Power Rangers
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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.
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 2007 has consisted of 15 television seasons, 14 different series, and two theatrical films. The fifteenth season and thirteenth series, Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive, debuted on February 26 2007,<ref> "Kick into Overdrive 1".
Power Rangers Operation Overdrive. Toon Disney . 2007-02-26. </ref> and completed on November 12 2007. The new series, Power Rangers: Jungle Fury will debut in February of 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.<ref name=buyout>"
Disney buys Fox Family for $3B " , CNNfn , www.money.cnn.com , 2001-07-23 . Retrieved on 2007-09-21 . </ref> This resulted in Fox Family Worldwide becoming ABC Family Worldwide.<ref name=buyout/> This buyout also included Saban Entertainment becoming BVS Entertainment, from News Corporation, Fox's parent company, and Haim Saban.<ref name=buyout/> The show continued to air on Fox until its Fox Kids package was dismantled 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. As of 2007, Disney Channel remains the only Disney-owned network that has never aired Power Rangers.
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The Power Rangers
A Power Ranger is a fictional individual who "Morphs" from an unpowered form into a powerful superhero usually wearing a brightly colored battle suit usually made of spandex featuring a helmet with an opaque visor.<ref> "Day of the Dumpster".
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. FOX . 1993-08-28. No. 1, season 1. </ref> 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; unmorphed Rangers may possess other innate abilities such as telekinesis,<ref>See Andros from Power Rangers: in Space</ref> super speed,<ref>Demonstrated by Conner McKnight in Day of the Dino in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder</ref> invisibility<ref>Tommy Oliver displayed this skill in "Back in Black" et al, in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder</ref> 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<ref>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".</ref>, revealing his or her natural form underneath.<Ref>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 that seems to disappear beneath the helmet; and Daggeron, the Solaris Knight, transforms into his Ancient Mystic Mode while in the process of morphing.</ref> 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;<Ref>This has been the modus operandi from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers through to Power Rangers: Wild Force</ref> 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, 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.
Plot sequence
A normal Power Rangers episode can be broken down into a formulaic plot. The plot sequence is generally as follows:
- Rangers are seen in everyday life with a dispute to resolve.
- Rangers are attacked by an evil foe's minions/footsoldiers.
- Rangers fight minions/footsoldiers.
- Rangers morph.
- Rangers defeat the minions/footsoldiers.
- 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.
- Optional: Rangers find that their current powers are insufficient to defeat minion and discover a new power, such as a Battlizer, or a sixth Ranger.
- Optional: Rangers find or receive new Zord/s, new Megazord or Megazord combo.
- Optional: Friends or allies show up to offer help or support.
- Rangers fight and defeat that particular giant minion.
- Rangers are shown back in everyday life, having learned a life lesson which solves the earlier dispute.
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 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.) 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 need be. 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. 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", 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 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. This was somewhat rectified when Xander, the Green Mystic Force Ranger, appeared in the Operation Overdrive mega-crossover 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 teaming-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).
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
- Ethnicity of 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
- Source of the Rangers' power; it is usually magic, unconventionally advanced technology, or (as in Power Rangers Dino Thunder) a combination thereof.
Seasons
Colors
Just like the Super Sentai series that Power Rangers is based off of, the color palette of a Power Ranger team has varied greatly throughout the years.
Modèle:Ent The Titanium Ranger is the first original Power Ranger developed for the English-language television series. Modèle: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. Modèle:Ent Ninja Storm has the Crimson and Navy Rangers that wear suits of darker hues of Red and Blue, respectively. Modèle: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. Modèle: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.
Spin-off
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.
It has been heavily criticized for splicing random footage from the Kamen Rider Series' shows and films, to the point it was obvious that the Rider was wearing different costumes.
Motion pictures
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) and the Power Rangers, franchise to the Walt Disney Company, still maintains worldwide home entertainment rights to these two Power Rangers films.
| Film | Year |
|---|---|
| Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie | 1995 |
| Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie | 1997 |
Stage show
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers World Tour Live on Stage was the name of the stage show that toured during the second season of the TV show. It featured all the characters on the TV show at around the same time as The Wedding.
Recent distribution
Power Rangers on DVD
Currently, there are only 26 DVD releases of Power Rangers in the USA (as listed below).
The current Power Rangers DVD titles are:
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, 1995; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
- Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, 1997; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie/Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, 1995, 1997; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (DVD compilation set of both movies.)
- 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 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
- Power Rangers: Mystic Force Volumes 1-3, 2006, BVHE
- Power Rangers: Mystic Force Dark Wish, 2006, BVHE
- Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive Volumes 1-3, 2007, BVHE
Additionally, volumes 4 and 5 of Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive will be released on February 12 2008. For the first time in the US, all five volumes will contain the entire season.<ref>Modèle:Citeweb</ref><ref>Modèle:Citeweb</ref><ref>Modèle:Citeweb</ref>
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. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1 and Season 2 have been released in Germany, with season 3 tentatively being scheduled for a December release.<ref>Modèle:Citeweb</ref><ref>Modèle:Citeweb</ref> There are plans to release Zeo-Lost Galaxy and rerelease Wild Force in Germany as well. France also has plans to release all of Power Rangers on DVD.
Power Rangers on iTunes
Power Rangers episodes have recently become available on the iTunes Music 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.
Power Rangers on Disney XD
Power Rangers is one of several shows made available for free online streaming, on Disney's official video streaming website Disney XD. 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.
- UK - Airs on Jetix UK CITV and Nick Jr. (UK)
- USA - Airs on Toon Disney and ABC
- Australia - Airs on Channel Seven and FOX8
- France - Airs on TF1 and Jetix France
- Germany - Airs on Jetix Germany, Super RTL and RTL
- Italy - Airs on Italia 1 and Jetix Italia
- Middle East - Airs on MBC 3
- India - Airs on Jetix
- Canada - Airs on Family Channel
- Poland - Airs on Jetix Polish, Polsat and TV4
- Spain - Aired on Tele 5, Antena 3, Canal Megatrix, FoxKids Spain and now on Jetix Spain.
- Mexico - Airs on Jetix and Canal 5
- Brazil - Airs on Jetix Brazil and Rede Globo
- Chile - Airs on Jetix
- Latin America - Airs on Jetix
- Portugal - Airs on SIC
- Philippines - Airs on ABS-CBN (Seasons 1-3, 5, 10-13); Studio 23 (Zeo) and Hero (Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder and SPD). The series is dubbed in Filipino.
- Malaysia - Airs on RTM, initially sponsored by Litt Tak, the distributor of Bandai toys in Malaysia
- Singapore - Airs on MediaCorp TV 12 Central
- Indonesia - Airs on Indosiar, previously on RCTI
- South Africa - Airs on Mnet
- Zimbabwe - Airs on ZBC and Star Kidz and Kidz.Net
- Japan - All Modèle:Nihongo shows and movies are dubbed into Japanese for television and video. The voice actors are often pulled from past Super Sentai casts, which also leads to the English-dubbed action sequences being "re-dubbed" or "restored" back to Japanese as well.
- South Korea - Airs on JEI TV. Bandai of Korea dubs the original Super Sentai series from Japanese into Korean and airs it as "Power Rangers," and has so far had Dino Thunder<ref> 파워레인저
. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
</ref>, S.P.D.<ref> 파워레인저 SPD
. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
</ref>, Magic Force and Treasure Force.<ref> :: 파워레인저 매직포스 ::
. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
</ref>
Characters
See also
- List of Power Rangers cast members
- List of Power Rangers voice actors
- List of Power Rangers villains
- List of Power Rangers monsters
- List of Power Rangers planets
- List of Power Rangers episodes
- Zord
- Battlizer
- Super Sentai
- VR Troopers
- Masked Rider
- Big Bad Beetleborgs
- Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills
- Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad
References
External links
- Jetix' Official Power Rangers website
- Official Disney Power Rangers Websites
- Modèle:Tv.com show
- Power Rangers Universe Wikia
Modèle:Power Rangers Modèle:Jetixar:باور رينجرز de:Power Rangers es:Power Rangers fr:Power Rangers hr:Power Rangers it:Power Rangers ms: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 th:พาวเวอร์เรนเจอร์ zh:金剛戰士系列
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