Power Rangers Jungle Fury is a television series and the fifteenth entry of the Power Rangers franchise, and is an adaptation of Juken Sentai Gekiranger, the thirty-first Japanese Super Sentai series.
The season premiered on February 18, 2008, as part of Jetix on Toon Disney; it would be the last season to air on both entities before the launch of Disney XD in February 2009.
Contents
Plot
For over 10,000 years, a spirit of pure evil known as Dai Shi has been locked away and safely guarded by the Pai Zhuq - The Order of the Claw - a secretive Kung Fu clan. The Pai Zhuq select their three top members, Jarrod, Theo Martin, and Lily Chilman, to become the new guardians of Dai Shi. Jarrod's arrogant and bullying nature leads to him being excluded and a rookie named Casey Rhodes is chosen instead.
During the initiation ceremony, Jarrod returns and attacks Master Mao, inadvertently breaking the vessel containing Dai Shi's essence as he does so. The freed Dai Shi kills Master Mao and takes over Jarrod's body. The new guardians travel to the city of Ocean Bluff to seek their new master and find him to be a man named Robert "RJ" James - chef and owner of Jungle Karma Pizza. After testing the guardians, RJ grants them the powers and abilities of Jungle Fury Power Rangers - making them Earth's only hope to stop Dai Shi - who along with his Lieutenant Camille, henchmen Scorch and Snapper, and an army of undead Rinshi warriors is attempting to take over the world and allow animals to rule over humans.
Initially, RJ acts only as Sensei and trainer to the Power Rangers, but as the series progresses he joins their ranks as the Jungle Fury Purple Wolf Ranger. During this time, they are also joined by Dominic "Dom" Hargan who studied with RJ, and Fran - originally a customer then an employee of Jungle Karma Pizza. Dominic joins as the White Rhino Power Ranger, and Fran is enlisted to watch the monitors and advise of Rinshi attacks while RJ is with the other Power Rangers. Eventually, Camille is targeted by Scorch and Snapper who are jealous of her popularity with Dai Shi - although, in reality, it is Jarrod's own human spirit fighting against Dai Shi she is attracted to. As a result, she turns against both them and Dai Shi, enabling Jarrod to throw off its spirit control, and the two join the Power Rangers who use their animal spirits finally to defeat Dai Shi and its forces.
In the epilogue, a more mature and responsible Jarrod goes back to the Pai Zhuq to begin his training again, followed by Camille who later returns as a Power Ranger in her own right. Lily, Theo, and RJ remain at Jungle Karma Pizza. Dominic and Fran backpack around the world and Casey becomes a teacher at the Pai Zhuq - with Jarrod and Camille among his students.
Cast and characters
Jungle Fury Rangers
Jason Smith as Casey Rhodes, the Jungle Fury Red Ranger
Anna Hutchison as Lily Chilman, the Jungle Fury Yellow Ranger.
Aljin Abella as Theo Martin, the Jungle Fury Blue Ranger.
David de Lautour as Robert "RJ" James, the Jungle Fury Purple Wolf Ranger.
Nikolai Nikolaeff as Dominic "Dom" Hargan, the Jungle Fury White Rhino Ranger.
Jungle Fury Spirit Rangers
Bruce Allpress as Master Phant, the Green Elephant Spirit Ranger.
Oliver Driver as Master Swoop, the Black Bat Spirit Ranger.
Paul Gittins as Master Finn, the Aqua Shark Spirit Ranger.
Supporting characters
Sarah Thomson as Fran
Kelson Henderson as the voice of Flit
Nathaniel Lees as Master Mao
Michelle Langstone As Master Guin
Stig Eldred as Master Rilla
Andrew Laing as Master Lope
Villains
Bede Skinner as Jarrod/Dai Shi
Production
The show's writing staff was impacted by the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike. The show's regular writers, including Jackie Marchand and John Tellegen, were on strike. Showrunner Bruce Kalish remained on set in Auckland at Disney's behest, but did not do any writing or offer any input on the production while the strike continued. During this time, Disney enlisted former series writer Judd Lynn, who was at the time not a WGA member, to write episodes under a pseudonym.
Lynn noted that crew members privately thanked him for making sure the production could continue. "Our crew was anywhere from 90 to 130 people, and all those people faced unemployment because of, in this case, a handful of people who were striking in Los Angeles," he said. "It seemed a little unbalanced."
Disney would call on him again in 2009 to helm Power Rangers RPM after the dismissal of showrunner Eddie Guzelian.