of them in Season 1. The green gem also powered up the Dark Rangers, but when Tommy smashed it, the Dark Rangers powers were transferred back to the regular Rangers. Lord Zedd thought he'd already won, but Zordon made a White Ranger to aid the Rangers in battle. The White Ranger turns out to be Tommy, and he is given the powerful Tigerzord. During the Team Ninja Trials in Angel Grove, the Rangers make some new friends in three teens from Stone Canyon - Rocky DeSantos, Aisha Campbell, and Adam Park. During an ensuing battle with Lord Zedd and a magical serpent, Rocky and his friends discover the Rangers' identities and, having been entrusted with their secret by Zordon himself, the three newcomers become allies of the team. When Jason, Zack and Trini are selected to go to the Peace Conference in Switzerland, the Rangers are faced with the task of finding replacements, but in order to transfer the powers of the Red, Black, and Yellow Rangers, they must find The Sword of Light, which is located on the Deserted Planet. Therefore, Lord Zedd pursues them across the galaxy in Serpentera, his massive personal Zord, which destroys most of the Deserted Planet after overwhelming Tor, the Rangers' new turtle-like Shuttle Zord. However, Serpentera runs out of power before being able to finish the Rangers, and they retrieve the Sword of Light and take it back to Earth. The retiring Rangers choose Rocky as the Red Ranger, Aisha as the Yellow Ranger and Adam as the Black Ranger. Some time before the Power Transfer, Rita Repulsa had returned to Earth when Tommy made his debut as the White Ranger, and fell into the hands of Bulk and Skull, but the Rangers sent her back into space. She later returns to the Moon while the Rangers are in Australia, and with the help of Finster, she gets a special "makeover" to gain a younger and "prettier" face. She then uses a love potion on Lord Zedd, who is in a deep sleep during his centennial re-evilizer, and he falls in love with her when he wakes up. They get married and thus join forces to make an even more terrible threat for the Rangers, but not even this can prepare them for what is to come. [edit] Season 3 (1995)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. Consequently, the original Dinozords are destroyed too and the Power Coins are damaged beyond repair. Undaunted, they seek the aid of Ninjor, alleged creator of the Power Coins, who gives them new Ninja Coins and the even more powerful Ninjazords.[9] 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 Katherine and put her under a powerful spell. As a result, she steals Kimberly's Crane Coin, vastly weakening the Pink Ranger whose life force, like that of the other Ninja Rangers, is connected to their Ninja Coins. Katherine eventually overcomes the spell, and gives the coin back to Kimberly. Having already been disconnected from the Crane Coin and Zordon's declaration that her time as a Ranger has ended, Kimberly 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 Katherine, making her the new Pink Ranger. Though her initial fear and hesitation keeps her from contributing fully to the fight against evil, Katherine eventually becomes both more comfortable and capable of fulfilling her duty as a Ranger.[10][11][12] 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. These events culminate in the mini-series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, which led to the next incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise entitled Power Rangers: Zeo.[13] [edit] Characters[edit] The Power Rangers
[edit] Allies
[edit] VillainsMain article: Villains in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
[edit] Arsenal
[edit] ZordsMain article: Zords in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers [edit] DinozordsThe Dinozords are the first Zords that the Power Rangers had access to. They are based on prehistoric creatures. In the unaired pilot episode they are known as Droids. [edit] ThunderzordsWhen the Dinozords are frozen and taken over by Zedd, Alpha causes a refraction of energy that transforms the old Dinozords into more powerful Thunderzords. These Zords are based on mythological creatures. [edit] NinjazordsWhen the Thunderzords are destroyed by Rito (and their original Power Coins becoming severely damaged, as revealed in Power Rangers in Space), the Power Rangers seek out Ninjor, who gives them new Power Coins. These new coins give the Rangers access to their new Ninjazords. [edit] ShogunzordsWhen Zedd kidnaps Ninjor and steals the Falconzord (with help from a then-evil Katherine), he uses Ninjor as a power source for the Shogunzords and copies the Ninjazords' battle technology using the Falconzord. With Kimberly in captivity, he forces the Rangers into using the Shogunzords for evil, but this fails to pan out when Billy finds a way to use the Ninja Coins to obtain control of them. [edit] Reception and controversyDespite the show's high popularity, it was also 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, 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 complaints sent to the recently formed Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, YTV removed the series from their line-up due to its violent content.[14] 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. Newer versions of the series are run on Family.[15] 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.[16] 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.[14] New Zealand is the only country in the world where this show has been prematurely withdrawn from public broadcast to date.[17] 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. Later series in the Power Rangers franchise, such as Power Rangers: Mystic Force and Power Rangers: Jungle Fury, are filmed in New Zealand, but the programs are still not shown in the country. When brought up on VH1's I Love the 90s, the original cast members interviewed (Amy Jo Johnson, Walter Emanuel Jones) as well as other celebrity commentators, mentioned that the original line-up had Jones' role as the Black Ranger and Thuy Trang's role as the Yellow Ranger as the actors and characters were of African and Asian descent, respectively. [edit] Video games
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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