The White Ranger Kata

Tommy was the favourite character for many Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fans. He entered the show as an outsider. He quickly fell under Rita Repulsa’s evil spell and became a major antagonist to the Power Rangers for a handful of episodes. Eventually, they turned him to the side of good. It wouldn’t last long. His powers would be taken away by a candle burning out. Tommy would regain them for a brief period, but they wore off again. He was powerless and left the team.

Midway through the second season, a new Power Ranger was introduced. It was the White Ranger. Tommy was back with new powers, and he took leadership of the team. It was a big moment that brought back a fan favourite who would remain with the show for the next three years before leaving midway through Power Rangers Turbo. The White Ranger era of Tommy, a season and a half of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, became one of his two most iconic powers. The producers picked up on that popularity and made a special all about Tommy’s martial arts practices. It was called…

The White Ranger Kata

This Mighty Morphin Power Rangers special could be broken down into four parts. There was the introduction. There was the main content. There were the flashbacks. There was a music video. Those four elements came together to create The White Ranger Kata, an instructional karate video for the children that watched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and wanted to harness the same set of martial arts skills as the Power Rangers.

Jason David Frank hosted The White Ranger Kata. It made sense, considering that White Ranger was in the title. During the introduction, he set a series of rules for any children that wanted to practice their martial arts. It was a series of rules that were repeated throughout the special. Find an open space, clear of anything that could be hit. Ask for parents’ permission before practicing martial arts. Keep martial arts in the dojo and not at school. It’s usually better to walk away from a fight than engage in it. The introduction hit each of those key points home before the rest of the special repeated them.

The main content was a basic martial arts instructional video. Jason David Frank led a group of ten to fifteen children and teens through a martial arts routine. They started off with basic warm up techniques. They did some stretches, some breathing exercises, and some strengthening exercises. Then Jason David Frank presented The White Ranger Kata. As he described it, a kata is like a fight against an unseen enemy. It’s a person going through a series of martial arts movements. Following his presentation of The White Ranger Kata, he led the children through a lesson about the moves. They practiced every move in the kata, as well as a few bonus moves, so that they would be able to do The White Ranger Kata themselves.

Every few moves, Jason David Frank would pause for a break. The special would then cut to a flashback of a young Jason David Frank learning martial arts from his master. Through each flashback, there would be a lesson about the secret code of the arts. Cooperation, determination, and things like that. It was essentially the good values that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers always instilled upon the viewers. The special tried to make the children better people.

Finally, there was a music video appropriately set to White Ranger Tiger Power. It was a well put together look at the White Ranger in battle. It felt a little bit like a compilation, but the editing was well enough done to make it more enjoyable than a standard series of clips set to music. Plus, the song was always good. The music video was just a fun time to end off the martial arts instructional video.

 

The White Ranger Kata was a well-made martial arts instructional video from the people behind Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. If it was produced on a minimal budget, it certainly didn’t look or feel that way. Everything had a big, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers feel, only with a cleaner look. What money they would have used for stunts and action in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, they were able to use for cinematography here, assuming the budgets were relatively close.

There were a couple of important things to note about The White Ranger Kata. It was a special released near the tail end of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The main chunk of season three was over and done with. It had ended on November 27, 1995. Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers wouldn’t begin until February 5, 1996. This came out in between the third season and the mini-series, on January 30, 1996. That put it in a rather interesting place amidst the Power Rangers franchise.

The young version of Jason David Frank, who was learning the values of martial arts from his sensai, was played by Michael R. Gotto, the same actor who would play the young Tommy in Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. Technically, he had already been seen at the end of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when the Power Rangers were turned into their younger selves. It was nice to see young Jason David Frank played by the kid who played young Tommy.

The other interesting note regarding the timing of the special was what Jason David Frank was wearing. It was The White Ranger Kata, but Tommy wasn’t wearing white. He was wearing red. This could have simply been to have him stand out amongst the children practicing in their white, grey, or black clothing. Having the red pop out to the audience would single Jason David Frank out and show that he was leading the lesson. But this was also right before Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, the lead-in to Power Rangers Zeo. Audiences didn’t know it at the time, but Tommy was no longer the White Ranger. Those days were behind him. The next time they would see the character with powers would be in Power Rangers Zeo, when he became the Red Zeo Ranger. Was his costuming in The White Ranger Kata a little bit of foreshadowing for Tommy changing from the White Ranger into the Red Zeo Ranger?

The White Ranger Kata was an interesting bit of branching out for the Power Rangers franchise. It took the actor behind a fan favourite character and had him teach children the moves that he frequently used in the show. If children wanted to do the moves anyway, they might as well have been shown by someone that they considered a hero. It also continued the Power Rangers tradition of good virtues. It was a nice little special way to say goodbye to the Mighty Morphin era of Power Rangers. Next up, the lead-in to Power Rangers Zeo, The Zeo Serial. See you soon for that one.