Day of the Dino

This article is about a two-part episode in Power Rangers Dino Thunder.

Day of the Dino

Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Episode 12x01, 12x02

Air Date(s)

February 14, 2004

Production Information

Written by

Douglas Sloan
Ann Austen

Directed by

Charlie Haskell

Episode Guide

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Storm Before the Calm	Wave Goodbye

For the Cine-Manga, see Power Rangers Dino Thunder Vol. 1: Day of the Dino.

Day of the Dino is the two-part season premiere of the first & second episodes of Power Rangers Dino Thunder of the Power Rangers series commencing the five-episode beginning arc.

Synopsis[]

Part 1[]

While on a detention-related field trip with their new science teacher (Dr. Tommy Oliver), three students from Reefside High School (soccer star Conner, rocker star wannabe Kira, and whiz kid Ethan), stumble upon mystical Dino Gems which give them special powers. This makes them a target for a group of evil creatures known as Tyrannodrones. Can the teen trio work together despite their vast differences? And what connection is there between Dr. Oliver and the T-Drones's master, the dinosauric humanoid known as Mesogog?

Part 2[]

Kira must escape from Mesogog's island base, while being chased by the Tyranodrones and henchmen Elsa & Zeltrax. With help from Dr. Tommy Oliver, Conner & Ethan come to her aid. Their new science teacher reveals his connection to Mesogog and company, and to help combat this evil force, gives the three Dino Morphers to harness the Dino Gems, allowing them to become Dino Thunder Power Rangers! When Mesogog releases the three brainwashed-dinosaur Bio Zords to wreak havoc on the city, this new team must take on the forces of evil and find a way to give the Zords a change of heart.

Plot[]

Part 1[]

Power Rangers Dino Thunder begins with an incident which takes place sometime after the events of Wild Force. Dr. Tommy Oliver, a veteran Power Ranger, is alone on an island, being chased by someone who yells, "Find him! Whatever it takes!" He outruns some mysterious creatures and manages to escape the island by jumping into the ocean before it sinks. Tommy watches the island simultaneously go up in flames and sink under the ocean.

Fast forward to a year after the events of Ninja Storm, Tommy begins working at Reefside High as a paleontology teacher. He meets the new principal, Ms. Randall. As he begins class, he gets some grief from the resident busybody, school reporter Cassidy Cornell. Tommy notices a student is missing. That student is Conner McKnight, a soccer star who gets busted for truancy by Principal Randall. She also busts aspiring musician Kira Ford for performing on school grounds without permission. Finally, she rounds up tech whiz kid Ethan James for tampering with the sprinklers, and brings them all to a week of detention with Tommy.

But instead of detention, Tommy takes the kids to the museum and promises to cancel detention if they manage to find anything prehistoric in the nearby woods. Tommy notices that the museum is now run by Dr. Anton Mercer, which seems impossible to him, and he is confronted by a robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex. After a car chase, the T. Rex is out cold after crashing into a bridge on the motorway. In the woods, the kids fall into a sinkhole. Unsure of how to get out, they explore the caverns, eventually stumbling across some kind of high tech underground lair, where they take some glowing gems from a stand.

As soon as they find their way out, the trio is attacked by a group of creatures, the same ones that attacked Tommy in the prologue. The kids discover that the gems have given them powers: Conner receives super strength and speed, Kira can create ultrasonic sound attacks when she screams, and Ethan's skin becomes unbreakable, and defeat the creatures using them. Soon, everyone meets back up in the woods, and pretend as if nothing happened.

Back at school, after Conner says not to talk about what happened to anybody, a fed up Kira hands over her gem to the guys, only to be abducted by some more creatures. Conner and Ethan run to Tommy's rural house for help, only to find a secret entrance to the same lair, accessed from his study. Tommy finds the boys snooping and is not pleased. Meanwhile, a dinosaur-like creature prepares to interrogate Kira ^[1].

Part 2[]

Ethan and Conner tell Tommy what happened with Kira and they all leave to find her. Kira finds herself in an island fortress and gets into a tussle with henchwoman Elsa and tries to run away. Unfortunately, cyborg Zeltrax and his crew are not far behind either. While evading them, Kira finds a portal, and it sucks her in.

While driving in Tommy's jeep, Tommy calls the creatures "Tyrannodrones", and explains that they are his creation: a few years back, Tommy was working on a way to combine dinosaur DNA with technology. His partner in this endeavor, the rich scientist Dr. Anton Mercer, disappeared soon after and right before Mesogog, the dinosaur-like creature that pursued him and held Kira captive, appeared and attacked their lab and Tommy thought that all of their research was destroyed. Just then, Kira lands right on top of the search party. Tommy and the gang encounter and fight Zeltrax and the Tyrannodrones, who followed Kira. After the Tyrannodrones are beaten, Zeltax swears further attacks on them.

The next day, Mesogog orders an attack on the city. Three mechanical dinosaurs begin their rampage through the city streets, following by an aerial strike by Zeltrax. Tommy brings the kids to his lair, and gives them Morphers so that they may become Power Rangers and calm the Bio Zords. With some skepticism, the kids accept their roles as heroes. They head down to the city and for the first time, morph into a new team of Power Rangers - the Dino Thunder Rangers.

When the Tyrannodrones attack, Tommy tells the Rangers to summon their individual weapons from their belt buckles. Finally, they combine their weapons into the Z-Rex Blaster and hit Zeltrax with a shot. Then they tame the Bio Zords, and combine them into the Thundersaurus Megazord. They destroy Zeltrax's ship with the Tyranno Drill.

Mesogog punishes Zeltrax and Elsa for their failure with a psionic brain-blast and warns them as a lesson that he doesn't take defeat lightly. Tommy gives the kids bracelets which can access their Morphers and allow them to communicate with each other. He also tells them that their lives will never be the same, but Dr. Oliver knows that a lot has happened, but if they work as a team, no one can beat them ^[2].

Cast[]

James Napier as Conner McKnight (Red Dino Ranger)
Kevin Duhaney as Ethan James (Blue Dino Ranger)
Emma Lahana as Kira Ford (Yellow Dino Ranger)
Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver
Latham Gaines as Mesogog
Miriama Smith as Elsa (credit only in Part 1) & (Part 2 only)
James Gaylyn as Zeltrax (voice) (Part 2 only)
Tom Hern as Devin Del Valle
Katrina Devine as Cassidy Cornell
Mathew Parry as Younger Student
Mark Clare as Coach Beckman
Mike Kennedy as Soccer Player

Zords[]

Thundersaurus Megazord

Errors[]

When the Biozords are seen attacking downtown Reefside, it is clearly attacking Tokyo using the Abaranger footage due to Japanese writing seen on buildings and the cars were seen driving on the left side of the road.

Notes[]

Conner uses the phrases "Have a nice trip. See you next Fall" and "Time to head for the back of the net." The first is a line used in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie by Kimberly, and the second references Conner's love of soccer (or football outside the U.S.).
The episode's title is probably a reference to the first episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Day of the Dumpster.
Conner says "Dude, the guy's a teacher, not Batman!" and scoffs at the idea that an item in Tommy's study could reveal a hidden cave (which turns out to be true). Batman's Batcave entrance with a hidden switch in Bruce Wayne's study was most famously shown in the 1966 series.
- It is significant that Conner delivered that line; James Napier, who plays Conner, is the great-grandson of Alan Napier, who played Alfred Pennyworth in the 1966 series.
- Conner's mention of Batman is the second reference to the character; the first was in "Happy Birthday, Zack." A reference to Superman (who, like Batman, is from DC Comics) is made later in "Drawn into Danger".
Tommy's address in Reefside, CA is 1992 Valencia Road. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers began pre-production in 1992, in Valencia, California. 1992 Valencia Road is also a real street in Decatur, Georgia
At one point Mesogog mentions Lothor, calling him an idiot. The two will later meet in "Thunder Storm".
In some scenes, the buildings have Japanese writing on them; this footage clearly came from the Abaranger episode "Abare Dinosaur Big Charge!".
During part 1, Tommy is seen wearing the three Ranger colors he has already assumed: a pair of green pants, a white jacket, and a red shirt, as well as a black undershirt, the color he assumes in this season.
This marks the return of Tommy Oliver (Jason David Frank) since "Forever Red".
- This also marks the first time Tommy appears as a series regular since the 2-parter episode "Passing the Torch".
Part 1 marks the first appearances of Conner, Ethan, Kira, Mesogog, Elsa, Cassidy and Devin.
Part 2 marks the first appearance of Zeltrax.
Conner drives a Ford Mustang.
Tommy's Jeep Wrangler has automatic transmission.
This marks the first appearance of the Thundersaurus Megazord.
Cassidy mentions Angel Grove in Part 1.
Tommy promises to cancel detention if Kira, Conner, and Ethan find "anything prehistoric". This could include a snake, gecko, frog, dragonfly, or any "living fossil" creature whose ancestors have remained virtually unchanged since dinosaur times (of course, they would let it go afterwards).
In Part 1, while Conner and Ethan are in the lair arguing about Connor's supposed stupidity and the future, Ethan predicts he'll have his own multibillion dollar software business after graduating. Ironically, in the S.P.D. episode "History", the S.P.D. Rangers mention that Ethan does have his own company that produces tech that they use.
This is the first episode to feature a male Blue Ranger and a female Yellow Ranger since "The End of the Power Rangers" of Power Rangers Wild Force.
This is the first premiere episode to be a multi-part since "Force from the Future" of Power Rangers Time Force.
In Part 1, Principal Randall mentions Judge Judy, the host of one of the most successful TV courtroom shows of all time.
Kira briefly mentions the big-budget dinosaur movie franchise Jurassic Park when she, Conner and Ethan find the forest entrance to the lair, with the dinosaur skull key next to it.
Tommy's jeep has the registration number 472 TJX.
Conner's car has the registration number 368 DKL.
In the first classroom scene, a portrait of U.S. President George W. Bush (who was president in 2004 when the show first aired) can be seen hanging on the wall in front of the classroom, confirming that he exists within the Power Rangers universe.
While observing Conner, Ethan and Kira, Cassidy states that "in the three years at Reefside High, they've never so much as looked at each other", this confirms that they are all seniors in high school at the start of the series.
According to Duhaney, the night-time morph scene was the only scene in the entire series that was ever shot at night,^[3] which evidently is the only scene in the entire series that occurs at night save for scenes in "In Your Dreams".
The device Ethan uses to look up Tommy's address is a Sony CLIE PEG UX PDA. It isn't clear whether it is the UX40 or the UX50 model, though it could be the UX50 since it is the more advanced model.