MARIE SEVERIN DEAD AT 89

You can read the full story here.

Severin was a comicbook artist and colorist who co-created Spider-Woman for Marvel Comics, who later got her own animated series, and worked on their Muppet Babies comics.

GARY FRIEDRICH DEAD AT 75

You can read the full story here.

Friedrich was a comicbook writer who co-created Ghost Rider for Marvel Comics. While Ghost Rider made many appearances outside of Saturday mornings, he did get a brief cameo in an episode of X-Men: The Animated Series.

POWER RANGERS RPM

POWER RANGERS RPM

(ABC, March 7-December 26, 2009)

BVS Entertainment, Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment, Toei Company, Ltd., Ranger Productions, Ltd.

MAIN CAST:

Eka Darville – Ranger Operator Series Red/Scott Truman

Ari Boyland – Ranger Operator Series Blue/Flynn McAllister

Rose McIver – Ranger Operator Series Yellow/Summer Landsdown

Milo Cawthorne – Ranger Operator Series Green/Ziggy Grover

Dan Ewing – Ranger Operator Series Black/Dillon

Mike Ginn – Ranger Operator Series Gold/Gem

Li Ming Hu – Ranger Operator Series Silver/Gemma

Olivia Tennet – Dr. K

James Gaylyn – Colonel Mason Truman

Damien Avery – Colonel Hicks

Andrew Laing – Venjix (voice)

Adelaide Kane – Tenaya 7/Tenaya 15

Mark Mitchinson – General Shifter (voice)

Charlie McDermott – General Crunch (voice)

Leighton Cardno – Kilobyte (voice)

            Power Rangers RPM, known as Power Rangers Engine Force in South Korea, is the 16^th incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise, and the 17^th season overall. It utilized footage from Toei Company, Ltd.’s 32^nd Super Sentai series, Engine Sentai Go-Onger. This was the final season to be produced in the Disney-era of the franchise in order to fulfill a contractual obligation with Bandai, producer of Power Rangers merchandise.

Venjix's master CPU with some Grinders.

            Set in an alternate timeline, a computer virus named Venjix (no relation to General Venjix from Wild Force, voiced by Andrew Laing) was created by young genius Dr. K (Olivia Tennet) to allow her to escape the government thinktank, Alphabet Soup, when she learned that they had been keeping her there under false pretenses. Her plot was discovered and she was taken away before being allowed to erect the firewall to keep the virus contained. As a result, Venjix evolved and grew more powerful, taking over computer systems around the world and creating a robotic army, the Grinders, and other more powerful attack bots. The world was overrun, and the remnants of humanity fled to the domed city of Corinth. Corinth was a fully-functional self-sustaining city with a protective shield over it that projected a hologram of the sky to keep the population inside calm. Primarily in charge of the city’s defense was Colonel Mason Truman (James Gaylyn) and his troops.

Dumbell Bot attacking Corinth.

            Despite its protections, Venjix’s forces were still able to find their way into the city to cause havoc. Their goal was to disable Corinth’s shields so that Venjix’s full forces could conquer the city. Venjix had three generals coordinating these efforts. General Crunch (Charlie McDermott) was the least intelligent of the three, but demonstrated a keen sense of strategy; often questioning holes in Venjix’s plans that would lead to his destruction (though he was later rebuilt). General Shifter (Mark Mitchinson) was a Generation 5 Attack Bot who was adept at designing additional bots, even giving Venjix a body once. Kilobyte (Leighton Cardno) was an older Attack Bot created by Venjix who took great joy in sabotaging his contemporaries to make himself appear better to Venjix. The creation Venjix took great pride in, however, was Tenaya 7 (Adelaide Kane in her first major role). She was believed to be a Generation 7 Human Infiltration Attack Bot, resembling a human while actually being a machine. However, it was eventually discovered that she was a hybrid and was originally human. That discovery led Tenaya to join the Rangers briefly until she was recaptured, reprogramed and upgraded into Tenaya 15. Venjix’s robot monsters were typically enlarged when on the verge of defeat by a download being initiated through Venjix’s processor.

The RPM Rangers.

            To make up for her mistake, Dr. K helped to fortify Corinth and initiated one of the projects she was working on at Alphabet Soup: the Power Rangers. They were a series of exoskeleton robotic suits designed to amplify human capabilities by harnessing the universal bioelectrical energy field that connected the lifeforce of all living things. The initial recruits were Scott Truman (Eka Darville) for Ranger Operator Series Red, a fighter pilot who lost his brother during the Venjix attack; Summer Landsdown (Rose McIver) for Ranger Operator Series Yellow, once a spoiled socialite who completely changed her way of thinking after being abandoned by her friends and saved by the sacrifice of her family’s butler, Andrews (Bruce Phillips); and Flynn McAllister (Ari Boyland, who had auditioned for many other Power Rangers seasons, using an Irish accent) for Ranger Operator Series Blue, a mechanic who desired to help people but failed miserably at jobs involving that. Dr. K worked directly with the Rangers, however at first, she kept her identity a secret and communicated with them through computer monitors and voice modulation.

Dillon and his car out in the Wastelands.

            A suitable user for Ranger Operator Series Green had yet to be found within the city, while Ranger Series Black’s biohardware was deemed too much for the average person to handle. Eventually, the last two Rangers found their way to Corinth. The man known simply as Dillon (Dan Ewing, who previously auditioned for Jungle Fury and the role of Scott) was an amnesiac who had his memories stolen by Sat Bot, one of Venjix’s minions, and was infused with Generation 7 Venjix hardware to become one of Venjix’s robot/human hybrids until Dillon escaped. That increased his physical capabilities to superhuman levels, and made him a viable candidate to become the Black Ranger. However, fragments of Dillon’s memories remained, including the notion that he had to find a mysterious blind girl that was somehow connected to a musical pocket watch he carried. That girl ended up being his sister, who was changed into Tenaya 7 when they were separated in Venjix’s lair.

Tenaya 7 takes Ziggy captive with some Cogs.

            Dillon was led to Corinth by Ziggy Grover (Milo Cawthorne, who almost didn’t get the role), whom he encountered in the Wasteland. Ziggy was a clumsy oaf who had the habit of falling in with the wrong people; including local gangster Fresno Bob. When Ziggy delivered medical supplies to an orphanage rather than the five main cartels in Corinth, he escaped the city only to return later with Dillon. Ziggy helped the Rangers try to find a suitable candidate for Operator Green, but circumstances led to his needing to don the Morpher and became bonded with the suit.

The engine of the Paleozord.

            Unlike other teams in the franchise, the RPM (which stands for Racing Performance Machines) Rangers had a limited power supply that needed to be remotely recharged by Dr. K. The Zords were also controlled by Dr. K and had to be downloaded by her to the Rangers for use. Each Zord resembled an animal: Red had the Eagle Racer, Yellow the Bear Crawler, Blue the Lion Hauler, Green the Tail Spinner (which resembled an orca), and Black the Wolf Cruiser. Red, Yellow and Blue could form the High Octane Megazord, while Green and Black formed the ValveMax Megazord. Together, the full team could form the Zenith Megazord. The Road Attack Zord was a miniature, self-piloted Zord created by Flynn that could be launched as a projectile weapon from a wheel-like state and used to attack foes with a variety of martial arts. Later, Scott would acquire control of the Paleozord, one of Dr. K’s earliest creations at Alphabet Soup. It was a train comprised of three cars that could form its own track on either the ground or in the sky. Because they were based on prehistoric creatures they couldn’t properly sync up with the Bio Field and were mothballed until they were accidentally reactivated. The cars could combine to form the PaleoMax Megazord.

Manning the Road Blaster.

            While the RMP morphers all used engine cells to power them, there were two distinct types. The Cell Shift Morphers used by Red, Yellow and Blue resembled cell phones. The dial pad allowed them to summon the Zords, initiate Zord sequences, and control the Zords. Green and Black had Rev Morphers, which resembled a gear shift panel and lacked any numerical inputs. They were all DNA coded and required the security phrase “RPM, get in gear!” to be said to initiate transformations (although, later episodes would show them transforming in a quick cut with an accompanying sound effect). The standard Ranger weapon was the Nitro Blaster, however each had their own distinctive one: Red had the Street Saber, a sword whose blade resembled a strip of road; Blue the Turbo Cannon; Yellow the Zip Charger, a miniature remote-controlled vehicle; Green the Turbo Axe, whose blades resembled a suspension bridge; and Black the Rocket Blaster. Red, Yellow and Blue’s weapons could be combined to form the Road Blaster, which changes the Zip Charger to the Racing Bullet for a powerful attack. Likewise, Green and Black could form the Turbo Plasma Launcher, which fired a plasma beam that took the essence of the Zord whose engine cell was powering it at the time. All five weapons could be combined into the RPM Enforcer. The tread-designs on the Rangers’ suits and boots could also be used for friction-based attacks, or to speed along the ground.

Scott's car in their garage.

            For the first time in the franchise, each Ranger had their own personal vehicle outside of the Zords for transport around the city. Scott drove a red and black 1994 Nissan Silvia; Flynn drove a blue Hummer; Summer drove a yellow and black dirt bike; Dillon drove a modified 1972 Pontiac Firebird; and Ziggy drove a beat-up little green scooter when not catching a ride with Dillon. Both Scott and Flynn’s cars were European style with the steering wheels on the right side.

The Rangers de-morphed.

            Power Rangers RPM debuted on March 7, 2009 on the ABC programming block, ABC Kids. It was the first season that debuted in any other month besides February since Turbo. The series’ theme was composed by Brad Hamilton and was led into by an opening introduction from Tenant describing the circumstances of the series. The series’ music was handled by Leigh Roberts, Wayne Jones and William J. Sullivan. Although reruns of Mystic Force and Operation Overdrive would run their end credits over the final scene of an episode, RPM was the first series to do so initially. Notably, the series included a behind-the-scenes episode as part of its regular run, rather than being shown as a separate special.

General Shifter sets out to make his own name.

Eddie Guzelian succeeded Bruce Kalish as executive producer of the series and was the driving force behind its narrative. While Go-Onger was very lighthearted and comedic with a beast racing theme (which is why the Zords resembled animals), Guzelian took inspiration from films like The Road Warrior to create the post-apocalyptic setting that was employed. Guzelian had pitched the series with the promise of attracting the lucrative boys’ market as well as an older audience, since most of Disney’s money came from their Princess line. Since Disney was planning on cancelling Power Rangers anyway, they went along with his ideas.

Venjix going mobile in a new body.

            Unfortunately, RPM was Guzelian’s first live-action series. He relied on head writer Jackie Marchand and story editor John Tellegen to get him up to speed with the franchise, and also brought in two writers he worked with previously: Matthew Negrete and Madellaine Paxson. Guzelian tended to micro-manage the production, leading to script delays. As a result, the entire production budget was gone by the first half of the season and Bandai had to step up and finance the remainder. Marchand was seemingly fired, delivering to fans the cryptic message “Welcome from the peace conference”; a reference to where original Rangers Jason, Trini and Zack were written off to when their actors walked off of Mighty Morphin. Guzelian was given a chance to get the production back on track, but was fired despite his success. Negrete and Paxson also left in solidarity. Former head writer Judd Lynn was promoted to executive producer that July to wrap up the series. Additional writers included Jeffrey Newman, David Garber and Tiffany Louie, as well as Lynn himself.

            Halfway through the series, a sixth and seventh Ranger were introduced: Ranger Operator Series Gold and Ranger Operator Series Silver, also known as the genius siblings Gem (Mike Ginn) and Gemma (Li Ming Hu). They were a high-energy pair that often finished each other’s sentences and befriended Dr. K at Alphabet Soup. After Alphabet Soup was destroyed, Gem and Gemma escaped with the experimental Ranger Operator suits and Zords and waged a guerilla-style war on Venjix in the wastelands before meeting and uniting with the other Rangers. That led to them adopting a “shoot first, talk later” approach to fights and a thrill of explosions. Their suits utilized the Sky Morpher, which resembled a flight stick, which controlled their Falcon Chopper and Tiger Jet Zords. They could combine with the other Zords to make the SkyRev Megazord. They gained a secondary Zord in the form of the Whale Jumbo Jet, which was a doomsday machine the Rangers took from Venjix. It was compatible enough with the other Zords to merge with the Falcon and Tiger to become the Mach Megazord. When all 12 Zords came together, they could form the ultra-powerful RPM Ultrazord.

Dillon tries to convince Tenaya of her real identity.

            Since this was the final series Disney planned to make in the franchise, the season skipped the annual franchise crossover (although an Operation Overdrive helmet was seen in the Alphabet Soup ruins) and ended on a cliffhanger that wouldn’t be resolved. Disney also disbanded Ranger Productions, Ltd., the production company they formed to deal with the franchise. For the next season, Disney chose to air reruns of Mighty Morphin that became known as a “re-version”. BVS Entertainment gave the series a new opening sequence and added several visual effects, but beyond that the episodes were as they aired back in the 90s.

Gem and Gemma celebrates Dr. K's birthday.

In 2010, franchise creator Haim Saban formed Saban Brands, a successor to Saban Entertainment. The company was dedicated to acquiring entertainment and consumer brands, and one of those acquisitions was the Power Rangers franchise for $43 million. They then entered into a partnership with Nickelodeon, which would serve as the new home for Power Rangers installments. Because of episode limitations set by Nickelodeon, all future Power Rangers projects would be split into two seasons, making RPM the final single-season entry in the franchise.

Lord Drakkon makes his way into Corinth.

            As with other entries in the Power Rangers franchise, Bandai produced a line of toys and other merchandise based on the show. As of this writing, only Gemma was featured in nWay Games’ 2017 mobile game, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars. Gem would be a featured character in the tabletop RPG webseries Power Rangers HyperForce by Hyper RPG, played by Ginn for 3 appearances and Hyper RPG CEO Zac Lim-Eubank for the final one. In the 2018 event “Shattered Grid” in BOOM! Studios’ comics, the world of RPM was introduced in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2018 Annual as Lord Drakkon attempts to recruit Dr. K. She instead plays a role in fortifying the Rangers’ defenses against Drakkon’s forces.

The DVD cover.

            In 2009, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released two DVD collections: RPM vol. 1: Start Your Engines and Vol. 2: Race for Corinth. In 2012, Shout! Factory released Power Rangers Legacy, which contained seasons 1-20 in a collectible Red Ranger helmet package. They later released the complete series in 2014 as part of the collection Power Rangers Seasons 13-17, and independently in 2018.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“The Road to Corinth” (3/7/09) – Ziggy leads the amnesiac Dillon to the dome city of Corinth where they are rescued by the Power Rangers from the forces of Venjix.

“Fade to Black” (3/7/09) – After Venjix’s forces are defeated, Dillon and Ziggy are arrested when it’s discovered Dillon has some Venjix technology inside of him.

“Rain” (3/14/09) – Dillon is offered the chance to become the Black Ranger but is hesitant to accept the responsibility.

“Go for the Green” (3/21/09) – Ziggy is forced to bond with the Green Ranger after he’s tricked by Tenaya 7.

“Handshake” (3/28/09) – Dillon tries to master his invincibility shield and the mysterious Dr. K reveals herself to the team.

“Ranger Green” (4/4/09) – Ziggy’s past catches up to him as the mobsters he stole medical supplies from for an orphanage capture him for their revenge.

“Ranger Red” (4/11/09) – Scott heads out alone into the Wasteland to retrieve a part from his brother’s plane needed to summon the Croc Carrier.

“Ranger Yellow, Part I” (4/18/09) – Summer’s parents return to force her to live up to her promise to marry a rich boy if they gave her space for a year.

“Ranger Yellow, Part II” (4/25/09) – Summer’s parents reveal she needs to marry because they’re broke, however Tenaya crashes the wedding to steal a jewel her parents possess.

“Ranger Blue” (5/2/09) – Flynn failed at helping people his whole life, until the Venjix virus attacked and led him to becoming a Ranger.

“Doctor K” (5/9/09) – Trying to fix a malfunction with the zords leads Dr. K to recall when she unintentionally unleashed Venjix on the world.

“Blitz” (5/16/09) – Dillon faces a choice: destroy the invading monster or protect it and his lost memories.

“Brother’s Keeper” (5/23/09) – When a device causes Dillon’s infection to spread faster, Scott refuses to let him run out on the team to protect them.

“Embodied” (6/13/09) – The Rangers head to a city to find Dillon’s memories only to be attacked by Venjix in a new body and rescued by two mysterious Rangers.

“Ghosts” (6/20/09) – The trip turns out to be a trap set by Venjix and the Rangers find themselves overwhelmed until the mysterious Rangers rescue them again.

“In or Out” (7/4/09) – An air-sucking bot ends up trapped inside the city and the Rangers escape in order to formulate a plan to head back in and stop it.

“Prisoners” (7/11/09) – Dillon, Summer and Ziggy head to a Venjix work camp to search for his sister but learn Venjix is developing a doomsday weapon.

“Belly of the Beast” (8/1/09) – The Rangers head off to destroy the doomsday device while Dillon doubles his efforts to find his sister.

“Three’s a Crowd” (8/8/09) – Gem and Gemma’s differing tactics end up landing them in a trap.

“Heroes Among Us” (8/15/09) – Scott and Gem head out into the Weastland where they discover humans being held prisoner.

“Not So Simple” (8/22/09) – Gemma helps Flynn develop a new zord to defeat the latest attack bot.

“The Dome Dolls” (9/5/09) – An attack bot puts all the men in the city to sleep, leaving the women to protect the city while Dr. K works on a cure.

“And...Action” (9/12/09) – Ziggy takes the audience on a behind-the-scenes tour of the making of the show.

“Ancient History” (9/19/09) – Trying to keep Alphabet Soup technology from Venjix’s hands leads Colonel Truman to discover Dr. K’s role in his creation.

“Key to the Past” (9/26/09) – Tenaya discovers that she’s actually human, and Dillon discovers that she’s his missing sister.

“Beyond a Doubt” (9/26/09) – Dillon and Tenaya work to get the codes to stop the latest attack bot and she ends up captured by Kilobyte.

“Control-Alt-Delete” (10/3/09) – Shifter is able to take control of Scott, and the Rangers discover Tenaya has been reprogrammed into the more-obedient Tenaya 15.

“Run Ziggy Run” (10/3/09) – Tenaya offers to turn Ziggy over to Fresno Bob in exchange for a particular case.

“If Venjix Won” (12/19/09) – Trying to find a way to teleport Ziggy and Dr. K back to base leads the Rangers to discover a time capsule recording she made in the event Venjix won.

“End Game” (12/19/09) – Venjix loads Corinth with hybrids that he plans to use to bring the city down.

“Danger and Destiny, Part I” (12/26/09) – The city’s electricity is killed; Gem and Gemma are deleted; Dr. K is kidnapped by Venjix; and Dillon’s programming takes over.

“Danger and Destiny, Part II” (12/26/09) – Dr. K develops a new virus to combat Venjix, but it must be inserted into Venjix’s core to work.

POWER RANGERS WILD FORCE

POWER RANGERS WILD FORCE

(FOX, ABC, February 9-November 16, 2002)

Saban Entertainment/BVS Entertainment, Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment, Toei Company, Ltd., MMPR Productions, Inc., Disney Enterprises

MAIN CAST:

Ricardo Medina Jr. – Red Lion Wild Force Ranger/Cole Evans

Alyson Kiperman – Yellow Eagle Wild Force Ranger/Taylor Earnhardt

Phillip Jeanmarie – Blue Shark Wild Force Ranger/Max Cooper

Jessica Rey – White Tiger Wild Force Ranger/Alyssa Enrile

Jack Guzman – Black Bison Wild Force Ranger/Danny Delgado

Philip Andrew – Lunar Wolf Ranger/Merrick Baliton

Ann Marie Crouch – Princess Shayla

Ilia Volok – Master Org/Victor Adler

Sin Wong & Rei Saito (some Sentai footage) – Toxica

Richard Cansino (voice in 4 episodes) & Danny Wayne Stallcup (as Danny Wayne) – Jindrax

Power Rangers Wild Force, known as Power Force Rangers in South Korea, is the ninth incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise, and the tenth season overall. It utilized footage from Toei Company, Ltd.’s 25^th Super Sentai series, Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger. It was the last entry in the franchise to be produced by MMPR Productions, Inc., and the first to begin what’s known as the Disney-era after Disney purchased the Saban Entertainment library through their acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide.

The floating island of Animarium.

3,000 years ago, the land of Animaria was at war with the evil force known as Orgs, led by Master Org. Master Org was created specifically for the series, but his costume was recycled from the main villain of Gosei Sentai Dairanger, Gorma XV. Master Org destroyed Animus (Charles Gideon Davis), a god-like Megazord who protected the land, but was eventually beaten back by the Power Rangers and Merick Baliton (Philip Andrew) after he had donned the legendary wolf mask to achieve its powers. But the mask corrupted Baliton into the Duke Org (a higher-ranking Org) Zen-Aku (Dan Woren & Lex Lang) and forced the Rangers to defeat him and imprison him in a tomb. To protect it from the Orgs, Animaria was elevated above the Earth and became the floating island Animarium. It left a turtle-shaped lake back on the ground, which served as the inspiration for the future city of Turtle Cove.

Richard, Elizabeth, baby Cole and Viktor before the expedition.

In the more recent past, scientists Richard (Jack Maxwell) and Elizabeth Evans (Ana Bianco) traveled to the Amazon to find the lost kingdom of Animaria along with their colleague, Dr. Viktor Adler (Ilia Volok), and their infant son, Cole. They came upon the remnants of the original Master Org and Adler, jealous that Richard married Elizabeth, ate seeds found there to become the new Master Org and exact his revenge against them. They left Cole and lured Adler away, only to die by his hand. Cole was found and raised by a tribe of natives who were, in fact, descendants of the people of Animaria.

Adler as Master Org.

Master Org, now revived, began to reassemble his army. Two of his Duke Orgs, Jindrax (Danny Wayne Stallcup and initially voiced by Richard Cansino until it was decided his voice didn’t match the appearance) and Toxica (Sin Wong, sometimes Rei Saito in Sentai footage), had hidden in human form after Master Org’s defeat centuries ago. Once they felt the Master had returned, they shed their human guises and eagerly rejoined his ranks. They provided the seeds to make the other Orgs grow to giant size. The majority of Master Org’s forces were the Putrids, which used clubs that fired energy blasts. 

The Wild Force Rangers.

With the return of the Orgs and rampant human pollution, Princess Shayla (originally Natasha Allas, but replaced by Ann Marie Crouch after filming had started) was awoken from the slumber she had been in on Animarium. She was tasked with recalling the Wild Force Power Rangers back into action. Her first recruit was Air Force pilot Taylor Earhardt (Alyson Kiperman), who had crashed near Shayla’s home after seeing the Yellow Eagle Wild Zord flying near her. With her training and no-nonsense personality, she became the Yellow Eagle Ranger and leader of the team; even going so far as to write a rule book. The next recruit was Alyssa Enrile (Jessica Rey), a kind and nurturing university student, who became the White Tiger Ranger. Next was Max Cooper (Phillip Jeanmarie), a training professional bowler that became the Blue Shark Ranger after he helped rescue two women from an Org attack. The last was Danny Delgado (Jack Guzman), a gentle giant florist who became the Black Bison Ranger. Each gained an Animal Crystal containing an image of their suit animal before officially becoming Rangers. This was the first time the Rangers were shown to be active without a Red Ranger.

Cole (center) acclimating to his new environment.

 When he reached the right age, Cole was given items he was left with as a baby: a picture of his parents and the Red Lion Crystal. He was sent to find his destiny, which took him to the city of Turtle Cove. There, he was recruited by Princess Shayla and the Power Rangers to become the Red Lion Ranger. Because being the Red Ranger meant Cole was automatically the leader, this put him at odds with Taylor--especially when he tried to offer different solution to dealing with Orgs, rather than merely fighting them. 

Princess Shayla in the temple.

The Power Rangers operated out of a temple on Animarium where a magical pool alerted the Rangers to trouble on Earth and sent them into action. The island also served as the home of the Wild Zords, where they were charged with watching over Shayla and who lent their powers to the Power Rangers when needed. Along with the Yellow Eagle, there was the Red Lion, Blue Shark, Black Bison and White Tiger. Other Wild Zords would also come to be utilized by the Rangers, including the Elephant, the Giraffe, the Bear Brothers Black Bear and Polar Bear, the Gorilla, the Rhino, the Armadillo, the Deer and the Falcon. The Wild Zords could come together in different variations to create various Megazords or weaponry for them. This was the highest number of Zords in the franchise at 22, with each Ranger utilizing 3 (save Max, who only had 2). Even more Wild Zords were designed in great detail by Toei and some were shown at the end of the series, although they played no active role. This was the first entry in the franchise where the Zords were shown in full CGI prior to their combination into a Megazord. Props were still occasionally used for close-ups.

Wild Force weaponry.

Each Ranger transformed through the Growl Phone, which resembled cell phones and could be used for communication, and exhibited attributes of their respective animals. They all also had a Crystal Saber; a dagger with a slot in the hilt for their Animal Crystals to be inserted and summon their Wild Zords. Independently, they had their own signature weapons: Red had the Lion Fang, a stylized glove that could be separated and worn on both hands, and the Falconator, which served as a crossbow; Yellow the Golden Eagle Sword, which could be used as a blade or fire feather-shaped dirks, and the Armadillo Puck; Blue had Shark Fighting Fins, two daggers that were held along the forearms, and the Sword of Pardolis, which resembled a gladius; Black had the Bison Axe and the Rhino Shooter, which resembled a rifle; and White had the Tiger Baton and the Deer Clutcher, a grappler. The primary weapons could be combined to form the Jungle Sword, which delivered a devastating savage slash attack, while the secondary combined to form the Jungle Blaster which delivered the savage blast attack. Cole eventually gained the Falcon Summoner, which could serve as a blaster or bow and could summon the Red Falcon Wild Zord when docked with his Crystal Saber. The Wild Zords also gave the Rangers access to the Savage Cycles, and later Cole was given the Wild Force Rider and Animarium Armor.

Danny and Kendall at work.

Power Rangers Wild Force debuted on February 9, 2002 on FOX as part of the Fox Kids programming block. It ran there for the first 26 episodes to fulfil a contractual obligation. However, once that contract expired, Disney moved the show over to Disney-owned ABC to become part of the new ABC Kids programming block (which replaced Disney’s One Saturday Morning). Because FOX didn’t want Cole’s parents to be killed on the show, the producers initially promised them that Jindrax and Toxica would end up being his parents brainwashed into Master Org’s service. However, after changing networks, those plans were quickly forgotten. The recurring character of Kendall, Mark’s love interest, was played by Sandra McCoy. McCoy was originally cast as Alyssa, but was given the new role when fight coordinator/director Koichi Sakamoto demanded a role that his wife, Motoko Nagino, could double for. McCoy’s voice as the White Ranger was heard in an early promo for Fox Kids. Wild Force would be the last time the Yellow Ranger was gender-swapped from the Sentai, as future Yellow Rangers in the Sentai series would be female.

Three of the Orgs: Mandilok, Toxica and Jindrax.

Wild Force was kept as close as possible to the original Sentai, going so far as to feature a narrator (Dave Mallow) for the first time in the franchise, using the Sentai designation of “Orgs”, and retained the same monster names. Even the transformation sequences were directly lifted from Gaoranger, with the American Rangers’ heads superimposed over their counterparts. Producer Jonathan Tzachor hired Japanese directors who worked on the Super Sentai shows to work on this one, despite many of them barely speaking a word of English. Writers on the series included William Winkler, Derek Rydall, Jill Donnellan, Katherine Torpey, Suzi Shimoyama, Bergen Williams, and Amit Bhaumik. Bhaumik also served as the series’ story editor, and prior to the series ran the website Power Rangers Online Archives. Lior Rosner, Paul Gordon and Drew DeAscentis were the composers.

The Lunar Wolf Ranger.

During the course of the series, Zen-Aku was freed from his prison to renew his attack on the Rangers, complete with three Wild Zords of his own: the Alligator, the Wolf and the Hammerhead Shark. Together, they combined to form the Predazord. He also had the ability to freeze and steal the Animal Crystals, taking possession of their Wild Zords and allowing them to merge with the Predazord. After the Rangers managed to defeat the Predazord, the curse on Merrick was removed and he was separated from Zen-Aku. In trying to make amends for his time possessed, the Wild Zords came to Merrick’s aid, giving him the Lunar Caller and turned him into the Lunar Wolf Ranger. As the Ranger, he had a Lunar Cue (basically a weaponized pool cue) which could serve as a saber, blaster or could launch Animal Crystals at foes. 

Animus.

Another return was the long-thought-dead Animus. Animus’ spirit form helped the Rangers on several occasions, including in freeing Merrick from Zen-Aku. After Cole destroyed Master Org the first time, Animus was returned to physical form in the guise of a boy named Kite (Ryan Goldstein), who took his name after seeing a kite flying overhead. Once Kite regained a sense of his true identity, he could shift between his human and Megazord form at will, or even into his component parts: Black Lion, Condor, Saw Shark, Buffalo and Jaguar. 

Wild Force and Time Force casts together.

For the annual team-up episode, Wild Force was joined by the Rangers from Time Force for a two-part episode, “Reinforcements from the Future”. Mutant Orgs, called Mut-Orgs, were created in the year 3000 in the mutant Ransik’s (Vernon Wells) earliest days before he set up his empire. Freeing the Orgs, they took on some of his mutantcy to become even more powerful and turned his body into a living weapon as payment, which was how Ransik was able to turn his bones into weapons. They traveled back to the past where they encountered Wesley Collins (Jason Faunt) and Eric Myers (Dan Southworth). The two Rangers tracked the Mut-Orgs to Turtle Cove where they teamed-up with the Wild Force Rangers, but were easily overpowered until the Time Force Rangers, with Ransik and Nadira (Kate Sheldon) in tow, came from the future to help. Originally, the plan was to use the Three Org Brothers from Gaoranger: The Fire Mountain Roars, but those costumes were destroyed in a fire. The Mut-Orgs were created by combining pre-existing suit parts and were named after noted Power Ranger fans: Takach (David Lodge) for Jason Takach, Kired (Lodge) for Derik Sim, and Rofang (Kim Strauss) for Joe Rovang.

Seeing red.

Because this series was the 10^th season of the franchise, a special 10^th anniversary episode was commissioned called “Forever Red”. It reunited 10 of the Red Rangers from all of the incarnations into one epic story. Included were Jason Lee Scott (Austin St. John) from Mighty Morphin, Aurico (Christopher Glenn in voice only) from Alien, Tommy Oliver (Jason David Frank) from Zeo, T.J. Johnson (Selwyn Ward) from Turbo, Andros (Christopher Khayman Lee) from In Space, Leo Corbett (Danny Slavin) from Lost Galaxy, Carter Grayson (Sean Cw Johnson) from Lightspeed Rescue, Wes, Eric and Cole. The inclusion of Southworth’s Quantum Ranger sparked debate amongst fans since even though his coloring was red, he was considered a sixth Ranger and not a Red one. But, he was needed to round out the team to ten as Steve Cardenas, who played Jason’s replacement Rocky DeSantos, had moved without notifying the producers and was unable to be contacted in time for filming. His appearance as the Mighty Morphin Ranger was predicated on St. John’s ability to appear in any event. The special also included the brief return of Bulk (Paul Schrier) and Skull (Jason Narvy) to the franchise.

Jason kicks some Cogs (top) while the new Machine Empire (bottom) readies to destroy the Earth.

The special was centered on the remnants of the Machine Empire from Zeo seeking revenge on the Earth. They were led by General Venjix (Archie Kao, the Blue Galaxy Ranger), and included generals Tezzla (Catherine Sutherland, the Pink Morphin-Turbo Ranger), Gerrok (Walter Jones, the original Black Ranger), Steelon (Scott Page-Pagter) and Automon (Dave Walsh), as well as a legion of Cogs. They retrieved the Zord created by Lord Zedd in Mighty Morphin, Serpentera, from the moon as part of their plans. Andros discovered this plot and led to the assembly of the Red Rangers in order to combat them. With the aid of a newly constructed Astro Megaship II and Alpha 7 (Richard Steven Horvitz), the Red Rangers took the battle to the moon in order to proactively send the Machine Empire packing. The entire episode was filmed new, with the only Sentai footage being on a monitor in a scene and the morphin sequences that used them originally. The Machine Empire Generals’ costumes were all recycled and modified from Big Bad Beetleborgs and Beetleborgs Metallix, with only Venjix’s having come from a villain in that series while the rest were heroic characters.

Red Rangers ready to battle.

“Forever Red” was originally conceived as being an extra-sized special, but the decision was made to make it a regular episode resulting in several scenes and lines of dialogue either being cut or scrapped from filming at all. Episode writer Bhaumik would go on to later reveal several concepts he had to abandon due to the short running time, including a falling out between Tommy and Jason following Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie that would be resolved in “Forever Red”; a potential prequel episode that would have Jason meeting and teaming-up with the Silver Guardians from Time Force; explanations on how some of the Rangers reacquired their powers after having lost them or moved on to other powers (a move Bhaumik felt would keep new viewers from being bombarded with continuity information, but which had led to fan controversy for years to come); and cameos by either Sutherland or Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Hart to establish one of them as Tommy’s wife. Bhaumik was also attempting to set up Tommy as a new Zordon-like character,  mentoring the next group of Rangers while also being active on the field as a 6^th Ranger. But Disney ultimately chose to go in another direction with Ninja Storm and Tommy was brought back much later as a main Ranger in Dino Thunder. 

The Wild Zords ride to battle.

Unlike Time Force, the cast of Wild Force didn’t gel as well. No one was entirely disappointed that there would be no second season as Disney decided to move production from Los Angeles to New Zealand as a cost-cutting measure once the season finished. As a result, all of the crew and regular voice actors were let go in favor of mostly local crews and actors. MMPR Productions, the company Saban Entertainment had set up to exclusively handle Power Rangers, was dissolved and replaced by Village Roadshow KP Productions Limited. Saban itself was also renamed BVS Entertainment during production. 

The Predazord in Legacy Wars.

As with other entries in the Power Rangers franchise, Bandai produced a line of toys and other merchandise based on the show. In 2002, THQ released a game for the Game Boy Advance developed by Natsume. It was top-down action game where a player could choose between each Ranger, and also assign additional Rangers to call for a powerful team-up attack. They could even choose between the various Megazords for the boss battles, which were quick time events. Cole and Merrick were playable characters in the console version of the 2007 game Power Rangers: Super Legends by Disney Interactive Studios, while Danny and Alyssa were playable in the Nintendo DS version. The entire cast was viewable in the game’s Hall of Legends. Danny was also included along with the Predazord and a mission based on “Forever Red” in nWay Games’ 2017 mobile game Power Rangers Legacy Wars, and he was a character in nWay’s Power Rangers Morphin Legends; a turn-based mobile game soft-launched in 2022 that was ultimately cancelled in 2023. Although they didn’t play a large role, the Wild Force Rangers were featured in BOOM! Studios’ 2018 crossover event “Shattered Grid”.

The DVD cover.

Walt Disney Home Video released several VHS compilations: Lion Heart containing “Lionheart”, “Darkness Awakening”, “Click, Click, Zoom” and “Never Give Up!”; Ancient Awakening with “Ancient Awakening”, “Wishes on the Water”, “The Bear Necessities” and “Soul Searching”; Curse of the Wolf  featuring “Soul Bird Salvation”, “Curse of the Wolf”, “Battle of the Zords”, “Predazord, Awaken”; and Identity Crisis with “Revenge of Zen-Aku”, “Identity Crisis”, “The Ancient Warrior” and “The Lone Wolf”. “Forever Red” was included on the 2003 compilation DVD Power Rangers: The Ultimate Rangers. In 2012, Shout! Factory released Power Rangers Legacy, which contained seasons 1-20 in a collectible Red Ranger helmet package. They later released the complete series in 2013 as part of the collection Power Rangers Seasons 8-12, and independently in 2016.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Lionheart” (2/9/02) – Cole journeys to Turtle Cove where he’s drafted into the Power Rangers and helps them battle the reemerging Orgs.

“Darkness Awakening” (2/9/02) – Cole tries to reason with an Org, but discovering they have no hearts embraces Taylor’s plan to defeat them in battle.

“Click, Click, Zoom” (2/16/02) – After Cole comments on Taylor’s rule book, she storms off to the city and ends up turned invisible by Camera Org.

“Never Give Up!” (2/23/02) – Danny gets distracted by the girl he has a crush on, leaving Max to go investigate a haunted temple on his own and end up captured by an Org.

“Ancient Awakening” (3/2/02) – When Alyssa brings Cole and Shayla to investigate a Wild Force emblem, Shayla is kidnapped by the Orgs in order to be forced to open it for them.

“Wishes on the Water” (3/9/02) – Max has dreams that may end up leading to the key to defeat Ship Org.

“The Bear Necessities” (3/16/02) – Two boys Taylor helped turn out to be the humanized forms of the Black and Polar Bear Zords.

“Soul Searching” (3/23/02) – The Rangers head to the forest to find the magical Soul Bird that can heal the Wild Zords.

“Soul Bird Salvation” (3/30/02) – Retinaxe battles the Rangers with the help of Freezer Org, freezing the Wild Zords and stripping the Rangers of their powers.

“Curse of the Wolf” (4/6/02) – General Org Nayzor frees Zen-Aku and he steals the Elephant Zord from Alyssa.

“Battle of the Zords” (4/13/02) – Zen-Aku tends to Alyssa’s injuries before engaging the Rangers with his own Dark Wild Zords.

“Predazord, Awaken” (4/20/02) – After defeating the Bus Org, the Rangers fight Zen-Aku who combines his Zords into the Predazord and steals the Giraffe Zord from them.

“Revenge of Zen-Aku” (4/27/02) – Zen-Aku kidnaps Shayla and her necklace brings back vague memories for him, but though Shayla ends up rescued he takes the Bear animal crystals.

“Identity Crisis” (5/4/02) – Before Zen-Aku can regain his full memory Nayzor plants a bug in his head to make him believe he’s pure evil.

“The Ancient Warrior” (5/11/02) – Animus reveals the true identity of Zen-Aku, and the Rangers defeat his Predazord with their new Zords to break his curse.

“The Lone Wolf” (5/18/02) – Merrick has to fight alone against the Quadra Org, until his Zords return to him and turn him into the Lunar Wolf Ranger.

“Power Play” (6/1/02) – Toxica gives herself a power boost and becomes Necronomica.

“Secrets and Lies” (6/8/02) – Cole loses his memory while Alyssa learns more about his parents.

“The Tornado Spin” (6/15/02) – To defeat Bowling Org, Max has to convince his old bowling coach to teach him.

“Three’s a Crowd” (6/29/02) – Kendall discovers Danny is the Black Ranger and decides he doesn’t need her as a distraction.

“A Father’s Footsteps” (7/6/02) – Alyssa’s father comes for a visit just when Alyssa needs to rely on his training the most.

“Sing Song” (7/13/02) – Shayla and Merrick must sing to get the Deer Zord’s help in defeating Tombstone Org.

“The Wings of Animaria” (7/20/02) – Nayzor is resurrected and more powerful, but Cole’s Falcon Summoner and the Isis Megazord make short work of him.

“Reinforcements from the Future, Part I” (7/27/02) – Mut-Orgs from the future are tracked by Wes Collins and Eric Myers to Turtle Cove, but even with the Rangers they end up overpowered.

“Reinforcements from the Future, Part II” (8/3/02) – The Time Force Rangers return from the future to help with Ransik and Nadria.

“The Master’s Last Stand” (8/10/02) – Master Org’s origin is revealed and Cole destroys his Org half, but Jindrax and Toxica already have a replacement leader in mind.

“Unfinished Business” (9/14/02) – Merrick relies on help from the Rangers to defeat Zen-Aku when he returns.

“Homecoming” (9/14/02) – A young boy named Kite helps the Rangers defeat two new Duke Orgs.

“The Flute” (9/21/02) – A flute-playing Org is able to take control of the citizens and the Rangers.

“Team Carnival” (9/21/02) – Jindrax’s brother teams up with him to prove his worth by destroying the Rangers.

“Taming of the Zords” (9/28/02) – Lion Tamer Org manages to take control of the Wild Zords.

“Monitoring Earth” (9/28/02) – Mandilok convinces Kite that humans are no good, and after Kite reveals himself to be Animus he takes all the Wild Zords away.

“The Soul of Humanity” (10/5/02) – The Rangers struggle to win without their Zords until Animus decides to return them.

“Forever Red” (10/5/02) – The Red Space Ranger unites the Red Rangers to defeat the remnants of the Machine Empire.

“The Master’s Herald, Part I” (10/19/02) – To prepare for Master Org’s return, Duke Org Onikage kidnaps Shayla and destroys Toxica.

“The Master’s Herald, Part II” (10/19/02) – Onikage creates Shadow Rangers to combat the Rangers while Master Org destroys Mandilok.

“Fishing for a Friend” (11/2/02) – Jindrax works on retrieving Toxica from the spirit world while Master Org prepares a ceremony in the Nexus.

“Sealing the Nexus” (11/2/02) – The Rangers work to disable the Nexus’ force field so Jindax and Toxica can rescue Shayla.

“The End of the Power Rangers, Part I” (11/16/02) – Master Org returns with a new form and destroys the Wild Zords and the Rangers’ powers.

“The End of the Power Rangers, Part II” (11/16/02) – The Wild Zords are resurrected and unite with other Wild Zords from around the world to destroy Master Org.

Originally posted in 2018. Updated in 2023.