Rainbow Brite
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Rainbow Brite was a cartoon based on a Hallmark greeting card series featuring its namesake character. The story is that a little 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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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
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.
Color Kids
The names of each Kid's head Sprite is in parentheses, although several more named Sprites exist. Except where noted, each Sprite is the color of the Kid he belongs to.
- Red Butler (Romeo)
- Lala Orange (OJ) (in the 2004 line, OJ's name is Mango)
- Canary Yellow (Spark)
- Patty O'Green (Lucky)
- Buddy Blue (Champ)
- Indigo (Hammy)
- Shy Violet (IQ)
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, naturally. Stormy does not have a sprite. Skydancer is dark blue with a lightning bolt on her forehead, and she cannot speak, unlike Starlite.
- Tickled Pink - It is controversial whether Tickled Pink is in charge of just the color pink, or in charge of all pastels. 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, Tickled Pink has a girl Sprite named Dee-Lite.
- Moonglow - Along with her navy blue Sprite named Nite Sprite, Moonglow (alternatively Moonglo) is in charge of making the night sky bright with stars.
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 one epsisode and seen in others. She has a white heart on her forehead, and Starlite seems to have a crush on her. Although the merchandise boxes show Tickled Pink riding Sunriser, it is also commonly believed that Sunriser may have been intended to belong to Moonglow. Supporting this are her celestial name and the fact that only special Kids seem to have horses, not Color Kids.
- 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.
- 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 or, like Twink, lost his colors.
- On-X - Pronounced "onyx," he is Orin's black computerized 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 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 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.
- Spectran Sprites - the Sprites with soft, fuzzy feet who live on Spectra and keep it shiny and polished.
Villains
- Murky Dismal - Murky is the main villain from The Pits, and in one episode it is revealed that as a child, he colored on the walls with crayons. His mother made him wash off "every bit of color," leading Murky to his hatred of color. He always uses gloom clouds to try and remove the color or capture the Color Kids (by making them hopeless), or to try to take Rainbow Brite's Color Belt. His full first name is Murkwell.
- Lurky - Murky's sidekick who looks like a giant brown Sprite. Lurky actually delights in "all the pretty colors!"
- The Dark Princess - She is only officially called "The Princess." She lives in a palace in space and tries to steal the diamond planet, Spectra.
- Count Blogg - A green monster who is the Dark Princess' right-hand man.
- Sgt. Zombo - The Sargeant in charge of the mission to steal Spectra. He leads the Glitterbots.
- Glitterbots - Giant gold robots who hypnotize the Spectran Sprites into tying ropes around Spectra.
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 takes energy by absorbing colors, so Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids fix his ship as quickly as possible and send him on his way.
- Plock - A conniving salesman who tries to sell tickets to the Color Caves.
- Sorell - A sorceror who creates Murky's Comet to try and destroy the Color Caves.
Voices
- Bettina Bush - Rainbow Brite
- Andre Stojka - Starlite
- Rhonda Allman - Moonglo, Tickled Pink
- Peter Cullen - Murky, Monstromurk, Narrator
- Pat Fraley - Lurky, Buddy Blue, Evil Force
- Robbie Lee - Twink, Shy Violet, Indigo, Lala Orange, Sprites
- Jonathan Harris - Count Blogg
Merchandise Information
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 that advertises Rainbow Brite.
In a huge goof, the 2004 18" Talking Rainbow Brite doll produced by Toy Play names the colors of the rainbow, but leaves out green by accident. Upon contact, Toy Play indicates the doll will be fixed for any future production runs.
Links
Rainbow Brite dot Net (http://www.rainbowbrite.net)
Bettina Bush's website (http://www.bettinamusic.com)
Nick Jr's Rainbow Brite Page (http://www.nickjr.com/ads/rainbowbrite)
Toy Play (http://www.toy-play.com/tprainbowbrite.html)
Hallmark's Rainbow Brite Licensing Info (http://pressroom.hallmark.com/licensing_rainbow_brite.html)
Rainbow Brite memories (http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.asp?memID=3518)