2008 Woodie Awards
column about nothing
Morgan Nederhood
Issue date: 2/8/07 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 1
Trini, Kimberly, Billy, Zack, Jason, and Tommy. Yes, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Years ago, they were synonymous with everything amazing in life. Now, the reputation of unstoppable popularity has been tarnished by the newest generations of Power Rangers: Neo, Turbo, and S.P.D.
Obviously, reminiscing about the Power Rangers is beyond random, it's downright insane. In my defense, I am not the only person who still thinks the original Power Rangers were the greatest superheroes of all time. This entire thought process surrounding them was generated a couple of weeks ago when I saw someone in the dining hall wearing a Power Rangers jacket. So, to whoever wore that jacket: rock on, and wear it with pride.
After mentioning the Power Rangers to just about who will listen, and many people who wouldn't, I've realized that the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have a soft spot for anyone in our generation. Everyone has his or her favorite ranger, and people still reminisce about that ranger with unwavering pride. For a brief period of time, the Power Rangers basically ruled the world. Kids dressed up as the Power Rangers for Halloween, washed their pint-sized bodies with Power Ranger soap, and slept in Power Ranger footsie pajamas.
The Disney empire has noticed the marketability of the old-school Power Rangers, and has squirreled away every old episode into its "vault," which halts the production of DVDs for certain films for ten years. Every episode of the Might Morphin Power Rangers has been systematically removed from youtube.com and other sites, so people who want to relive the glory of their youth have to wait for the vault to open. Honestly Disney, taking away the Power Rangers? What is wrong with you?
So, what is it about the Power Rangers that gives it such a timeless quality? In my opinion, Tommy, the green and white ranger, and Kimberly, his pink ranger girlfriend, made the show the legend that it is. I would entice anyone to look up their names on youtube.com, and just be amazed (or disturbed) at the amount of tributes there are to the couple.
Girls wanted to be the pink ranger, and girls also wanted to be Tommy Oliver's girlfriend. I don't know who boys wanted to be, but I remember my little brother dressing as the red ranger. Sure, the Power Rangers was racially awkward because it cast the Vietnamese Thuy Trang as the yellow ranger, and African-American Walter Jones as the black ranger. A few of the sequences were actually voice-overs of the original Japanese show, and the motions of the actors in costume never matched their voices. But who cares? The Power Rangers were ridiculously perfect kids who promoted world peace, who could have a problem with such a perfect image?
Only the original Power Rangers could make brightly colored unitards and pathetic special effects look so cool. So rock on, Power Rangers, and especially you, boy who sports a Power Rangers jacket. It's morphin' time.
Obviously, reminiscing about the Power Rangers is beyond random, it's downright insane. In my defense, I am not the only person who still thinks the original Power Rangers were the greatest superheroes of all time. This entire thought process surrounding them was generated a couple of weeks ago when I saw someone in the dining hall wearing a Power Rangers jacket. So, to whoever wore that jacket: rock on, and wear it with pride.
After mentioning the Power Rangers to just about who will listen, and many people who wouldn't, I've realized that the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have a soft spot for anyone in our generation. Everyone has his or her favorite ranger, and people still reminisce about that ranger with unwavering pride. For a brief period of time, the Power Rangers basically ruled the world. Kids dressed up as the Power Rangers for Halloween, washed their pint-sized bodies with Power Ranger soap, and slept in Power Ranger footsie pajamas.
The Disney empire has noticed the marketability of the old-school Power Rangers, and has squirreled away every old episode into its "vault," which halts the production of DVDs for certain films for ten years. Every episode of the Might Morphin Power Rangers has been systematically removed from youtube.com and other sites, so people who want to relive the glory of their youth have to wait for the vault to open. Honestly Disney, taking away the Power Rangers? What is wrong with you?
So, what is it about the Power Rangers that gives it such a timeless quality? In my opinion, Tommy, the green and white ranger, and Kimberly, his pink ranger girlfriend, made the show the legend that it is. I would entice anyone to look up their names on youtube.com, and just be amazed (or disturbed) at the amount of tributes there are to the couple.
Girls wanted to be the pink ranger, and girls also wanted to be Tommy Oliver's girlfriend. I don't know who boys wanted to be, but I remember my little brother dressing as the red ranger. Sure, the Power Rangers was racially awkward because it cast the Vietnamese Thuy Trang as the yellow ranger, and African-American Walter Jones as the black ranger. A few of the sequences were actually voice-overs of the original Japanese show, and the motions of the actors in costume never matched their voices. But who cares? The Power Rangers were ridiculously perfect kids who promoted world peace, who could have a problem with such a perfect image?
Only the original Power Rangers could make brightly colored unitards and pathetic special effects look so cool. So rock on, Power Rangers, and especially you, boy who sports a Power Rangers jacket. It's morphin' time.
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