Power Rangers Wild Force
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Power Rangers Wild Force | |
---|---|
Genre | Action Adventure Fantasy Superhero |
Created by | Haim Saban Toei Company |
Based on | Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger by Toei Company |
Developed by | Saban Entertainment The Walt Disney Company Toei Company |
Directed by | Koichi Sakamoto Terry Withrow Worth Keeter Taro Sakamoto Jonathan Tzachor |
Starring | Ricardo Medina, Jr. Alyson Kiperman Phillip Jeanmarie Jessica Rey Jack Guzman Philip Andrew Ann Marie Crouch Ilia Volok Sin Wong |
Composers | Lior Rosner Paul Gordon Drew DeAscentis |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producer | Jonathan Tzachor |
Production locations | Santa Clarita and Los Angeles, California |
Running time | 20 minutes |
Production companies | Disney Enterprises BVS Entertainment Saban Entertainment Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment Toei Company, Ltd. MMPR Productions, Inc. |
Original release | |
Network | Fox (Fox Kids) (Ep 1–26) ABC (ABC Kids) (Ep 27–40) ABC Family (Jetix) (reruns) |
Release | February 9 November 16, 2002 | –
Power Rangers Wild Force is an American television series and the tenth season and anniversary of the Power Rangers franchise, based on the Super Sentai series Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, which itself was the 25th anniversary of Super Sentai.[1]
Power Rangers Wild Force takes place in 2002. The first part of the series was originally broadcast from February to August 2002 on the Fox Kids television block. Following the sale of Fox Family Worldwide (renamed ABC Family Worldwide) including Saban Entertainment (renamed BVS Entertainment) to Disney by Haim Saban and News Corporation, Fox Network's parent company, the show was moved in the fall 2002 to ABC's new Saturday morning block, ABC Kids (formerly Disney's One Saturday Morning).
Plot summary
The series follows the adventure of Cole Evans, who had been staying with a tribe in a jungle for many years, as he tries to find his destiny in the fictitious town of Turtle Cove. He encounters the Animarium, a place that many believed to be a fairy tale. He joins four others who had a common path to become the new leader of the Wild Force Power Rangers.
The Animarium is an island that floats in the sky. It is shaped like a turtle and is the home of the Wild Zords and Princess Shayla, the Rangers' mentor. (It is unclear how the Rangers travel between the Animarium and the Earth surface, but in one of the last episodes Merrick and Kite are teleported onto the Animarium, so presumably they used the same teleportation throughout the rest of the series.)
The Power Rangers use their powers to defeat the forces of the Orgs, led by one Master Org. As Cole was fond of other animals, he was shocked to discover that the Orgs were literally heartless horned monsters. As the series continues, he finds out the truth about his real parents: his parents, Richard and Elizabeth Evans, were professors at Turtle Cove University, along with a family friend, Dr Viktor Adler who was secretly in love with Elizabeth. When they were sent to the jungle for research, they discover the remains of Master Org, in which a jealous Adler consumes in order to exact revenge on Richard, who had proposed to Elizabeth before he could. However, Adler goes insane, and kills both Richard and Elizabeth. For a while, their newborn son, Cole, was also presumed dead.
In addition to the annual team-up episodes, Power Rangers Wild Force also had a special episode commemorating it as the tenth incarnation, Forever Red, by having Cole team up with the nine Red Rangers before him, (in order of incarnations, Jason Lee Scott, Aurico, Tommy Oliver, T.J. Johnson, Andros, Leo Corbett, Carter Grayson, Wesley "Wes" Collins and Eric Myers), in order to prevent the remaining generals of the Machine Empire from unearthing and reactivating Lord Zedd's zord, Serpentera, which had been left buried on the moon.
Cast
Wild Force Rangers
- Ricardo Medina Jr. as Cole Evans, the Red Lion Wild Force Ranger.
- Alyson Kiperman as Taylor Earhardt, the Yellow Eagle Wild Force Ranger.
- Phillip Jeanmarie as Max Cooper, the Blue Shark Wild Force Ranger.
- Jessica Rey as Alyssa Enrilé, the White Tiger Wild Force Ranger.
- Jack Guzman as Danny Delgado, the Black Bison Wild Force Ranger.
- Phillip Andrew as Merrick Baliton, the Lunar Wolf Ranger.
Allies
- Ann Marie Crouch as Princess Shayla
- Charles Gideon Davis as the voice of Animus
- Vernon Wells as Ransik
- Kate Sheldon as Nadira
- Forever Red Rangers
- Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott, the original Red Ranger, and previously the second Gold Zeo Ranger.
- Christopher Glenn as Aurico, the Red Aquitian Ranger.
- Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver, the Zeo Ranger V Red and previously the Green Ranger, White Ranger, and the first Red Turbo Ranger.
- Selwyn Ward as T.J.Johnson, the second Red Turbo Ranger, and previously the Blue Space Ranger.
- Christopher Khayman Lee as Andros, the Red Space Ranger.
- Danny Slavin as Leo Corbett, the Red Galaxy Ranger.
- Sean Cw Johnson as Carter Grayson, the Red Lightspeed Ranger.
- Jason Faunt as Wesley "Wes" Collins, the Red Time Force Ranger.
- Daniel Southworth as Eric Myers, the Quantum Ranger.
- Time Force Rangers
- Jason Faunt as Wesley "Wes" Collins, the Red Time Force Ranger.
- Erin Cahill as Jennifer "Jen" Scotts, the Pink Time Force Ranger.
- Kevin Kleinberg as Trip Regis, the Green Time Force Ranger.
- Deborah Estelle Philips as Katie Walker, the Yellow Time Force Ranger.
- Michael Copon as Lucas Kendall, the Blue Time Force Ranger.
- Daniel Southworth as Eric Myers, the Quantum Ranger.
- Forever Red Rangers
Villains
- Ilia Volok as Master Org
- Sin Wong as Toxica
- Richard Cansino as the voice of Jindrax (original)
- Danny Wayne as the voice of Jindrax (later)
- Michael Sorich as the voice of Retinax
- Ken Merckx as the voice of Nayzor
- Ezra Weisz and Barbara Goodson as the voices of Mandilok
- Dan Woren as the voice of Zen-Aku (original)
- Lex Lang as the voice of Zen-Aku (later)
Production
Wild Force was the first season to be under the copyright of Disney Enterprises. Disney had bought Power Rangers (along with other Saban properties) at the end of Power Rangers Time Force. It was the last season to be produced in the United States by MMPR Productions as pre-production for Wild Force began before the buyout as well as they still had a contract for Fox Kids. Disney's acquisition resulted in Wild Force having to be finished far sooner than expected as Disney would cut the budget for the show completely. The season's promotional photo was merely a photo of the main cast standing together on set in-between shots as there was no money to do it professionally.
When this programming block expired, the series moved to ABC Kids in September 2002. ABC Family would rerun encore presentations while the show premiered both on Fox Kids and on ABC Kids in 2002. Following this season, production of the Power Rangers franchise moved from Los Angeles, California to New Zealand which resulted in many crew members and all voice actors being laid off.
References
- ^ "Power Rangers: Seasons 8-12 DVD Review - IGN". Uk.ign.com. 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
External links
- Power Rangers series
- Jetix
- Fox Kids
- Fox network shows
- ABC Kids
- 2000s American science fiction television series
- 2002 American television series debuts
- 2002 American television series endings
- American Broadcasting Company network shows
- Power Rangers Wild Force
- English-language television programs
- Television series about orphans
- Television series by Disney
- Television shows set in Colorado
- Television shows set in California
- Fiction about size change
- ABC Family shows
- ABS-CBN shows
- Superhero television programs
- American children's action television series
- American children's adventure television series
- American children's fantasy television series