Mighty Power Rangers (MMPR) is an American superhero television series produced by Saban Entertainment, which aired from August 28, 1993 to November 27, 1995, on the Fox Kids programming block, lasting three seasons. The series drew elements and stock footage from Super Sentai, a Japanese television series by Toei Company. Each season was inspired by Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, Gosei Sentai Dairanger, and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, respectively. The series is the first entry of the Power Rangers franchise.
The series follows a group of teenagers from the fictional city of Angel Grove, California, chosen by the intergalactic being Zordon, to transform into the Power Rangers, a group of warriors prepared to fight against evil monsters sent from space by witch Rita Repulsa and her minions.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon, along with a large line of toys produced by Bandai, live tours, home media releases, and other merchandise, generating $1 billion in revenue by 1995. The third season of the show was immediately followed by mini-series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers in 1996, spawning a long-lasting television franchise.
While a global storyline would continue in Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, Power Rangers in Space (which would function respectively as the fourth, fifth, sixth seasons and would be grouped as the "Zordon Era"), subsequent seasons of the Power Rangers series would not be sequels or spin-offs in the traditional sense, having self-contained plots without any strong connections to the original series, while still set in the same universe. However, cast members and elements from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers would still be present on future iterations of the franchise, most notably, Jason David Frank reprising his role of Tommy Oliver in Power Rangers Dino Thunder.
The original series also spawned the feature film Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, released by 20th Century Fox on June 30, 1995. Despite mixed reviews, it was a success at the box office and earned a cult following..
In 2017, a feature film titled Power Rangers was released, serving as a reboot for the franchise. Due to both the film's financial failure and Hasbro's acquisition of the franchise in 2018, another reboot is in development.
A television special titled Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always commemorated the 30th anniversary of the series and premiered on Netflix on April 19, 2023.
Plot Season 1 (1993–1994) The series takes place in the fictional town of Angel Grove, California. On an exploratory mission on the moon, two astronauts discover an extraterrestrial container (referred to as a dumpster) and breach the unit, inadvertently releasing the evil alien sorceress Rita Repulsa and her minions from 10,000 years of confinement. Upon her release, she and her army of evil space aliens set their sights on conquering the nearest planet—Earth. The wise sage Zordon, who was responsible for capturing Rita, later becomes aware of her release and orders his robotic assistant Alpha 5 to select five "teenagers with attitude" to defend the Earth from Rita's attacks. The five teens chosen are Jason Lee Scott, Kimberly Hart, Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan, and Billy Cranston. Zordon gives them the ability to transform into a superhuman fighting force known as the Power Rangers. This provides them with formidable abilities and an arsenal of weapons, as well as colossal assault vehicles called Zords which can combine into a giant humanoid robot known as the Megazord.
The series begins with the five teenagers combating Rita and her seemingly endless array of monsters, while also dealing with typical teenage problems and clashing with local bullies Bulk and Skull. However, consecutive failures lead Rita to adopt a new method for conquering Earth and destroying the Power Rangers—by attacking them with one of their own. Using her magic, Rita kidnaps and brainwashes a local teen whose fighting skills prove to equal that of Jason's in a martial-arts tournament held in Angel Grove. The new teen, Tommy Oliver, passes Rita's tests, becoming the Green Ranger. Entrusted with Rita's Sword of Darkness, the source for the continuance of the evil spell he has fallen victim to, Tommy comes dangerously close to defeating the Power Rangers. After sabotaging the Command Center and cutting off Zordon's connection to their dimension, Tommy helps Rita strike another blow to the Rangers when the Megazord is drained of its power in battle by a solar eclipse and then blasted into a molten lava crevice. However, Alpha eventually succeeds in reestablishing connection with Zordon, who then revives the Megazord. With it, the Rangers stop Tommy's rampage on Angel Grove with his Dragonzord, and Jason ultimately defeats Tommy in a one-on-one duel by destroying the Sword of Darkness. Now free from Rita's spell, Tommy chooses to use his Green Ranger powers to assist the Rangers in defeating the evil that gave it to him in the first place and the Dragonzord is reconfigured to enable it to help form more powerful Zord combinations alongside the other Dinozords.Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season One; "Green With Evil, Parts I-V"
As time goes on, Rita focuses on eliminating Tommy to regain the powers that she believes belong to her. Using a special wax that was touched by Tommy when he was brainwashed by her, Rita uses a magic Green Candle to slowly remove his powers, returning them to her. In the end, Tommy loses his powers, but he prevents Rita from reclaiming them by transferring them to Jason who, feeling guilt for failing to protect Tommy's powers, accepts them. However, Tommy later returns to the team when the other Rangers' Power Coins are handed over to Rita in exchange for their kidnapped parents. With Zordon's help, Tommy regains his powers and successfully retrieves the other Rangers' Power Coins. However, Tommy's regained powers are only temporary and must be frequently re-charged by Zordon, who warns him that the Green Ranger's powers will ultimately fail. Despite this, Tommy remains determined to continue assisting the other Rangers as long as possible.Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season One; "The Green Candle, Parts I-II"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season One; "Return of an Old Friend, Parts I-II"
Season 2 (1994–1995) Lord Zedd, an intergalactic warlord and Rita's superior, arrives at Rita's Moon Palace, where he takes her place and throws her into a space dumpster again. He then begins his own campaign to conquer Earth. In order for the Power Rangers to compete with Zedd's monsters, which are superior to the ones Finster made by Rita, Zordon and Alpha upgrade the Dinozords into the more powerful Thunderzords (which combine into the Thunder Megazord). However, Tommy is forced to retain use of the Dragonzord, due to his Green Ranger powers being too weak to support a new Zord.Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season Two; "The Mutiny, Parts I-III"
After several defeats, Zedd's attacks on the Rangers progressively become more violent. He focuses his attention on eliminating Tommy, whom he sees as Rita's biggest mistake in giving him the Dragon Power Coin. The Green Ranger's powers rapidly deteriorate, but Zedd's efforts enhances the process. He succeeds with a special Green Crystal and uses it to completely take away the Green Ranger's powers, and powers up Zedd's Dark Rangers. When Tommy smashes the crystal, the Dark Rangers are sent away. Following the loss of the Green Ranger's powers, Zordon and Alpha create, in secret, a new White Ranger to aid the other Rangers in battle. The White Ranger is revealed to be Tommy, who in addition receives a new Zord, the Tigerzord, and also becomes the new leader of the Power Rangers (replacing Jason), with a power that cannot be controlled or taken by the forces of evil.Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season Two; "Green No More, Parts I-II"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season Two; "White Light, Parts I-II"
During the Team Ninja Trials in Angel Grove, the Rangers become friends with three teenagers from Stone Canyon: Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park and Aisha Campbell. During an ensuing battle with Zedd and a magical serpent, Rocky, Adam and Aisha discover the Rangers' identities and, having been entrusted with their secret by Zordon, the three newcomers become allies of the Rangers.Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season Two; "The Ninja Encounter, Parts I-III" Later on, Jason, Zack and Trini are selected to represent Angel Grove at a World Peace Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Rangers are faced with the task of finding replacements. To transfer the powers of the Red, Black and Yellow Rangers, they must find the Sword of Light, which is located on a deserted planet. Zedd pursues them across the galaxy in Serpentera, his massive personal Zord, and destroys most of the deserted planet. Serpentera runs out of power before being able to finish the Rangers, and they return to Earth safely with the Sword of Light. Zordon then chooses Rocky, Adam and Aisha to replace Jason, Zack and Trini as the Red, Black and Yellow Rangers, respectively.Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season Two; "The Power Transfer, Parts I-II"
Sometime before the power transfer, during the time when Tommy was being turned into the white ranger, Rita had returned to Earth and fell into the hands of Bulk and Skull, but the Rangers sent her back into space. She later returns to the Moon while the Rangers are in Australia, and with the help of Finster, she gets a special "makeover" to gain a younger and "prettier" face. She then uses a love potion on Zedd, who is in a deep sleep during his centennial re-evilizer, and he falls in love with her when he wakes up. They get married and join forces to make an even more terrible threat for the Rangers, but not even this can prepare them for what is to come.Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season Two; "The Wedding, Parts I-III"
Season 3 (1995) Rito Revolto, Rita's skeletal brother, comes to Earth and destroys the Rangers' Thunderzords and the Tigerzord with the help of a group of monsters. As a result, the Dinozords are also destroyed and the Power Coins are damaged beyond repair. Undaunted, the Power Rangers seek the aid of Ninjor, the alleged creator of the Power Coins, who gives them new Ninja Power Coins, providing them with the even more powerful Ninjazords (which combine into the Ninja Megazord) and the Falconzord.Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season Three; "Ninja Quest, Parts I-IV"