Rainbow Brite , also known in Japan as Rainbow Brite Magic Girl ( ???????????? , Mah? sh? jo Reinb? Buraito ) , is a media franchise by Hallmark Cards, introduced in 1983. The animated television series of the same name first aired in 1984, the same year Hallmark licensed Rainbow Brite to Mattel for various dolls and other merchandise. A movie-theatrical movie, Rainbow Brite and Star Stealer , was released by Warner Bros. in 1985. The franchise was rebooted in 1996, 2003, 2009, and then again in 2014 via Hallmark online on video streaming services provider, Feeln. A new line of goods sold only by Hallmark online and in stores debuted in 2015.
Video Rainbow Brite
Production
The creation and development of Rainbow Brite for Hallmark Cards is credited to Vice President of Creative/Licensing Hallmark, Garry Glissmeyer, team of artists led by Cheryl Cozad, and author under Editor Editor Hallmark, Dan Drake. Hallmark Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Lanny Julian, assembled a legal, marketing, and public relations team for the new licensing division.
Glissmeyer and Julian are assigned to break Hallmark into the licensing business with the creation of characters targeted at children. The Glissmeyer group's concept of a young girl with a power over nature evolved into her being responsible for all colors of the universe. Once the concept is approved, Cozad and Drake's teams develop the backstory and characters needed to support it. Jim McDowell, a key player from Hallmark's marketing unit, drew up a strategy concept to get a brand new in the public eye.
Julian chose Mattel as a manufacturer and distributor for a line of dolls and toys to follow. Julian chose DIC Entertainment of France as a studio to provide brands with episodic animations for television. Glissmeyer puts Cozad in charge of the internal creative group, to work with Mattel and other licensors. Glissmeyer and Drake went on with creative input, working with DIC on animation development.
While the Hallmark artist, G.G. Santiago, developing Rainbow Brite's latest "look", Cozad's team completed a style guide model for Rainbow Brite and his friends. The author of Hallmark, Mary Loberg, and freelance television writer Woody Kling worked with DIC in creating the TV storyline for the series, which provided the DIC framework to produce animated episodes. Kling only did three episodes and did not create the Rainbow Brite character or brand as some believe.
Rainbow Brite made its debut on a special syndicated television, "Peril in the Pits," which first aired on June 27, 1984. Later, a pair of two-piece specials were produced: "The Mighty Monstromurk Menace" and "The Beginning of Rainbowland." A movie-theatrical movie, Rainbow Brite and Star Stealer , was released by Warner Bros. in 1985. This was followed up with eight more episodes for a total of thirteen, which is a season in American television. The episodes were part of TV programming blocks of weekly DIC's TV KICK TV , and played back in 1987. All published on VHS videotapes in the United States and other countries, along with two direct action program. One is a program intended for use at children's birthday parties; others are made on site at the world-famous San Diego Zoo.
Hallmark also makes the Rainbow Brite Style Book for companies that want to create Rainbow Brite items under license. It provides detailed drawings of all players and Hallmark policies on a number of subjects such as the use of its Rainbow Brite logo on the packaging for each product, copyright notice on all products if feasible, the cost to create the artwork and approvals required before the production of Rainbow Brite merchandise can start.
Maps Rainbow Brite
Premise
In Gen 1 continuity, and most of the backstory franchises, a young girl named Wisp was brought to the ground, a barren gray with a mission to bring color to this fictional world by searching for the Sphere of Light. Along the way, he befriends a furry creature (called a sprite) called Twink, a magnificent horse named Starlite and finds a mysterious baby that turns out to be the key to his mission. With the help of his new friends, Wisp puts the legendary Belt of Colors and rescues seven Color Children, who have been caught by the King of Shadows. Using the Color Belt, Rainbow Brite and Sphere of Light defeat the King of Shadows, free the sprite and bring color and beauty to the ground, hereinafter called Rainbow Land. Wisp is named Rainbow Brite in honor of his new role as leader of Color Children, who are jointly responsible for all the colors in the universe.
The Color of Children spreads color throughout the universe from the Color Console inside the Color Castle. Each Kid Color is responsible for their own color, has a private sprite and manages a number of colored sprites as it mines the Crystal Colors from the nearby Color Cave. These crystals are processed into Star Sprinkles which is an essential component for enlightening and coloring any object or place. The Rainbow Brite and Color Kids missions are often complicated by people like Murky Dismal, Lekky, and other criminals. Brian, a boy from Earth, sometimes helps Rainbow Brite in his adventures.
In the film, Rainbow Brite and Star Stealer , the settings are expanded to include the diamond planets, Spectra. All the light in the universe must pass through the Spectra before coming to Earth. However, the Earth soon fell into cold darkness when the Dark Princess who was obsessed with diamonds decided to steal Spectra for himself. Rainbow Brite and his horse, Starlite, had to work with Spectra child soldiers, Krys, and robotic horse On-X to defeat the power of darkness and save Spectra, Earth, and the universe.
The continuity of Gen 2 takes a radical departure from the story of another generation, focusing on ethnic diversity as the color of the rainbow. Rainbow Brite has an entirely new and smaller group of friends called the Color Crew. Despite the distribution and marketing in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia, the toy line never achieved the success of its predecessor and ended after a little over a year.
Gen 3 is basically the launch of Gen 1 in 2003, with the same story, but fewer characters are produced. Dolls from Toy Play are similar to but not exact copies of Gen 1 versions. There is also a large amount of Rainbow Brite merchandise from other manufacturers as in Gen 1.
Gen 4A celebrates 25th anniversary of Rainbow Brite in 2009 with the continuity of restoring the setting again to Rainbow Land, which does not look like the original version. This time, Rainbow Brite and his friends' mission is to bring hope and happiness to the corners of the universe, making the heart lighter and the world a little more colorful along the way. The story focuses on Rainbow Brite, Tickled Pink and Moonglow, each representing one of Rainbow Land's Sky Powers, which determines the day and season cycles. Gen 4 continuity makes Rainbow Brite a girl from Earth (Return to Rainbow Land). The presence of Rainbow Brite from the world is described in a story that saw Rainbow return to his home on Earth for a brief visit with his family after many adventures spread color throughout the Rainbow Land and the universe. But when the Dark Princess removes the Rainbow Land from Rainbow Brite's memory when on Earth, she never returns to her job at Rainbow Land. Rainbow Brite finally returned to Rainbow Land with the help of Starlite and Puppy Brite. Playmates' line of toys is highly controversial among fans and consumers mainly because of the changing age of Rainbow Brite from about 6 or 7 years, to 10 or 11. This doll has a doll-like design of a more mature fashion, which is not at all like all the previous dolls in series. The three girls wore a training bra and underpants under their clothes. The line was delayed, causing the toy not available until after the holiday season of that year. It sees a rare distribution because retailers are not impressed with it and canceled after just seven months and before the first release is completed.
Feeln's (part of Hallmark) animated reboot Gen 4B retains most of the Gen 1 story elements and recognizable but not identical character designs. It introduces several new story elements, one of which is Sentinel of Light, which includes Rainbow Brite as a protector of light and color, and Krys as an invisible light shield. Stormy also plays a more prominent role. After falling with his friend, Rainbow Brite, Stormy joins the forces of darkness and becomes a formidable enemy. When Dark Princess manipulation becomes more transparent, Stormy begins to question where his true loyalty is and returns to Rainbow Land as a friend of Rainbow Brite. Gen 4B only consists of web content from Hallmark and only produces a very small amount of merchandise. No items available for purchase.
Rainbow Brite has a number of names in other languages ​​even if the name Rainbow Brite is in all packaging for all markets. In Canadian French he is called Azurine, from the blue color of his dress. In Europe France is called Blondine au Pays de l'Arc-en-Ciel (Blonde Girl from the Land of the Rainbow) or just Blondine for short. In German-speaking countries and regions, it is called Regina Regenbogen (Regina Rainbow). In Italy he is called Iridella who comes from a colorful dress. In both the Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets he is called Arco Iris (also Rainbow). In Spain, he is also called Rubita (a small for Blonde). Other characters in the Rainbow Brite universe also have special language names. French names for everyone in Rainbow Land in French Canadian differ from the names used in French French. In Dutch-speaking areas, English names are used.
Merchandise
First Generation: Mattel
For the first Rainbow Brite generation (1984-1987), Mattel produced dolls and many toys along with a large number of school supplies only sold in Italy. Other Rainbow Brite licensed products are produced by various companies. It includes many storybooks and activities by Western Publishing (Small Gold Book), a number of puzzles, costume jewelry lines, banks and suitcases by Kat's Meow, children's clothing, toys, games, dolls and furniture, radio, child cosmetics, linens, towels, personal care items, lamps, figurines, VHS videotapes, audio tapes, recordings, bicycles, beds, curtains and more are sold in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Other European countries see fewer types of merchandise, though this varies from country to country.
For example, all Mattel lines are not sold in all countries. Italy and Spain did not receive a second doll release (Lala Orange, Buddy Blue & Shy Violet), Dress Up or Kitty Brite lines. Many Mattel goods are made in Europe by local suppliers for local markets. A French toy maker produced Rainbow Brite, Murky Dismal and Lurky in Mattel packaging in France during 1984 and 1985. An Italian toy company made European versions of Starlite, Color Cottage and Color Train for the whole of Europe during 1984 and 1985. Both cases, production was transferred to Mattel's contract manufacturer in Asia for 1986 and 1987. The entire line of Rainbow Brite for Spain (six dolls, five sprites, Starlite, Lurky and Cottage Color) was produced in Spain from 1984 until the line ended there in 1986 or 1987. Similarly, this happens in Mexico with the entire puppet line minus the Dress Up dolls. This was the result of high import duties in a number of countries at the time, caused by protectionist policies.
Books, comic books, sticker albums, and audio cassettes are the bestsellers of the bestsellers outside the UK, but other items exist in different countries. In Germany alone there are no less than thirty-one tapes and forty-six comic books. Germany also has an exclusive version of Rainbow Brite Dress Up dolls that include story cassettes. This tape was not sold separately but was produced by Europa, the producer of another 30 story tapes. It is not known whether the tapes were sent to an Asian factory that made a doll or put in a doll box in Germany. A line of five 3D erasers in the form of various Rainbow Brite characters are sold in Europe under the Mattel brand, while the same line is also sold in Australia under the name Harveston Super Action figures with additional character addition (Lurky) not sold in Europe. A number of Gen 1B puppets (second generation of the first generation) were made for American and Mexican markets which were eventually sold in Germany due to strong demand there. These dolls have their English or Spanish names covered by stickers with German names or sometimes none at all. Two Rainbow Brite plus Twink and Starlite dolls are also produced in Brazil by Estrella. These are not exported anywhere and come in their unique white packaging with all the less than the name Rainbow Brite in the Brazilian Portuguese version. Due to Rainbow Brite's extreme popularity as soon as it was launched, a number of other companies unrelated to Mattel produced many unlicensed (fake or pirated) items sold in North America and Europe.
Mattel lines of toys and dolls are quite large. There are three big dolls, five medium dolls (Emotions) 12 small dolls, nine animals, 50 sprites (including those coming with small dolls), four big box toys, ten box wall hangers and a doll carrier, and 27 small carded toys for 111 different items and this does not include generations (some dolls are sold in two different boxes over time in some markets) and international packaging variations. These toys are expensive and Mattel responds by producing a lower-priced toy that is sold off with a label called 'Emotion'. The Emotion line includes five dolls including a 15 "Buddy Blue doll, which is sold only in Canada.Exclusive Sprite in Champ's coincidence line also includes five sprites, Starlite horses and Lurky.Addsightly, the Emotion doll is bigger than a small doll in a regular line, but a horse Emotions are smaller than the normal version, so the Emotion doll is not scaled by Emotion horse or the usual Mattel version, and of course the Emotion doll is too big to sit on an Emotional horse or a normal one.Not all toys are sold in all markets, and Emotions line never sold outside the United States and Canada.
Mattel's Dress Up of dolls and horses is the most sought after part of Mattel's line, especially Moonglow which is only sold in Germany. Although the Stormy doll is featured in Mattel's catalog and behind the Dress Up doll box, it has never been produced for retail although it appears in several episodes of cartoons and some German comic books. There's also a clothing catalog line for the Dress Up doll, but like Stormy, it's never produced. Both horses, Starlight and Sunriser, are made of hard plastic instead of filled. They are actually from Mattel's 'Barbie' line of products. The Dress Up line is only made about a year. It makes both horses and Moonglow very hard to find these days, especially MIB. The Tickled Pink and Rainbow Brite Dress Up dolls are a bit hard to find these days compared to the rest of the Gen 1 line.
Television commercials for Mattel's Rainbow Brite dolls often feature the song, "Over the Rainbow," from The Wizard of Oz, often with lyrics or altered settings. Tracey Gold's child actor, Kellie Martin, and Heather O'Rourke, famous for their roles in television and the 1980s film, also appeared. Second Generation: Up, Up, and Far
The second generation Rainbow Brite (1996-1997) is very different from any generation before or after. It uses the name Rainbow Brite but not the same character or backstory. The master's license is held by Up, Up and Away, a company that is no longer in business.
Rainbow Brite no longer has anything by making colors and is now responsible for diversity. Although this version has rainbow-colored hair, its characters resemble real-world kids more than their animated counterparts and puppets before. In the second generation story, Rainbow Brite has four friends, called the Color Crew, which include Amber (Latina), Cerise (Asia), Ebony (Africa) and Indigo (Central Asia, the only name of the character borrowed from the original Child Color).
Rainbow Brite is produced as a big and small doll while Color Crew is represented only in the range of small dolls. The big Rainbow Brite dolls came with three Color-Glo Paint pots and a brush, while the little dolls contained a Color-Glo Paint pot and a brush. The big doll is released in two different boxes, the first has no window so the buyer can not see the doll inside. Since the doll is sold with three different wardrobes, buying one is betting on which display it will have (unless someone reads a small code box at the bottom of the package showing the shoe's shoe). The big doll then appeared in a window box with a simplified single cabinet. The little dolls come at first and then blister on two different types of cards. They are listed as the only Rainbow Brite doll ever produced with the Dutch text on the packaging.
Canadian importers are Irvine, a company that is still in business, and their product packaging is printed in French and English texts. The Ideal Toy Company is an importer for most of Western Europe, although Euro Play imports lines for Germany. The big doll was also distributed in Italy by GiG with only Italian text in the box. No toys or other accessories for second-generation dolls other than the additional Pot Color-Glo Paint, sold in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. There is also a version of at least a big doll in a box with Spanish-only text. Another 15 "Rainbow Brite with Color Glo Bear and paint set is a prototype, like a black version, produced in very small quantities, but only black versions have ever been produced and then in very limited quantities. There is a Gen 2B that has simplified packaging and clothing as an attempt to maintain the line by cutting costs. Both generations did not succeed near first-generation success in retail and were discontinued after less than two years in the market.
Third Generation: Play Toy
The third generation Rainbow Brite (2003-2005) is also the 20th Anniversary Release. The main toy license is Toy Play, a subsidiary of The Betesh Group that is not working. The parent company is still in business. Nick Jr. is the television network that advertises that line. Hot Topic is the main merchandiser with a unique Rainbow Brite doll that is not manufactured by Toy Play and many items of clothing, accessories, and stationery.
Without an exact copy of the original, this generation returns to the look and feel of the Mattel line even if the product line is much narrower than the first generation. Toy Play follows the first-generation characters launched, producing Rainbow Brite, Red Butler, Canary Yellow, and Patty O'Green characters but are no longer followed by Color Kids. Starlite, Puppy Brite and Sprite are also represented in various merchandises.
Characters are produced in various sizes, from three to twenty eight inches in a line that turns from a PVC plastic statue into a plush doll. Toy Play produces retro-style plush dolls with wires at their feet to make it pose together with plastic dolls dressed in soft clothes and have articulated arms and legs. Some dolls are sold with DVD Region 1 in English featuring one episode of the original cartoon. Some Toy Play products are sold in Canada with English-French packaging. The 18 inch Play Toy that talks about Rainbow Brite Doll clearly removes the green color when 'talking' all the colors of the rainbow. Toy Play shows that missing colors will be added for future production, but this never happened because the line died before the corrected version appeared.
Toy Play is the first (and so far only) merchandiser to produce the Castle Color playset, Light Up Musical Castle, which includes small articulated statues of Rainbow Brite, Red Butler, Twink and Puppy Brite. The playset box shows pictures of upcoming products (Rainbow Brite village shoots and Friends Sprite ', Starlite's deep-brushable mane, and 2-packs figurine to include Rainbow Brite and Twink, Red Butler and Romeo, Patty O' Green and Lucky, Canary Yellow and Spark, and Murky Dismal and Lurky) although this was never produced. There are also various other items, mostly clothing, available during Gen 3. For some unknown reason, orange logo and logos beginning with Gen 3 have been revived for Gen 5.
Fourth_Generation: _Playmates_Toys "> Fourth Generation: Playmate Toys
The fourth generation Rainbow Brite (2009-2010) is a 25th year release and is accompanied by a series of web episodes produced by Animax Entertainment that are available for streaming at www.RainbowBrite.com, which no longer exists. Playmates Toys main toy licenses and their Rainbow Brite line of toys are expected to be in stores by the fall of 2009. Production delays saw the line actually debut in stores on December 24 of that year, which of course missed the 2009 holidays shopping season.
The Rainbow Brite interpretation is controversial amongst the original Rainbow Brite fans because the characters, though young in appearance, appear much older and are styled more like traditional 11th fashion dolls. The initial product line of this line includes only three plastic fashion dolls (Rainbow Brite, Tickled Pink, and Moonglow) and three plastic horses with deep-rooted mane (Starlite, Sunriser and Shimmer). A 15-inch Rainbow Brite doll is also produced. The line initially removes the Color of Children altogether supporting the sky-powered storyline. The art of packaging suggests the possibility of Stormy dolls coming, though again he never came.
The Playmates line never caught up with the target audience. After losing the holiday season window and facing controversy inside the fandom, the Rainbow Brite Playmates line withered on the vine and died. Most retailers refuse to carry the line and those who see stock run out in July 2010. If every order is placed, they are not in an amount that justifies resuming production. The line is only on the market for about seven months and is not available all over the United States.
In the fall of 2010, three Sprite dolls appeared in retail in Mexico. These include Twinkle (Twink renamed) for Rainbow Brite, Nite Sprite for Moonglow and Twilite for Tickled Pink. It's already in production when a US retailer drops the line. The fourth generation sees a number of licensed products similar to the third generation, some in the original Gen 1 style and some in the new Gen 4 style. This includes mostly clothing and stationery, plus a small bike. The final product during the fourth generation comes from Madame Alexander, and includes Madame Alexander-style Gen 1 Rainbow Brite with a traditional Twink doll, as well as the plush dolls of Rainbow Brite and Tickled Pink.
Feeln
A three-part animated miniseries was launched on November 6, 2014 by the Feeln Video On Demand website. This reboot featured an updated character design for the player, and starred Emily Osment as Rainbow Brite and Molly Ringwald's voice as the Dark Princess's voice. The second episode is shown on November 13, 2014 and the series ends on November 20, 2014. The miniseries from Feeln are well received by many people in Rainbow Brite fandom but do not produce merchandises. As such, it is not given the generation number but is sometimes called Gen 4A because it arrives before Gen 4 dolls and horses arrive at stores near the end of the next month and are sometimes called Gen 4B. Although Starlite Pillow Pal is produced by Pillow Pets during this time, it's actually not part of Playmates toys.
Fifth Generation: Hallmark Toys
Hallmark introduced the fifth generation of Rainbow Brite toys, along with clothing and other merchandise in July 2015. Limited edition Rainbow Brite Itty Bittys featuring Rainbow Brite, Twink, Champ, O.J., Lucky, and I.Q. arrived first, each produced in a limited number of 500 units. It was sold within five days at hallmark.com, and the request caused Hallmark to re-publish Itty Bittys with a slightly revised design in much larger numbers along with Rainbow Brite's first Itty Bittys box featuring Red Butler, Romeo, Indigo and Hammy. These items are followed by 8 "Twink plush and 11" Starlite plush in September 2015, as well as 16 "Rainbow Brite dolls that November.
In 2016 Hallmark released another set of Itty Bitty boxes featuring Patty O'Green, Buddy Blue, Lucky & amp; Champion. A 24 "Rainbow Brite Jumbo Itty Bitty arrives in December Limited Edition Shy Violet Itty Bitty is released as an exclusive Hallmark online that Summer.On Autumn 2016 many new Rainbow Brite items are available in Hallmark and online stores, including some new stories and books - activity books, new greeting cards and 1,000 pieces of the Rainbow Land puzzle, Starlite Itty Bitty was released in November, as well as 11 "Sunriser and Skydancer plushes, and for the first time Stormy 16 dolls." Packaging for single items is only consists of attached labels with product names, Hallmark logos, copyright notices and barcodes, while box-set features have a Rainbow Land background that can be poured in. These toys are currently only sold in the United States and Canada.In addition, Hallmark Keepsake Rainbow Ornaments Rainbow Brite is sold in 2015 (reissue of the 2013 Hallmark ornament) and 2016.
In popular culture
In digging into China, a fancy puppet Puppy Brite is seen in scenes where Evan Rachel Wood's character is in school for Show and Tell, even though the movie was made in the mid-1960s. an. and not the 1980s.
References
External links
- Rainbow Brite Miniseries by Feeln
- Rainbow Brite.Net
- Rainbow Brite.Co.Uk
- Rainbow Brite on IMDb
- Rainbow Brite on TV.com
- Rainbow Brite in Toonopedia Don Markstein. Archived from the original on November 4, 2016.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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