General Edits

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The show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has a large number of differences between the Japanese TV shows it took its footage from. The story, the characters, the music - you name it, it's been changed. So, in an effort to make sense of it all, I've compiled this list of series-wide edits.

The Shows
The show known in the U.S. as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is actually the combination of three completely unrelated shows in Toei's tokusentai genre of superhero shows.

The first show used is Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger ("Dinosaur Squadron Zyuranger"). Footage from the show's fight sequences, mecha battles, and villains were spliced and re-edited with newly created American footage to create brand new stories. In some instances, the American producers would also recreate some of the monster costumes and mechas to create a new scene here and there. For example, all of the civilian scenes for the first episode, "Day of the Dumpster," were filmed specifically for the American version while all the battle scenes were taken from the first few episodes of Zyuranger.

After Power Rangers exhausted all the Zyuranger footage, Saban, the company responsible for the American version, contacted Toei and asked them to create footage featuring all new monsters. This new, made-in-Japan but intended for Americans footage is known collectively as "Zyu2." In total, twenty-five new monsters who never appeared in Zyuranger were created for Power Rangers.

Once that footage was used up, Saban looked to the next series in the tokusentai franchise, Gousei Sentai Dairanger ("Five-Star Squadron Dairanger"). The fight sequences could not be used because the Power Rangers were still using their Zyuranger uniforms, but the mecha sequences and everything involving the White Ranger could still be salvaged. So in the American version, you had the TyrannoRanger (from Zyuranger) using the Ryuuseiou mecha (from Dairanger) for the second season of the series. The actual Dairangers themselves (except for the aforementioned White Ranger) were completely cut from Power Rangers.

A promotional image for the second series used to create Power Rangers, Gousei Sentai Dairanger. Of the five rangers, only the KibaRanger was used for the American version.

Later, footage of the mecha battles from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger ("Ninja Squadron Kakuranger") was used for the third season while footage of the actors in their Kakuranger suits was used for the Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers mini-series.

Because of all this splicing, stories and character types were given major rewrites for the American version.

Civilians
The Rangers in the civilian scenes are, of course, played by Japanese people in the Japanese versions of the show. In Power Rangers, these actors are replaced by English-speaking actors.

Character origins are also completely altered. In the Japanese version of Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger, the five heroes are heroes from prehistoric tribes who are awakened by the sage Balza in order to fight the witch Bandora, an evil who also came from the same era. The Power Rangers, by contrast, were five "teenagers with attitude" who were randomly chosen by Zordon to become the Power Rangers. Because of this change, significant character moments (such as the Zyurangers trying to adjust to life in the 20th century) were completely removed from the American version.


The KibaRanger in Dairanger, Kou. He was portrayed by Sakai Hisashi who, at the time of the series, was twelve years old.	The White Ranger in Power Rangers, Tommy. He was portrayed by Jason David Frank who, at the time of the series, was twenty-one years old.

What's interesting to note is that in the original Zyuranger, the TigerRanger was a boy (named, oddly enough, Boi). In the American version, the Yellow Ranger was a girl. This difference is especially evident in the battle sequences since the Yellow Ranger has a flat chest and doesn't have the little skirt that the Pink Ranger has. A similar situation occurs with the KibaRanger (White Ranger) from Dairanger - in the Japanese version, the character is portrayed by a little boy while in the American version, he's portrayed by a young adult man.

"Today, on Power Rangers"
This opening segment, which summarizes what will happen in the coming episode, served as a cold opening for the American version. It also never existed in the Japanese version at all.

Opening Theme
The three tokusentai series Saban took to make Power Rangers all had their own unique opening theme. Some new footage was spliced with episode clips to make full opening sequences that would get updated as team members and mechas were changed / upgraded.


The title screen for Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger.	The title screen for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

The American version, by contrast, used the same opening theme ("Go Go Power Rangers") for all three series. The footage would also update whenever there were any additions to the cast (Jason David Frank) or whenever previous cast members would leave (as was the case with Austin St. John, Amy Jo Johnson, and Walter Jones).

Background Music
All of the various series' background music was replaced with the more rock-ish Saban music. The American theme song was also used heavily during the battle sequences.

Ending Credits
The ending credits in the Japanese version are all-new songs with all new footage created specifically for them. The ending theme for Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger, for example, is a song called Bouken-shite Lappa Piiya.

The ending theme to Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger.

In the American version, the ending credits are composed of episode clips while "Go Go Power Rangers" plays in the background.

Next Episode Preview
The next episode previews are removed from the American version.