Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 1)

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 1)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (abbreviated as MMPR) is an American live-action children's television series 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 the feature film Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

The second and third seasons of the show 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 five main Rangers and several regular villains. Only the mecha and the Kiba Ranger costume (worn by the White Ranger) were retained from Dairanger for the second season, while only the mecha from Kakuranger were featured in the third season. However the five Kakuranger costumes were later used for the title characters of the mini-series, Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. The series was produced by MMPR Productions, distributed by Saban Entertainment, and aired on Fox Kids. The show's merchandise was produced and distributed by Bandai Entertainment.

In 1996, the series was rebranded as the Power Rangers franchise; renaming the series every year after and using costumes, props, and footage from subsequent Super Sentai series, as well as changing the cast and storyline. While an overarching storyline would continue until Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, subsequent series after MMPR are not sequels or spin-offs in the traditional sense.

In 2010, a re-version of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, with a new logo, comic book-referenced graphics, and extra alternative special effects, was broadcast on ABC Kids, and Bandai produced brand new toys to coincide with the series.

Season 1 (1993-94)

The series takes place in the fictional town of Angel Grove, California. On an exploratory mission, two astronauts discover an extraterrestrial container (referred to as a dumpster as a result of its smell) and breach the unit, inadvertently releasing the evil alien sorceress 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 he was responsible for capturing so long ago, he orders his robotic assistant Alpha 5 to select five "teenagers with attitude" to defend the Earth from Rita's attacks. The five teens chosen are Jason Lee Scott, Kimberly Hart, Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan, and Billy Cranston. Zordon gives them the ability to transform into a fighting force known as the Power Rangers, providing them with an arsenal of weapons at their disposal, as well as colossal assault machines called Zords, which can combine into the Megazord.

The series begins with five teenagers combating Rita 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. Using the Green Power Coin, 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. Entrusted with Rita's Sword of Darkness, source for the continuance of the evil spell he has fallen victim to, Tommy comes dangerously close to defeating the Power Rangers, especially when Rita causes a Solar eclipse that temporarily drains the Megazord's power. However, the Green Ranger is ultimately defeated, and the Sword of Darkness is destroyed by Jason. Now free from Rita's spell, Tommy chooses to use his Green Ranger powers to assist the other Rangers in defeating the evil that gave them to him in the first place. His Zord, the Dragonzord, is reconfigured to enable it to help form more powerful Zord combinations alongside the other Dinozords.

As time goes on, Rita focuses her plans on eliminating Tommy in order to regain the powers that she believes belong to her. Using a special wax touched by Tommy when he was evil, Rita uses a magic Green Candle to sever Tommy's link to the Morphing Grid and slowly remove his powers, returning them to her. In the end, Tommy loses his powers, but 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. However, Tommy later returns to the team when the other Rangers' Power Coins are handed over to Rita in exchange for their kidnapped parents. With Zordon's help, Tommy regains his Green Ranger powers and successfully retrieves the other Rangers' Power Coins. However, Tommy's regained powers are only temporary and must be frequently re-charged by Zordon, who makes no attempt to hide the fact that the Green Ranger's powers will ultimately fail. Despite this, Tommy remains determined to continue assisting the other Rangers as long as possible.