Rainbow Brite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rainbow Brite | |
|---|---|
 Rainbow Brite Title screen |
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| Genre | Animated television series |
| Creator(s) | Jean Chalopin |
| Developer(s) | Howard R. Cohen |
| Voices of | See Rainbow Brite#Voices |
| Country of origin |  United States France Japan |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jean Chalopin Andy Heyward |
| Running time | 25 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original run | December 13, 1984 – March 7, 1985 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Rainbow Brite was an animated television series introduced by Hallmark in 1984. The Rainbow Brite franchise generated $1 billion in retail sales of dolls, toys and other licensed products throughout the 80's. In the franchise's backstory, a little orphan girl named Wisp is taken by a Sphere of Light to a land without color. She rescues the seven Color Kids (one for each color of the rainbow) and finds the Color Belt, which is the tool she needs to bring color to the land. After using the Color Belt to defeat the Dark One, the Sphere of Light tells her she will now be known as Rainbow Brite. She and the Color Kids (and their helpers, the Sprites) live in Rainbowland and are in charge of all the colors on Earth.
The Color Belt needs colored Star Sprinkles to work. Each Color Kid is in charge of his/her respective color, and their Sprites mine Color Crystals from the Color Caves, which are turned into Star Sprinkles by a process much like using cookie cutters.
The movie Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, made in 1985, added a magical planet of light named Spectra, which is also called the diamond planet. All the light in the universe must pass through Spectra before coming to earth. The Dark Princess causes problems when she tries to wrap ropes around Spectra (in order to haul the giant diamond to her palace), which blocks out the light and throws Earth into a permanent winter.
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[edit] Show facts
- First Aired: December 1984
- Last Aired: March 1985
- Number of Episodes:
- 13 half-hour animated episodes
- 2 half-hour live-action episodes
- 4 read-along videos (2 per tape)
- 1 feature-length movie
[edit] Episodes
1. Beginning of Rainbowland - Part I A little girl named Wisp comes to a desolate dark land to save it. She is on a mission to find the "sphere of light."
2. Beginning of Rainbowland - Part II The Evil One threatens Murky and Lurky saying he wants the belt. Murky introduces the Evil One to his new weapon, the Super Gloom Machine.
3. Peril in The Pits Rainbow Brite visits the world she must protect, the Earth. There she meets Brian, who accidentally walks into her rainbow and gets covered with colors. Rainbow Brite takes him to Rainbowland to remove the colors, and he becomes the only person from Earth to ever go to Rainbowland.
4. Mighty Monstromurk Menace - Part I Murky gets the aid of the genie-like Monstromurk who is trapped in a bottle. Brian comes for a visit to Rainbowland. Murky kidnaps Rainbow. They get the best of her and trap her in a bottle.
5. Mighty Monstromurk Menace - Part II Red Butler and Brian go to save Rainbow. Murky throws the bottle with Rainbow in it into the river. Red Butler, Romeo, Brian, and Twink go up the wild rapids. Rainbow magically escapes from the bottle. Then she meets up with Romeo and Starlite. Then they fight Monstromurk and trap him in his bottle.
6. Invasion of Rainbowland Wajah is a friendly alien, whose race survives by absorbing colors, who crashed his spaceship in Rainbowland one day. The Color Kids must repair his spaceship before all the colors in Rainbowland disappear.
7. Mom Murky Dismal's mother decides to pay Murky a visit. She disapproves of Murky's hate for color, even though it is revealed that she is the cause of it.
8. Rainbow Night Moonglo and her Sprite, Nite Sprite, have the responsibility of making the moon and stars shine brightly at night and make people happy even when they can't see bright colors. Murky & Lurky capture her in attempt to make the night dark and gloomy. Rainbow Brite attempts to save her.
9. Star Sprinkled A conniving traveling salesman, Plock comes to the Color Cave. He trades "Magic Color Crystal Seeds," which don't actually grow Color Crystals, to Twink in exchange for the Color Cave.
10. Chasing Rainbows Murky makes a robot that looks like Rainbow Brite to trick the inhabitants of Rainbowland into taking Star Sprinkles to the Pits. When Rainbow Brite finds out, she pretends she is the robot and tricks Murky.
11. Murky's Comet Rainbowland is having a parade. The Color Kids strike a band while Rainbow Brite, Stormy, and Kris ride their horses. Rainbow goes to Earth to pick up Brian to ride in the parade as well. Sorrell the Sorcerer comes to unleash trouble upon Rainbowland.
12. A Horse of a Different Color Everyone prepares for the Sprite Fair, an annual event with games and rides. There is a horse race that Starlite, Skydancer, and On-X always enter, and Starlite wins every year. Unfortunately, this year there's a new entry. Murky and Lurky make their own robotic horse to enter the race with.
13. Queen of the Sprites The evil Princess from the movie "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer" comes to Rainbowland. She claims to be the 'Queen of the Sprites' and forces the Sprites to dig up Color Crystals in a new cavern of the Color Cave. She wants to use these Color Crystals as diamonds to revive her power.
[edit] Movie
Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer The universe is growing dark, and on Earth it is eternal winter, all because a selfish princess is trying to keep the diamond-like planet, Spectra, to herself. Rainbow Brite steps up to stop the princess. All of her friends help, including a brash, overconfident new aquaintance called Krys. If Rainbow does not free Spectra (and if she and Krys don't stop arguing) everything will turn gray and die.
[edit] Episode Continuity Errors
- In The Beginning of Rainbow Land Part II, there is a continuity error. Murky is shown to have kidnapped three of the color kids: Buddy Blue, Indigo, and Lala Orange. However, when they are rescued, the group changes to Indigo, Lala Orange, and Patty O'Green, which is impossible since Patty O'Green had already been rescued and was in the cave at the time.
[edit] Characters
- Rainbow Brite (originally named Wisp before taking this name) and her white sprite Twink. In one of the books, it is revealed that Twink used to be red, until villain Murky Dismal removed his colors.
- Starlite - Rainbow Brite's egotistical talking horse, who calls himself "the most magnificent horse in the universe". He is white with a yellow star on his forehead, and can fly only with the help of the rainbow. His mane and tail are rainbow-colored.
[edit] Color Kids
The names of each Color Kid's head Sprite is in parentheses, although several more named Sprites exist. Except where noted, each Sprite is the color of the Color Kid he or she belongs to.
- Red Butler (Romeo)
- Lala Orange (OJ) (in the 2004 merchandise line, OJ's name is Mango)
- Canary Yellow (Spark)
- Patty O'Green (Lucky)
- Buddy Blue (Champ)
- Indigo (Hammy)
- Shy Violet (IQ)
[edit] Special Kids
Although frequently lumped in with Color Kids, there are a few residents of Rainbowland who do not deal with colors.
- Stormy - Along with her horse Skydancer, Stormy lives in the clouds and is in charge of storms. Her favorite season is winter, as a scene from the 1985 movie "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer" proves. Stormy does not apparently have a sprite, although in the episode "Invasion of Rainbowland", a sprite matching the color of her outfit follows her around. She is in charge of winter, rain and lightning. Skydancer is dark purple with light purple hair. Skydancer's gender is never revealed; and unlike Starlite, Skydancer has the ability to fly unaided.
- Tickled Pink - It is controversial whether Tickled Pink is in charge of just the color pink, or in charge of all pastel colors. Her outfit is the only one besides Rainbow Brite's that has multiple colors, and not just different shades of the same color. In the merchandise line there is a pink sprite named Dee Lite, but she is not said to have one. In the 2003 new merchandise line by Toy Play, the coloring book indicates she is in charge of colors such as aqua and magenta.
- Moonglow - Along with her navy blue Sprite named Nite Sprite (who has crescent moons at the tips of his antennae instead of stars like the other Sprites), Moonglow is in charge of making the night sky bright with stars and color. She appears in the episodes produced after the movie. (Note: The merchandise line has her named spelled as Moonglow, but the TV series has it listed as Moonglo. Both spellings may be considered correct.)
[edit] Friends
- Baby Brite - She is named this in the merchandise line and only appears in the first episode, where she is called "the Baby". She has pink hair and is (arguably) the form that the Sphere of Light takes in the dark land. Rainbow Brite finds her, and because of her goes into a cave to get out of the rain, which leads her to finding the Color Belt.
- Sunriser - Sunriser is a pink, non-talking horse introduced in the episode "Horse of a Different Color". She has a white heart on her forehead, and seems to have a crush on Starlite. She is very shy at the beginning and won't let anyone ride her except Rainbow Brite. The sprites gave her the name "Sunriser" since she came out in the early morning to watch Starlite. Although the merchandise boxes show Tickled Pink riding Sunriser and say "Tickled Pink's fun-loving horse" on the box, some people believe she was originally meant to belong to Moonglow. Evidence supporting this includes her celestial name and the fact that only special Kids, not Color Kids, have horses. It is possible that the manufacturers gave Sunriser to Tickled Pink instead since the Moonglow doll was not released outside of Germany.
- Krys - Met in the movie and later appearing on the show, Krys is a resident of Spectra. He is taller than Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids. He wears a space helmet and helps Rainbow Brite defeat the Dark Princess. He utilizes a small wrist-mounted prism that's powered by Rainbow Brite's rainbow beam and capable of transmuting elements.
- Orin - Also appearing in the movie, Orin is a white ancient sprite, presumably from Spectra. The Sprites seem to have always thought that he was only a legend. It is not revealed whether Orin has always been white, lost his color with age, or, like Twink, lost his colors through some other way.
- On-X - Pronounced "onyx," he is Orin's black robot horse. His red mane lights up when he talks, and blue jets coming out of his feet allow him to fly. (At the end of the 1985 movie, Orin gives On-X to Krys.)
- Brian - The only boy on Earth who can see Rainbow Brite. After school one day he accidentally walks into a rainbow that Rainbow Brite had sent to cheer him up. This turns him into many colors, and Rainbow Brite takes him to Rainbowland to remove them. He is given a special key which, when put in any lock, forms a rainbow and takes him to Rainbowland. Brian has a dog that is only ever referred to as "Boy."
- Puppy Brite & Kitty Brite - Rainbow Brite's pets. Puppy Brite makes a cameo appearance at the start of Star Stealer. While Kitty Brite appears in episodes after the movie.
- Rainbowland Sprites - Sprites who live on Rainbowland and mine Color Crystals from the Color Caves. They also perform other duties for the Color Kids. They speak their own language, which Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids can understand. They come in every color of the rainbow and have stars on the ends of their antennae.
- Spectran Sprites - Sprites with soft, fuzzy feet who live on Spectra and keep it shiny and polished. Spectran Sprites have circles on the ends of their antennae, as opposed to the stars that Sprites from Rainbowland have on theirs. They also seem to only come in pale (almost white) colors such as light blue and light pink.
[edit] Villains
- Murky Dismal - Murky is the main villain from The Pits. In one episode it is revealed that, as a toddler, he colored on the walls with crayons, markers, paints, rollers, and finally an industrial airbrush. His mother made him wash off "every bit of color, if it takes all day, if it takes the rest of your life," leading Murky to his hatred of color as an adult. He loves to invent devices to create gloom clouds which remove color and make people hopeless. He is constantly trying to capture the Color Kids or take Rainbow Brite's Color Belt. His full first name is Murkwell.
- Lurky - Murky's sidekick who looks like a giant brown Sprite with a large nose. Lurky actually delights in "all the pretty colors!" It is possible that Lurky was once a sprite who is under Murky's spell due to a cloud that has been placed over his head. Lurky is generally goodhearted and often foils Murky's plans by his clumsy nature.
- The Dark Princess - She is only officially called "The Princess." She lives in a palace in space and, as the movie's eponymous Star Stealer, tries to steal the diamond planet, Spectra. She is very spoiled and greedy, even going so far as to steal Rainbow's Color Belt after witnessing its power (although she never used it, herself). She has a magic jewel that is the source of her power.
- Count Blogg - A green monster who is the Dark Princess' right-hand man. When he appears in the television series he pretends to have the power to change people into frogs.
- Sgt. Zombo - The Sergeant in charge of the Prison Planet, where the Dark Princess sends her enemies. He is turned into crystal by Krys's prism beam.
- Glitterbots - Giant gold robots who hypnotize the Spectran Sprites into tying ropes around Spectra in preparation for the Princess' claim of the planet for herself.
[edit] Other minor characters
- Mrs. Dismal - Murky's mother, who doesn't like that Murky hates colors, and ends up helping Rainbow Brite.
- Wajah - A multilingual alien who crashes in Rainbowland. His species uses color as food, so Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids fix his ship as quickly as possible to prevent him from "eating" all the color in Rainbowland.
- Plock - A conniving salesman who tricks Twink into selling him the Color Caves in exchange for a "magic seed." Once he realizes what the world would be like without color, he changes his ways and gives the Caves back to Rainbow Brite.
- Sorell - A sorcerer who creates Murky's Comet to try and destroy the Color Caves. He looks like Merlin.
[edit] Voices
- Bettina Bush - Rainbow Brite
- Andre Stojka - Starlite, Wizard, Spectran
- Rhonda Allman - Moonglow, Tickled Pink
- Rhonda Aldrich - Dark Princess, Creature
- Peter Cullen - Murky, Monstromurk, Narrator
- Pat Fraley - Lurky, On-X, Buddy Blue, Dog, Guard, Spectran, Slurthic, Glitterbot, Evil Force
- Robbie Lee - Twink, Shy Violet, Indigo, Lala Orange, Sprites
- Jonathan Harris - Count Blogg
- Mona Marshall - Red Butler, Witch, Spectran, Castle Creature, Patty O'Green, Canary Yellow
- Scott Menville - Brian
- George Ball - Plock
- David Workman - Sergeant Zombo
- David Mendenhall - Krys
- Marissa Mendenhall - Stormy
- Charles Adler - Popo
- Les Tremayne - Orin, Bombo, TV Announcer
- Alan Lee - Additional Voices
[edit] Merchandise
In the 80's, Mattel produced most of the dolls and Rainbow Brite merchandise. The 2004 master toy licensee is Toy Play. Nick Jr. is the station currently advertising Rainbow Brite products.
The 2004 18" Talking Rainbow Brite doll produced by Toy Play names the colors of the rainbow, but leaves out green. Upon contact, Toy Play indicates the doll will be fixed for any future production runs.
There is a new Rainbow Brite costume available in the latest merchandise line.
[edit] Recent recognition
- Rainbow Brite was mentioned in the Skye Sweetnam song Hypocrite, along with Sailor Moon, Anime and Avril Lavigne.
- A Rainbow Brite doll appeared in the music video "What U Do 2 Me" by Boomkat.
- The show was recently parodied in the Adult Swim latenight stop motion series, Robot Chicken.
- Unlicensed, revealing Rainbow Brite costumes have become a popular item in adult novelty catalogs.
- On an episode of Reba where Barbra Jean believes Brock is still in love with Reba, Barbra Jean pounds on two dolls, pretending they are Brock and Reba. One of the dolls is Red Butler from Rainbow Brite.
- In the episode Prick Up Your Ears on the cartoon series Family Guy, Peter attempts to give a sex ed demonstration with a bust of William Shakespeare and a Rainbow Brite doll.
- A reference to Rainbow Brite was made in The Order of the Stick #415
[edit] External links
- Rainbow Brite.net
- Rainbow Brite.tv
- Hallmark's Rainbow Brite Licensing Info
- TV Episode Guide at TV.com
