From The Scoop: Rainbow Brite

From the October 27 issue of Gemstone Publishing's The Scoop:

When I was a young girl, there was no little-kid cartoon heroine who appealed to me more than Rainbow Brite. Obviously, I was a "child of the '80s," so her wide bangs and teased ponytail (held in place by the ever-necessary fabric scrunchee) appealed to me as much as her somewhat mismatched all-over-the-place outfit did. She had a hippie name (Wisp) by birth. She had that awesome star-shaped tattoo on her left cheek. Her face and the faces of her tight-knit ground of girlfriends were shaped like hearts. Lala Orange had a hip, carrot-colored maxi-coat with a princess collar and need I even mention how her clique ushered in the era of the Ugg boot before Ugg boots were even a glimmer in an overzealous designer's eye?

I'm getting ahead of myself. Rainbow Brite got her start in greeting cards. She was the creation of Hallmark in 1983 and was the only Hallmark cartoon character marketed to children to experience multimedia success.

Rainbow Brite toys, licensed by Mattel, began to crop up the same year she made her first greeting card appearance. Children's books were also beginning to hit shelves, giving the girl a backstory and a host of episodic adventures.

Wisp was a normal child who found herself in the mystical RainbowLand one afternoon, faced with the task of restoring color to the wilting world. She accomplished this by finding The Color Belt and The Spear of Light. Everyone in RainbowLand was so grateful, they christened her Rainbow Brite and asked her to stay on to protect the brightness and beauty of the kingdom.

With the help of seven friends, she served as the princess of the property, fighting off the fiendish Murky and Lurky Dismal (who wanted everything in the world to turn a monochromatic grey) for five or so years in books, films and an animated TV series.

Alas, by 1990, it seemed that children had grown weary of the Rainbow Brite dynasty. (How this happened is really beyond me, especially considering the too-cool-for-school 1985 feature length film, Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, which I just happened to see at the grown-up movie theatre at the ripe old age of six, thankyouverymuch....) And it seemed that Rainbow Brite would only be available via old VHS tapes and the occasional DVD re-release.

Then in 2003, Mitzi Hong Kong Limited decided to reinvent the franchise with new cloth/plastic dolls based on Rainbow Brite and her close-knit collective! For more info on those, visit http://www.nickjr.com/ads/rainbowbrite/toys.

Even though we can't relive the '80s, it's great to know that someone out there appreciates the utter coolness of a group of girly-girls with starlight powers. And for that, Mitzi Hong Kong Ltd, we thank you.

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