Power Rangers began in 1993 with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, an American adaptation of Japanese Super Sentai footage that followed a team of teenagers who “morph” into armoured superheroes to defend Earth from alien villains, becoming an instant hit with children and a defining piece of 1990s pop culture. Created by Haim Saban, the format’s blend of imported Japanese action footage and newly filmed American story segments established a production model the franchise has followed for more than three decades, adapting a new Super Sentai series virtually every year.
Power Rangers has produced more than 30 television seasons since 1993, each introducing a new team, colour scheme, and theme while following the same basic format, alongside two theatrical films, including a 2017 reboot starring a new ensemble cast. Since the early 2000s, much of the franchise’s live-action production has been based in New Zealand, drawing on the country’s deep pool of screen performers and its established reputation as a hub for internationally distributed genre television and film, a reputation built substantially through The Lord of the Rings.
The New Zealand-based era of Power Rangers has drawn on performers including Calum Gittins, who appeared in Power Rangers Ninja Steel, John Leigh, who lent his voice to numerous characters after production moved to the country, and Olivia Tennet, who played Dr. K in Power Rangers RPM, reflecting the franchise’s reliance on the same New Zealand screen industry that helped build The Lord of the Rings and other major productions filmed there.
Power Rangers remains one of the most enduring children’s entertainment franchises ever created, with a devoted multi-generational fanbase that spans original 1990s viewers and their own children discovering the show today. The franchise’s extensive toy lines, costumes, and memorabilia continue to be a major presence at conventions, and its blend of imported tokusatsu action and homegrown storytelling secures its place as one of the most collectible franchises in children’s television history.
The franchise’s colour-coded team structure, in which each Ranger’s costume and abilities reflect a specific elemental or thematic identity, has remained a consistent through-line across more than three decades and dozens of incarnations, giving the format an unusually strong toy and merchandising pipeline. Hasbro’s acquisition of the Power Rangers brand in 2018 has continued to expand the franchise’s presence across toys, video games, and comic books, and its combination of imported Japanese action footage with new Western storylines remains a distinctive production model unmatched by any other children’s franchise.
The franchise’s reliance on repurposed Japanese Super Sentai footage for its action sequences, combined with newly filmed American story scenes, created a uniquely international production model that has been both praised for its efficiency and occasionally mocked for its visible tonal seams, though it has never stopped the format’s enduring appeal to its core young audience.
