30 years of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers – or was it Super Sentai Zyuranger?
February 2022 marked the milestone of the 30-year anniversary of the Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, Pink and Green Ranger and their popular Zords or Mechas.
But what the western world knows as Power Rangers, that took over 90s pop culture by storm, was already the sixteenth installment of a Japanese Tokusatsu named ‘Super Sentai’. Let us walk you through the world of Super Sentai and Power Rangers really quick:
A Tokusatsu is a television drama with heavy use of special effects, costumes and often monsters, aliens or futuristic aesthetics. Most popular among the genre might be Godzilla, Gamera, Kamen Rider, Ultraman and of course, the Super Sentai series.
@super.sentai.scans
@super.sentai.scans
When Haim Saban, now Hollywood Walk of Famer, was on a business trip in Japan, he randomly stumbled upon Zyuranger. He was intrigued by the action-packed series that had it all: great costumes, transformations, giant robots, aliens, monsters, and great special effects all over the place.
@super.sentai.scans
@super.sentai.scans
He had the congenial idea to adapt this series for US or western audiences and brought us the Power Rangers as we know them to this day. Think about the fact, that the Power Rangers series also runs in its 29th season this year. It’s mindblowing to see what emerged from Saban’s early instinct.
@super.sentai.scans
@super.sentai.scans
However, the original Zyuranger ran from February 1992 to February 1993 and was produced by Toei and Bandai. So of course, it was commercialized and immortalized in form of toys, collectibles and anything merchandise. The best part about production of the series is that the makers used real toys and toy-like models when filming the Zord- and Megazord-scenes. Seeing this love for handmade special effects paired with guitar riffs is pure 90s nostalgia.
@super.sentai.scans
@super.sentai.scans
We collected rare behind the scenes footage from VFX artist Rick Cortes and stunt coordinator Jeff Pruitt that takes us back to the set moments where the worlds of Zyuranger were adapted and transformed into one of the biggest phenomena in pop culture to this day.
