MIGHTY MORPH'N POWER RANGERS QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION PAPERS Written By Paul Matthews, October 1994. Purpose: To explain the purpose of the MMPR Q&A papers, it is first necessary for the reader to have an existing knowledge of the plotlines behind the first group of sixty episodes (known as "MMPR -Season one"). Imagine for a moment that YOU are a citizen of Angel Grove, having seen all that has gone on for what amounts to about one year, since Rita first attacked Earth. What, more than anything else, are the questions you are likely to have in your mind? If the Power Rangers' identity was suddenly revealed to you, then what questions would you have? What would be the answers? And how could you help them in their task? ------------ The MMPR Q&A endeavours to further involve the reader in the concept that is "Mighty Morph'n Power Rangers". The perceived effect that I have found this has on MMPR fans and followers (both target agegroup and "cult" followers) is to spark a renewed interest in the older season one repeats, and thus the concept of MMPR as a whole. A bit like "squeezing the last drop" from the season one material. Much of the Q&A content is technical, answering and bringing together many of the fragmented aspects of MMPR which have resulted from the grafting of two separate programs together into one (from the original Japanese Sentai concept). People who have had only a shallow interest in MMPR may find their interest develop through these papers, enough to enjoy reviewing the season one material. At the same time, effort has been made to pre-empt the plotlines of season two and leave enough room for change to the concepts as MMPR comes of age. c Copyright exists in these works. These works are copyright, not withstanding the names and likenesses relating to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers™ which are copyright to Saban Entertainment. These papers must not be sold, or published without both permission from the writer (Paul Matthews) and licence from Saban Entertainment. Mighty Morph'n Power Rangers Question And Answer Interviews Contents Paper 1 - How it Started, Command Center etc. Paper 2 - Life And Times of the Power Rangers Paper 3 - Secrets of the Morphed Mode Paper 4 - Zordon and The Enemy Paper 5 - Power Ranger Technology & The Zords In order of chronology, these interviews would have taken place between episode 52 and 55. of MMPR Season One. Part One Power Rangers Q & A - General Questions & Command Center Question: Why are you called the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers"? Answer: Because we're Mighty (Zack) And we're Morphin' (Kimberly) And because Zordon called us "Power Rangers".. It's a cool name, so we're not changing it. (Jason) Actually, it was the TV media which tacked the "Mighty Morphin" on the front.. The name seems to have stuck on us. Fine by me. (Tommy) Do you envisage an alternative descriptive term for us? (Billy) Question: Where did all those photos come from which are in circulation? Answer: The media has a field day in Angel Grove. Sometimes I think they are in league with Rita just to draw us out so they can get their cameras clicking. (Jason) Most of the pose shots were taken during that "Power Rangers Day" thing last year. At the end of that, we jumped in the air and teleported back here- and that's when most of the photos were taken. (Kimberly) I'm sure you know about the Angel Grove Power Rangers Appreciation Committee, they are the group that arranged the Power Rangers Day last year. They apparently hold most of the licences for the Power Rangers stuff- and use the profits to rebuild parts of the city damaged by battles. (Trini) Question: What is the biggest problem at the moment for the Power Rangers, that is other than Rita? Answer: The rest of the world is treating it as a joke now. (Jason) Many countries are unaware of ours or Rita's existence. In my parents' country, no-one cares about it, they just think it's another American prank! They have no idea of the serious-ness of Earth's predicament. (Trini) The only place where people treat Rita seriously is here in Angel Grove. Sure the rest of the world watches the news, but it has been going on now for nearly two years and I think many people outside Angel Grove have convinced themselves that it doesn't concern them, and that she'll never attack anywhere else. (Kimberly) Sometimes I think we should do a big worldwide romp with the Zords just to convince everyone outside Angel Grove that they exist- But there's no way Zordon would consider that! (Zack) Money can sometimes get a little thin for my experiments.. (Billy) Not! No Way! Only because you keep trashing everything! (Kimberly) Question: How long will you remain Power Rangers? Answer: What a question! To be honest, we don't think about that much. If we can get the upper hand on Rita then maybe the Power Rangers can disappear as quickly as they came. (Jason) Zordon occasionally gives us the chance to give up- but we never do, it's far too important for that. Rita knows who we are and will cause us real problems if we ever left. So much so that the replacement Power Rangers would probably have to spend all their time protecting us. (Billy) I suppose we'll grow old if this never ends. Maybe the grey hair will confuse those darn putties. (Tommy) Question: Why do you always wait for the defensive reaction? Why don't you launch a once and for all attack on Rita in her castle on the Moon? Answer: Because it would never work - That was Zordon's mistake, and why he's trapped where he is. Defeating Rita can only come from playing her games. She really is very powerful and if we don't handle the situation very carefully she'll just get angry and do something really bad- something even she doesn't know she's capable of. (Kimberly) Zordon's rule is - "Never escalate a battle unless Rita forces us". I'm afraid it's the only way we can be sure of keeping her exactly where we want her, and where Zordon can watch her progress. It's sort of a classic standoff. Rita doesn't destroy Earth because she knows we're here and she's unsure of our ability. So she is determined to destroy us Power Rangers first, and we all know that will not happen- well we hope.. (Jason) Rita spends her time watching our every move- it's invasive and leaves us feeling exposed. She seems to watch our actions and use them as inspiration for her next attack. We'll start doing something say, at school. It'll give her an idea and before we know it she has developed another monster based on that theme. (Trini) It's a real pain. Especially the Putties. They've ruined so many of our projects at school it's not at all funny. It all works out in the end, but I often find myself crying myself to sleep that night. For anyone who wants to be a Power Ranger- forget it if you want a normal life. (Kimberly) There was a time last year when Kimberly and I were designing a model float for the Angel Grove flower festival. Rita was watching, and she sent the putties to trash it. It happened right in the youth center- it's amazing no-one else was around at the time. It was so low- it took her ages to design it. (Tommy) Yeah- fortunately Tommy put some time in to rebuilding it- he came up here and had Alpha replicate the flowers with the teleporter. Then they went to Billy's garage and spent all night on it. (Trini) Question: Why Superheroes? Why not just a special task force? Answer: To protect Earth from itself! I must admit we didn't believe it at first, not at all. We walked out of here and started heading straight back towards Angel Grove! (Kimberly) I suppose the important thing is that it has worked out. At least by having mysterious superheroes, we don't have to worry about the technology becoming ubiquitous on earth. The last thing we need is a whole planet of power rangers with dubious morals. (Billy) Question: Are any changes planned for the Power Rangers? Answer: Zordon has for a while been working on the possibility of creating another power coin & morpher for Tommy, because the Green one is really unreliable and cannot be fixed properly ever since Rita damaged it with that candle thing. We had the chance to destroy that Green Candle but missed out, so the damage has become permanent- one of the few cases where this has happened. (Jason) The new ranger morpher will form a white suit uniform and should have the same abilities as our others.. but we haven't started testing it yet. Zordon is confident it will work, and Billy has helped him a great deal by obtaining some materials from my uncle which we would otherwise not have been able to obtain here using this equipment. (Trini) We are also planning modifications to the Zords, but it is too premature to decide just what these changes will be. Most of the changes will probably be cosmetic, giving them a new exterior appearance and thus adding confusion to Rita's instinct driven monsters. (Billy) Command Center Questions Question: O.K. so now the important stuff. Where are the restrooms in this center? Answer: (Laughing) There isn't one! You'll have to trek outside! (Jason) All there is in here is this command room, and a small room the other side of that pylon which seems to have become "Blue Ranger Scientific Laboratories Pty Ltd". I wonder if they pay any rent or taxes.. (Zack) Question: Why hasn't anyone ever found this command center before? Answer: To be honest, we don't know. Maybe Alpha used to erase the memories of anyone who found it. One thing we do know is that it has certainly been here for a very long time! (Jason) The Command center, like most of our other facilities, is powered directly by the morphing grid. There is however a planetary reserve which uses energy from deep within the earth- and it works, I've tested it. (Billy) Alpha keeps it clean, what a job- all that desert dust. (Kimberly) Actually the atmosphere in here is strictly controlled, but no matter what Alpha tries, the dust still seems to get in. We can do quite a lot from this centre. We can monitor, intercept or jam any radio or television signal anywhere in the world- not that we have done so yet. Alpha and Zordon release the Power Ranger Media Alerts from here using the overide system. Alpha can monitor the exact conditions of all the Zords and work on them by remote using the teleporter and replicator functions which are controlled from over there. He can also monitor the exact condition of us, when we are in our morphed states. (Billy) The Security is pretty tight, as you know we had to give you some of Billy's token coins to get in here. Normally the only way to enter is by us Rangers teleporting in. We can go outside the frame though, once we are here. Alpha can authorise entry of non- ranger personnel such as yourselves. For this we have made up the token coins you have, which Billy and Zack normally keep stored inside their morphers. (Tommy) We've only made one change to the place - and you can thank Zack for that one. (Billy pointed to a rather large new- looking CD stereo stack on a table in the entry corner of the center, and the battered black speakers on each side of the desk) You don't expect us to be here without some music do you? And anyway, I had to teach Alpha the Hip Hop Kido. I couldn't teleport that stereo in- I had to pay for a courier to bring it all the way out here and leave it down the other side of the mountain, then I had to carry it up here! And before you ask -NO- I was not in morphed mode when I carried them up! (Zack) Question: What are those round columns and the neon lights for? Answer: The columns form spatial reference points for the teleporter, so they must be kept very still and precisely adjusted. Any coordinate which Alpha calculates for the teleporter has five dimensional measurements, and the zero point is at the centre of the intersecting lines drawn from an exact point in the top of the columns, to the centre of the viewing globe. The neon lights aren't neon- they are passive collectors which can draw power from the morphing grid and convert it to Direct Current electricity. They connect to that panel just there. All the apparatus in here works off fifteen hundred Volts DC. It has special insulation fields. When it goes wrong it usually causes some major sparks. (Billy) You asked- You receive an answer! We warned you! (Kimberly) "Goes wrong"- cool- like when Alpha clobbers it with his hip hop moves. (Zack) Question: And what about the viewing globe? Answer: It's also part of the teleporter system. Actually, just about everything in here is somehow part of, or dependent on, that system. The Globe display can be programmed with co-ordinates anywhere in this universe, and we've also developed a way of penetrating into Rita's Dark Dimension with it- but it only works this way if she's not watching, because otherwise she just casts illusion spells on it which gives us an incorrect image. COPYRIGHT 1994 PAUL MATTHEWS SYDNEY AUSTRALIA UNLICENSED DRAFT NOT FOR PUBLICATION, CIRCULATION OR SALE TERMS AND LIKENESSES COPYRIGHT TO SABAN ENTERTAINMENT INC. USA.