Adaptation of Power Rangers

In 1993, a new live action show for kids, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers (MMPR), debuted and its popularity has endured since with its 16th incarnation to air in 2008. The Power Rangers series was based on the long running Super Sentai series of shows that had begun in 1975 and is still in production today. MMPR, the first of the Power Rangers series, was adapted from the 1992 series Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger. John Stossel of ABC’s 20/20 reported that “from an adult perspective, it’s an astonishingly stupid show” and that the popularity of Power Rangers was inexplicable. Given this kind of general consensus among adults, what could have prompted Haim Saban to think that an adaptation was viable? Despite the odds, Saban, found a distributor for an adaptation and its ensuing popularity began a fad for other similar imports such as V.R. Troopers and Big Bad Beetleborgs which were also licensed by Saban. While adults may not understand it, Power Rangers have an appeal towards children that is still applicable today.

Like the adaptation of Gojira into Godzilla, importing Super Sentai was a matter of economics. Saban bought the rights from Toei for a cheap price and reused footage from the Japanese show with new segments shot in America, resulting in production costs three times less than big studio productions. By reducing costs in children’s programming, he had hoped to build a company greater than Disney’s empire. The idea wasn’t new and animated titles such as Astro Boy, Speed Racer and Voltron have been imported in the past. They were true bargains whose production costs had only involved editing and dubbing. However, like Gojira, another production under the tokusatsu (literally special effects) genre, the aesthetic quality of Super Sentai was deemed by American executives to be silly, low tech and cheesy and the concept of a team that morphs into superheroes to fight aliens using martial arts and robots was too outlandish. Saban struggled for years before Margaret Loesch of the Fox Kids network saw potential in delivering something exciting and different.

Even though Super Sentai had many new concepts, story-wise and visually, a contributing factor to its potential and success was its ability to tap into existing and growing trends. Children’s entertainment in the early 90s was saturated with superhero and action cartoons such as Batman, X-Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles etc. Superheroes have been popular among children for generations as they provided idealized role models and allowed children to empower themselves through fantasy. Central to the ability of children to imagine themselves as superheroes was the idea of transformation, from the mundane ordinary to someone extraordinary, from mild mannered Clark Kent to the powerful Superman. However, the transformation of American superheroes has surprisingly been downplayed. For example, Clark Kent quickly changes in a picture booth or the Green Lantern uses his ring and is suddenly clad in his outfit. Although the extended morphing sequences of Sentai shows with specific moves and poses may seem alien, they were easily assimilated by children as their intricate nature became a sort of grammar of empowerment added to ritual play that further facilitated transformation into heroes. Instead of an abstract and objective experience, this ritual made transformation subjective.

Another growing fad in film was martial arts. While it was common for action scenes in Japan, popularity in America began with Bruce Lee’s movies and over time we start to see a few imports of Asian movies starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li. It wasn’t until the 80s and 90s that stars such as Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal etc. made slews of mainstream movies utilizing their skills as martial artists. They represented a new kind of hero that didn’t need super powers but relied on their own strengths and skills that were obtainable by anyone. This period saw a surge in strip mall karate dojos and millions of children took karate classes. The Rangers were able to fit into this new category of heroes and children were further able to identify with and emulate their heroes; their moves were familiar and accessible as a karate kick was easier to replicate than flying or web-slinging.

In importing made-in-Japan myths and heroes with deviations from Hollywood conventions, Saban had to localize the show to make it more accessible to American viewers. The first order of business, like Godzilla, was casting Americans so that the audience could identify with the protagonists. Being the 90s, Saban decided to err on the side of political correctness by incorporating a multiethnic and multigender cast with a black and Asian member and two, instead of one, female members. It was assumed that audiences would not be able to identify with a fully Asian cast. This move retained an audience representing the majority of the country and also allowed the show to appeal to minority groups as black and Asian heroes were uncommon on TV. The ages of the Rangers were also reduced. Instead of Zyurangers,