Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

1 9 9 3 – 1 9 9 6 (USA/Japan)
145+ x 30 minute episodes

This major kiddie fad of the early 90s was created by Israeli-born schlockmeister Haim Saban and musician/composer Shuki Levy, and featured five (later six) squeaky clean Californian teenagers who could ‘morph’ into superheroes.

Equipped with dinosaur-like vehicles (Dinozords – subsequently upgraded to Thunderzords) the Power Rangers battled the evil Rita Repulsa. The wicked witch was aided and abetted by her husband Lord Zedd (over whom she had cast a spell), her brother Rio Revolto, and such henchmen as the Tenga warriors Baboo, Finster and the Putty Patrol.

The original five Power Rangers were karate black belt Jason, gymnast Kimberly, reflective Trini, brainy Billy and exuberant Jack. The sixth Ranger, Tommy, was a turned agent of Rita.

The production was extremely cheap, and the Rangers were masked for the action sequences, simply because this enabled the producers to incorporate uncredited footage from a Japanese live-action sentai show called Zyu Ranger.

While no expense was spent on the series, it caused a veritable merchandising bonanza ($350 million in 1993 alone) which was eked out via periodic updates (such as title changes to Power Rangers Zero and Power Rangers Turbo) which required new uniforms and equipment – and thus new merchandise lines.

There was also a 1995 feature film, and a companion series called VR Troopers.

Kimberly Hart (Pink Ranger)
Amy Jo Johnson (1)
Catherine Sutherland (2)
Sizuka Arai (3)
Billy Cranston (Blue Ranger)
David Yost
Tommy Oliver (White Ranger)
Jason David Frank (1)
Hideki Ogihara (2)
Jason Lee Scott (Red Ranger)
Austin St John (1)
Atusi Godai (2)
Rocky DeSantos (Red Ranger)
Steve Cardenas (1)
Kazuhosi Nakajima (2)
Trini (Yellow Ranger)
Thuy Trang
Aisha Campbell (Yellow Ranger)
Karan Ashley
Zack (Black Ranger)
Walter Jones
Adam Park (Black Ranger)
Johnny Yong Bosch
Rita Repulsa
Barbara Goodson (1)
Machiko Soga (2)
Carla Perez (3)
Finster
Robert Axelrod
Baboo
Dave Mallow
Zordon
David Fielding (1)
Bob Manahan (2)
Taro Arakawa (3)