| | That's right, folks. It's been nearly two decades since the classic phenomenon swept the nation ever since '92. As a low budget as it was, it attracted the attention of all young viewers from all over the world on the now defunct Fox Kids network. A brief note though - Power Rangers is an adaptation from the Japanese 'tokusatsu' series known as Super Sentai. It originally started with Himitsu Sentai Goranger, or Secret Task Force Goranger. A couple of series after is when the Super Sentai franchise began and 14 carnations later was Karyuu Sentai Zyuranger. The material of said show was used as footage for most of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers seasons. So yes, here in America we started out with MMPR while in Japan they actually had 15 more series way before that. At the same time we are celebrating the 15th anniversary here, Japan is commemorating it's 30th anniversary overseas. Way to go, Toei!
Now this wasn't an ordinary show when it first aired. Yeah, sure we had a lot of superhero animated series that time. But c'mon now, when did we have five teenagers with attitude (uh... yeah, teenagers indeed have attitude, Zordon *rolls eyes*) that can transform into colored heroes in spandex (spandex was new and in old Super Sentai they didn't wear them) and pilot mechanical machines in the appearance of prehistoric beasts? Oh and you won't find a giant floating head and a robot working together anywhere else than this show. Not to mention these guys are able to teleport wherever and whenever thanks to the nifty communicator watch (with a cool ringtone). Let's go take a look back at where it all started.
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Season 1)
Now face it. Everyone saw it and everyone liked it. There's no denying that. What's not to like though? The insanely cheesy dialogue and pisspoor acting from this season totally didn't go through my head when I was a kid. Of course looking back now it really was cheesy from the beginning. Talk about morals and martial arts. But that was really fun. We're introduced to the first rangers ever: Jason, Zack, Billy, Trini (a Vietnamese, no less. Bless your soul, Thuy Trang), and Kimberly. Then along came a guy known as the famous Tommy who started out as an evil guy (he even one time hijacked the guys' zord! Ownage!!). The allies were Zordon, a giant ass floating head in a tube who was talking like some elder Jedi... and Alpha 5, the fully functional automaton with the classic catch phrase "Ai yai yai yai yai yai yai!" and who could forget that? Now in the US adaptation, the show had a more American ethic to it, and because of that, we were able to have two extra characters - the slapstick comedy of Bulk and Skull. And I'm serious, these guys were hilarious all the time throughout the entire series. The amazing theme song made them even more awesome. The main villain, or rather villainess, was none other than Rita Repulsa, adapted from the Japanese counterpart known as Bandora. Her henchmen were of Goldar, the guy with an identity complex, Squatt and Baboo, a knuckleheaded blue ogre and a vampire with alchemic traits, and Finster the little elven creature that created monsters and the Putty Patrol foot soldiers out of clay. We're also introduced to the lovely Scorpina. The rangers always seemed to give Rita a headache.
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Season 2)
The first half of this season started out pretty well, but there was a bit critical issue hidden in this. But to start off, Rita failed to beat the rangers and so a new villain took over known as Lord Zedd (:O) This guy was serious business and was one of the most memorable villains ever. In fact, this guy wasn't in the original Japanese version at all. He was American-made! Got to hand it to Saban for that. So once he took over he sent Rita back into the dumpster from where she was sealed long ago. Then suddenly Goldar became Zedd's right-hand bitch. Squat and Baboo and even Finster did nothing. Anyhoo, the Putties were replaced with Z-Putties, although I actually think these guys are much stupider and more vulnerable. What was he thinking. I forgot to mention but the first season was originally going to end after 50 something episodes with a monster and that's how the Japanese one ended. Though it appears that Saban was afraid they'd run out of footage by then so they had Toei film new footage exclusively for the American version. Also, the outfits stayed the same. I don't really know why they decided to do that but they did. The only costume they kept was the White Ranger after Tommy lost his Green powers. Now here's where one problem started. I guess Saban decided to use the new mecha now to replace the old Dinozords, just like the next Super Sentai known as Dairanger. The problem was that the new footage made was using the Zyuranger material. To make up for it hey had to use specific shots of the Zords looking like they're actually fighting each other but in reality they never showed actual physical contact. It wasn't until then that they decided to finally use Dairanger monsters. Another twist: the three ranges are replaced. The story had to write these characters out of the show as they were selected to be part of a peace conference in Switz. Behind the show though, it was said that the three had asked for a higher pay (because Saban's a real jerk or something) but no dice. They were quickly written off the show. Speaking of which, anyone ever noticed that Walter Jones (aka Zack) played the Black Ranger and Thuy (Trini) was Yellow? A controversial topic came up on this color crisis. But truthfully, discrimination was unintentional. In the pilot episode, Trini was actually a different actress who wasn't Asian. It wasn't until after the pilot that Thuy joined the cast. And they weren't looking at it that way until TV Guide suddenly mentioned it. After that fiasco they fixed it up. In those three's stead introduced Rocky, Adam, and Aisha.
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Season 3)
I don't remember much of this season but I know it was good and bad. Ninja ga imasuuuu~! Yup, they got Ninja powers in this one. If anyone remembers the movie they also became the same ninja. Of course the movie is non-canon so we should take that with every grain of salt. Also, Kimberly was replaced with Katherine. Billy is still the only guy that hasn't changed. Wheee! Now they still decided not to use new costumes again. However, they did introduce the Aquitar, or the Alien Rangers. Their costumes were actually what the costumes would have been if they were sticking to Super Sentai. This was called Kakuranger. There was a whole mini series on this because the regular rangers were changed into wittle kids. (The cast was on tour or something). So we are introduced to Rito, Rita's brother, and Master Vile, Rita's father. They were... apparently owning them. Yeah... This whole event was rather amazing really. The villains were able to destroy the Command Center and their powers. The rangers went on a quest to find the Zeo Crystal that would give them uber new powers. This would eventually lead to the regular Power Rangers franchise we know now, starting with Zeo.
TO BE CONTINUED
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| | Posted 7/15/2007 11:50 AM - 64 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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