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in: Mighty Morphin, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 1) episodes, Mighty Morphin 1, Episode

A Pig Surprise

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Icon-mightymorphinThis article is about an episode in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

A Pig Surprise is the forty-second episode of the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Synopsis

Our heroes spearhead a drive to find homes for stray animals, including an old lady's pig named Norman. But Norman is no ordinary pig since it was planted by a Putty as part of one of Rita's schemes. At Rita's command, he transforms into the infamous Pudgy Pig! With the Rangers occupied, she plans to send Goldar to rip apart the city. Can they be stopped?

Plot

The Rangers are in the park for Angel Grove's Pet Adoption Day. As they help find new homes for the many animals, an old woman approaches them with a very fat pig named Norman and asks that they find him a good home before leaving. Meanwhile, Zack is running late and spots the same old woman turn into a Putty holding a strange device before getting jumped by a pack of them. After fighting the clay-brains off, Zack picks up the dropped device.

As the Adoption Day ends, Bulk and Skull arrive demanding a pet as cool as them, and so the Rangers give them Norman. The next day at school, Bulk is showing off his new pet to the students and boasting about how "smart" he is (which given his company is not hard to be). Meanwhile, Billy is studying the device that Zack found and determines it to be some kind of timing mechanism that is counting down. When Zack tells Billy and Trini about the disguised Putty, they realize that Norman may actually be a part of Rita's schemes.

Billy and Trini go back to work on the device as the other Rangers look for Bulk and Skull. As they study it, the device suddenly shuts off, and Billy determines that its countdown has finished. At the Juice Bar, Bulk and Skull are splitting a submarine sandwich and getting some attention from a cute girl due to Norman, but Ernie comes in and tells them to take the pig outside. Suddenly, Norman transforms into a familiar and very unfriendly face: Pudgy Pig!

Zack arrives at the evacuated Juice Bar to see the porcine pest chasing Bulk and Skull for their sandwich. Zack gets the pair to give their food to Pudgy so they can escape, but Pudgy himself teleports away. At the Command Center, the Rangers are briefed by Zordon but are afraid of harming Norman in his monster state. Regardless, they know from past experience that Pudgy can't be allowed to run loose and morph into action.

The initial fight with Pudgy ends with him escaping, so Zordon tracks his movements to a local farm and teleports the Rangers there. Instead of another battle, however, they are surprised to see Pudgy trying to woo a female pig. Knowing that there's no way any of Rita's actual monsters could understand love, they determine that Norman is still himself despite his transformation and is thus harmless.

The tender moment is interrupted by Zordon with grave news. Pudgy Pig was a diversion to get the Rangers out of Angel Grove so that Rita can enlarge Goldar and destroy the city. As the Rangers return to town, they are met with a welcoming committee of Putties led by Scorpina. Once the immediate threat is fought off, the Megazord is brought in to deal with Goldar. The Megazord triumphs after a fierce fight, though Goldar escapes before the Power Sword can finish him off.

Back on the farm, Billy rewires the timer device to turn Pudgy back to normal, allowing Norman to live happily with his new friend. The next day at school, Trini tells her friends that the owner of the farm has agreed to adopt Norman, while Mr. Caplan arrives with a pig as part of a special lecture. Upon seeing this pig, however, Bulk and Skull panic and cower in the corner, getting laughs from everybody.

Cast

Notes

  • First ever episode to have a monster return after being killed in a previous episode.
  • This episode is widely known for and criticised for overuse of stock footage from previous episodes (due to the new Zyu2 battle footage still being in production at the time this episode was made).
  • As of the first shot of the Putties flipping in to fight Zack, footage from all 50 Zyuranger episodes had been used.
  • Dave Mallow was credited in this episode as Colin Phillips for Squatt but not credited at all for Pudgy. Whether this is a mistake or something Mallow personally requested is unknown,
  • This is the second and final time we ever see Pudgy Pig outside of stock footage. His actual final appearance (via stock footage) would be in the episode "Lights, Camera, Action."
  • Footage of the Pudgy Pig fight is recycled from "Food Fight", although the shots of Pudgy Pig eating the Power Rangers' weapons is removed.
  • Footage of the Megazord fight is recycled from "Day of the Dumpster" "Green With Evil, Part I: Out of Control," and "The Rockstar".
  • Footage of the Rangers fighting against Scorpina is recycled from "Eclipsing Megazord.

Errors

  • Zack looks at his communicator and says he’s running late, even though the communicators don’t have a display with which to show the time.
  • Trini assumes that Norman is a real pig and doesn't consider it could have been magically created by Rita.
  • Kimberly says “and are you ready for this, his name is Norman” as if the monster having an actual name was the weirdest thing to happen in the episode.
  • Both the Rangers and some girl in the Youth Center refer to Norman (a pig) as cute.
  • During the Pudgy Pig fight, Billy jumps and stabs at Pudgy but nothing then happens.
    • Billy's Power Lance can also be seen in his mouth right after.
  • Before Pudgy Pig kicks Billy away, there is a frame of Kimberly and Trini's stomachs.
  • When Zack attacks Pudgy Pig, he has his Power Axe but it is then gone when he is knocked away.
  • Billy and Trini immediately assume that the old woman they encountered was the Putty Zack saw despite many families being at that Pet Adoption Day.
  • After Zack contacts Zordon, he incorrectly says "The other Rangers are here and have been brief and are waiting your arrival.
  • Zordon tells Zack to await teleportation but Zack is clearly the one to teleport himself to the Command Center.
  • Zack says that the Putties ruined a good day despite already running very late.
  • Why would Rita give her timer device to the Putties?
  • When Scorpina says "okay" before jumping down to fight Jason, it is very clearly said by Barbara Goodson doing Rita's voice and not Wendee Lee.
  • Jason gives a rabbit to a little kid at the start without a carry cage or something to prevent it from escaping or getting injuries.
  • At the start of the final scene, Kimberly speaks with a wide open mouth but her words are either distorted and whispered or edited out entirely for some reason.
  • During the Zack Putty fight, a Putty jump punches but is both never seen landing or addressed.
  • It is not explained why Rita needed a mechanical timer device to turn Norman into Pudgey Pig, when she has the ability to turn things into monsters with her magic whenever she wants. Also, she could have just had Finster make a new clay model as was done with the original Pudgey Pig.
  • The Rangers abandon Norman at the farm without telling the farmer and just hoped he would be adopted. Usually, this would result in Norman being chased off by the farm due to potential diseases.
  • Both Jason and Rita incorrectly refer to the Megazord’s Power Sword as “Mega Sword”.

See Also

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