Power Rangers is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise Super Sentai. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Entertainment, later by Saban Brands, and today by SCG Power Rangers LLC and its parent company, Hasbro, the Power Rangers television series takes much of its footage from the Super Sentai television series, produced by Toei Company.[1] The first Power Rangers entry, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, debuted on August 28, 1993, and helped launch the Fox Kids programming block of the 1990s, during which it catapulted into popular culture along with a line of action figures and other toys by Bandai.[2] By 2001, the media franchise had generated over $6 billion in toy sales.[3]
Despite initial criticism that its action violence targeted child audiences, the franchise has been commercially successful. As of 2023, Power Rangers consists of 30 television seasons of 22 different themed series, three theatrical films released in 1995, 1997, and 2017 and a television special released in 2023.
In 2010, Haim Saban, creator of the series, regained ownership of the franchise. It was previously owned for eight years by The Walt Disney Company. In 2018, Hasbro was named the new master toy licensee. Shortly afterwards, Saban Brands and Hasbro announced that the latter would acquire the franchise and the rest of the former's entertainment assets in a $522 million deal, with the first products from Hasbro becoming available in early 2019.[4][5]
Since Power Rangers derives most of its footage from the Super Sentai series, it features many hallmarks that distinguish it from other superhero series. Each series revolves around a team of youths recruited and trained by a mentor to morph into the eponymous Power Rangers, able to use special powers and pilot immense assault machines, called Zords, to overcome the periodic antagonists. In the original series Mighty Morphin, the wizard Zordon recruits "teenagers with attitude" against Rita Repulsa.[6]
When "morphed," the rangers become powerful superheroes wearing color-coded skin-tight spandex suits and helmets with opaquevisors; identical except in individual rangers' color, helmet design, and minor styling such as incorporating a skirt. Morphed Rangers generally possess enhanced strength, durability, agility and combat prowess. Some possess superhuman or psychic abilities such as super-speed, element manipulation, extra-sensory perception or invisibility.[7] In addition, each individual ranger has a unique weapon, as well as common weaponry used for ground fighting.[note 1] When enemies grow to incredible size (as nearly all do), Rangers use individual Zords that combine into a larger Megazord.
Rangers teams operate in teams of three to five, with more Rangers joining the team later. Each team of Rangers, with a few exceptions, obeys a general set of conventions, outlined at the beginning of Mighty Morphin and implied by mentors throughout many of the other series: Power Rangers may not use their Ranger powers for personal gain or for escalating a fight (unless the enemy does so), nor may the Power Rangers disclose their identities to the general public.[note 2] The penalty for disobeying these rules is the loss of their power.
As in Super Sentai, the color palette of each Power Rangers team changes every series.[note 3] Only Red and Blue appear in every Ranger team. Other colors and designations also appear throughout the series.[note 4] A Rangers' color designation also influences their wardrobe throughout the series: civilian clothing often matches Ranger color.[note 5]
History
Adapting the Super Sentai series
The idea of adapting Sentai series for America emerged in the late 1970s after the agreement between Toei Company and Marvel Comics to exchange concepts to adapt them to their respective audiences. Toei, with Marvel Productions, created the Japanese Spider-Man television series, and produced three Super Sentai series, which had great success in Japan. Marvel and Stan Lee tried to sell the Sun Vulcan series to American television stations including HBO, but found no buyers and the agreement ended.[8][9]
Several years later, another idea to adapt Super Sentai began in the 1980s when Haim Saban made a business trip to Japan, in which, during his stay at the hotel, the only thing that was being transmitted on his television was the Japanese series Choudenshi Bioman. At that time, Saban was fascinated by the concept of five people masked in spandex suits fighting monsters, so in 1985, he produced the pilot episode of Bio-Man, an American adaptation of Choudenshi Bioman, which was rejected by several of the largest American television stations.[10][11] His idea only took off in 1992, as Saban came to Fox Kids, whose president Margaret Loesch had previously helmed Marvel Productions and thus was familiar with Super Sentai.[12]
Production of Power Rangers episodes involves extensive localization of and revision of original Super Sentai source material to incorporate American culture and conform to American television standards. Rather than making an English dub or translation of the Japanese footage, Power Rangers programs consist of scenes featuring English-speaking actors spliced with scenes featuring either Japanese actors dubbed into English or the action scenes from the Super Sentai Series featuring the Rangers fighting monsters or the giant robot (Zord and Megazord) battles with English dubbing. In some series, original fight scenes are filmed to incorporate characters or items unique to the Power Rangers production.[13] Like many of Saban Entertainment previous ventures in localizing Japanese television for a Western audience, the plot, character names, and other names usually differ greatly from the source footage, though a few seasons have stayed close to the story of the original Super Sentai season. The American arm of Bandai, who co-produced the Sentai shows and manufactured its toys, worked with the adaptation of the Japanese names. A brainstorming among executives led to "Power Rangers", and for the specific show that would be made, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, evoking the transformation sequences. The meeting also brought up the term "Zord" for the giant robots, to invoke both the sword that the Megazord carried, and the dinosaurs that were the team's theme.[12] Along with adapting the villains from the Super Sentai counterparts, most Power Rangers series also feature villains with no Sentai counterpart. Generally, the primary antagonist of a Power Rangers series (for example, Lord Zedd, Divatox, etc.) are not adapted from the Sentai. Exceptions to this includes Zeo, Lightspeed Rescue and a few others which only use villains adapted from the Japanese shows.
Saban Entertainment produced and distributed Power Rangers from 1993 until the end of 2001, with Fox Kids broadcasting the series in the United States until the Fall of 2002. The Walt Disney Company acquired the franchise as part of a larger buyout of Fox Family Worldwide that took place in 2001.[14][17][18][19] Fox Family Worldwide subsequently became ABC Family Worldwide Inc.[19] This buyout also saw Saban Entertainment become BVS Entertainment in 2002, from News Corporation, Fox's parent company, and Haim Saban.[19]
2008's Power Rangers Jungle Fury was originally set to be the final season, but due to obligations with Bandai, Disney would produce 2009's Power Rangers RPM.[23] An article in The New Zealand Herald published on March 7, 2009, identified RPM as the last season of the Power Rangers run. Production manager Sally Campbell stated in an interview, "...at this stage we will not be shooting another season."[24][25] A September 1, 2009, revision to Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia by Disney's head archivist Dave Smith states that "production of new episodes [of Power Rangers] ceased in 2009".[26] Production of Power Rangers ceased and the last[update] series by BVS Entertainment, RPM, ended on December 26, 2009.[24]
On October 1, 2009, Bandai released a press release stating that Disney would re-broadcast Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in January 2010 on ABC Kids in lieu of producing a new season. A new toy line accompanied the broadcast and appeared in stores in the later part of 2009.[14][27][28]
2011–2021
On May 12, 2010, Haim Saban bought back the Power Rangers franchise from Disney for $43 million and announced plans to produce a new season of the television series.[29][30][31] Beginning with the eighteenth season, Samurai (using footage from the 2009 Super Sentai series, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger) the series would be produced under Saban Capital Group's new Saban Brands subsidiary and premiere on Nickelodeon on February 7, 2011.[30][32] Reruns of previous seasons and episodes would also begin airing on sister channel Nicktoons later that year.[32][33][34] In addition to Samurai, Saban announced plans to make a new Power Rangers film.[35]
On October 1, 2013, Saban Brands announced that it had extended agreements for the franchise with Nickelodeon and Bandai America Incorporated through 2016.[41] In January 2016, Saban and Nickelodeon extended their broadcast partnership through 2018.[42] In February 2018, it was announced that Power Rangers would continue airing on Nickelodeon through 2021.[43] That same month, Saban Brands appointed Hasbro as the global master toy licensee for Power Rangers in April 2019 with a future option to purchase the franchise.[44] On May 1, 2018, Saban would agree to sell Power Rangers and other entertainment assets to Hasbro for US$522 million in cash and stock.[45][46] The Saban Brands subsidiary ended operations upon the closure of the deal on July 2, 2018.[47]
The twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh seasons, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, would be produced by Hasbro's Allspark studio. Beginning with the twenty-eighth season, Power Rangers Dino Fury, the series is being produced by Entertainment One (which was acquired by Hasbro on December 30, 2019, and merged with Allspark in October 2020).
2021–2023
In late April 2021, actor Chance Perez announced in an interview that the second season of Power Rangers Dino Fury (the twenty-ninth season overall) would premiere on Netflix in 2022; making it the first season of the series to premiere exclusively online through a streaming service. Meanwhile, new episodes of the series moved to the streaming service on June 15, 2021.[48][49][50][51]
On June 14, 2022, it was announced that Jenny Klein will serve as showrunner for a Power Rangers television series that is being developed by Entertainment One for Netflix. It has been reported that she will work alongside Jonathan Entwistle, who is set to direct a second attempt at a film reboot (unrelated to the 2017 film reboot).[52] Entwistle stated on his now-deleted Twitter page that the series he and Klein are developing is set to be part of the same canon as the upcoming Power Rangers film, which he described as a "cinematic universe".[citation needed]
The first six seasons (beginning with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and ending with In Space) followed an overarching, evolving storyline. The second season began the annual tradition of the Rangers acquiring new Zords to battle enemies while the core suits from the first season were used, except for that of the White Ranger. With the fourth season, Zeo, Power Rangers began following the Super Sentai series' practice of annual Ranger suit changes.
Although the seventh season, Lost Galaxy, had ties with the preceding season, it was otherwise the first season to follow a self-contained story, as would later seasons of the show up until the seventeenth, RPM. The season also began the tradition of team-up episodes featuring Rangers, villains, and other characters from past seasons. Beginning with the eighteenth season, Samurai, the show returned to a multi-season format similar to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, with self-contained storylines told across two seasons each. The thirtieth season, Cosmic Fury, is a continuation of Dino Fury's story.[54][55][56]
According to The Illuminerdi, Cosmic Fury is revealed to probably be the series' final season, with a reboot series set to release in 2025.[57]
Power Rangers has been adapted into three theatrical motion pictures. The first two are distributed by 20th Century Fox, while the third film was released in 2017 by Lionsgate.
In May 2014, Saban Brands and Lionsgate announced that they are planning to produce a new Power Rangers feature film.[58] The film, titled simply Power Rangers, was released on March 24, 2017 to mixed reviews and a low performance at the box office. A fourth Power Rangers film is currently in development by Entertainment One and Netflix.[59][60][61][62] On July 11, 2019, during a Reddit AMA, Dacre Montgomery revealed that the studio had plans to produce a second reboot, without him and the rest of the cast and the director returning.[63] On December 13, 2019, it was reported that Jonathan Entwistle is in early talks to direct the reboot, with Patrick Burleigh being set to write the screenplay. The plot will reportedly involve time travel and will be set in the 1990s.[64]
On April 19, 2023, a special film titled Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always was released. It serves to commemorate the 30th anniversary of both Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the Power Rangers franchise.
Power Rangers has long had success in international markets and continues to air in many countries. As of 2006, Power Rangers aired at least 65 times a week in more than 40 worldwide markets.[70] Many markets carry or have carried the series on their respective Fox or later Jetix/Disney XD channels or have syndicated the program on regional children's channels or blocks, either dubbed into the local language or broadcast in the original English. Since the 2010 acquisition by Saban Brands, international television distribution rights for Power Rangers have been managed by MarVista Entertainment until early-2019.[71][72][73]
Broadcast in East Asian territories has been treated differently from in other international markets due to the prevalence and familiarity of 'the Super Sentai brand originating in Japan. Power Rangers was briefly banned in Malaysia for supposedly encouraging the use of drugs because it contained the word "Morphin'" in its title, which could be associated with morphine. The show eventually aired without the offending word.[74] In Japan, many Power Rangers television seasons and films were dubbed into Japanese for television and video with the voice actors often pulled from past Super Sentai casts, leading to the English-dubbed action sequences being "re-dubbed" or "restored" back to Japanese as well. Power Rangers Mystic Force is the latest season to be broadcast in Japan on Toei Channel in January 2014, with another cast voicing the American counterparts. After broadcast of Power Rangers ended in South Korea with Wild Force, Bandai of Korea started airing dubbed Super Sentai series under the 파워레인저(Power Ranger) brand on JEI TV. Some seasons of Super Sentai broadcast in South Korea have similarly named titles as their American counterparts, such as Power Ranger Dino Thunder[75] for Abaranger in 2007 and Power Ranger S.P.D.[76] in place of Dekaranger.
Home media
On VHS, 3 millionPower Rangersvideo cassettes had been sold in the United States by early 1994.[77]
As of October 2009[update], 33 Power RangersDVD collections have been released in the United States:
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie/Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, 1995, 1997; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (DVD compilation set of both films.)
The Best of the Power Rangers: The Ultimate Rangers, 2003; Buena Vista Home Entertainment (DVD compilation of episodes from five different seasons of Power Rangers. The episodes include "Forever Red" and "White Light" [Tommy's reintroduction as the White Power Ranger]).
Power Rangers RPM 'Bandai Demo DVD', 2009; Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (A promo DVD given away at Disney Stores. Contains the episode In or Out).[83]
Internationally, additional DVD releases have occurred (such as Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force and Wild Force in Germany) and as free DVDs attached to the Jetix magazine, published in the UK. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, and Power Rangers in Space have been released in Germany as well in both English and German, with Power Rangers Lost Galaxy only in German.[84][85][86][87][88][89][90] Additionally, Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, S.P.D., Mystic Force, and Operation Overdrive saw complete boxset releases in the UK.[91][92][93][94][95] In France, Mighty Morphin Season 1 and Season 2 have been released in their entirety in 5 episode DVD volumes, and the first 25 episodes of Season 3 were released in May 2008.[96] In Italy, Mighty Morphin, Zeo, Dino Thunder and S.P.D. have appeared in their entirety. Zeo and S.P.D. were made available as commercial DVDs, while Mighty Morphin and Dino Thunder were issued as bi-weekly volumes at newsstands.
The iTunes Store previously made Power Rangers episodes available: part of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, all of Power Rangers S.P.D., and the first 26 episodes of Power Rangers Mystic Force. Subsequent seasons and episodes of the program also made their appearances in the iTunes Store, but as of July 2009[update], Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is the only Power Rangers film available. In 2012, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1 volumes 1 & 2 were released on iTunes to coincide with the DVD releases. As of February 2013, all 3 seasons of MMPR were released on iTunes.
On March 12, 2012, Shout! Factory announced a home video distribution deal with Saban, which includes the first 17 series of Power Rangers. Shout! Factory released the first seven seasons on DVD in August 2012,[99] seasons 8–12 in November 2013,[100] a 20-year collection in December 2013,[101] and seasons 13–17 in April 2014.[102]
On February 15, 2018, Saban Brands announced that their 25-year partnership with Bandai would end in 2019.[104] The next day, it was confirmed that Hasbro would be the new "global master toy licensee" for the franchise starting in April 2019, with a future option for Hasbro to buy the entire franchise.[105] Hasbro paid $22.25 million upon the toy contract's closure. When they acquired the franchise as a whole later that year, that amount was credited against the purchase price paid to Saban for the series and related assets.[106]
Hasbro has since sublicensed some toy rights to companies including Threezero[107] and Super7.[108]
In November 2018, Insight Editions released Power Rangers: The Ultimate Visual History, detailing the various toys and television seasons over the franchise's 25-year run.[109]
Parodies
The franchise has been parodied by many sectors of popular media along the years.
GTA V: The game features a fictitious animated show named "Kung Fu Rainbow Lazerforce" as a series in the in-game television program.
"Sour Rangers", the parody series of the Power Rangers from Annoying Orange.
^As the series progresses, one or more of the Rangers will usually receive motorcycles 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 do not; an example is the Battlizer given to the Red Ranger of each series since Power Rangers in Space (until Operation Overdrive).
^An original Power Ranger, the Titanium Ranger, was created especially for Lightspeed Rescue to add a sixth Power Ranger to the series.
^Other color designations include metallic colors, violet, and "Shadow", as well as protagonists who have powers and costumes similar to those of the Rangers but are not called "Power Rangers", such as the Blue Senturion and Magna Defender.
^A joke highlighted this correlation in Dino Thunder when Tommy Oliver (a former Green Ranger, White Ranger, and Red Ranger) became the new Black Ranger; he said that he had to go shopping because he did not own enough black-colored clothing.
