YOPR: 7. Big Sisters
On April 19, MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: ONCE AND ALWAYS premieres on Netflix. I’m writing about all 60 episodes of MMPR’s first season in the lead-up to that premiere.
If you’d like to follow along on this rewatch, entirety of MMPR’s first season is available for free (with ads) on YouTube.
7. Big Sisters
One-sentence synopsis: Chicken, chicken, chicken, which plot point you pickin’?
Why it matters: Zyuranger has a lot of plots that involve young children getting kidnapped — young Japanese children, of course. There are several episodes of MMPR that model themselves after the source footage more closely, prompting the need for young American actors to stand in for children who definitely don’t look like them. No amount of barebones, early 1990’s editing could cover up some “errors,” but efforts were clearly made to patch things together as nicely as possible. As an eagle-eyed adult, it’s not hard to tell when Maria – the child of the day at the center of “Big Sisters” – and her kidnapped counterpart are on-screen. But as a young kid watching it repeatedly in the early 1990’s, or even today? You’re too captivated by the mysterious Power Eggs (a mcguffin), the outlandish Chunky Chicken (and his magical scissors) and Billy’s flying Volkswagen Beetle (it goes from 0 to 3,000 MPH in 2.8 seconds!) to ever notice. Power Rangers works so well because its fight footage was easily adaptable, but it often doesn’t get enough credit for just how well some of the other source footage is sliced and diced.
Episode MVP: The Viewing Globe. On the subject of source footage, the Command Center’s interdimensional television is an incredible purveyor of the goods. In “Big Sisters,” we see Maria get kidnapped by Putty Patrollers through original footage but, because MMPR season one didn’t create American footage of Rita and her crew, the American actress is never shown with them. As Rita’s plot is revealed to the Rangers through the Viewing Globe, source footage is played in sequence along with matching close-ups of a frightened Maria. The globe’s relative opaqueness works to marry both sets of footage in a way that otherwise would make their juxtaposition more jarring. Its contributions are ever present but seldom recognized.
A good quote: “What good are eggs if you can’t eat ’em?” – Squatt
Rating: 3/5 giant ice cream sundaes
Previously on “Yesterday on Power Rangers”
1. Day of the Dumpster
2. High Five
3. Teamwork
4. A Pressing Engagement
5. Different Drum
6. Food Fight