7 Surprising Things You Never Knew About The 'Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'
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Here are seven surprising things you never knew about (what should have been) your favorite show.
Warning: Some of these are huge bummers.
Amy Jo Johnson Is A Record Setter
Starting off with a positive fact, everyone's favorite Pink Ranger Amy Jo Johnson has the distinction of being the longest-serving female Power Ranger, appearing in 137 episodes before she left the series.
People Really, Really Loved The Green Ranger
Jason David Frank was everyone's favorite, the Green Ranger (and later, the White Ranger). However, he wasn't supposed to stay on the show for very long. Frank's arc on the series was only supposed to last a handful of episodes, but fans demanded he be kept on. Frank ended up staying with the Power Rangers franchise for years, and ended up appearing in 217 episodes during different iterations of the show.
The Secret Of The Yellow Ranger
Did you ever notice how there were two female Power Rangers, but only one of them had a skirt? That's because the American show used Japanese Power Rangers footage for the fight scenes, and in the original show, the Yellow Ranger was a man. That's why the Pink Ranger's outfit has a skirt, and the Yellow Ranger's doesn't.
A Star Was Born
Bryan Cranston, best known for his award-winning turn as Walter White on Breaking Bad, actually worked for Saban Entertainment, and provided voices for a number of the monsters on the show. The Blue Ranger, Billy Cranston, is named after the star.
The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Might Not Have Been LGBT Friendly
Actor David Yost played the Blue Ranger for hundreds of episodes, until one day he just walked off the set, never to return. The reason? According to Yost, who came out as gay a few years later, it was because the producers and director of MMPR allegedly hurled homophobic slurs at him all the time, until he just got so fed up with being harassed he quit. The producers have since responded to Yost's claims, saying the real reason was because the show didn't pay Yost what he asked for, and that it was Yost who refused to get along with the rest of the crew.
A Shocking Number Of Cast Members Have Died
MMPR might be cursed. Not only are a number of the show's performers dead, a lot of them died young - starting with Thuy Trang who played Trini Kwan, The Yellow Ranger. Trang tragically died in 2001 at the age of 27 when the car she was riding in with two of her friends lost control and drove into a cliff face before flipping multiple times. Trang's friends both survived, but she died from her injuries.
Bob Manahan, better known as the voice of Zordon in season 2, died in 2000 at the age of 48 when he suffered an heart aneurysm.
Also deceased: Erik Frank (Jason David Frank's brother who also played his character's brother on the show) died at 29 from "an unspecified illness."
Also: Eight others, including Machiko Soga, who played Rita Repulsa. Wow, this entry was sad.
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Is Censored In Malaysia
Why on earth would a fun kids show about bloodless monster fighting get banned anywhere? If you guessed, "Because it promotes violence," or, "It encouraged children to build giant robots," both of those are wrong.
It's because the Malaysian government thought it encouraged the use of hardcore drugs. Does that not make sense? Well, think about the title. Mighty MORPHIN' Power Rangers. Morphin' sounds like Morphine, which will get kids addicted to morphine, according to the Malaysian government.
The show's title was edited down to just Mighty Power Rangers, and the word was bleeped out when the Rangers said, "It's morphin' time!"
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