Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Jason vs DinoThunder

It's Morphin Time!

Do you have what it takes to fight monsters with the original (well, original American) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers?  Don't be scared, because the creatures were already defeated by masked Japanese actors on a show that had previously been shown on TV in Asia.

The first Stateside Power Rangers were Austin St. John (Jason, the leader), Amy Jo Johnson (Kimberly), Thuy Trang (Trini), Walter Jones (Zack) and David Yost (Billy).

Actor Jason David Frank (Tommy) was added to the group a little bit later.

Saban's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers debuted on the Fox Kid's Network in 1993 and quickly became a smash hit.  Entertainment Weekly had a big story on the phenomenon (and explains the premise of the show better than I could).

TV sets and McDonald's restaurants were invaded by the Power Rangers.  Even if you did not watch the show, you could not escape the characters, since they appeared in countless commercials and public service announcements.

The friendly United States-based Power Rangers actors were no doubt a big reason why so many American kids tuned in to watch the show.

Ironically, the foundation of the series (masked characters swapped out for a different country) reduced the power of the actors, no matter how popular they were.

Merchandise for the show focused on the masked Power Rangers.  The unmasked characters did appear in a video game.

Jason and the rest of the Power Rangers seem to be game for a cameo appearance in "Wreck It Ralph 2."

Power Rangers appeared in many different video games for SEGA, Nintendo and Tiger Electronics.

Prehistoric animal masks were worn by the original Power Rangers.  They represented the T-Rex (Red Ranger), Pterodactyl (Pink Ranger), Mastodon (Black Ranger), Triceratops (Blue Ranger) and Sabre-Toothed Tiger (Yellow Ranger).

Tommy, the Green Ranger, had a Dragon mask.

The Green Ranger's mask sort of looks like Godzilla.

Jason David Frank's character later became the White Ranger, represented by a Tiger.

The White Ranger was a natural choice to represent the latest Power Rangers Tiger Electronics game you needed to buy.

Hand-drawn Power Rangers strike a Japanese action pose in an ad for a Tiger Electronics hand held game.  The world was quite different before smart phones and mobile devices.

I think the Black Ranger has my favorite mask (the Mastodon) though it looks like the trunk might obstruct his vision a bit.

Troopers.  Three.  Virtual Reality!  So said the theme song for VR Troopers, which was created by the same folks who brought us Power Rangers.

Hanna Barbera did the same sort of thing when Scooby Doo was popular.  They churned out dozens of shows with a bumbling dog (or some other animal) who was joined by a group of mystery-solving (or music-making) teenagers.  As was the case with VR Troopers, they never matched the popularity of the original.

The VR Troopers were Brad Hawkins (as Ryan Steele), Sarah Brown (Kaitlin Star) and Michael Bacon (J.B. Reese).

In 1996, Brad Hawkins and Sarah Brown appeared in "Power Rangers Zeo," one of many, many Power Rangers spin-offs.

By 2004, the Power Rangers had settled into their new home at Disney in the form of Power Rangers DinoThunder.

Disney inherited the Power Rangers with the purchase of the Fox Family Channel (now ABC Family) in 2001.

Power Rangers started appearing in the Disney Catalog in 2003.

The Disney Catalog and Disney Store had previously focused on Buzz Lightyear and Stitch for merchandise aimed at boys.

In many ways, Power Rangers set the stage for Disney's purchase of Marvel and Star Wars characters.

Did you ever wonder what would happen if one of the Transformers mated with a Triceratops?  Well, wonder no more!

Hollywood is obsessed with youth, so DinoThunder's cast featured the youngest Power Rangers ever.

Somehow, Disney never thought of Power Rangers: DinoThunder Babies.  What a missed opportunity!

Smelly feet won't scare DinoThunder slippers.

Don't be shocked if your bunny slippers vanish if DinoThunder slippers are in your house.

Before DinoThunder, there was NinjaStorm in 2003.

Notice the mask on the Red Ranger.  Is this the son of Red Ranger Jason (T-Rex) and Yellow Ranger Trini (Sabre Tooth Tiger)?

Power Rangers SPD (Space Patrol Delta) was the new franchise for 2005.

SPD was so popular that it inspired titles like "Power Rangers: CSI Chicago" and "Power Rangers: SVU."  Well, it inspired me to come up with them.

In 2006, there was a proposal for "Power Rangers: Space Cowboys."  The leader was named Maurice, and he called himself "the gangster of love."

Not really.  But there was a Power Rangers: Mystic Force.  And one of the Rangers had a cow on his mask.

This may be the most rare Disney snow globe ever.  It is a Power Rangers DinoThunder globe.

I imagine anyone interested in Power Rangers who received the DinoThunder snow globe as a gift probably smashed it to bits quickly (by accident or on purpose).

The Power Rangers appeared in the Disney Parks and the Disney Stores for a number of years (the Red Ranger was even a character in the die-cast Disney Racers car line), then the characters were sold back to Power Rangers guru Haim Saban in 2010.

Disney's Mighty Ducks At McDonald's

What toy did you get in your Mighty Ducks McDonald's Happy Meal? Emilio Eztevez? Joshua Jackson? Nope, because this was all about the animated TV series.

The Mighty Ducks cartoon from 1996 was sort of a mad mix of The Mighty Ducks movies, Howard the Duck, Darkwing Duck, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Beverly Hills 90210.

This series shared little in common with the 1992 live action film besides the name and the logo on the team jersey.

The Mighty Ducks cartoon followed the adventures of a team of alien, hockey playing ducks living in the human world. And they also fought a race of alien dragon bad guys.

My favorite thing about the show was the theme song, performed by Mickey Thomas from Jefferson Starship.

The leader of the Mighty Ducks is Wildwing, voiced by Ian Ziering (of Beverly Hills 90210 fame). This masked duck was also the mascot for the real Disney hockey team, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, which debuted in 1993.

Wildwing's younger brother is Nosedive, voiced by Steve Mackall. Nosedive reminds me of Steven Weber's character "Brian" from the "Cheers" TV show spin-off, "Wings."

Mighty Ducks aired in syndication and Saturday Mornings on Disney's then-newly purchased ABC network.

Had this show been developed a year later as part of the 1997 "Disney's One Saturday Morning" on ABC, I wonder if it would have been a "kids in school" version of the Mighty Ducks along the lines of "Recess" and "Pepper Ann." I'm glad it wasn't, because I really like the outrageous premise of the Mighty Ducks from another galaxy.

Mallory, voiced by Jennifer Hale (a prolific actress who is currently the voice of Cinderella for Disney) looks a bit like an adult version of Gosalyn from Disney's 1991 TV series, "Darkwing Duck."

Duke L'Orange (voiced by Jeff Bennett) gets the award for the best named character on the show.

Gentle giant Grin is voiced by Brad Garrett (from "Everybody Loves Raymond").

Like all smart geniuses, Tanya (voiced by April Winchell) wears glasses.

Step back in time to November 1996 and see the Ducks in action.

It's hockey! It's ducks! It's a setup for another flashback!

Here we see how the space dragons were taking over the planet belonging to the space ducks. We don't see him here, but Tim Curry is the voice of Lord Dragaunus.

Wait, the ducks are in a comic book and are looking for comics at the same time? That, like, makes you think.

A Saurian (that's what the space dragons are called) henchman named Chameleon (voiced by Frank Welker) is up to no good.

In Anaheim, California, the Mighty Ducks played hockey at a rink called The Pond.

Wildwing wears a mood mask that changes color.

Disney Ducks were insanely popular on TV in the Eighties and Nineties.

The Mighty Ducks each have their own numbered jersey. I understand Wildwing's "00" and Duke's "13" but I don't know the significance of the others.

An "Ice A Zoni" Zamboni? Love that.

No Hockey Game is complete until there's a fight.

The Mighty Ducks don't have to worry about losing teeth.

This is a comic that doesn't take itself too seriously.

When you are talking about hockey playing space ducks, though, things could never be taken too seriously.

Did they ever play "Disco Duck" on that organ? Probably.

Disney sold the Mighty Ducks Hockey team in 2005. I guess these animated cold ducks will spend a lot of time chilling on ice.

After a long day of cleaning up the streets, the Mighty Ducks are now ready to fight grime (with Mighty Ducks Bubble Bath).

Revving up his motorcycle and popping a wheelie, Wildwing is the baddest rubber duckie I've ever seen.

Disney's One Saturday Morning On ABC (Circa 1997)

Monday morning, wake up time, get to work and you stand in line. What would make you feel real fine? One Saturday Morning!

Coming up next is Tuesday's grind, the week is young, but I'm out of my mind! What would make you feel real fine? One Saturday Morning!

Wednesday, Thursday jammed in the middle, once again make you pose a riddle. What's strung real loose, but plays like a fiddle? One Saturday Morning!

Friday has an exit sign, but getting there still takes some time. What would make you feel real fine? One Saturday Morning!

(Illuminating Television!)

Five hours of Summer, once a week---One Saturday Morning! Yeah! Five hours of Summer is what we need---One Saturday Morning! Five hours of Summer, once a week---One Saturday Morning! Whoa! Five hours of Summer---One Saturday Morning!

That's the theme song (or something close to it) to Disney's One Saturday Morning, the block of shows that aired on ABC TV in the Fall of 1997. If I remember correctly, during summertime, the word "Summer" was changed to "Sunshine."

After enjoying that intro, real actor kids (some of whom I remember seeing on David E. Kelley's "Boston Public" TV show from 2000), often joined by the wacky costume character, Miss Moose or a live African elephant named Jellyroll (voiced by Brad Garrett as part of a segment called "How Much Stuff Could An Elephant Crush?") and the wild and wacky Manny the Uncanny (Paul Rugg, known for his writing and voice work on "Freakazoid" and "Animaniacs" for Warner Brothers) hosted live action and animated segments linking the cartoons of One Saturday Morning.

So after a week of school, what do kids get to watch on One Saturday Morning? Well, they get to watch cartoons about kids in school. Doug, Pepper Ann and Recess were the first shows to be part of the One Saturday Morning block. The one non-Disney show on the ABC Saturday morning schedule was The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show from Warner Brothers.

Warner Brothers would later make their own "Kids In School" cartoon for their Kids' WB lineup called "Detention" in 1999.

101 Dalmatians: The Series was produced by Disney TV and Jumbo Pictures, the same company that created the series "Doug" for Nickelodeon. We'll get to Doug in a minute.

101 Dalmatians followed the adventures of pups Lucky, Rolly and Cadpig, plus their chicken friend, Spot. Of course, there were a bunch of other Dalmatians in the series (but unlike "The Smurfs" we did not really get to know many of them), and they were always trying to avoid their neighbor, Cruella De Vil. This show also aired in syndication.

When Disney bought animation company Jumbo Pictures in 1996, Doug became a character somehow shared by Nickelodeon and Disney. For Nick, Doug Funnie was voiced by Billy West on the show "Doug" (1991-1994). For Disney's "Brand Spanking New! Doug" the character was voiced by Tom McHugh.

In 1999, Doug starred in "Doug's 1st Movie" and appeared a stage show called "Doug Live!" at Disney MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Disney's Recess, created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere, somehow reminded me of the Jon Lovitz animated series "The Critic" (1994) in its character design and comic timing. The show had an impressive voice cast, including Dabney Coleman as Mr. Prickly.

This "Where's Waldo?" type game is interesting because it looks like the artist who created it never actually saw an episode of "Recess." All the "extras" seen playing with the Recess kids look like characters from old Dennis the Menace comic strips.

Recess was popular enough to get a McDonald's Happy Meal promotion, and I think it may have been the only One Saturday Morning show to get one.

Recess later hit the big screen with the movie "Recess: School's Out" in 2001. The characters also appeared on a few direct to DVD releases in 2003 and on an episode of "Lilo and Stitch: The Series."

Who's that girl? What's her name? Is she cool? Is she lame? Oh, you're talking about "what's-her-name"---Pepper Ann! Pepper Ann was created by Sue Rose, and originally appeared as a comic strip character. Sue Rose was responsible for another popular character named "Fido Dido" who appeared on all sorts of merchandise and on animated bumpers for CBS Saturday Morning cartoons in the 1990s.

Pepper Ann was voiced (and her theme song was sung) by actress Kathleen Wilhoite (who also voiced comic strip character Cathy in animated specials in the 1980s). P.A's pal, Milo, was voiced by Danny Cooksey, who starred on Diff'rent Strokes and Tiny Toon Adventures (as Montana Max). Pepper Ann and her Mom (April Winchell) were the only characters from One Saturday Morning to make a cameo appearance on Disney's House of Mouse TV series (2001) starring Mickey Mouse.

I think that the characters in the Pepper Ann "world" are the most fun to draw of all the One Saturday Morning shows.

Disney's Jungle Cubs was the second TV show to spin-off from Disney's 1967 animated feature, "The Jungle Book." The first was Disney's "TaleSpin" (1990). The two shows were totally different.

When Jungle Cubs debuted, Baloo (Pamela Segall Adlon), Bagheera (Elizabeth Daily), Hathi (Rob Paulsen), Shere Khan (Jason Marsden), Kaa (Jim Cummings) and Louie (Jason Marsden) were young friends with minor squabbles.

Jungle Cubs is a show that, as they say in "the biz" went through "re-tooling" in its second season. Characters were re-designed and the whole tone of the series changed as friendships faded away. Some voices were re-cast, including Louie (Cree Summer), Bagheera (Dee Bradley Baker) and Hathi (Stephen Furst).

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh were hardly new by 1997.

The show had its Saturday Morning premiere on ABC way back in 1988.

Nobody has to tell animated TV stars that life isn't always fair. Since many of these shows are no longer seen, their characters risk being forgotten or totally unknown.

Jungle Cubs had not been seen on TV for many years, but it looks like it recently started airing again on Disney Junior. Maybe some more of these characters will return to TV so they can be introduced to a new generation.

Per regulations of movie theater chains, the trailer for any new possible One Saturday Morning spin-off movie made must include Tone-Loc's song, "Wild Thing."

Phineas and Ferb, start saving your money right now. You just never know what could happen to you in ten years.

Just ask Kim Possible. I know some people may be wondering, "Kim Who?"