 This article is about a/an series entry (the 1st) in the Power Rangers franchise.
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The first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers first aired on Fox Kids from August 28, 1993 to May 23, 1994. Although it was a children's series, it became an iconic part of 1990s pop culture.
On January 2, 2010, a reversion of the season with a new logo, comic book-inspired graphics, and alternative special effects began airing on ABC Kids, but was pulled from the schedule after 32 episodes. It was later uploaded in the official Power Rangers YouTube channel in 2021.
Mighty Morphin was dubbed in South Korea as Invincible Power Rangers (무작 파워레인저 Mujag Pawaleinjeo).
TV Version
Contents
Production
The earliest iteration of Power Rangers dates back to 1986 when future co-creator of Power Rangers Haim Saban was in Japan on a business trip and happened to turn on television to see the eighth Super Sentai series Choudenshi Bioman. Seeing it as an opportunity to make a lot of money, Haim approached the makers of Super Sentai Toei and got the rights to adapt Bioman so they made a pilot episode to pitch to executives. However, it was consistently refused by TV executives because every adaptation of dubbed material up until this point were massive failures (note: this was around ten years before Pokemon or Dragon Ball Z). By the time that Fox Kids executive Margaret Loesch finally approved it for thier children's block in 1992, Bioman was outdated so Saban went into production using footage from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger from 1992. One element carried over from the failed Bio-Man pilot however were the names of the Rangers; in the pilot they were Victor Lee. Zack Taylor. Billy Cranston. Trini Crystal, and Kimberly Harte. In the series proper, the Rangers were, Jason Lee Scott, Zack Taylor, Billy Cranston, Trini Kwan and Kimberly Ann Hart. According to voice actor Michael Sorich at Power Morphicon 2018, there was a first pilot for the series which was originally called Metalheads and combined footage from both Zyuranger and Superhuman Machine Metalder (which was later the primary source for VR Troopers). Why this was rejected is unknown but he implies it was because it was very bad quality so they went with a different pilot episode to pitch it properly to get green-lit as a show. [1] However, there were some drawbacks to being made; Fox Kids afforded Power Rangers a tiny budget for a television series because they didn't want to lose a lot of money since they assumed that MMPR would bomb. One very strange change made in production was the comic relief. In Zyuranger, the Blue Ranger was the comic relief with the Black Ranger being the resident genius but this was flipped in Power Rangers unknown reasons. As a result, in episodes like "The Rockstar", the Blue Ranger can be soon acting over the top and goofy despite that being very out of character.
Casting for the first season of Power Rangers was complicated. Austin St. John auditioned and was cast as Jason Scott because, in his own words, “a friend bet me twenty dollars that I wouldn’t be wasting my time.” Another man named Jason David Frank also auditioned for the role of Jason but didn't make the cut though he would later be brought on as the very first Sixth Ranger Tommy Oliver due to casting director Katy Wallin liking him. David Yost became Billy Cranston as there was a local audition and he went for fun. Amy Jo Johnson became Kimberly Ann Hart after moving to LA, having studied acting at university and was planning on leaving but “my new acting coach convinced me to stay.” She got the part two weeks after. Walter Jones nearly missed it completely as he had been on his way to Florida to try and join the show Star Search, having left his last job as a cruise ship entertainer. He missed the first audition but made the second and got the role of the Zack Taylor. The casting for Trini Kwan was much more complicated however. In the original pitch pilot, Trini was played by American actress Audri Dubois but she was fired when she wanted more money (a mistake Saban later repeated) and replaced her with Vietnamese immigrant Thuy Trang.
The villain voice actors were hired more sporadically. Rita Repulsa was played by Machiko Soga via Japanese stock footage but they needed a English voice. Barbara Goodson was an immediate choice due to having previously worked with Saban on various animated projects but she famously almost missed out on it due to them wanting a Wicked Witch of the West style voice. After being flown out to LA just to be rejected, Goodson was so angry that she apparently yelled at the producers "You want angry? I'LL SHOW YOU ANGRY!" in the exact same voice she would later use for Rita and she was hired on the spot. Kerrigan Mahan was known by Saban as a skilled dubber, having worked with the company before on several other projects such as Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Tekkoman Blade and so he was one of the "go-to" voice actors. With this in mind, he was asked to come in one day to work on Power Rangers, and when he was in the recording studio, dubbing director Tony Oliver simply said, "OK, Kerrigan, I think there's a gold guy that I want you to play, a guy with wings." [2] The tone of Goldar's voice varies considerably throughout the first season of the series; originally having an intense and angry snarl before becoming deeper but less gravelly starting with "Crystal of Nightmares." This initially fuelled speculation that Mahan had not been the original voice of the character. In reality, Mahan had voiced the character with a gravelly, higher-pitched tone in the earliest episodes but the resulting vocal strain forced him to experiment with other versions of the voice until he eventually settled on Goldar's iconic, low guttural inflection. Sound bites of Mahan's earlier performance were still used in later episodes, most notably in "Goldar's Vice-Versa" during the Zord fight.
Saban was originally going to produce only 40 episodes in the series, ending with the two-parter "Doomsday." Another character was to make an appearance, named Bubba. As the episode was originally written, he piloted Cyclopsis, and was based on the character of Dahl Tribe Prince Kai from Zyuranger. After Cyclopsis' defeat at the hands of the Rangers, Rita would be sealed away in an urn (using footage from the ending of Zyuranger) and the teenagers would give up their powers. However, due to the unforeseen popularity of the series, Saban was faced with the possibility of exhausting all of its Zyuranger footage with no more to fall back upon in order to continue producing the show. Saban contacted Toei along with Rainbow Productions which designed and produced the monster suits, requesting another half-season's worth of Zyuranger footage to be made specifically for Power Rangers. The two Japanese companies agreed, creating around 25 brand-new monsters and filming both human and Zord-sized battle footage for each. They also incorporated elements from MMPR into the footage, including a relationship between the Green and Pink Rangers, and the Blue Ranger's portrayal as the brains of the group. This footage is collectively known in the Power Rangers fan community as "Zyu2" though it has no official name.
Synopsis
Long ago, the ancient wizard Zordon Battled the evil sorceress Rita Repulsa. After many years he managed to defeat her using five magical power coins. As punishment for her loss, she was sealed in a canister on the Earth's moon. However, before being sealed away, Rita trapped Zordon in a time warp.
10,000 years later, Rita and her minions have escaped their prison and are out to conquer Earth. Zordon, desperate to stop her, has his assistant Alpha 5 recruit five "teenagers with attitude": Jason, Trini, Kimberly, Zack, and Billy. Granted the powers of prehistoric animals in the form of Power Coins, they become the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
After several losing battles, Rita captures a newcomer to Angel Grove named Tommy Oliver and brainwashes him to become her Evil Green Ranger. Though Tommy inflicts repeated and crushing defeats to the Rangers, they are ultimately able to wrest control of his mind away from Rita, and he joins the team as the sixth Power Ranger. His first stint with the Rangers would be short lived, however, when Rita creates a magical green candle to strip Tommy of his powers and return them to her control. Tommy elects to give what remains of his powers to Jason in order to keep them away from Rita.
The Rangers continue to battle Rita's increasingly evil schemes, and Tommy is later brought back to their side (albeit in limited capability) when Zordon is able to infuse his Power Coin with his own ancient power. However, Rita's presence only invites even more trouble...
Characters
Rangers
The first Power Rangers for the 1st half of the season
The first Power Rangers (including the Green Ranger) for the 2nd half of the season
Original cast
Tommy Oliver
Rita Repulsa and her gang
| Color | Role | Actor |
|---|---|---|
| Red Ranger | Jason Lee Scott | Austin St. John |
| Black Ranger | Zack Taylor | Walter Jones |
| Blue Ranger | Billy Cranston | David Yost |
| Yellow Ranger | Trini Kwan | Thuy Trang |
| Pink Ranger | Kimberly Ann Hart | Amy Jo Johnson |
| Green Ranger | Tommy Oliver | Jason David Frank |
Allies
- Zordon (portrayed and first voiced by David Fielding, then Bob Manahan)
- Alpha 5 (Romy J. Sharf, voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz who was credited as Richard Wood)
Civilians
- Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier (Paul Schrier)
- Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch (Jason Narvy)
- Ernie (Richard Genelle)
- Mr. Caplan (Henry Cannon)
- Ms. Appleby (Royce Herron)
- Angela (Renee Griggs)
Villains
- Rita Repulsa
- Goldar
- Squatt
- Baboo
- Finster
- Scorpina
- Lokar
- Evil Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
- Mutant Rangers
- Putty Patrollers
- Super Putty Patrollers
- Mighty Morphin 1 Monsters
- Bones
- Skeleton Warriors
- Giant
- Mighty Minotaur
- King Sphinx/Fly Guy
- Gnarly Gnome
- Pudgy Pig
- Chunky Chicken
- Eye Guy
- Mr. Ticklesneezer
- Knasty Knight
- Pineoctopus
- Terror Toad
- Madame Woe
- Snizzard
- Dark Warrior
- Genie
- Shellshock
- Spidertron
- Spit Flower
- Frankenstein Monster
- Wheel of Misfortune (monster)
- Mutitus
- Rockstar
- Samurai Fan Man
- Weaveworm
- Babe Ruthless
- Fang
- Cyclops
- Hatchasaurus & Cardiatron
- Polluticorn
- Twin Man
- Octoplant
- Goo Fish
- Goatan
- Fighting Flea
- Jellyfish Warrior
- Mantis
- Dramole
- Grumble Bee
- Two-Headed Parrot
- Peckster
- Pumpkin Rapper
- Soccadillo
- Slippery Shark
- Lizzinator
- Rhinoblaster
- Commander Crayfish
- Oysterizer
Arsenal
Morphers
Multi-Use Devices
- Power Coins
- Power Crystals
Communication Devices
Sidearms
Individual Weapons and Team Blaster
- Power Blaster/Power Weapons
- Power Sword
- Power Axe
- Power Lance
- Power Daggers
- Power Bow
- Dragon Dagger
Power-Ups
Other Weapons
Vehicles
Zords
- Legend:◆ piloted zord, ➲ carrier zord
Dinozord System
- Dino Ultrazord ◆◆◆◆◆◆➲
- Baconodon (comics only) ◆
- Featherdactyl (comics only) ◆
Alternate Combinations
Evil Zords
- Cyclopsis (Goldar)
Episodes
- Day of the Dumpster
- High Five
- Teamwork
- A Pressing Engagement
- Different Drum
- Food Fight
- Big Sisters
- I, Eye Guy
- For Whom the Bell Trolls
- Happy Birthday, Zack
- No Clowning Around
- Power Ranger Punks
- Peace, Love and Woe
- Foul Play in the Sky
- Dark Warrior
- Switching Places
- Green With Evil Part I: Out Of Control
- Green With Evil Part II: Jason's Battle
- Green With Evil Part III: The Rescue
- Green With Evil Part IV: Eclipsing Megazord
- Green With Evil Part V: Breaking The Spell
- The Trouble with Shellshock
- Itsy Bitsy Spider
- The Spit Flower
- Life's a Masquerade
- Gung Ho!
- Wheel of Misfortune
- Island of Illusion, Part I
- Island of Illusion, Part II
- The Rockstar
- Calamity Kimberly
- A Star Is Born
- The Yolk's on You!
- The Green Candle, Part I
- The Green Candle, Part II
- Birds of a Feather
- Clean-Up Club
- A Bad Reflection on You
- Doomsday Part I
- Doomsday Part II
- Rita's Seed of Evil
- A Pig Surprise
- Something Fishy
- Lions & Blizzards
- Crystal of Nightmares
- To Flea or Not to Flee
- Reign of the Jellyfish
- Plague of the Mantis
- Return of an Old Friend Part I
- Return of an Old Friend Part II
- Grumble Bee
- Two Heads are Better than One
- Fowl Play
- Trick or Treat
- Second Chance
- On Fins and Needles
- Enter... The Lizzinator
- Football Season
- Mighty Morphin' Mutants
- An Oyster Stew
VHS/DVD Releases
VHS Release
- Power Rangers: Red Alert
- Two Heads are Better than One
DVD Release
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: ClassiXX Season 1 (German Release)
- MIghty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 1 (Time Life Set)
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 1, Volume 1
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 1, Volume 2
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Complete Series
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Complete First Season (Walmart exclusive)
Notes
See Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Notes
External links
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 1 | Power Rangers - The Official Power Rangers Website
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2010 | Power Rangers - The Official Power Rangers Website
See Also
- Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger - Super Sentai counterpart . See comparison page.
- Himitsu Sentai Gorenger - Super Sentai counterpart . See comparison page. (first instalment of the Super Sentai franchise)
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