Category Archives: Power Rangers/Super Sentai

To Be or Not To Be…Professional

Posted on by Standard 1

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So, I’m pretty sure you all know about Saban Brands and Lionsgate entering a feature film deal for a re-imagined Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. It seems, so have a few of our esteemed Ranger Veterans. This is a fantastic thing! The fact that our favorite Rangers are talking about it gives us hope! Unfortunately, some of them tend to ruin it for the rest of us.

Just this morning (Today is May 7, 2014), Jason David Frank took it upon himself to claim responsibility for Saban Brands acting on the idea of a movie in the first place, as quoted: “So it’s official. I gave Saban the idea lol. Let’s see who they offer back haha. Email lion gates show then the JDF love. Push the green or white. They might reboot with new people who knows lol. JDF” Followed by screenshots of the contact information of the representatives from both Saban Brands and Lionsgate. Names. Emails. Phone numbers. Stating as follows: “Here you all team Lion gates numbers and emails haha. What’s PR with some OG cast members. And where is my green ranger series? Haha I’ve pushed for this but a reboot with new people lol. Oh well. I’ll still promote my brand. Sucks to someone else in my spandex haha. Saban and lion gates band together !!! It’s official. There goes the self made fan movie MMPR fan film. JDF”

So, not only does Mr. Frank condone flooding professional businesswomen’s emails with petty entitlement, he also bags on someone else’s work. “Sucks to someone else in my spandex haha.”? First of all, it’s not spandex. Secondly, it’s not yours. It belongs to the company, sir.

Not only that, but Jason Faunt started doing it, too. Come on, man. You, too? Really?

What happened to being professional about things? Power Rangers has never once been about the Rangers themselves, but the deeds they do and the message they convey. This is supposed to be a re-imagining, focusing on teenagers. JDF isn’t a teenager. Jason Faunt isn’t a teenager. A new vision calls for new blood. This could very well be someone’s J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. A little bit of fan pandering while also opening up an entirely new realm of possibilities. You can’t do that while holding onto old ideals and old actors.

Power Rangers is ever-changing. Are we really giving the property its due as fans if we can’t even entertain the possibility of new ideas and new renditions? Are we really respecting Julie from Lionsgate and Kelsey from Saban Brands if we simply bombard them with emails and phone calls telling them that we want old actors to come back and play teenagers, which they clearly aren’t? NO. WE ARE NOT.

Respect the franchise. Respect the people behind it. If we can’t do that, then there’s no reason for us to expect the companies to listen to anything we have to say, because it makes us no better than spoiled children. Saban Brands and Lionsgate are doing what they do best: Business. If you want to be able to correspond with professionals, then you have to be willing to act in a professional manner.

That’s all I have to say about that.

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JUST ANNOUNCED! Lionsgate and Saban Brands Team Up for Live Action Power Rangers Film!

Posted on by Standard 1

BREAKING NEWS! Saban Brands has announced a partnership with Lionsgate to bring us news of a new, re-imagined Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers live action film!

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SANTA MONICA, CA, May 7, 2014 – Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), a leading global entertainment 
company, and Saban Brands, a strategic brand management company that acquires and 
builds global consumer brands, are partnering to develop and produce an original live action 
feature !lm based on the iconic Power Rangers property, it was announced today by creator 
of Power Rangers Haim Saban and Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer.  The 
announcement marks another step in Lionsgate’s continued commitment to build a broad 
portfolio of branded properties and franchises with global appeal. 
Saban launched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a live action television series more than 20 
years ago, and the series has been in continuous production ever since. It has subsequently 
grown into one of the world’s most popular and recognizable brands, with toys, apparel, 
costumes, video games, DVD’s, comic books and other merchandise.
The two companies noted that, with an extensive and extremely devoted worldwide fan base 
as well as a deep and detailed mythology, the Power Rangers are primed for the big 
screen.  The new !lm franchise will re-envision the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a group of 
high school kids who are infused with unique and cool super powers but must harness and 
use those powers as a team if they have any hope of saving the world.
 
“Lionsgate is the perfect home for elevating our Power Rangers brand to the next level,” said 
Saban.  “They have the vision, marketing prowess and incredible track record in launching 
breakthrough hits from The Hunger Games to Twilight and Divergent. In partnership with the 
Lionsgate team, we’re con!dent that we will capture the world of the Power Rangers and 
translate it into a unique and memorable motion picture phenomenon with a legacy all its 
own.” 
 
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Haim Saban and his team to maximize the potential of 
this immensely successful and universally recognized franchise,” said Feltheimer. “The Power 
Rangers stories and characters have been embraced by generations of audiences for more 
than 20 years, and today they are more powerful than ever.  We have the ideal partner and the 
perfect brand with which to create a motion picture event that will resonate with moviegoers 
around the world for years to come.”

What could this very well mean? Stay tuned-in to THE MONKIE GRID for more information!

More:

  • Full PDF-Version feature film announcement from Saban Brands at PowerRangers.com – HERE – (Dead Link)
  • Press release from Lionsgate – HERE –

Behind the Scenes of Kyoryuger 100 Years After V-Cinema!

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A special “Making of” video for Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger: 100 Years After appeared on Toei Japan’s YouTube page yesterday and is making its way around the fandom! It covers some behind-the-scenes footage, including a number of scenes where the current Kyoryugers inherit the powers of their predecessors.

Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger: 100 Years After is set to release direct-to-video June 20, 2014.

Austin St. John Does a Q&A

Posted on by Standard 1

As promised, Austin St. John had answered a few FAQs and the video was posted on the Official Austin St. John Fan Page. A very humble man, to say the least. The Q&A covers the possibility of overseas appearances, the topic (asked quite frequently) of having been asked to return to Power Rangers, and social media.

He also asks quite specifically to treat the Rangers with respect, which is very admirable.

Go Go Mega Heartbreak!

Posted on by Standard 3

In the smoke and rubble of it all, I’ve looked back on everything that’s happened in the past day (Today being the morning of March 29th). I have to take out the time to say that in hindsight, I am very, very disappointed and heartbroken over recent events and the things that were said. I’m rather perturbed that a single person. A SINGLE PERSON. Can turn the entire community into a heaping pile of crap.

As I’ve said many times, I used to look up to Tommy as a kid because I thought he was the most amazing guy ever. When I came into the fandom, I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Then, I came across the Tommy Fandom. To see those fans be so ugly to people who didn’t share their mindset, and to see that JDF didn’t do anything about it, that broke my heart. Now you can’t tell me “Well, maybe he didn’t see it”, because he boasts that he reads EVERY. SINGLE. COMMENT.

If you don’t stop it, you’re condoning it. Simple as that. If JDF’s going to allow his fans to be ugly to other people, if JDF’s going to call people haters, then I’m done. It breaks my heart to see what he’s become. It breaks my heart to see what his fans have become.

I officially feel disenfranchised. You want to call me butthurt? Sure, go right ahead. A line was crossed. It’s not even about Morphin’ Madness anymore, because the treatment that I’ve witnessed of fans? That comes from within, folks. That’s all you.

The Trouble With Tommy (Season Tsu!)

Posted on by Standard 1

So I’ve been (fully) actively part of the Power Rangers fandom for almost a year now (See what I did there? Article throwback. lol). Since the time I posted the first “Trouble With Tommy” article, many things have transpired. Jason David Frank going to more and more conventions, more vocal on Twitter, Facebook, and, of course, Instagram is definitely among the front runners. With that increased exposure comes a few slip-ups here and there, of course. It happens to the best of us (“Why the Hell Are You in the Power Rangers Tag?”, anyone?). The thing is that with great fan base volume comes great responsibility.

Anyway, we should get on to the meat and potatoes of this entire post.

Remember in my first “The Trouble With Tommy” how I talked about those hypothetical situations of “If such-and-such Ranger faced So-and-So Ranger, who would win?” Well, they’re not so hypothetical anymore! With the introduction of the Morphin’ Madness contest, fans can vote for their favorite Power Rangers in a head-to-head bracket style tournament! The thing is, let’s just say that the “Madness” part isn’t too far off from the truth.

As of typing this post, we are currently in the third of four rounds. Jason David Frank has caught wind of the contest and has started urging his fans to vote for the Tommy Rangers that are currently still in the running, which are MMPR Green, MMPR White, and Dino Thunder Black. No big deal. Just an actor rallying his fans all in good fun, right? Apparently not, once he was notified that he was losing:

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First of all, I think we all can tell that this contest isn’t rigged. First sign of poor sportsmanship is the implementation of excuses. Second, just because there are a number of us who don’t vote for any form of Tommy, it doesn’t give anyone the right to call us “haters”. Tommy isn’t the only Ranger in the franchise’s existence. Calling him “the best” is purely subjective, as you can ask five people and there will be at least three different opinions on the character.

Speaking of fans, I actually am reminded of a small paragraph I wrote in the last Tommy article:

“You also have the fans who argue inconsolably amongst themselves about which Tommy power is the greatest. This can often turn senseless, as it traditionally becomes a male reproductive organ-waving contest as to who has the better powers, why one power shouldn’t exist over another, and; at some point or another, the blatant attack of one’s intelligence for not agreeing.”

The only difference being that instead of internal altercations within the “Tommy Fandom” subsect, this attitude has been aimed outward towards others. If we’re meant to call each other friend, or fellow fan, we can’t have things like this. This is why we can’t have nice things, folks. Things like this:

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(Eddie Gallardo is a fantastic person, by the way. And to insinuate otherwise is just low.)

Look, folks, if you call campaign posters cheating the system, then what do you call this?

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Let’s not have the pot call the kettle black here, guys. This was all supposed to be in good fun, and it was taken WAY out of hand. I personally don’t take kindly to being called a “hater” for not voting for Tommy in any way, shape, or form. I don’t like being told that I can “vote the way I want” and then be the target of incessant whining because things aren’t going your way.

I’ve said this before and I will say it until my face turns blue: Tommy isn’t the only Ranger in the franchise. If you love Tommy and/or Jason David Frank and the earth he walks on, so be it. Don’t come down on others for thinking otherwise and do NOT use Morphin’ Madness as a vehicle for your self-imposed religion.

Voting is a symbol of democracy. Democracy is a symbol of FREEDOM. You know, that thing that allows us to do as we please within a certain realm of reason? Which means if we want to rally votes, we can. But when we start getting things like this:

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Then we start getting off the beaten path a bit. I’m all for rallying votes. That’s called campaigning. And you know what we’re campaigning for? FUN. We are campaigning for fun. Stuff like this? That’s called bribery. You want to wave a finger at the fandom for “cheating the system”? Might want to have a look at this.

Look, folks. I looked up to Tommy when I was growing up. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers first aired while I was in Kindergarten. I was on the Green Ranger hype train for a long time. But, when I start seeing things like this. Such dirty talk from a person who I once looked up to, it breaks my heart, guys. To be called a hater for not voting a certain way, being shamed for not idolizing someone? That’s not how this fandom works. We’re supposed to respect and accept each other despite our differences. Not clique up and point fingers when things don’t go our way.

Tommy Fandom, if that’s the game you want to play, if you want to claim yourselves as your own country, so be it. But it’s definitely not a game the rest of us are going to play. The ship carrying the Power Rangers fandom’s tolerance for you has sailed, and with it, the tolerance for the JDF/Tommy hype train.

In closing, the “Trouble With Tommy”? Intolerance. The inability to accept another’s opinion unconditionally without resorting to shaming or disrespect. If we as a community are going to endure, that needs to change.