Earlier this year, it was announced that Mighty Morhin’ Power Ranger would be once again be coming to the silver screen. The 90’s children’s show became a huge hit and a movie based on the show was released back in 1995. 21 years after the show premiered, fans are still in love with it and many of the series’ actors regularly attend conventions to meet all the die-hard fans, showing the interest and passion that still exists for the series. However, even though the show had (and still has) many dedicated fans out there, there are some facts that are less known by those than others. Here is a list of some things you may have never known about Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.
1. Walter White was on the show?!
Alright, Walter White was not on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, but the man who played him was. Bryan Cranston is known for playing Hal on Malcolm in the Middle and also for portraying the devious Walter White on Breaking Bad, but before both of those television shows were created, Cranston provided the voices to a few of the villains the Power Rangers had to fight off during the first season of the series. Cranston was the voice of Snizard in the 1993 episode “Foul Play in the Sky,” and of Twinman in the episode “A Bad Reflection on You.” Crnaston has also done voice work on many English versions of foreign movies.
2. The Yellow Ranger passed away
Thuy Trang portrayed Trini the original yellow ranger on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Unfortunately, the actress passed away on September 3, 2001 at the age of 27. Trang was involved in a car accident and was not wearing her seat belt. Her passing was overshadowed by the events of 9/11 that took place a week later. Many of her Power Rangers’ co-stars attended the funeral including David Yost who played Billy and Amy Jo Johnson who starred as Kimberly. Trang’s last on-screen role was as Kali in the film The Crow: City of Angels in 1996.
3. A different actress played Trini in the pilot
If you have ever gotten the chance to view the original pilot of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, you know there are many differences between that and the series we know and love today. One of the biggest differences is the character of Trini was played by a different actress. Hispanic-American actress Audri Dubois played the yellow ranger. Once the show was picked up, the role was recast. The name Trini is common in the Mexican culture, so it is odd the name was not changed when Thuy Trang took on the role.
4. Walter Jones is missing a finger
Though it is never discussed on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, the character Zack is missing the middle finger on his left hand. The reason for this is because Walter Jones, the actor who plays Zack, lost his finger during an accident when he is four years old. If you rewatch early episodes of the series, you will notice the missing digit. Jones made guest star appearances on Step by Step, Family Matters, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch after leaving the series.
5. The series was controversial in other countries
When Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers first began airing back in 1993, many Parent groups thought the show was too violent and wanted it removed from the air. Compared to the unaired pilot, the series eliminated a lot of the violence before it began to air. Foreign countries even refused to air the show. The series was pulled off the air in Sweden in 1994, when a young girl was murdered by two boys. Though the children were fans of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and not Power Rangers. New Zealand did not begin broadcasting the show until 2011 and Malaysia changed the name of the title because “Morphin’” looked too much like “Morphine.”
6. The Red Ranger and Green Ranger are related?!
It is clear on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers that Jason and Tommy are just classmates and best friends. However, in the Japanese version of the series the Green Ranger is the estranged brother of the Red Rangers. This is one of the reasons why the Green Ranger is evil at first. In the Japanese version, the Green Ranger dies when the green candle burnt out. Since Jason David Frank was a fan favorite, the prodcures decided not to kill him (as this would be too traumatizing for a children’s show) and made him become the White Ranger.
7. Extra footage was shot in Japan
Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers became a huge hit for FOX and the network requested that additional episodes be created. This was good news, however; all the Japanese footage had already aired in America. The producers contacted the company in Japan that created the show and requested more episodes be made. They agreed and wrote an additional 25 episodes. Personality traits of the America show were incorporated into this footage.
8. Jason was intended to remain the leader
When Tommy returned as the White Ranger on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, Zordon named him the new leader of the gang. The original concept was to have Jason the Red Ranger continue to be the team’s leader. Around this time, the contract dispute with Austin St. John was taking place as you can tell from the voice-over during fights scenes not being performed by him. Since producers knew he would be exiting show, they rewrote the episode to have Zordon say Tommy would lead the Power Rangers instead.
9. The actors endured grueling filming schedules
It was not easy being a part of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. The six main actors had to work 16-hour days 7 days a week to film episodes of the series. This included fight scenes when the actors were not in their costumes and voice over work for when their characters were in costume. Production would last for four months at a time.
10. Accidents on set
There were several accidents that occurred on the set of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. The prop that was used to switch Billy and Kimberly’s brains during season 1 caused David Yost and Amy Jo Johnson to catch on fire. Additionally, Thuy Trang was injured filming a fight scene and can be scene wearing a knee brace during season 2. She would not do any of her own stunts after this accident.
What are some other fun facts you know about Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers? Let us know in the comments section below.
Photo via FOX
Related: FOX
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