Go Go Power Rangers!

The Power Rangers have had a long and varied history, much of it outside The Walt Disney Company. The series originated in Japan in 1975, under the heading "Super Sentai." In 1993, Saban Entertainment acquired the North American rights to the show and began producing an English language version, entitled "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." As part of the Fox Kids programming block, Power Rangers became an enormous hit.

In October 2001, Disney purchased Fox Family Worldwide, primarily motivated by the potential of owning The Family Channel and Fox Family's various other international broadcasting outlets (now ABC Family and Disney Channels worldwide). The acquisition also included the Saban library of titles, from "Dragon Ball Z" to Power Rangers.

At the time, Disney was flush with franchises that appealed to girls, but didn't have much for the boys. Power Rangers presented an opportunity. Before long, new Power Rangers series were produced for ABC Kids and Jetix on ABC Family and lines of toys and home videos were developed for Disney Stores and other retail outlets. It was just a matter of time before the Rangers made their way into Disney Parks.

The Power Rangers made their debut on the urban settings of the Streets of America Backlot at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the spring of 2005. On television, each new season of the show brought an entirely new team of Rangers, with all new costumes, vehicles, powers and Zords. This degree of change would not have been practical for the theme park, so instead it was decided to present Power Rangers as a cross-over team, including one of the newest Rangers along with a popular Ranger from each of the four most recent series.

The 2005 premiere team was led by the Red Ranger from "Power Rangers: SPD," the newest series at the time. Each year thereafter, as a new version of Power Rangers debuted on television, a Ranger from that season was introduced, replacing a Ranger from a previous season. In this way, the Power Rangers character offering at the Studios was kept fresh and relevant to fans visiting year after year.

In early 2006, the first of the original Studios Rangers to be retired was the Pink Time Force Ranger. "Power Rangers: Time Force" had been the last series produced by Saban Entertainment prior to the Disney acquisition. She was replaced on the team by the Pink Ranger from "Power Rangers: Mystic Force."

"Power Rangers: Wild Force" was the first English language Rangers show created by BVS Entertainment, the Disney subsidiary that oversaw the former Saban properties. The Silver Lunar Wolf Ranger from "Wild Force" was part of the Studios team until 2007, when he stepped down to make way for the Yellow Ranger from "Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive."

The "Ninja Storm" Green Ranger saw his last appearance in early 2008, when the debut of "Power Rangers: Jungle Fury" brought the Blue Jaguar Ranger to the park.

The last change to occur on the team came in February 2009 with the retirement of the "Dino Thunder" White Ranger. He was replaced by a new Green Ranger from "Power Rangers: RPM."

By this time, things had changed within the world of Disney. New leadership brought a focus on "core" Disney brands, and many new franchises had come along to appeal to boys, from Cars to Pirates of the Caribbean. The decision was made to step away from Power Rangers. In May, 2010, Disney sold the rights to Power Rangers back to Haim Saban and announced a final day for fans to meet the Rangers at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Come back tomorrow for a full report from that day, when we bid farewell to the Power Rangers team.