Simon Bennett Interview Power Rangers

Simon Bennett Interview: Power Rangers

We interview Power Rangers’ Simon Bennett about Beast Morphers coming to an end, what’s in store with Dino Fury, and much more.

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Power Rangers is shedding its skin once more and taking on a new iteration in Dino Fury in 2021, this time with a new showrunner in Simon Bennett. While it’s an admittedly different experience for lifelong fans, there’s also a sense of comfort in return both to dinosaurs and to borrowing material from a previous Super Sentai series in Go-Busters.

Bennett spoke to Screen Rant at length about picking up the torch from previous showrunner Chip Lynn, as well as what personally inspires him about the franchise and how he hopes to serve its target audience as well as honor its legions of loyal fans.

Many fans were pleasantly surprised with Power Rangers going back to adapting something like Beast Morphers, which came from Go-Busters, because it’s the first time Power Rangers adapted a Super Sentai from a previous series. What went into that decision making?

Simon Bennett: Well, this was before I was involved in that kind of decision-making. I was the director on Beast Morphers and a director on Ninja Steel, and I’ve only become executive producer and showrunner on the new season of Dino Fury. But I have talked to Chip Lynn about the decisions that went into adapting Go-Busters for Beast Morphers.

He’d had the idea some years before it was actually decided to go ahead with it; he’d written up how the adaptation would work, and I think put in a draw. Then after Ninja Steel, he dusted off that proposal and pitched it, and everyone was generally enthusiastic. I think one of the one of the things you have to look at when you’re adapting a Sentai series is: what is the world? What are the costumes like? What are the Zords like? What are the weapons like? What do all these items look like? And how can we make an exciting story around them, because Sentai is the starting point for every Power Rangers season. Everyone thought that the costumes, which are leather unlike the usual spandex, and the Zords and the weaponry and the world of Go-Busters had a really cool look to it. I think that was the starting point for how it came to be adapted.

Of course, because all those monster costumes and props were pretty old by the time we got to bring them over from Japan. By Beast Morphers, quite a lot of the rubber had perished, and there was quite a lot of rebuilding from scratch that went on. Not to mention the costumes that kind of fell apart on set. I remember shooting a scene with the Rangers teams in the Power Ranger costumes, but with the helmets off. This was actually in the finale episode when Evox is zapping Steel in the center of the Morph-X Tower, and the Ranger teams are cowering by the door, unable to do anything to help. The trousers of two of the male members of the team were held together with black gaffer tape, because they had literally fallen apart at the seams and were completely unsuitable.

That’s one of the downsides of adapting a season that is quite old, but I think that the the aesthetics of Go-Busters and the design elements that we adopted and brought into Beast Morphers are fantastic and timeless.

Beast Morphers honestly did feel like a love letter to the fans that have been with the show for 27 years. With Beast Morphers diving so deep into the Power Rangers mythology, did that help you up prepare to take over the showrunner position for the series?

Simon Bennett: Only in a little way. I guess it’s when I started shooting scenes in the legendary Ranger vault, and I realized how important all these various Morphers and props were because they meant something to the fans who have been loyal to the show for many seasons. “You can’t put that one in here, because it’s got to be these ones.” I realized there was more to Power Rangers that meets the eye. There are people out there with an encyclopedic knowledge of the lore and canon, and that is to be respected.

I know that the two story editors on the show do their utmost to serve the loyalty of those fans who know every detail inside out. We use Ranger Wiki a lot to research previous seasons, as well as watching them on Netflix, where they’re available here in New Zealand. We certainly respect the longevity of the show and how deeply the serious fans hold Power Rangers in their hearts.

I know that you’re taking over the EP role for Dino Fury, but you directed Ninja Steel and Beast Morphers. Can you talk about when you knew that you wanted to dip your toes further into the franchise?

Simon Bennett: That’s an interesting question. I was approached while I was still directing Beast Morphers, so when I was directing the finale, I knew that I would be going straight into a handover with Chip.

But my track record in screen drama is in both creative producing and directing; I’ve done both for many years. Coming into Power Rangers as a director, once I’ve got over the initial terror and getting my head around the sheer complexity of making a show like this – because it’s it’s not at all easy – I did think I would love to actually work on a new season from the beginning, and have involvement in all the creative aspects of a Power Rangers show that the director doesn’t have.

Because as a director, you come on board a couple of weeks before shooting starts, you get given your scripts, you work out how to shoot them, and you film them with the crew and with the actors. You’ve got three days in the editing room, and then you walk away. The year or so of development that goes up to that point is run by the showrunner, and then post-production, the final cut, and the visual effects and ADR and all those elements that go into polishing the show are in the showrunner’s hands again.

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The idea of having a complete creative overview of a season really appealed to me, because I like the show. I didn’t know it before I started working on it., so I can’t say my association with Power Rangers goes back for decades. But once I jumped into this particular pool and saw how much fun it could be, I fell in love and wanted to keep working on it.

Chip Lynn is legendary in the Power Rangers world, having been the showrunner for quite a while. Can you talk to me about any advice Chip may have given you knowing that you were going to helm the series?

Simon Bennett: I can’t think of any specific advice, but we did work together very closely. He stayed in New Zealand probably for a year after filming finished on Beast Morphers, so he and I worked together closely with the story editors on developing the new season.

I guess watching how Chip worked, and that showrunner role taught me a lot just simply through observation, I think that the main things I picked up from Chuck were to treat people with kindness, because he is a very kind person and treats everyone with the respect they’re due as being experts in their field. So, that’s really important. But also his attention to detail is formidable. There isn’t a single aspect of the show that he doesn’t cast his eye over: every single prop, every single costume, every single location. He would be on set for the block-throughs of scenes, making sure that the stories were being told correctly, and that the actors and the directors are making the correct decision. He’d be across every frame of the edit, and every single visual effect shot where was approved by Chip. Same with the scoring. It’s a complete hands-on, micro-managing, attention to detail, which is what makes the show so consistent: that level of creative overview.

So, watching him do that taught me. Well, it made me nervous, because it’s such a massive job I was taking on and they were such big shoes to fill. But it also taught me about what is important, and how easy it is to let something slip and a whole lot of things could fall over like a row of dominoes if you’re not careful and not across things. Attention to detail was a big part of what Chuck taught me.

Simon Bennett Interview Power Rangers

In the past, Power Rangers has had some traditions that fans still clamor for. For example, there were always team-ups in previous seasons. In Ninja Steel, there was a massive team-up with “Dimensions in Danger”, and in Beast Morphers, there was that epic “Grid Connection” episode with all the Dinos teams. Are those on the table still, or other things that fans can look forward to possibly bringing back in future iterations of Power Rangers?

Simon Bennett: Obviously, I can’t talk in any detail about Dino Fury. But those kinds of team-ups have always been part of the show, as you say, in the past. I think that COVID makes things more complicated, because we film in New Zealand, and the borders are closed, and you have to get the government’s exemption to come into the country. So that is a challenge, particularly if we were to bring an actor in to film for two or three days. They would have to be in quarantine for two weeks after they arrived, if we could get them into the country. So, there are there are challenges in the way there.

But I do think an awareness of the previous versions of the show and the previous range of teams is something, going forward, that is likely to be part of the show an ongoing basis. I think that one of the interesting things about Beast Morphers was that it brought all the various prior teams and dimensions together by having Grid Battle Force, where people studied Power Ranger history, and they knew about the various teams, they knew about all the various villains from the past. That meant that in future seasons, the previous teams are real in the world, as opposed to, “Let’s pretend they didn’t exist and we’re starting from scratch.”

The Beast Morphers finale airs this week, which wraps up a tremendous season. After that, how soon do you go back to work and start on the next season? Do you guys get a chance to enjoy the finale at all, or is it right back to work?

Simon Bennett: You have to remember we filmed the finale, I think, in April last year. How long is that? It’s many, many months ago, so I’ve been working on Dino Fury since May of last year.

As soon as I came off Beast Morphers, I went for a one-week holiday with my family. Then I was into developing and working with Chip and the writers on the new season. That was in development for a good 18 months before production got underway. Coming up with the concept and the story outlines, and writing all those scripts through all their various drafts, and accommodating all the feedback and the notes and the input – it’s not a quick process, and a lot of thought goes into it. By the time filming starts, pretty much the whole season has been worked out.

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The show has been around for nearly 30 years, and it’s outlasted many other kids’ shows. Why do you think Power Rangers has stood the test of time?

Simon Bennett: I think the formula works. It was kind of a unique invention to adapt Sentai and create a unique team-up of teenage superheroes, but utilizing the fantastic designs and monsters and zords and costumes from the Japanese show. That was quite a unique idea of bringing all those elements together. I think it’s held its appeal with young viewers.

The other thing about Power Rangers is that it’s made for predominantly 4 to 6 year old kids, and every two years that audience refreshes and reinvents itself. There’s another whole new range of kids that age who can be introduced to it. So, in a way you’ve got a unique show with an audience that’s constantly being refreshed, which is a positive. But also I would say that the color of those Power Rangers – those bright primary colors – and the excitement of the action sequences, never get old or stale. I think kids just love watching that.

Finally, I think that the values of the show enjoy. The basic values of teamwork and friendship and good versus evil – that’s something that everyone will identify with, and it keeps going. It’s significant.

Speaking of new teams, we’re going back to dinosaurs, and dinosaurs have always been synonymous with Power Rangers. Can you tell me why dinosaurs and Power Rangers just seems like such a great fit together?

Simon Bennett: I don’t know, other than that it’s worked in the past with Dino Charge and Mighty Morphin. I do think young kids have a fascination with dinosaurs. I don’t know if that’s built into people’s DNA, if it’s cultural or what, but you go into any toy shop and you can see shelves and shelves full of dinosaur products. I know both my kids went through a dinosaur phase where, even before my daughter could talk, she could see a dinosaur and make growling noises.

There’s that child-like fascination with monsters with big things that grow. Where there’s a monster under the bed, which terrifies you as a kid but also fascinates you at the same time. I think that’s kind of hardwired into us and has become something that’s pretty universal. So, dinosaurs have a huge appeal for kids, and I think that’s why the dinosaur seasons of Power Rangers work and will continue to work.

Simon Bennett Interview Power Rangers

Out of curiosity, what’s your favorite season when you went back and watched the show?

Simon Bennett: I really like RPM, to be honest. I do appreciate that it’s more adult in tone. As far as hitting home with the show’s target audience, it might not have been the most successful, but I really like the aesthetic of that show. I like the way that the comedy within the show was built into the range of the team and felt like a natural aspect of the range of storytelling. There are various things of that show that I really admire. Not that I would necessarily be replicating them, but as a piece of television, I really liked that season.

In 30 years, the franchise has amassed such a wide range of fans, with celebrities included like WWE superstars Seth Rollins, Ronda Rousey and Xavier Woods wearing ring gear from Power Rangers. You’ve got NFL players doing morphs after tackles. Even this year, the Kardashians were Power Rangers for Halloween. Can you talk to me about balancing a show that’s primarily for 4 to 6 year olds, but also has this large fan base that’s been following the show for such a long span of time.

Simon Bennett: It’s really challenging. If you start thinking about all those adult fans out there, then you just can’t function. We have to make the show for the target audience, which is 4 to 6 year olds, because that requires a particular type of writing and a particular type of storytelling. If it continues to have resonance with a wider audience, particularly people who might have grown up watching Power Rangers in the 90s and still feel very affectionate towards it and have a sense of nostalgia, then that’s great. That’s fantastic.

From time to time, we do bring in threads or ideas or stories or characters that hark back to previous seasons. And yes, that is a conscious way of rewarding the loyal fans who have stuck with the show. But it always has to be in such a way that we’re not going to lose the kids. The kids have to watch that episode and love the episode, even if they’ve got no idea who the people from previous teams are or what the references are. So, keeping the show successful for the young audience from our point of view is the single most important thing, and everything else is a fantastic bonus.

Power Rangers has spent over 27 years with completely different iterations. If fans were to try to pick your brain about what the tone is going to be for Dino Fury, and if you were to say “watch this season,” what season would you recommend?

Simon Bennett: I can’t say anything about Dino Fury, except to say that there will be dinosaurs in it. Fans should watch Dino Charge and Mighty Morphin, because those seasons also had dinosaurs in them, but I can’t give away anything. All I can say is I’m really happy with how it is developing, and I think it is unique and fresh. I’m hoping that the fans will be super excited when they get to see it.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/power-rangers-dino-fury-simon-bennett-interview/

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