The Ninja Encounter

This article is about an episode in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

The Ninja Encounter
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 2), Episode 2x22, 2x23, 2x24
Air Date(s)	November 2, 1994 (Part 1) November 3, 1994 (Part 2) November 4, 1994 (Part 3)
Production Information
Written by	Shuki Levy Shell Danielson
Directed by	Shuki Levy
Episode Guide
Previous	Zedd's Monster Mash
Next	A Monster of Global Proportions

The Ninja Encounter is a three-part episode in the second season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. It features the introduction of Rocky, Adam, and Aisha.

Synopsis

Three teens from nearby Stone Canyon High School come to Angel Grove for a ninja tournament and find themselves targeted for recruitment by Lord Zedd, learning the Power Rangers' secret identities and becoming friends with them in the process.

Plot

Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy meet Stone Canyon High Students Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, and Aisha Campbell as well as their favorite teacher Hank Anderson and his baby son Jacob, after saving the child from a runaway stroller. Later that day, the Rangers watched the newcomers win a ninja tournament against a trio of undefeated but nasty champions from Hasper City, who caused the stroller incident.

Lord Zedd was interested in recruiting the Hasper City champions because of their evil qualities, but when he learned that the other side won the tournament, he was furious. Goldar offered to search the planet for people with the same qualities as the Hasper City trio, but Zedd reluctantly decided to recruit the Stone Canyon teens instead. He sent Goldar to kidnap the three kids and Mr. Anderson, while a platoon of Putties kept Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy from rescuing them.

While Bulk and Skull looked after Jacob, the Rangers had to balance rescuing the four civilians with saving Angel Grove from two monsters. They managed to defeat the monsters and save the hostages at the very last second, but as Billy was wrestling with Zedd's evil snake, he was severely weakened. Tommy threw the snake off of Billy while Kimberly Blasted it. The two Rangers had to take Billy's helmet off for him to avoid suffocating. However, unbeknownst to them, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha were watching on from the entrance to the cave, and inadvertently learned the identities of the Power Rangers.

Rocky, Adam, and Aisha are taken to the Command Center. Having run background checks on them and finding them to be of good character and due to their bravery, Zordon decides to trust the three with the secret of the Rangers' identities. Rocky, Adam, and Aisha agree, taking a vow to never reveal what they've learned, and they reunite with their new friends.

Cast

• Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver (Mighty Morphin White Ranger)
• Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (Mighty Morphin Red Ranger) (Archive Footage Only)
  • Paul F. Rosenthal as Jason Lee Scott (Red Ranger) (Morphed Dialogue)
• Walter Jones as Zack Taylor (Mighty Morphin Black Ranger) (Archive Footage Only)
  • Joel Rogers as Zack Taylor (Black Ranger) (Morphed Dialogue)
• David Yost as Billy Cranston (Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger)
• Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan (Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger) (Archive Footage Only)
  • Judy as Trini Kwan (Yellow Ranger) (Morphed Dialogue)
• Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Ann Hart (Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger)
• Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos
• Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park
• Karan Ashley as Aisha Campbell
• Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier
• Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch (Credit only in Part 2)
• Timothy Guest as Mr. Hank Anderson
• Jacob Frank as Jacob Anderson
• David Fielding as Zordon (face)
  • Robert L. Manahan as Zordon (voice)
• Romy J. Sharf as Alpha 5
  • Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice) (as Richard Wood)
• Ed Neil as Lord Zedd
  • Robert Axelrod as Lord Zedd (voice)
• Danny Wayne Stallcup as Goldar
  • Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar (voice) (as Ryan O'Flannigan)
• Steve Kramer as Hatchasaurus (voice)
• Dave Mallow as Terror Blossom (voice)

Notes

• The song featured in the beginning of Part 1 is entitled "She's Got the Answers". It was written by Ron Wasserman and featured in "Sweet Valley High", another Saban-produced show.
• Jacob Anderson is played by Jacob Frank, Jason David Frank's first child from his first marriage.
• Rocky, Adam, and Aisha would wear the same outfits from this episode while showing Alpha a pre-recorded message of them wishing him a Merry Christmas in Alpha's Magical Christmas.
• Part I is the first episode in the franchise which employs no Sentai footage, as well as being the first in which none of the Rangers appear morphed.
• First appearance of Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, who become the first people to learn the Rangers identities' and who would assist the Rangers behind the scenes before going on to replace Jason, Zack and Trini as the Red, Black, and Yellow Rangers respectively in "The Power Transfer".
• First episode to use archive footage of Jason, Zack, and Trini from previous episodes to hide the fact that their actors had already left the show before proper departure scenes could be filmed. Among the footage used is mainly "Two Heads are Better than One", (recognizable from Zack's flattop), and some from "The Song of Guitardo" (recognizable from the appearance of Kimberly's guitar).
• To match the archive footage, Billy wears his older glasses while Tommy wears green clothes despite now being the White Ranger, although the shirt he wore in "Two Heads are Better than One" has bits of both colors. He also tied his hair into a ponytail before teleporting to the Command Center.
• In some scenes, stand-in actors are used in place of Austin St. John, Thuy Trang, and Walter Jones, and they are always shown from the back.
• The Terror Blossom conjures up the Hatchasaurus from "Birds of a Feather". Footage of the giant-sized battle is also drawn from that episode.
  • The footage of the Hatchasaurs' arm volcanos was previously deleted footage from that episode where it was considered too gross by the censors to originally include (seeing as the volcanos resemble massive grey warts.
• Hatchasaurus speaks in this episode, while it didn't in its previous appearance.
• Part II is the only time that a monster (the Hatchasaurs) is able to take a charged slash from the Thunder Saber and survive.
  • This is likely because Cardiatron took the brunt of it and was presumably destroyed by it.
• In earlier broadcasts of Part 3, the song "Baby Sittin' Boogie" by Buzz Clifford was featured during the scene in which Bulk and Skull attempted to change the baby's diaper. For later broadcasts (as well as the DVD, iTunes, and Netflix versions), it's replaced with Bulk and Skull's background music, presumably for copyright reasons.
• Bulk and Skull have been wanting to discover the identities of the Rangers the whole season, yet don't hatch any plan to do so in these episodes, mainly because they were first trying to save Jacob in his runaway stroller in the first bit of part one and ended up looking after him for the rest of the three-parter. However, Adam, Rocky, and Aisha accidentally learn who the Power Rangers really are in their first appearance in the series.
• Part II introduces a new transport mode called "Jetting", which allows the Rangers to see exactly where they are going. When the Rangers "Jet", the way they fly is almost the same as Superman. This is one of only two times that this is used, the other being "The Power Transfer-part I."

Errors

• Throughout all three parts, due to three of the main actors leaving, stock footage is used and dubbed over. As a result, Zack suddenly has a flattop haircut (despite switching to dreadlocks in Season 2) and Kimberly's guitar can be seen behind Trini and Kimberly during the scene in the park.
  • The latter is clearly not intentional as it appears in some shots but not others (the latter being because they came from after the guitar had already become Guitardo).
• At the very beginning of Part I, Jason & Trini's stand-ins' faces can be seen briefly from the side and front respectively.
• Despite their actors not being present in this scene during the baby chase, Jason, Zack and Trini should've heard Mr. Anderson's call for help since Tommy, Billy and Kimberly heard it.
• When Tommy, Kimberly & Billy defeat the Putties in part 1, they don't make contact with the "Z"s on the Putties' chest, yet the putties break apart anyway.
• In Part II, before Tommy kicks the Hatchasaurus, he asks where he went, even though he was facing the monster before asking the question.
• For the second time, the Rangers neglect to destroy the Hatchasaurus' Cardiatron in their first engagement.
• In part II, the building that Hatchasaurs destroys after being resurrected following his defeat by the Thunder Megazord's mist attack seems to lack floors, proper walls, glass in the windows, and occupants in an error recycled from Season 1.
• In Part III, Kimberly calls Billy and Tommy by name in front of Rocky, Adam, and Aisha before Billy is unmasked, though she may not have been aware they were behind her.
• In part II, when Zedd creates the Terror Blossom, the effects guy left in a visible frame saying "Zedd makes flower guy appear" and they didn't bother to edit it out.

The frame error

• In part II, during the fight in the countryside, the area changes from night to day consistently due to mixing the night footage from Zyuranger and the stock punch/mist attack shots from Dairanger (since Dai never had a battle at night).
• In part II, the White Tigerzord lands after the Hatchasaurs was destroyed by the Thunder Megazord's mist attack despite already being in battle beside it.
• In part II, Zedd recreates the Hatchasaurs in his third horned form but is then in his second, non-horned form up until his destruction.
• In part II, the White Tigerzord completely disappears from the fight from when it landed in the city alongside the Thunder Megazord up until the volcano attack and then disappeared again until Tommy finished the monster off.

In part II, when the Hatchasaurs hits both Megazords with his shoulder volcanos, one can see AC's shoulder on the left side of the screen (which would be the White Tigerzord's right).

• At multiple points during part II's Zord fight, the Thunder Megazord is standing in or falling over onto the countryside despite fighting in the city. This is most obvious after it fell down from the shoulder volcano attack.
• In part II, the Hatchasaurs celebrates defeating the Thunder Megazord in his third and final form but is back to his second before charging at the Thunder Megazord and being hit by it's finisher.
• During the Zord fight in part II, there are a plethora of errors relating to the Dinozords and the various forms Hatchasaurs took on in 'Birds of a Feather."
  • When the Thunder Megazord reacts to Hatchasaurs' shoulder volcanos, it is suddenly night since this footage is recycled from (the then unaired) "Rocky Just Wants to Have Fun."
    • This error is repeated moments later when it is shot by the volcanos.
      • Also, due to it looking at Serpentera's counterpart in source, the Thunder Megazord is looking into the sky despite Hatchasaurus being right in front of it.
    • The Hatchasaurs is resurrected into his second form after the mist track defeated him Burnie suddenly back in his original form when the Zords arrive.
      • This is due to taking his final form footage out of its original context (which was when Jason and Cardiatron were fighting in his stomach) and it is here to make the Zedd segment fit in.
    • When the Thunder Megazord charges at him, shortly before bashing it with his shell, the Hatchasaurs has a red, spiked belly that he previously lacked.
    • The Hatchasaurs blasts the Dino Megazord with its eyebeams instead of the Thunder Megazord because the editors had given up.
    • The Thunder Megazord pulls the Power Sword out of the ground instead of the Thunder Saber out of its sheath.
• When the Hatchasaurs charges at the Thunder Megazord and Tigerzord after surviving the Thunder Saber slash, he is suddenly in his third and final form despite not having time to resurrect and Cardiatron having apparently died to the Thunder Saber.
• The only way to destroy the Hatchasaurs is to destroy Cardiatron, but that was never shown in Part II and here they were still able to destroy him.
  • It may be interpreted that Cardiatron was destroyed by the Thunder Saber slash but that it left ambiguous at best.

See Also

• Ep. 27: I Want to Eat Mei - Super Sentai counterpart in Zyuranger. See comparison page. (Flowers ripped from their Garden footage)
• Ep. 43: Live Again! Zyusouken - Super Sentai counterpart in Zyuranger. See comparison page. (Hatchasaurus footage)
• Ep. 10: Ah, the Vengeful Goddess - Super Sentai counterpart in Dairanger. See comparison page. (Terror Blossom Footage & Zord Battle)
• Ep. 55: The Colored Daishogun! Tuthankamen's Curse - Super Sentai counterpart in Gorenger. See comparison page. (First Yellow Ranger replacement)
• Ep. 23: The Female Commander of Galaxy Haunts - Super Sentai counterpart in Sun Vulcan. See comparison page. (First Red Ranger replacement)
• Ep. 11: Enter, New Warrior Jun - Super Sentai counterpart in Bioman. See comparison page. (First Female Yellow Ranger replacement)