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Power Rangers

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Power Rangers
File:General PR Logo.jpg
File:Power rangers logo.jpg
From top to bottom: The Saban-era logo for Power Rangers, and the Disney era logo for Power Rangers
GenreAction, Adventure
Created byHaim Saban
Directed byVarious
StarringCast Members
Voices ofVoice Actors
Theme music composerVarious
Country of origin United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons16
No. of episodes668 (as of November 3, 2008) (list of episodes)
Production
ProducersSaban Entertainment (1993–2001)
The Walt Disney Company (2002–Present)
Production locations United States (1993–2002)
 New Zealand (2003–Present)
Camera setupMulti-Camera
Running time30 minutes (with commercials)
Original release
NetworkFOX (FOX Kids) (1993–2002)
FOX/ABC Family (2002-2006)
ABC (ABC Kids) (2002–present)
Toon Disney (2004–present)
ReleaseAugust 28, 1993 –
Present
Related
Masked Rider
VR Troopers
Big Bad Beetleborgs
Super Sentai

Power Rangers is a long-running American children's television series adapted from the Japanese tokusatsu Super Sentai Series, though it 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 the Super Sentai Series' stories and design, the American shows are altered to fit a Western audience. However, many of the action sequences featuring the characters in costume and the mecha (referred to as "Zords" in the English series) are typically dubbed.

Broadcasting summary

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 (from 1993 to 1996). The franchise has continued, and as of 2008 has consisted of 16 television seasons, 14 different series, and two theatrical films. The latest series, Power Rangers: Jungle Fury, debuted on February 18, 2008, and completed its run on November 3, 2008.

The Power Rangers series was distributed by Saban Entertainment from 1993 until the end of 2001 and was broadcast on Fox until the fall of 2002. The franchise was purchased by the Walt Disney Company as a part of the buyout that took place between 2001 and 2002.[1] This resulted in Fox Family Worldwide becoming ABC Family Worldwide.[1] This buyout also included Saban Entertainment becoming BVS Entertainment, from News Corporation, Fox's parent company, and Haim Saban.[1] The show continued to air on Fox until its Fox Kids package was renamed the "FoxBox" in the United States. Since September 2002, all Power Rangers shows have aired on various Disney-owned networks (ABC Kids, Toon Disney and Jetix channels worldwide). ABC Family, another Disney-owned network, also used to air Power Rangers until it did away with its Jetix timeslot after August 31, 2006. Several ABC affiliate broadcasting groups, most notably Hearst-Argyle Television and Allbritton have declined to air most of the Power Rangers series aired since 2005 on ABC Kids, due to the lack of FCC-compliant educational and informational content in the programs.

Summary

The Power Rangers

A Power Ranger is a fictional individual who "Morphs" from an unpowered form into a powerful superhero usually wearing a color-coded battle suit usually made of spandex or other skin-tight material and a helmet with an opaque visor.[2] In many cases, the helmet serves to protect his or her secret identity. In some cases, more powerful Rangers may have extra shielding on their suit to protect them from strong blows.

A morphed Ranger generally possesses superhuman strength, durability, and hand-to-hand combat ability. Starting with the Disney-created series, unmorphed Rangers usually possess superhuman abilities such as super-speed or teleportation unrelated to their Ranger abilities.[3].

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[4], revealing his or her natural form underneath.[5] Helmets aside, the suits are donned and removed nearly instantaneously with a glow of light or some other effect. Rangers can also be "de-morphed" involuntarily when suffering significant physical damage.

Rangers regularly operate in teams of five, with a special sixth Ranger frequently joining the team part way into the series.[6] More recently 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). Each team's costumes are nearly identical aside from color and 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 altered suit design and/or armor.

The Rangers' color designation 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.

Elements of a Power Rangers season

Each team of Power Rangers, with a 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 and or for escalating a fight, explaining why the Rangers do not simply crush the small monsters by means of 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, Power Rangers: S.P.D. and Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive, 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 and, to a lesser extent, Power Rangers: Mystic Force. 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 America.

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 needed. 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 especially 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. In later seasons, it became a tradition for two teams of Power Rangers to team 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", and in Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive a team of former rangers from various incarnations of the series teamed up with the Overdrive Rangers to defeat an alliance formed by the son of Rita & Lord Zedd, Thrax, in the episode Once a Ranger. The only seasons thus far to not feature such a team-up are Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, due to a shift back to non-SAG talent when production was moved to New Zealand,Power Rangers: Mystic Force, due to a relatively short series length, and Power Rangers: Jungle Fury. This was somewhat rectified when Xander, the Green Mystic Force Ranger, and Tori, the Blue Ninja Storm Ranger, appeared in the Operation Overdrive crossover two-parter, "Once A Ranger".

It is traditional that the arsenal of a Ranger team, especially the Zords, be destroyed at the end of the season in order to destroy the final monster, which is often the main villain. The Rangers also tend to give up their powers, though they remain available for later team-ups (For instance, at the end of Ninja Storm, the Rangers sacrificed their powers to imprison Lothor. Once Lothor was freed, however, they were able to get their powers back in order to fight him).

Characters

Main article: List of Power Rangers characters

Series

Series Year Super Sentai Series
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1 1993 Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger
Season 2 1994 Gosei Sentai Dairanger
Season 3 1995 Ninja Sentai Kakuranger
Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers(refactored from MMAR) 1996
Power Rangers: Zeo 1996 Chouriki Sentai Ohranger
Power Rangers: Turbo 1997 Gekisou Sentai Carranger
Power Rangers in Space 1998 Denji Sentai Megaranger
Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy 1999 Seijuu Sentai Gingaman
Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue 2000 Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGo-V
Power Rangers: Time Force 2001 Mirai Sentai Timeranger
Power Rangers: Wild Force 2002 Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger
Power Rangers: Ninja Storm 2003 Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger
Power Rangers: Dino Thunder 2004 Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger
Power Rangers: S.P.D. 2005 Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger
Power Rangers: Mystic Force 2006 Mahou Sentai Magiranger
Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive 2007 GoGo Sentai Boukenger
Power Rangers: Jungle Fury 2008 Juken Sentai Gekiranger
Power Rangers: R.P.M. 2009 Engine Sentai Go-onger
Power Rangers: F.A.I.L. Club Mix Never

Template:Ent Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers is a ten-episode miniseries that served as an introduction to Zeo and also used footage from Kakuranger.

Colors

Just like the Super Sentai series that Power Rangers is based on, the color palette of a Power Ranger team has varied greatly throughout the years.

# Series Red Yellow Blue Pink Black Green White Other
1 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 1 & 2) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
2 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 2 & 3)[7] ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
3 Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
4 Power Rangers: Zeo[8] ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
5 Power Rangers: Turbo[9] ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
6 Power Rangers in Space[10] ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
7 Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy[11] ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
8 Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue[12](refactored from [[[α]|Lightspeed]]) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
9 Power Rangers: Time Force[13](refactored from [[[β]|Quantum]]) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10 Power Rangers: Wild Force[14] ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
11 Power Rangers: Ninja Storm[15](refactored from [[[γ]|Thunder]]) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
12 Power Rangers: Dino Thunder[16] ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
13 Power Rangers: S.P.D.[17](refactored from [[[δ]|SPD]]) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
14 Power Rangers: Mystic Force[18](refactored from [[[ε]|Mystic Force]]) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
15 Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive[19] ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
16 Power Rangers: Jungle Fury[20][21](refactored from [[[ζ]|Jungle Fury]]) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

Template:Ent The Titanium Ranger was the first original Power Ranger developed for the English-language television series. Template:Ent In Time Force, the sixth ranger, the Quantum Ranger, has a red-colored suit which is only distinguished from the Red Ranger's suit by its black accents and the jagged arrows. Template:Ent Ninja Storm has the Crimson and Navy Rangers that wear suits of darker hues of Red and Blue, respectively. Template:Ent SPD includes nine additional rangers, a final count of fourteen rangers, which is the most in all of the Power Rangers franchise history. Both the Omega Ranger (who wears a White suit) and the Shadow Ranger (who wears a primarily Black suit) are regular characters, whereas the Kat Ranger (who wears a primarily Orange suit) and the Nova Ranger (who wears a Silver suit) are only seen for one episode each. The S.P.D. A-Squad wear the same colors as the main team. Template:Ent Mystic Force has two allies who do not fall under the basic color schemes. The Solaris Knight wears gold armor over navy blue spandex and the Wolf Warrior wears dark red armor. Template:Ent Jungle Fury has the Violet Wolf Ranger who wears a violet suit. The Shark Ranger (cyan), the Bat Ranger (black), and the Elephant Ranger (green) join Lightspeed Rescue's Titanium Ranger and S.P.D.'s A-Squad as characters with no basis in the Super Sentai footage.

Spin-off

Main article: Masked Rider (TV series)

Masked Rider is an American adaptation of the tokusatsu series Kamen Rider BLACK RX, one of the many series of the popular Kamen Rider Series. 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 three-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 films. 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.

Motion pictures

Teaser poster for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

The Power Rangers series have also brought forth two theatrical films, which were distributed by 20th Century Fox. As of 2007, Fox's home entertainment division, long after Fox's parent company News Corporation and Haim Saban sold Fox Family (currently ABC Family), including Saban Entertainment and the Power Rangers franchise, to the Walt Disney Company, still maintains worldwide home entertainment rights to these two Power Rangers films.

Power Morphicon

The Power Morphicon was the first Power Rangers Convention that took place in 2007, celebrating fifteen years on the air at the time, from 1993.

Some of the guests that attended were Austin St. John, who portrayed Jason Lee Scott; Steve Cardenas, who portrayed Rocky DeSantos; Walter Jones, who portrayed Zack Taylor; Johnny Yong Bosch, who portrayed Adam Park; Paul Schrier and Jason Narvy, who portrayed Bulk and Skull; Daniel Southworth, who portrayed Eric Myers; Emma Lahana, who portrayed Kira Ford; Matt Austin, who portrayed Bridge Carson; Richard Brancatisano, who portrayed Xander Bly; James Maclurcan, who portrayed Mackenzie Hartford; and Samuell Benta, who portrayed Will Aston.

Some of the panels included were "Forever Red," where Red Rangers St. John, Cardenas, Southworth, and Maclurcan were interviewed; "Unsung Heroes," where Jones, Bosch, Schrier, Narvy, Austin, Brancatisano, and Benta were interviewed; "Where Are They Now," where St. John, Cardenas, Bosch, Narvy, and Tony Oliver were interviewed; "Bulk and Skull," where Schrier and Narvy were interviewed; and "Origins of Red," where St. John alone was interviewed.

Deborah Estelle Phillips and Kevin Kleinberg, of the Time Force season, showed up as well.

DVD releases

Currently, there are 30 DVD releases of Power Rangers in the USA (as listed below).

The current Power Rangers DVD titles are:

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 the Jetix magazine, published in the UK. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3 Power Rangers Zeo, and Power Rangers Turbo have been released in Germany as well.[26][27][28][29][30] Additionally, Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, S.P.D., Mystic Force, and Operation Overdrive saw complete boxset releases in the UK.[31][32][33][34][35] In France, Mighty Morphin Season 1 and Season 2 have been released in their entirety in 5 episode DVD volumes, and the first 25 episodes of Season 3 were released in May 2008.[36] In Italy, Mighty Morphin, Zeo, Dino Thunder and S.P.D. have been released in their entirety. Zeo and S.P.D. were made available as commercial DVDs, while Mighty Morphin and Dino Thunder were issued as bi-weekly volumes at newsstands.

iTunes

Power Rangers episodes have become available on the iTunes Store. So far, part of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and all of Power Rangers: S.P.D. are available, and the first 26 episodes of Power Rangers: Mystic Force are as well. Also, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is the only Power Rangers movie currently available on iTunes.

Disney Xtreme Digital

Power Rangers is one of several shows made available for free online streaming, on Disney.com's official video streaming website Disney Xtreme Digital. This scheme allows any U.S.-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. However, most of the episodes have not yet begun streaming on the website and only sneak peeks and teaser trailers are available.

International airings

Power Rangers has always had success in foreign markets and still airs in many countries today, except for New Zealand where the series is being filmed today.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Disney buys Fox Family for $3B". CNNfn. www.money.cnn.com. 2001-07-23. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  2. ^ "Day of the Dumpster". Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Season 1. Episode 1. 1993-08-28. FOX. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, Power Rangers: SPD, Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive, Power Rangers: Jungle Fury
  4. ^ Tommy Oliver removed his White Ranger helmet in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episode "White Light", Leo Corbett, the Red Ranger in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy, had his visor smashed in "Journey's End".
  5. ^ There are exceptions to this rule: Justin, the Blue Turbo Ranger, was in his early teens. but had the body of an adult when morphed; Anubis "Doggie" Cruger, the S.P.D. Shadow Ranger, has a muzzle that seems to disappear beneath the helmet; and Daggeron, the Solaris Knight, transforms into his Ancient Mystic Mode while in the process of morphing.
  6. ^ This has been the modus operandi from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers through to Power Rangers: Wild Force.
  7. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Mighty Morphin". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  8. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Zeo". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  9. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Turbo". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  10. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Space". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  11. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Lost Galaxy". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  12. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Lightspeed Rescue". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  13. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Time Force". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  14. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Wild Force". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  15. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Ninja Storm". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  16. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Dino Thunder". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  17. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | S.P.D." Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  18. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Mystic Force". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  19. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Operation Overdrive". Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  20. ^ "Power Rangers Jungle Fury Press Release". Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  21. ^ "Power Rangers | Teams | Jungle Fury". Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  22. ^ "Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive - First 2 Volumes of 'Complete Series' DVDs Planned @ TVShowsOnDVD.com". Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  23. ^ "Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive - Box Art, Date, Price & Extras for Volume 3: Blue Sapphire DVD @ TVShowsOnDVD.com". Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  24. ^ "Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive - Finish the Adventure in February: Final Two Volumes Kick Into Overdrive @ TVShowsOnDVD.com". Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  25. ^ "Power Rangers Jungle Fury - Disney Announces Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 DVDs for Jungle Fury @ TVShowsOnDVD.com". 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
  26. ^ "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1 @ Amazon.de". Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  27. ^ "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2 @ Amazon.de". Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  28. ^ "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 3 @ Amazon.de". Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  29. ^ "Power Rangers Zeo @ Amazon.de". Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  30. ^ "Power Rangers Turbo - Season 5 @ Alphamusic.de". Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  31. ^ "Power Rangers Ninja Storm @ Amazon.co.uk". Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  32. ^ "Power Rangers Dino Thunder @ Amazon.co.uk". Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  33. ^ "Power Rangers S.P.D. @ Amazon.co.uk". Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  34. ^ "Power Rangers Mystic Force @ Amazon.co.uk". Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  35. ^ "Power Rangers Operation Overdrive @ Amazon.co.uk". Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  36. ^ "Power Rangers Mighty Morphin' - Volume 28 @ lcj-editions.com". Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  37. ^ "파워레인저". Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  38. ^ "파워레인저 SPD". Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  39. ^ ":: 파워레인저 매직포스 ::". Retrieved 2007-08-05.


[1] (x j a h) Power Rangers on OpenStreetMap

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