PROCESSING: Mighty Morphin Elementary School Reunion
Why "Power Rangers" is the perfect excuse to catch up with old friends
When was the last time you caught up with your elementary school friends? Some are lucky enough to have stayed in regular contact with those formative comrades. But until recently for me, it had been 20+ years since I heard their voices. What took us so long? Perhaps we were just waiting for some miraculous event to spark a reunion.
One such event has emerged like a set of giant robotic dinosaurs: Netflix’s new special, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, which commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Power Rangers television series.
The Rangers come face-to-face with a familiar threat from the past. In the midst of a global crisis, they are called on once again to be the heroes the world needs. A mighty morphin reunion 30 years in the making, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always arrives on Netflix on April 19!
As soon as I heard about this new mighty morphin’ streaming movie, I reached out to my two closest friends from 74th Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, California: Yvorn Aswad and Leonard Hooper. We spent countless hours in that sky blue building generating our own ideas for Power Rangers episodes, and I still consider that experience to be my first ever writers’ room.
It wasn’t difficult or awkward rekindling the same sense of fun we had as kids in the 90s. And just like learning how the classic Power Rangers crew has changed in Once & Always, this was our opportunity to check in with each other about the various paths we’ve taken since elementary school.
I started by calling attention to how surreal this digital reunion was (the first voice heard below is mine, followed by Yvorn’s and then Leonard’s):
Which lead to intense nostalgia for the 90s:
And, I mean. Come on. The 90s gave us Jurassic Park, The Mummy starring Brendan Frasier, Men In Black, Destiny’s Child (whose first song appeared on the Men In Black soundtrack), Mariah Carey, All That, Austin Powers, Chris Rock: Bring The Pain, Flubber starring Robin Williams, “Thong Song” by Sisqó, The Matrix, The Phantom Menace, and not just the Power Rangers TV series in 1993… but also 1995’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.
Yvorn (who has retained a surprising amount information from this period) aptly pointed out that Power Rangers premiered before we entered the first grade:
But the series has a long history even before that.
Power Rangers Origins
Power Rangers as we knew it in America was actually a Frankenstein’s monster of sorts, melding licensed footage of helmeted heroes from the Japanese series, Super Sentai (1975-present), with new plot-lines involving an English speaking cast.
A Super Sentai explainer from Mr. Falcon Punch on YouTube.
But wait, there’s more! The American rights to Super Sentai were once owned by Stan Lee, but he couldn’t gain momentum in the pitch process so the rights eventually landed in the hands of a man named Haim Saban, who by then had made a career out of writing the themes for shows like Inspector Gadget and He-Man.
We knew none of this history as kids. I don’t think we even knew Saban was a person. But his “Saban” logo, which popped up at the end of Power Rangers episodes, let Yvorn, Leonard, and myself know that there was a place out there where Power Rangers episodes were generated, and we aspired to come up with ideas together that would allow us to work there.
Elementary School Origins
Our 90s nostalgia train eventually made a sharp turn away from the pop cultural and toward the personal. The big question being — what is the origin story of our friend group? Yvorn (who, again, has a freakishly sharp memory) lead the charge:
And as Yvorn laid out the facts, certain elements of that time floated back to me. A schoolyard fight… tears during my first public speech… dealing with a bully of sorts… a classmate discovering my crush on another classmate from one of my journals and spreading the news like wildfire… playing the piano at one talent show… and even our trio performing as members of The Temptations in another. There were a lot of new emotions to sort through at such a young age. Maybe that’s why I’ve kept some those memories so distant.
Leonard got a few flashes as well, and they got us back on track to figuring out how our group got together:
Discovering Power Rangers
Since Power Rangers predates our friendship, we tried pinpointing the moment each of us were introduced to the show.
I have a hazy memory attached to discovering it:
Like Rey finding Luke’s lightsaber in The Force Awakens, I recall approaching an old wooden TV set in my family’s South Central L.A. home, pressing the channel button up to “11” for the first time, and becoming transfixed by the sight of megazords, teenagers with attitude, and the true kings of comedy: Bulk and Skull.
Yvorn recalls jumping up and down at his grandparents’ home in excitement:
And, Leonard recalls anger and betrayal fueling his introduction to the show:
A key part of being a Power Rangers fan is knowing which of the core members you are. It’s a delicate equation that usually boils down to which ranger’s outfit happens to be your favorite color, or which ranger’s personality best fits your own. But if we’re being honest, it’s mostly about which ranger’s personality matches the one you wish you had.
Here’s how the math broke down for our group:
Yvorn = Whoever The Leader Is
Yvorn… well… really put that color element through the wringer:
Leonard = Zack & Tommy
Leonard leaned toward Zack because he seemed more like someone from the neighborhood.
Tim = Billy
And I always considered myself to be Billy. Simply because he was a nerd. I wanted to be the kind of guy who says things like “According to my calculations…” even though I was horrible at math. I also wanted to wear glasses, even though I didn’t need them. You won’t be surprised to learn that one of the best Halloween costumes I ever wore in elementary school was as Steve Urkel.
Official Opening Theme and Theme Song for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993)
Fandom & Cutoffs
Every fan has a personal philosophy about what makes the thing they love, work. And the love we attach to franchises isn’t necesarily unconditional. Some fans phase out with age. Others, due to of a writing decision. Many, not at all.
For the fans who fall out of the orbit of a property they once loved, it can feel a bit like the existential question posed in that one Earth, Wind, and Fire song: “After the love has gone / What used to be right is wrong / Can love that's lost be found?”
For example, my view since childhood has been that Zordon of Eltar (the floating head who communicates from a cosmic void via a massive tube within an alien castle in the desert) is the structural glue that makes Power Rangers work as a series.
The mystery surrounding him was the key to my fandom. And I absolutely loved the dramatic reveal of his true form in the non-canon 1995 movie.
However, when the series started moving away from Zordon after Power Rangers in Space, I started to focus on the show less.
Here’s us discussing our fandom, and when we stopped keeping up with it:
Regardless of when or why we stopped giving Power Rangers our full attention, the original spark of our fandom is still there. And it’s even morphed with us over the years (pun intended).
For instance, Yvorn and I now have a greater appreciation for Black Ranger:
And back to my Zordon thing… I still think I’m right about the series lacking a certain something since his absence. And, though I haven’t seen the non-canon 2017 Power Rangers cinematic reboot, this intense scene with Bryan Cranston as Zordon has me intrigued, and serves as proof of the weight his character brings to the franchise:
FUN FACT: Bryan Cranston voiced Snizzard and Twin Man during the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Elementary School In Retrospect
Earlier on, Leonard brought up the interesting contrast between our “pre-internet” youth and the internet that has emerged since:
I’m thankful that the internet has at least allowed for a reunion of this sort. Dissecting the past together has helped up put our childhoods in context and appreciate the good things:
The World Beyond Elementary
Every set of Power Rangers eventually moves on to usher in a new group of heroes to dawn the mythical helmets.
The same went for our friend group, as we each went to different middle schools, high schools, and colleges:
But what if we never got separated? We explored the possibility of that alternate universe:
Luckily, we didn’t get too caught up in “what if” land. Our crew seems to have navigated life pretty well separately. But we’ll always keep our smart watches ready for a call from Alpha 5.
Conclusion: Where Are We Now?
Yvorn Aswad…
…went to Stanford for undergrad, med school at UCLA, and is currently in a residency program in pediatrics and child psychiatry. He’s also in a science fiction/fantasy writing club (I, for one, hope we get to see his Power Rangers trilogy someday).
Leonard Hooper…
…went to Hamilton High School where he was a part of the Academy of Music & Performing Arts and became friends with the likes of comedian Carl Tart before taking off to play college basketball. He’s lived in Washington and Las Vegas and is now back in his home city of Los Angeles doing real estate (and perhaps doing body rolls at Kenneth Hahn).
Tim Barnes…
…is just the guy typing this. I’ve had a strange path involving standup,various forms of new media — and most recently, television writing. Thanks for reading/listening to this. And if you enjoyed it, you might also like some of the experimental interviews I’ve been doing in this section of my substack or my podcast.
