A Brief History of the Power Ranger Legacy in Japan

We posted this on Facebook yesterday but it's just too cool not to blog about.  One of our producers, Mici Falvo, has family in Japan and brought back a "Super Sentai Book" with her that details the full history of the Power Rangers franchise.  Most people know that MMPR was born in Japan and even the current running TV shows still originate in Japan.  What may be news to some is that what we know as the Power Rangers over here is called the "Super Sentai" overseas.  The first series, "Himitsu Sentai Gorenger debuted in Japan in 1975.

A total of 15 additional versions of the series were released before the American "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" was created based on the "Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger"  Japanese series in 1993. Over the years, the franchise evolved into the Rangers our generation grew to love.

- A total of 38 Super Sentai series have been released since 1975.  We are so excited to contribute to the outstanding legacy well established by both the Japanese and American franchises.

The Putty Patrol: Re-Inventing a Soldier

Ah, the Putty Patrol.  While there is certainly a lot to be said about these energetic members of Rita Repulsa's team, one thing cannot be denied; there were memorable.  Spandex aside, the Patrol themselves are actually a rather terrifying character collectively.  I say this not just because of their grotesque appearance but the simple concept that they come from a seemingly unlimited supply of reinforcements. In First Wave, this will be a concept we intend to expand on.

The ease through which Rita is able to create her army presents the daunting idea that she could very easily launch an offensive against in a true one woman war.  This type of force deserved an upgrade, we felt.  So, the Putty Patrol has been re-designed while, of course, respecting the original material.  The Patrol featured in First Wave will be nearly 8 feet tall and tower over the Rangers making them a truly formidable foe.  Power and brut force will be the Putty Patrol's most powerful weapons against our heroes.

Designs and artwork by Ben Rosa

Heroes die hard; why we do it.

During the nearly year long process of planning and developing this Power Ranger fan film project, I suppose I had to ask myself a number of times "why am I doing this?" It may be that more often my friends and my wife were the ones asking. The answer could be as simple as those that have been our platform from the beginning: it's a fantastic idea that should be done and the production would supply the community with jobs.

But there may be a more complicated answer that is in many ways just as important. I am a child of the 90's. By that I mean that I was born in the mid-eighties and grew up being just a little too young for Nirvana and too old for "Angry Beavers". I was raised among a culture of children that grew to love the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. From the moment I saw my first episode, my Saturday mornings were booked. They were my heroes, which is important because Superman and Batman are everybody's heroes. They were here before and will always be around, but those five kids from Angel Grove were for our generation. I was even lucky enough to be one of the kids who excitedly opened up his presents on Christmas morning and found the original six inch MMPR action figures (the ones that had individually moving index fingers!). 

The Power Rangers lived in a world that I could only dream about. When I grew up, I found myself in a different world; where I could dream about something and then turn it into a reality. As a filmmaker I have the opportunity to reimagine my heroes and bring them back to the world. How could I pass up the opportunity to see Jason, Billy, Kimberly, Zach and Trimi on screen again?

This project is more than just a film and I suspect that I speak not only for myself but for many from my generation. This isn't just about nostalgia or rebooting a classic, it's about turning dreams into reality. As we get closer to launch, I can't wait to see who jumps on board with us to help make it happen. 

The Red Ranger helmet design

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When deciding the best way to design our version of the Red Ranger's helmet, it was important to respect the source material. The original mythology of each character's link to a specific species of dinosaur was always one of my favorite parts of the show. The Red Ranger's helmet was creatively designed to mimic the head and features of a T-Rex; probably one of the reasons he was such a popular character. This is an important design element that we didn't want to lose, which left us trying to decide what did need to change. 

The size of the helmets has always been the one feature I wished I could change. We decided to go with a slimmer look, one that would conform to the Ranger's head a little better and pull a some inspiration from characters like Iron Man. 

Design by Ben Rosa

Artwork by Kevin Delucia

We considered a variety of other options to help make the design unique and give it a more modern look. 

Artwork by Kevin Delucia

The mouth piece was one of our biggest challenges. The classic "lips" that appear on the original helmets were not quite what we wanted, but they are a significant part of the original design and we didn't want to ignore them. We considered a few options and ultimately landed on a type of breathing apparatus or vent. We can't wait to reveal the final design soon!