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''Power Rangers Dino Thunder'' is the twelfth season of the television series, ''
Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise '' Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS E ...
''. This incarnation of ''Power Rangers'' was adapted from ''
Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger is Toei's twenty-seventh production of the ''Super Sentai'' metaseries, and the first series to use TV Asahi's current logo. It aired from February 16, 2003 to February 8, 2004, replacing '' Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger'' and was replaced by '' ...
'', the 27th entry of Toei Company's long-running ''
Super Sentai is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi ("Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron"). The ...
'' franchise. ''Dino Thunder'' was also the subtitle of the
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
dub of ''Abaranger'' in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
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 Jason David Frank (September 4, 1973 – November 19, 2022) was an American actor and martial artist. He was known for his role as Tommy Oliver in ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' and other ''Power Rangers'' series. Early life Frank was born in ...
as
Tommy Oliver Dr. Tommy Oliver is a fictional character and the overarching main protagonist of the American live-action television franchise ''Power Rangers''. He is best known as being the original Green Ranger and the first evil Ranger who fought and near ...
and a dinosaur theme for the powers, abilities and assets of most of the series' protagonists and antagonists. It was the first series to be aired on ABC Family part of
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
.


Plot

A soccer player, a computer expert, a
singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
and then eventually both an artist and a teacher with a long history of such situations become
Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise '' Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS E ...
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 period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
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 Dr. Tommy Oliver is a fictional character and the overarching main protagonist of the American live-action television franchise ''Power Rangers''. He is best known as being the original Green Ranger and the first evil Ranger who fought and near ...
, from ''
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is a 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 pop culture phenomenon along ...
'' (starting from part 1 of season 1's 5-part story, 'Green With Evil') to ''
Power Rangers Turbo ''Power Rangers Turbo'' is a television series and the fifth season of the Power Rangers franchise. The show was prefaced with the franchise's second film, '' Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie''. As with its predecessors, ''Power Rangers Turbo'' is ...
'' (Tommy's last appearance in the franchise onwards would be in the final scene of part 2 of ''Turbo''s two-part story 'Passing the Torch' (episodes 18 to 19)) fame with a guest appearance in '' Wild Force''s Red Ranger team-up special 'Forever Red', returns as a
paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
professor in Reefside, California and so he is known as Dr. Tommy Oliver (sometimes named by some in short as Dr. O). When he is assigned three detention students by Principle 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 Dino 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 Power Ranger by bonding with the Black Dino Gem (and receiving its power of invisibility - the first of two Dino Gem powers related to stealth) and therefore becoming the Black Dino Ranger (and ultimately becoming the first Power Ranger in history to also bear the role of the mentor of a new team of Rangers) and 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 (another Dino Gem power related to stealth) - 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 Dino 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 the villain 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 children's television program '' Power Rangers''. The first season premiered on Nickelodeon on February 20, 2021, and concluded on December 18, 2021. It ...
'', the Dino Gems are revealed to be created by Morphin Masters. During the course of the series, the team adds the following to its arsenal of Zords: Cephalozord (based on the '' Pachycephalosaurus''), Dimetrozord (based on the '' Dimetrodon''), 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 fou ...
''), Parasaurzord (based on the '' Parasaurolophus''), and Ankylozord (based on the ''
Ankylosaurus ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, making it among the last of the n ...
''). 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 154to 150million years ago. It was first described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in th ...
''), 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 beyond any possibility of the powers restoring at all (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 Emma Kate Lahana (born ) is a New Zealand actress. She is known for her roles as Kira Ford, the Yellow Dino Ranger, in ''Power Rangers Dino Thunder'', Jennifer Mason on '' Haven'', and Brigid O'Reilly in '' Cloak & Dagger''. Career Lahana play ...
as Kira Ford, the Yellow Dino Ranger. *
Jason David Frank Jason David Frank (September 4, 1973 – November 19, 2022) was an American actor and martial artist. He was known for his role as Tommy Oliver in ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' and other ''Power Rangers'' series. Early life Frank was born in ...
as Dr. Tommy Oliver, the Black Dino Ranger. * Jeffrey Parazzo as Trent Fernandez, the White Dino Ranger. Supporting characters * Ismay Johnston as Hayley Ziktor. *
Katrina Devine Katrina Devine (born 21 April 1980) is an Irish-born New Zealand actress. Biography Devine migrated to New Zealand with her family when she was six years old and competed in Irish dance during her teens. In 1994, Katrina earned a role on '' Sho ...
as Cassidy Cornell. *
Tom Hern Thomas Hern (born 10 December 1984) is a New Zealand actor and independent film producer. He is known for producing NZ feature films ''The Dark Horse'', '' Everything We Loved'', and ''Pork Pie'' (a reboot of Kiwi classic ''Goodbye Pork Pie ...
as Devin Del Valle. *
Latham Gaines Latham Gaines (born February 3, 1964) is an American composer, actor, artist and inventor. He is the son of the novelist Charles Gaines and artist Patricia Ellisor Gaines. Composing and Musical Sculptures As 1/2 of the duGAINES Gaines and ...
as Dr. Anton Mercer. Villains *
Latham Gaines Latham Gaines (born February 3, 1964) is an American composer, actor, artist and inventor. He is the son of the novelist Charles Gaines and artist Patricia Ellisor Gaines. Composing and Musical Sculptures As 1/2 of the duGAINES Gaines and ...
as Mesogog. * Miriama Smith as Elsa/Principal Randall. *
James Gaylyn James Gaylyn (born January 9, 1954) is an American-New Zealand actor. He is best known for his appearances in the ''Power Rangers'' franchise. Biography Gaylyn moved to New Zealand with his New Zealand-born wife in 1981. As a blues singer and dr ...
as the voice of Zeltrax. * Adam Gardiner as the voice of White Dino Ranger Clone. Guest stars *
Pua Magasiva Pua Magasiva (10 August 1980 – 11 May 2019) was a New Zealand actor of Samoan descent, best known for his roles as Shane Clarke, the Red Ranger from '' Power Rangers Ninja Storm'', and Vinnie Kruse in the soap opera '' Shortland Street'', b ...
as Shane Clarke, the Red Wind Ranger. *
Sally Martin Sally Erana Martin (born 28 May 1985) is an actress from New Zealand. She has appeared in a range of television series, including '' The Strip'', ''Shortland Street'' and in ''Power Rangers Ninja Storm'' as Tori Hanson, the latter two co-starr ...
as Tori Hanson, the Blue Wind Ranger. *
Glenn McMillan Glenn Aguiar McMillan (born October 5, 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 Adam Tuominen (born 22 January 1980) is an Australian actor best known for his role as Hunter Bradley, the Crimson Thunder Ranger in ''Power Rangers Ninja Storm''. Early life Tuominen was born in Adelaide, South Australia, one of three childr ...
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 Peter Rowley (sometimes credited as Harrison Rowley during his early career) (born April 29, 1952) is a New Zealand comic actor and writer. He is best known for his television roles, where he has played in numerous popular television series as ...
as the voice of Zurgane. * Katrina Brown as Kapri.


Episodes


Production

Due to the mention that Power Rangers solely existed as a comic book in ''
Power Rangers Ninja Storm ''Power Rangers Ninja Storm'' is a television series and the eleventh season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 26th Super Sentai series '' Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger''. The season marked a series of firsts in the franchise, being ...
'', many fans believed that series existed in a different universe than that of the original Power Rangers series. (However, ''
Power Rangers in Space ''Power Rangers in Space'' is a television series and the sixth season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 21st Super Sentai series '' Denji Sentai Megaranger''. ''In Space'' was a turning point for the Power Rangers franchise, as th ...
'' had previously mentioned a Ranger-based comic book in its crossover with '' Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation''). Fans also believed this due to the lack of a ''Ninja Storm''/'' Wild Force'' team-up episode, partly due to the actors refusing to come since much of the production crew had been laid off as well as the change in hands of the Power Rangers franchise from Saban to
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and filming locations from
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
to
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. Executive producer Douglas Sloan also received heavy criticism for not tying ''Ninja Storm'' in with the original universe. To tie up all of the loose ''Ninja Storm'' ends, and to try to bring in a larger audience, Sloan brought back
Jason David Frank Jason David Frank (September 4, 1973 – November 19, 2022) was an American actor and martial artist. He was known for his role as Tommy Oliver in ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' and other ''Power Rangers'' series. Early life Frank was born in ...
and his original character, the once evil turned hero, green, white, red, and now black ranger from ''
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is a 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 pop culture phenomenon along ...
'' through ''
Power Rangers Turbo ''Power Rangers Turbo'' is a television series and the fifth season of the Power Rangers franchise. The show was prefaced with the franchise's second film, '' Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie''. As with its predecessors, ''Power Rangers Turbo'' is ...
'',
Tommy Oliver Dr. Tommy Oliver is a fictional character and the overarching main protagonist of the American live-action television franchise ''Power Rangers''. He is best known as being the original Green Ranger and the first evil Ranger who fought and near ...
, a legendary Power Ranger, as a mentor for the new team as well as a fellow Power Ranger. Jason Frank has said that he did the show as a favor for Sloan. Through the episodes " Legacy of Power" (the 500th episode overall), a look back on all of the previous Power Rangers series; "
Back in Black ''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album to feature lead singer Brian Johnson, following the death ...
", giving Tommy new Power Ranger powers; " Fighting Spirit", seeing Tommy encounter his previous Ranger forms and airing on the eleventh anniversary of ''Power Rangers'' no less; and "Thunder Storm", a team-up arc between ''Dino Thunder'' and ''Ninja Storm'', all previous series were included in the original Power Rangers universe. Also in the season premiere " Day of the Dino", Mesogog knew of Lothor as he mentioned Reefside would believe he had returned to town, although Blue Bay Harbor was Lothor's target in Ninja Storm. However considering Conner's twin brother attended the Wind Ninja Academy it is possible the two towns are relatively nearby one another, explaining Mesogog's statement. ''Dino Thunder'' also was the first Power Rangers series to overtly acknowledge its
Super Sentai is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi ("Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron"). The ...
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 Thunders source series, ''
Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger is Toei's twenty-seventh production of the ''Super Sentai'' metaseries, and the first series to use TV Asahi's current logo. It aired from February 16, 2003 to February 8, 2004, replacing '' Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger'' and was replaced by '' ...
'', dubbed in a manner similar to the comedic parody dub of ''
Kagaku Sentai Dynaman is 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 Bioman'' with a total of 51 episodes. Six ...
'' in the late 1980s.


Video games

There were two games produced for ''
Dino Thunder ''Power Rangers Dino Thunder'' is the twelfth season of the television series, ''Power Rangers''. This in ...
''. On the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
, there was a sidescrolling game, which was a platformer involving fighting several villains from the series. The other game was produced for the PlayStation 2 and the
Nintendo GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
. This was the first Power Rangers game produced on a sixth generation console. All the action takes place inside the zords. This game also had some inconsistencies with the television series to allow the action to take place in the zords while battling the regular enemies who were human size.


Home media

A complete box set was released in Region 2 on July 14, 2008. Shout! Factory released the entire series as part of their "Seasons 8 – 12"
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
box set, with an individual complete Region 1 season following in October 2016.


Notes


References


External links


Official Power Rangers Website
* {{Freeform 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 action television series American adventure television series American fantasy television series English-language television shows
Dino Thunder ''Power Rangers Dino Thunder'' is the twelfth season of the television series, ''Power Rangers''. This in ...
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 Television series by ABC Studios