TRANSCENDENCE: The MMPR Fan Project and Why You Should Pay Attention

“I’ve never seen anything like this before!  I need more time to understand it!” ~ Dr. Clark Maxwell

Hello, justice fans.  We’ve got a very special topic today: the MMPR fan project that I mentioned in my “Rise Of The Indie Hero” article.  It’s a very exciting venture that demands the attention and support of every single one of us in this community, and I’m here to explain why.  For those of you who want to know what we are getting into, here’s the concept trailer that has been released by the team at CodeBreaker Productions:

For those of you who have not devoted yourselves to spamming their Facebook (www.facebook.com/MMPRfilm), Twitter (@MMPRfilm), and YouTube page (www.YouTube.com/MMPRfilm) with hateful comments and bad wishes, let’s review exactly what’s going on here:  the MMPR fan project is an amalgamation of leftover, unfulfilled fan-based story desires combined with the newly-found sense of creative identity by independent filmmakers that also happen to be fans of the original show (it’s a little less coincidental than I make it out to be, but I’m not a fucking psychic).  Dominick Sivilli (director), Louis Maldarelli (producer, co-writer), and Alex Gavin (co-writer) of CodeBreaker Productions based in New York City are pursuing the ambitious goal of creating a post-Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers story that is bound to intrigue fans, old and new, and more importantly offer a chance for older fans who may have left the franchise behind as a child to revisit it in the eyes of an adult.  This is the synopsis as found on their Facebook page with minor editing:

“The Power Rangers have vanished. Lord Zedd, their greatest enemy, has been defeated. The world is saved. Tommy Oliver, no longer the White Ranger, is in exile; running…hiding…waiting…for evil to find him again.

The world has moved on. Now, 20 years later, Lord Zedd has returned – stronger, faster and nastier. Slowly regaining his powers and at the helm of a new army, he is looking for revenge against Tommy.

Haunted by his past and having given up on fighting for the world, Tommy is tracked down by Zedd and his minions. But with the help of a mysterious woman, they discover that Zedd is looking for more than revenge…much more.

Now, to stop the forces of evil, Tommy and this mysterious woman seek help in stopping Zedd: an underground street fighter looking to do battle with anyone and everyone, twin sisters as different as night and day….and a police officer who’s no stranger to villains.

Together, Tommy and his new team are all that stands between Zedd and the end of the world. Will they triumph, or will Zedd finally destroy his greatest threat once and for all?

Reformed, repowered, the POWER RANGERS are back.”

It all began last year at Power Morphicon 3 when the crew went around the convention showing off their concept trailer on an iPad.  They filmed the reactions of attending fans, as well as a few former cast and crew members, and found the immediate support of many who had always wished to see a darker, grittier version of Power Rangers.  The arrival to PMC3 also prompted the interaction between the crew and Robert Axelrod, the original voice of Lord Zedd, who agreed to reprise his role in the concept trailer and in the film itself.  Standing alone, this would be enough for any former Power Rangers fan to pay attention, but it is also known that David Fielding will be returning to voice Zordon, and Ron Wasserman, the chief musician on the original series and the composer of the original Power Rangers theme song, has been hired to score the footage.  Still drinking the hater-ade?

After the word got out and the general reception became positive, the crew at CodeBreaker Productions began looking at hiring professional filmmakers and/or miscellaneous interested individuals to make the darn thing; this left the next logical step to be either gaining the support of Ted Turner or to hold a fundraiser.  You, the reader, may feel free to write CNN a thoughtful letter to sponsor CodeBreaker Productions, but so far 323 people with Kickstarter accounts have, as of the writing of this article, donated $31,000 to the project.  CodeBreaker originally asked for $18,500 to cover necessary production costs to cover the high-end quality of the project itself, but the support has been so overwhelming that they are now looking at nearly doubling that amount by the end of the fundraiser, which has two weeks left.

Why is this project so important that it’s gotten its own article right here on HJU?  Let me explain the biggest and most important part of this whole thing: the project has garnered a surprising amount of support from Power Rangers alumni.  Jason Faunt (Wes Collins, Time Force Red) shared it on Facebook, and Jessica Rey (Alyssa Enrile, Wild Force White) even said on Twitter that she’d be willing to appear in it!  With more and more support and attention being brought to this project by the day, the first batch of released content could mean the beginning of bigger and brighter things for the fan community.  If another fundraiser is in order, what’s really stopping the MMPR crew from flying Jason Faunt out for a day to portray a Silver Guardian advisor?  Why not make hopes for an all-star team-up if things go according to plan?  With a production company in direct contact with the fans (unlike Saban Brands or Toei Company Ltd.) and a thriving cosplay community, is there anything standing in the way of getting the Power Rangers reunion that the older fans have always wanted?

Let me finish up with some basic psychology: we, as humans, hold dear tales of courage and virtue pertaining to what matches that which our cultures hold important, and our instincts tell us that long after the story is over, the best way to make anything live on is to remember them and to tell their tales to someone else.  In modern America, the generation of new adults that are now in our workforces and our militaries is one that had Power Rangers on television when they were children; as in any developed part of mankind, art will always be present, and so will the artists, who will make messages and perspectives based on what they know and have experienced.  The MMPR fan project is just the newest incarnation of a group of people who fell in love with fictional characters that taught them basic moral right from wrong and wish to see them grow and change as they have over the past 20 years.  Faced with new perspectives and new challenges of what right and wrong are, the filmmakers at CodeBreaker Productions are bound to shed new light and make the original story we love become a little more relevant whilst satisfying all of our desires to hear how Zordon is doing after exploding.

It’s recently been brought to my attention that, chiefly above any other issue (gender benders, new morphers and equipment, acting) the MMPR fan film is using a misnomer, as the title itself refers to a long-gone cartoony action show that hasn’t got much, if anything, to do with the new story and is simply a way to profit on nostalgia.  This is a surprisingly solid argument; let me explain right now that once the first episodes are released, we will not be focused on where Zack and Trini are.  We will not be up in arms about the transition between bad production values with light tones for kids to high production values with adult themes for adults.  After it gets started, most of us won’t even give a shit about the morpher/suits/characters/whatevers: the reason these people were given $31,000 is because we will see the story progress into a dynamic world after the Power Rangers did what they had to do and moved on.  It is also confirmed that the Silver Guardians of the Time Force continuity will play an integral part of the plot, so why not expect the thing to be packed with plenty more fan service?

In short, we will be focused on the story, which is truly the one thing that always kept us coming back.  As children, we found entertainment in the multiple colors, flashy moves, the fighting, and the robot battles, but the elements that stayed with us this whole time were the plot devices and the relationships, and how the Juice Bar changed hands, and what became of our beloved heroes and diverse citizens, each with their own individual story that we can all remember.  We will be re-introduced to a world where the legacy of the Power Rangers lives on in a society where everyone experienced what they did and are supposed to be grateful; what is the world supposed to do when they are threatened once again and the heroes are long-gone?  With such a dynamic and colorful continuity spanning 20 years, we will see just how the decisions made by the original team has affected the society and what it means for the other Power Rangers.  This is not a reboot or a re-imagining: the MMPR fan project is a deeper exploration into a world that once had mighty heroes without faces making a stand for the species in their very streets day after day, month after month, year after year.  It is the way a group of fans wish to honor the fiction by imagining how the characters affected the long-term, and as I’ve mentioned before, it can turn into a direct celebration and possible reunion of the characters themselves if it gets the support it needs.

Let me end by stating somewhat bravely that I feel no one understands a popular, long-running piece of fiction like Power Rangers better than the fans of said fiction.  That said, fans also understand where a franchise should go and what story parameters it belongs in or would work within.  Now, in a golden age of online distribution and widely available high-grade film equipment, there is no reason this PROJECT_RANGER should not be happening.  With fans at the helm of this ambitious project, that are also in open communication with fan communities such as the one here at HJU, they are able to listen to us and gauge exactly where their vision is and where we think it belongs.  We must give it time, however; judging too harshly at this point will result in unfair bias and unnecessary negativity based on 4 minutes of footage that isn’t anywhere near the beginning of what they are making, and enough back-talk will result in nothing for us at all.  With more time and feedback, there is a good chance that we will get exactly what we want out of it within the limitations of the original concept.  Make sure to message them, tweet them, or email them to let your voice be heard in a capacity that it probably never would be otherwise.

For those of you who have made it this far, or skipped all the way to the end, or otherwise are somehow still interested in this unique Indie Ranger project, here is the first mini-episode released by the team.  Contribute to the Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com/MMPRfilm) if you can, and remember to keep checking back here and MorphinLegacy.com for updates on the project.  Also, follow me on Twitter @GreenKnight108 because I work so hard and need to prove that I am important so you can see more articles like this one, and Katy Perry sure isn’t giving me any love.  I just want true love.

Until the next one: have courage and press on regardless.

KICKSTARTER PAGE: www.Kickstarter.com/MMPRfilm
OFFICIAL SITE: www.MMPRfilm.com
FACEBOOK: www.Facebook.com/MMPRfilm
TWITTER: @MMPRfilm
YOUTUBE: www.YouTube.com/MMPRfilm

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