MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: ONCE & ALWAYS Production Designer Talks Challenges, Surprises, and More

Back in April, Hasbro and Netflix launched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always. This was a special to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Power Rangers and was a blast to watch. The team was kind enough to allow me to interview the production designer, Tracey Collins, about the special. Unfortunately, our schedules didn’t line up and so I was unable to ask her the questions in real-time, but I’m grateful that she was able to answer some questions via email. I got to ask her about a few different aspects and her answers are insightful for fans.

Tommy: Tracey, I'm so grateful to be asking you about Power Rangers and production design. I was looking into it a bit and saw that you've worked as the production designer on Power Rangers since Power Rangers Dino Charge. What changes have you seen going on across the various seasons you've worked on? Did the change from Saban to Hasbro change much for you?

Tracey: Thank you for being interested in doing an interview with me about my production design process for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers- Once & Always.

Judd (Chip) Lynn was the new executive producer at Saban Entertainment, and he came down to New Zealand to executive produce a new season of Power Rangers Dino Charge. I was interviewed by him, we hit it off straight away, and he employed me. I worked with Chip on three seasons: Dino Charge, Ninja Steel, and Beast Morphers. Chip then went back to the states, and Simon Bennett, who had been a director on Ninja Steel and Beast Morphers, became the new executive producer for Dino Fury. I had also worked with Simon on some other TV productions and theater shows, so the transition for us was very easy. We already had a strong visual language working together, and a very good collaborative process with each other.

Hasbro was fully onboard from my perspective for Dino Fury and were very encouraging of higher production values for the production designs, set, and prop designs. They were interested in the comic moments in the story becoming more integrated to the overall story.

Tommy: When it came to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, what was the biggest challenge you and your team had? Was there anything that you saw in the script and wondered, "how the heck are we supposed to do this"?

Tracey: Once & Always was different for me as it was a new imagining of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The other Power Rangers projects I’ve worked on were all new original seasons with new casts each season, and they had new stories, locations, and sets to design. So yes, I was quite nervous about how to approach designing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always. Probably the biggest challenge was a later addition to the script. The sets were mostly built, and then they added the Radbug to become the Radbug 2. By some miracle, we managed to find an old beetle car quickly. It was a convertible, but we liked that. I wanted to honor the original by adding custom shape looking gadgets on the surface of the car, but I also wanted it to look cool in the contemporary time we live in. I looked for aspects I could “pimp my ride” with, adding different elements to make it more Billy Cranston, such as wood grain, some big speakers, and a speed stripe along the side of the car.

Tommy: What was the one moment/item/etc. for Once & Always that felt like the biggest "nailed it!" moment for you on the production?

Tracey: The Neon Juice Bar sign in the Amber Beach Gym & Juice Bar. We had an identical neon sign made, as it was important to me as a timeless and well-known set design element. We had changed the scale of the set, but we utilized design shapes, and color tones in our palette. Overall, the look of the set was quite similar, and the Juice Bar neon nailed the timelessness of the set design for me.

Tommy: What was your approach for taking something old and beloved like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and making sure that it fit and felt modernized?

Tracey: I looked carefully at the shapes and layouts of the original sets, and took elements or shapes that I thought identified those spaces. For example, the circular form set of the Ranger Base. I really liked this circular shape; it felt universal to me, so I enhanced this circular form of the set by adding some circular universal window panels with “universe graphics,” and built many LED lighting strips into the set components. With a black, metallic, glossy paint finish and the incorporated lighting, the set feels upscaled, more hi-tech, sci-fi and contemporary. Another example is Robo Rita’s Moon Palace. I really liked the set’s astrological elements, and some of the structural and pillar forms. I developed and revised these, added a textural moon surface finish all over the set, and scaled up the set form and astrological motifs, while also integrating LED lighting units to create a darker, more sculptural set mood and feel.

Tommy: What is something about Once & Always that people may not realize was your doing?

Tracey: We built the Dino Megazord Cockpit. I have read that some people think it is VFX, but we actually built it. The big fight was built by VFX.

Tommy: I have to ask. Rita shrinks the Rangers from various teams and has them power her machine. Are those Lightning Collection figures or did your teams make all new figures for them?

Tracey: We made some of the hero character figures, and some less filmed or heroed figurines were Lightening Collection Figures. We made the snakes that tie up the miniature Ranger figurines.

Tommy: We've briefly touched on the fact you've done a lot of work on Power Rangers. What got you excited about working on the property? What has been one of your favorite moments throughout all your work on Power Rangers?

Tracey: I was excited to get to design and to reimagine the original world of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: its sets, characters, and some props. By carefully researching and analyzing original production design aspects, we were able to strategically balance our design ideas of honoring the original production while upgrading the production values for our contemporary audience. I really wanted the original audience to enjoy our new production, as well as any new audience to the show. One of my favorite moments I can think of is across all our seasons: when our sets are built, the cast has been rehearsing, and we are about to start shooting. We take our hero cast through the sets for a show and tell, and they are very excited by the “new worlds” to inhabit. Their characters take ownership of the new sets. Shooting Day 1 is very exciting, when all the lighting is in place, and it’s the beginning of a new experience for us all.

Tommy: When it comes to production design in general, what's your favorite part of it?

Tracey: I do enjoy all the process, from the beginning of pre-prep and concepting to the last shoot day. I always enjoy once we have some concept designs and mood references for the worlds we are building, when we are drawing plans and are about to start building. Our construction and prop-making crew start, and we start the build. Everything we have designed starts to come to life, and this process continues.

Tommy: Thank you so much for your time and answers. Is there anything coming up that people should check out from you?

Tracey: Thank you for your thoughtful questions. I’m very excited about some of the set designs we have created for Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, which will screen on Netflix later this year. It’s the latest production I’ve designed, and personally, I think it’s my best in the sense of the new and exciting design challenges.