Power Rangers Mystic Force is the fourteenth season of the television series Power Rangers, based on the Japanese 29th Super Sentai tokusatsu series. The season premiered on February 20, 2006 as part of the Jetix block on Toon Disney. The season is an adaptation of Mahō Sentai Magiranger, and is the only Disney-produced season to feature the main villain from its Super Sentai counterpart.
Plot[]
Twenty years ago in a magic-filled dimension, the forces of darkness came into power and a war called the "Great Battle" between good and evil began all while the citizens of the human world remained unaware. An army of monsters, led by a magnificent warrior named Morticon, swarmed the land with their sights set on taking over the magical realm, the human realm, and beyond. The army of Morticon, opposed by five wizards, the most powerful wizard of all Leanbow, cast a spell to pushed back the dark forces and closes the walls of the underworld forever. The Gatekeeper sealed the gates for all eternity. The army of Light successfully thwarted the dark forces' attempt to take the surface world, but the five wizards lost their lives. Leanbow, who sealed himself on their side of the Gate to make sure evil sources do not escape, journeyed to the underworld.
In the present day, the city of Briarwood is struck by an earthquake, which proves powerful enough to crack the seal and allow evil to renew its attempt to invade the Earth. The sorceress Udonna, alerted to their return, seeks out the warriors of legend, Briarwood teenagers Nick, Chip, Xander, and sisters Madison and Vida, to become the Power Rangers alongside her. While Nick is reluctant at first, he realizes his destiny and joins the others in the fight against the Master of the Underworld and his numerous minions. When Udonna briefly loses her Ranger powers to the mysterious Koragg, it is up to the team to save the Earth on their own. They are assisted by Udonna's bumbling apprentice, Clare, and eventually Jenji the Genie Cat and his master Daggeron, the Solaris Knight.
Using their powerful magic and incredible martial arts skills, the Mystic Force Rangers must rely on teamwork to save the day. Later, in a shocking surprise, it is revealed that Koragg is none other than Leanbow, the greatest and the strongest of the five original wizards. In a fight with Udonna, Koragg takes over Udonna's magical staff filled with the power of goodness. Over time, Udonna's magical staff, along with the knowledge that Nick is actually his and Udonna's missing son Bowen, helps Koragg turn back to his original self, allowing him to use his powers to transform into the Wolf Warrior. In the end, the Rangers come together to defeat the Master of the Underworld with the help of Briarwood's people with the power of truth and goodness. With the forces of darkness defeated, Nick, Udonna, and Leanbow leave Briarwood to meet Nick's adoptive parents while the remaining Rangers stay behind to protect their home.
Casts[]
Mystic Force Rangers[]
- Firass Dirani as Bowen/Nicolas "Nick" Russell, the Red Mystic Ranger
- Nic Sampson as Charlie "Chip" Thorn, the Yellow Mystic Ranger
- Melanie Vallejo as Madison "Maddie" Rocca, the Blue Mystic Ranger
- Angie Diaz as Vida "V" Rocca, the Pink Mystic Ranger
- Richard Brancatisano as Xander Bly, the Green Mystic Ranger
- John Tui as Daggeron, the Solaris Knight
- Peta Rutter as Udonna, the White Mystic Ranger
- Chris Graham as Leanbow, the Wolf Warrior
Supporting characters[]
- Antonia Prebble as Clare Langtree
- Barnie Duncan as Toby Slambrook
- Kelson Henderson as Phineas
- Paolo Rotondo as the voice of the Snow Prince
- Oliver Driver as the voice of Jenji
- Holly Shanahan as Leelee Pimvare
- Brigitte Berger as Nikki Pimvare
Villains[]
- Andrew Robertt as the voice of Morticon
- Stuart Devenie as the voice of Imperious
- Geoff Dolan as the voice of Koragg
- Donogh Rees as the voice of Necrolai
- John Leigh as Octomus the Master
- Greg Smith as the voice of Magma
- Andrew Laing as the voice of Oculous
- Sally Stockwell as the voice of Serpentina
- Dallas Barnett as the voice of Megahorn
- Charlie McDermott as the voice of Hekatoid
- Mark Ferguson as the voice of Gekkor
- Cameron Rhodes as the voice of Matoombo
- Josephine Davison as the voice of Itassis
- Derek Judge as the voice of Black Lance
- Peter Daube as the voice of Sculpin
Production[]
According to executive producer Bruce Kalish, he started work on Mystic Force immediately after wrapping on S.P.D. but he was more familiar with the production after S.P.D.. The choice to make Mystic Force more fantasy inspired with magic and mythical monsters was reportedly his own decision as, although Magiranger used a lot of the same elements, they introduced the idea of Briarwood and the monster world which is a PR exclusive idea. To help with writing, he made Jackie Marchand story-editor which was a position that she had wanted for years but never obtained and she remained in the position until partway through Power Rangers RPM two years later. Producer Sally Campbell has stated that this is her favourite season because of how creative they were able to be with the more fantastical elements allowed by a magic-based season.
Casting for Mystic Force is notable since it was the first season of Power Rangers to have an entirely Australian or New Zealander cast whereas prior seasons had at least one American. The cast were asked to do American accents although Richard Brancatisano/Xander Bly was allowed to retain his thick Australian accent since "my American accent was very bad." Peta Rutter had mostly worked in theatre up to this point under her own company before being hired as Udonna. Antonia Prebble had previously voiced the Nova Ranger in S.P.D. and played Krista in Dino Thunder and was brought back to play Clare and her mother Niella for Mystic Force since she is reportedly a gifted actress. Firass Dirani was reportedly a very hard and determined worker who took his role as Nick Russell "very seriously and intensely." John Tui, who returned to play Daggeron, reportedly preferred this role over his previous role as Doggie Cruger since "I couldn't properly express my acting [as] I was covered by that dog head and costume."
Mystic Force's sets were designed by two people; Shayne Redford (lead set designer in Ninja Storm) and Dino Thunder's head of set design Miro Harre. The Rangers' base of Root Core was mostly filmed in the car park outside the studio with blue screens for the background and a miniature for Rootcore itself. However, the surrounding scenes of the Rangers entering and exiting Rootcore through its dragon-head entrance as well as the forest scenes were filmed on the island of Puketutu about forty miles from Auckland. The interiors of Rootcore were all sound-stages although plaster was used in lieu of fibreglass because they "always try to go with the old-school manner of making organic shapes." Udonna's crystal ball which she used throughout the season was only a real crystal ball in close-ups as distant shots with it just being set-dressing instead used a hard-shell dome.
Due to the budgetary issues of S.P.D. caused by the CGI final battle, Disney told the crew to use as much Sentai footage as possible and "make bottle episodes." S.P.D. had a final battle so expensive that it cost almost the entire season's budget and Disney didn't want to repeat the same mistakes so butchered the budget and told the crew to use the Sentai footage whenever possible. To compensate for the recycled footage, they decided to make the season much grander in scale which is where the idea of Nick being "the light" came from.
The final two episodes of Mystic Force ("Mystic Fate") introduced the character of the Mystic Mother as played by Machiko Soga and dubbed by Susan Brady. Soga is most well known for playing Witch Bandora in Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger and by extension Rita Repulsa in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers but the Mystic Mother's counterpart Heavenly Arch Saint Magiel had no relation to Bandora besides having the same actress. In the Power Rangers adaptation, this was changed to have the Mystic Mother be Rita herself as a tribute to Soga who died of pancreatic cancer during the Mystic Force's production with Magiel being her final acting role.
Comics[]
Characters have been featured in Power Rangers comics published by Boom! Studios.
In 2018, the Mystic Force Rangers appeared in "Shattered Grid", a crossover event between teams from all eras commemorating the 25th anniversary of the original television series. It was published in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #25-30 and various tie-ins.
A Power Rangers Mystic Force story by Magdalene Visaggio and French Carlomagno was published the same year in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Special #1.
Release[]
Home video[]
- Power Rangers Mystic Force (Complete Season) [RC2]
- Power Rangers Mystic Force: The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
Trivia[]
- The show is noted, and often criticized, for heavily focusing on the Red Ranger over the others. Jackie Marchand says this was down to the sheer amount of MagiRed stock footage compared to the others.
- Ron Wasserman was originally in talks to do the theme for the shows theme.
- On September 21, 2005, Ron received word from Disney that the rap-style theme he submitted was denied, but his other, more rock-style theme was still being overlooked. He then posted the rap-style theme on a fan message board.
- On October 11, 2005, Ron Wasserman was informed by Disney that they will not be using either of the themes he submitted. He then posted the rock-style theme on a fan message board.
- On November 7, 2005, Toon Disney aired the first teaser promo for "Power Rangers Mystic Force".
- On November 14, 2005 Toon Disney aired a 30-second and a 1-minute promo for "Power Rangers Mystic Force".
- Following S.P.D., whose episodes had one word titles, Mystic Force's episodes (with the exception of The Snow Prince) all have two words in them as an in-joke to director Bruce Kalish.
- This is the first Power Rangers team not to pilot their Zords but rather become them.
- This is also the first series in which the auxiliary Zords do not combine in any way with the Ranger's primary Megazord.
- This is the first Power Rangers team to feature capes as part of their uniforms.
- It was the first series to be part of a joint-project between Disney and Toei.
- In one of the Mystic Force promos, the Rangers' Japanese counterparts are visible.
- Madison and Vida are sisters. Mystic Force is the first series with two sisters as Power Rangers. It is the first to feature both siblings as active members of the original core team; the previous seasons had one sibling as a core Ranger and the other as the sixth rangers.
- This is the first series to have a whole family as active Power Rangers.
- Mystic Force is the first Power Rangers series to have a father, mother and son as active Power Rangers.
- This is the first series to start a trend of 32 episodes per season, which would continue through RPM.
- This was the final series to air on ABC Family.
- This is one of the few Power Rangers shows that does not have original U.S. Zord footage.
- This series marks the last time individualized personal vehicles for each Ranger are featured.
- This is the first Power Rangers season whose Sentai counterpart was simultaneously shot in New Zealand.
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