Power Rangers Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary

Subject: Power Rangers Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary Fri 13 Jul 2012, 9:48 pm

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/13/comic-con-power-rangers-20th-anniversary

With over 800 episodes airing across 150 countries, there’s no denying that the Power Rangers franchise has inspired and empowered multiple generations of fans. In particular, though, it was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series that started the revolution that would quickly become a staple in many a childhood (including my own).

It’s been almost 20 years since the original show made its debut on Fox Kids, thanks to the show’s developmental pioneer Haim Saban. In honor of that, Comic-Con held a 20th anniversary panel featuring some of old the cast and crew to talk about their experiences working on the show and how it has impacted their own lives over the years. Panelists included Saban Brands president Elie Dekel, MMPR producer-writer Tony Oliver, Walter Jones (the original Black Ranger), Paul Schrier (Bulk), Alex Heartman (the latest Red Ranger in Power Rangers Samurai).

Reflecting on old times, Jones noted that one of the things that made the show work so well back then was the chemistry among the cast. For him, it was their collective working relationship that allowed the show to go on as long as it did.

As Dekel recalled, in addition to the actors, it wasn’t really until the 1990s that a series like MMPR could really click with younger audiences. Saban had struggled for nearly ten years to bring Japan's Super Sentai to the states, adapting the show into what we now know as the Power Rangers. Fortunately, the combination of up-and-coming actors along with the particular climate of the entertainment industry served as a perfect platform for bringing the re-imagined series to life.

It was around the time that Schrier was ready to give his own input that a certain “heckler” spoke out from the audience: none other than Jason Narvy, who played Skull to Schrier’s Bulk. The audience erupted as Narvy made his way on stage. The actor basked in the welcome applause, engaging in a physical slapstick bit with his old partner Schrier, which caused even more uproar from the crowd. Their casual back and forth offered plenty of comic relief throughout the panel.

While the initial fan reception of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was nothing short of “morphinomenal” in 1993, the panel did take note of its dedicated fan base, which has proved to be incredibly loyal over the years. Oliver mentioned that it wasn't until he saw the ongoing chatrooms and message boards still actively discussing the show that he realized now was the best time for releasing the series on DVD for a whole new generation.

Closing out the panel, the audience was shown an updated sizzle reel featuring footage from the new DVDs -- backed by the show’s classic opening theme, of course. And from the clips we saw, Power Rangers has never looked better in DVD quality (speaking as someone who's well worn out his old VHS copies). The 19-disc set (available now) not only collects all 155 episodes of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Alien Rangers, but also includes numerous archival features and retrospective featurettes.

As for the future of the franchise -- which has just finished airing new episodes of Power Rangers Samurai on Nickelodeon -- Dekel assured the giddy audience, "There is no end in site." And as Heartman confirmed with me backstage, the next iteration of the show is already underway.

Stay tuned for full one-on-one interviews with Jones, Schrier, Narvy and Heartman as they speak more about their time with the Power Rangers.

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Who watched this growing up?

Who was/were your favorite rangers?

power rangers defying gravity since the 1990s

Yeah I would not getting the DVD set or at least renting it if my library gets it.

It was a big part of my childhood.

My favorite ranger was the Blue Ranger but I also liked the White Ranger and Pink Ranger [I found her really pretty]. :p

Go, Go Power Rangers!

Ive never really understood the power rangers was the leader the blue one or the red one?.Why was the pink one always a blond chick? And why is the yellow one always some Asian chick?.I wish there was an orange power ranger since orange is my favorite color.

Mr.KellyKelly wrote:: Ive never really understood the power rangers was the leader the blue one or the red one?.Why was the pink one always a blond chick? And why is the yellow one always some Asian chick?.I wish there was an orange power ranger since orange is my favorite color.

The red ranger is usually the leader. Although Tommy as the Green/White ranger became the leader for a while.

I don't know the stats on the pink ranger being blond but of course the most widely known one Kimberly was a brunette.

And again the most widely known yellow ranger was Asian [RIP] but I don't think there were any more Asian yellow rangers after her [there was an Asian pink ranger if I recall].

Orange is a decent color but I guess they never liked it.

I think they had silver and gold before but they usually stick with the original 5/6.

actually trini was the only asian yellow ranger and the pink ranger only has had two or three blonde and red is always the leader
and their was a orange ranger in spd

I didn't know they had an orange ranger.

I have not followed it in a while although I've seen commercials ever so often.

Oh and I also forgot about there villains they had they look so cheap and disgusting.This should of been just a cartoon type of a show.

well it was technically in a dream but there was the Kat ranger who was mostly white and orange

WTF a cat ranger?

no the kat ranger was an alien with cat features named Kat

Oh I was like WTF an animal ranger.. :-X

Nope that was jungle fury

To start, for anyone with Netflix, they have almost every episode on there.

Man, this was my show as a kid. I watched it every week, I had everything Power Rangers. I had audio tapes to books that I had, Power Ranger toys that had a small button on the back that flipped their helmet head into their body and it came out with their actual face.

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Turbo were the two that I liked the most. Nothing beats the original.

I'll comment more in a bit.

I always wondered why while they we're individually calling out their Zords why the monster didn't just step on em. Was he reading a magazine during all that time?

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