''Power Rangers Dino Thunder'' is the twelfth season of the television series, ''
Power Rangers
''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...
''.
This incarnation of ''Power Rangers'' was based on ''
Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger'', the 27th entry of Toei Company's long-running ''
Super Sentai
The is a Japanese superhero team media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi. The shows are of the '' tokusatsu'' genre, featuring live action characters and colorfu ...
'' franchise. ''Dino Thunder'' was also the subtitle of the Korean dub of ''Abaranger'' in South Korea and had a similar/identical logo to the American version as well.
The series is notable as it features the return of
Jason David Frank as
Tommy Oliver as a main character and a dinosaur theme for the powers, abilities and assets from most of the series' protagonists and antagonists. It was the first series to be aired on
ABC Family
American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
part of
ABC as well as part of
Jetix
Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...
on
Toon Disney
Toon Disney was an American multinational pay television channel owned by Disney Branded Television, a subsidiary of Disney-ABC Television Group. The channel's target audience was children aged 7–11, and older children and adolescents aged 8� ...
.
Plot
A
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
player, a
computer
A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
expert, a
singer
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
and eventually a teacher with a long history of such situations become
Power Rangers
''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...
to help save Earth from the ruthless scheming of the dinosauric Mesogog who wishes to eradicate all human life and return Earth to the age of
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
s. Mesogog is assisted in his ways by Elsa, Zeltrax, and an army each of both Tyrannodrones and Triptoids as well as monsters that they call their Mutations.
In this season,
Tommy Oliver, from ''
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is an American superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s popular culture, ...
'' to ''
Power Rangers Turbo'' fame, returns as a
paleontology
Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...
professor in Reefside, California and so he is known as Dr. Tommy Oliver (sometimes called by some in short as Dr. O). When he is assigned three detention students by Principal Randall (the human disguise of Elsa): athlete Conner McKnight, computer expert Ethan James and singer Kira Ford. They end up finding three Dino Gems - one for each teen, paving the way for their destiny as the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. Conner gains the powers of both the
Tyrannozord and super running speed, Ethan gains the powers of both the
Tricerazord and energy-formed skin-shield defense and Kira gains the powers of both the
Pterazord and sonic screams.
Five episodes into the series, Tommy once again becomes a Ranger by bonding with the Black Dino Gem and receives its power of invisibility as the Black Dino Ranger. They are also later joined by Anton Mercer's adopted son Trent (some media reveals his family name, after 'Mercer', to be 'Fernandez' - 'Fernandez-Mercer') as the White Dino Ranger, whose White Dino Gem grants him the power of camouflage - before he joins, he must deal with the inner struggle of good and evil (as Tommy himself once had to do as the evil Green Ranger) because he gained his powers from a raw Dino Gem in Mesogog's lab, with the powers originally intended to be Mesogog's. Mesogog is, in fact, Trent's adopted father, who, in a faulty lab experiment, began to mutate into Mesogog. Trent later sides with good and saves his father from the mutation.
The Rangers morph by drawing power from their respective Dino Gems, which Tommy grants Conner's, Ethan's and Kira's the ability to morph into Dino Morphers whenever needed (Morph call: "Dino Thunder, Power Up!"). They use their abilities to battle Mesogog. By calling out "Super Dino Mode", the Power Rangers tap into the power of the dinosaurs, with spikes extending into view on their suits and, in the case of Kira, wings with Trent's own Super Dino Mode possessing an exclusive extra factor: bladed thin spikes extending from his hands. Each Dino Gems has a special power; red is speed; blue is armor; yellow is hyper screeching; black and white are similar, being invisibility and camouflage, which means Tommy and Trent both use stealth-themed powers with their Gems. In ''
Power Rangers Dino Fury
''Power Rangers Dino Fury'' are the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth seasons of the American television series ''Power Rangers''. The first season premiered on Nickelodeon in the United States on February 20, 2021, and concluded on December 18, 20 ...
'', the Dino Gems are revealed to be created by the Morphin Masters.
During the course of the series, the team adds the following to its arsenal of Zords: Cephalozord (based on the ''
Pachycephalosaurus
''Pachycephalosaurus'' (; meaning "thick-headed lizard", from Greek ''pachys-/'' "thickness", ''kephalon/'' "head" and ''sauros/'' "lizard") is a genus of pachycephalosaurid ornithischian dinosaur. The type species, ''P. wyomingensis'', ...
''), Dimetrozord (based on the ''
Dimetrodon
''Dimetrodon'' ( or ; ) is an extinct genus of sphenacodontid synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian) Epoch (geology), epoch of the Permian period, around 295–272 million years ago. With most species measuring long and ...
''), Stegozord (based on the ''
Stegosaurus
''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fo ...
''), Parasaurzord (based on the ''
Parasaurolophus
''Parasaurolophus'' (; meaning "beside crested lizard" in reference to ''Saurolophus'') is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur that lived in what is now western North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, a ...
''), and Ankylozord (based on the ''
Ankylosaurus
''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of Thyreophora, armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, m ...
''). The Stegozord later combines with Trent's Dragozord (based on the ''
Tupuxuara'') to form the Dino Stegozord, effectively stealing the Stegozord. Tommy is paired with the Brachiozord (based on the ''
Brachiosaurus
''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about . It was first Species description, described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 in paleontology, 1903 from fossi ...
''), a carrier Zord for most, but not all, of the other Zords. Conner is also later given the powers of the Shield of Triumph to morph into the Triassic Ranger for extra power and pilots the Mezodon Rover/Megazord (based on the ''
Styracosaurus''), the Zord that corresponds with the Triassic Ranger powers, which can combine with the Cephalo, Dimetro, Parasaur and Ankylozords to form the Triceramax Megazord.
At the end of the series, the Rangers destroy Mesogog with their raw Dino Gem powers combined into a single last-resort attack which burns out the gems in the process. Just before this final battle, they are forced to sacrifice the Zords in their last battle with Zeltrax. Finally they return to their normal lives.
Cast and characters
Dino Thunder Rangers
*
James Napier as Conner McKnight, the Red Dino Ranger and Triassic Ranger.
* Kevin Duhaney as Ethan James, the Blue Dino Ranger.
*
Emma Lahana as Kira Ford, the Yellow Dino Ranger.
*
Jason David Frank as
Dr. Tommy Oliver, the Black Dino Ranger, and previously the Green Ranger, the White Ranger, the White Ninja Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger and the first Red Turbo Ranger.
* Jeffrey Parazzo as Trent Fernandez-Mercer, the White Dino Ranger.
Supporting characters
* Ismay Johnston as Hayley Ziktor.
*
Katrina Devine as Cassidy Cornell
*
Tom Hern as Devin Del Valle.
*
Latham Gaines as Dr. Anton Mercer.
Villains
*
Latham Gaines as Mesogog.
*
Miriama Smith
Miriama Te Rangimarie Smith (born 3 June 1976) is a New Zealand film and television actress who has played roles in various TV shows such as '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', '' Karaoke High'' and ''Shortland Street''. Her best-known roles, however, ...
as Elsa/Principal Randall.
*
James Gaylyn as the voice of Zeltrax.
*
Adam Gardiner
Adam Gardiner (born 13 December 1966) is a New Zealand voice, film, and television actor, most notable for his voice roles in ''Power Rangers''. He voiced the Evil White Ranger Clone in '' Power Rangers Dino Thunder'', Kamdor in ''Power Rangers ...
as the voice of Evil White Dino Ranger Clone.
Guest stars
*
Pua Magasiva as Shane Clarke, the Red Wind Ranger.
*
Sally Martin as Tori Hanson, the Blue Wind Ranger.
*
Glenn McMillan
Glenn Aguiar McMillan (born 5 October 1984) is a Brazilian-Australian actor and lawyer best known internationally as Dustin, the Yellow Wind Ranger, on ''Power Rangers Ninja Storm''. His father is Irish Australian and his mother is Brazilian.
...
as Waldo "Dustin" Brooks, the Yellow Wind Ranger.
*
Adam Tuominen as Hunter Bradley, the Crimson Thunder Ranger.
* Jorgito Vargas, Jr. as Blake Bradley, the Navy Thunder Ranger.
*
Jason Chan as Cameron "Cam" Watanabe, the Green Samurai Ranger.
* Grant McFarland as Sensei Kanoi Watanabe and Lothor.
*
Peter Rowley as the voice of Zurgane.
* Katrina Browne as Kapri.
* Katrina Devine as Marah.
Episodes
Production
Conversations of the season's name started as early as a year before the show's premiere. On March 4, 2003, an annual kick-off presentation was given to Disney and Bandai representatives to discuss the next year of business with topics such as forecasts of toy sales and development timelines. While "Dino Thunder" was not being presented at this time, the following titles were given as recommendations:
* ''Dino Strike''
* ''Dino Might''
* ''Dino Damage''
* ''Dino Defenders''
* ''Dragon Hunt''
This series sees legacy cast member
Jason David Frank (''
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is an American superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s popular culture, ...
'', ''
Power Rangers Zeo
''Power Rangers Zeo'' is a television series and the fourth season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 19th Super Sentai series ''Chouriki Sentai Ohranger''. It is the continuation of ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' and aired in 19 ...
'', ''
Power Rangers Turbo'') return as a series regular, now in the role as mentor and later additional Ranger. At a
Ikkicon Q&A in 2010, Frank discussed how his return started with a call he received from co-executive producers Ann Austen and
Douglas Sloan, the former being Frank's first acting coach, in an effort to boost the show's ratings.
With his family and life in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, it's rumored that Frank negotiated time off during the season's shooting in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
to be able to return home. Relying on stunt performers and additional
ADR, writers created a plot that has Tommy collectively encased in amber, unable to de-morph, and unable to control his invisible powers for episodes 13 - 26.
The season's fourth episode, "
Legacy of Power," features a retelling of the show's in-universe history for the show's 500th episode celebration. "
Fighting Spirit," the season's 27th episode, sees Tommy encounter his previous Ranger forms in a dream and aired on the eleventh anniversary of ''Power Rangers''.
''Dino Thunder'' was the first ''Power Rangers'' season to overtly acknowledge its
Super Sentai
The is a Japanese superhero team media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi. The shows are of the '' tokusatsu'' genre, featuring live action characters and colorfu ...
roots with an episode entitled "Lost and Found in Translation," which featured a Japanese show based on the ''Power Rangers'' dubbed in English. In actuality, the footage used in that episode was from episode 10 ("Abare League Bind") of ''Dino Thunder''
's source series, ''
Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger'', dubbed in a manner similar to the comedic parody dub of ''
Kagaku Sentai Dynaman
is a Japanese tokusatsu television series and the seventh installment of Toei Company's Super Sentai metaseries. It aired on TV Asahi from February 5, 1983, to January 28, 1984, replacing ''Dai Sentai Goggle-V'' and was replaced by '' Choudenshi ...
'' in the late 1980s.
Video games
Video game publisher
THQ released two video games for ''
Dino Thunder'', one version for both Sony's
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
and Nintendo's
GameCube
The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...
while the other was exclusively released on Nintendo's
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
. Developed by
Natsume, the GBA version was a
side-scrolling
A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...
fighting game with 13 missions and allowed players to control both the rangers and Megazord at different parts of the levels. The
home console
A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...
version, developed by
Pacific Coast Power & Light, let players pilot the team's Zords as they work to free their auxiliary machines and destroy enemy facilities. This version included unlockable Zords from the two previous seasons, ''
Wild Force'' and ''
Ninja Storm'', and was the first ''Power Rangers'' game to be produced on a
sixth generation console.
Home media
In the United States, the series was released by
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough, and all of Atlantic County, is part of South Jersey and the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan statistical area, which in turn is included in the Ph ...
on five volumes, consisting of the first twenty-four episodes, except for Episode 10:
* ''Day of the Dino'' (June 1, 2004, episodes 1-3, also includes Episodes 37-38 of ''
Ninja Storm'')
* ''Legacy of Power'' (September 7, 2004, episodes 4-8)
* ''White Thunder'' (September 7, 2004, episodes 9, 11-14)
* ''Collision Course'' (December 7, 2004, episodes 15-19)
* ''Triassic Triumph'' (December 7, 2004, episodes 20-24)
These volume sets were also released in regions where BVHE held distribution rights, however, Volume 1 does not include the bonus ''Ninja Storm'' episodes. In countries where licensing was held by
Jetix Europe
Jetix Europe N.V. (formerly known as Fox Kids Europe N.V.) was a European television broadcasting company that owned children's television channels and programming blocks across Europe and Asia, such as Jetix and Jetix Play.
History Fox Kids Eu ...
, releases depended on the region or distributor.
BVHE released the complete series in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2008, on a seven-disc boxset. In the United States,
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...
released the complete series on a five-disc set on October 18, 2016.
References
External links
Official Power Rangers Website*
{{Freeform
2000s American children's television series
2000s American high school television series
2000s American science fiction television series
2004 American television series debuts
2004 American television series endings
ABC Family original programming
American Broadcasting Company original programming
American children's action television series
American children's adventure television series
American children's fantasy television series
American English-language television shows
Dino Thunder
Science fantasy television series
Television series about dinosaurs
Television series about size change
Television series by Disney
Television shows adapted into video games
Television shows filmed in New Zealand
Television shows set in California
Teen superhero television series