Top 5 Facts About the Power Rangers

In keeping with the tradition of adapting foreign TV shows for Western audiences, “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” was the American version of a Japanese series called “Super Sentai”. The series came out with a new themed show each year, with the American adaption based on the 16th iteration called “Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger”. In a move that would set the standard for the show’s unconventional shooting methods, the American version of Power Rangers chose to use the already filmed action sequences from the “Super Sentai” series in lieu of shooting new ones. Talk about cutting corners!

Even to kids, it's pretty clear that “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” was scrapped together on a shoestring budget. However, of all the things that seemed a little off none is more glaring than Zordon and his strangely out of sync dialogue. The characters speech and facial expressions could never quite get on the same page. This was due to the fact that David Fielding, the actor who played Zordon, was only filmed once during the entirety of the show’s run. The footage that showrunners got during that one session would be used every time Zordon appeared on screen. Slapping dialogue over the same image numerous times might not be professional, but it’s certainly economical.

The Green Ranger was one of the main characters and leaders of the Power Rangers in nearly every one of the show’s incarnations. The actor who portrayed him originally was Jason David Frank; and to tell you the truth he is just as badass as his on screen persona. Frank is apparently a member of the World Karate Union Hall of Fame and is also a successful MMA fighter who as of 2017 boasts an undefeated record. Oddly enough, Frank was only supposed to appear in a couple of episodes of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” but ended up being so popular fans demanded he be brought back! He would even go on to portray a number of different Rangers including the White Ninja Ranger and Red Turbo Ranger.

While the show made it seem like the actors were having a blast during filming, the reality was slightly darker. For starters, the actors portraying the Rangers were paid below average salaries. The main reason for this was that the show wasn’t unionized, which meant the actors were not entitled to a standard industry wage. Second, accidents often occurred… like the time the Blue and Pink Rangers were set on fire when a pyrotechnic stunt went wrong. Low wages are bad enough without the ever- present threat of a machine malfunctioning or one of your fellow actors mistiming their kick and hitting you in the back of the head...

“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” was first and foremost a show for kids. But that didn’t stop it from being banned in New Zealand and Malaysia. While New Zealand pulled the plug due to complaints over the show’s alleged promotion of violence, Malaysia decided to ban Power Rangers for a slightly different reason. They felt that the inclusion of the word “Morphin” in the title would cause children to start using morphine. The show was ultimately allowed back on the air but only after authorities censored the controversial word in question.