If you're old enough to have seen Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie in theaters, it's hard to believe that it's been 30 years since its release but that's exactly where Millennials find themselves. It's been three decades since the era of after-school cartoons and staying outside until the street lights came on.
To celebrate that era and the Power Rangers movie, talented animator Dominic Estephane is back with another Power Rangers animated project, which sees the Rangers taking on Ivan Ooze.
He's previously released fan animated projects for an anthology Power Rangers series, VR Troopers, and Big Bad Beetleborgs, but this project celebrating the 30th anniversary of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, might be his finest work yet.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) received a mixed response from critics but still managed to achieve solid box office success and win over its young audience.
While some critics praised Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie for its improved production values and Paul Freeman’s scene-stealing turn as the villainous Ivan Ooze, others were far less impressed. Detractors pointed to the film’s thin narrative and a plot structure that felt more like an extra-long episode of the television series than a fully fleshed-out cinematic experience.
The visual effects also received mixed feedback. Even in 1995, the early CGI was seen by some as unpolished and lacking the staying power to match the excitement of the live-action stunts and practical effects fans had come to love from the show.
Still, despite its flaws and the lukewarm critical reception, the film proved to be a financial success. It earned over $66 million worldwide on a modest budget, solidifying the Power Rangers’ ability to draw large audiences to theaters and proving that the franchise had real potential beyond television.
For its core audience of children and pre-teens, the film delivered exactly what they were hoping for. It featured massive Zord battles, redesigned and flashier costumes, and a level of spectacle the TV series simply couldn’t achieve at the time.
Today, the movie holds a special place in the hearts of many who grew up in the '90s. It’s remembered as a bright, campy, and entertaining piece of nostalgia that helped elevate the Power Rangers from a TV phenomenon to a lasting pop culture icon.
As for what comes next, the future of the Power Rangers franchise is shifting once again.
While Netflix was at one point developing a big-budget reboot focused on the original Green Ranger, Tommy Oliver, that project was ultimately scrapped. The rights have since moved to Disney+, where the team behind Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz, are now developing a fresh take on the series, signaling a new era for the morphin’ heroes.