Rainbow Brite's Failed Reboots
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
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This video is intended for adult, and young adult, collectors- NOT children!
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Idk why but "Rainbow Bright ends racism" is the funniest shit I've ever heard
She was going to end pollution and global warming after she got done ending racism, but Captain Planet and the Planeteers beat her to it...
@@marthademovimaus5140 She can still end male baldness.
@@velveteenv76erhaps maybe her and shy violet could even find a way to end Epilepsy too. I mean lots of kids have it and it would make those in her audience whom have it, feel accepted
@@velveteenv76 The Play Doh Fuzzy Pumper barbershop and Pet shop ended baldness! ( They just didn't get a cartoon).
United Colors of Brite-tton lol
As far as Rainbow Brite dolls go, they seem perfect for taking the original characters and designs and giving them a L.O.L. Surprise-esque makeover. Rainbow Brite doesn't translate properly to a standard fashion doll. She's shapey and funky and when you take that away, it's just not the same character. It's been shown that unique dolls can be successful, and I think kids and adults both would like to see that original Rainbow really shine through in dolls that are just as original and fun as the characters themselves ✨🌈✨
I also think they'd be good with an expanded character roster with more shades of colors and released as minifigures kind of like MLP
I'm thinking something like na na na surprise!! those are cute and chubby and they seem to be doing well
@@MysteryDisc omg that. i want a Sad Beige character. 🤣
@@Ysckemia A sad beige character for the beige babies to relate to
I turned a couple LOL OMG dolls into Rainbow Brite and Stormy 😁 it translated very well onto the LOL dolls.
Good lord, those original dolls are incredibly precious. I'm low key obsessed?
they are so cute - they dont need to change a thing if they ever decide to re-release them.
@@NIGHTGUYRYAN i know a doll restorer who made, as a commission, a Canary Yellow out of a Strawberry Shortcake vintage doll. very very cute🥰
I know! They're so cute I wouldn't change a thing about them! Their doll molds remind me of strawberry shortcake, and raggedy ann dolls
The only thing I’d change about any of the originals is the necks of the first gen
I refashion them all the time with Jem and the Holograms!!
How did Rainbow Brite manage to get 6 gens, and poor Jem and the holograms is still waiting in the wings after a horrific film adaptation. JUSTICE FOR JEM!!!!
Jem got a comic reboot that wasn’t bad. All they have to do is base a film/tv series off that
I stan The Stingers🩷
The Jem comic stripped all the 1980's out of the source material. For example, 80's pop singers weren't allowed to be "all body types". Plus, the comic changed the big bad, Pizazz, from a spoiled rotten bully to a more sympathetic"poor- little- rich girl, heroine of her own story".
The other weird thing about the comic book is that Jem's characters exist in a shared universe with the other Hasbro properties; Transformers, M.A.S.K. and G.I. Joe. That could make for some weird crossovers.
I agree. The 2015 Jem movie had a couple good songs and it was nice to see Molly Ringwald in a new acting role, but overall, it was a horrid disaster that was seemingly made for no one.
You *cannot* just resurrect the corpse of an *80’s TV show,* strip out all the charm it had from its rightful decade, change its story into something *completely* different, then shoehorn in a bunch of modern 2010’s fashion, music, and cringy Internet crap. Doing that ultimately left a pointless husk of a “movie” with absolutely *nothing* to appeal to the grownup 80’s kids who remembered the original series, nor to the 2010’s kids who never knew who Jem was (and didn’t care because they already had modern fashion doll stuff of their own). If someone wanted to get the new generation interested in Jem, they should’ve made cleverly rebooted Jem toys and a new children’s cartoon. That way, little kids could’ve had the chance to *experience her* as a fashion doll like we did in the 80’s. It made absolutely *no* sense to create a live action movie aimed at an age group who had no connection with the original cartoon show it was based on, and didn’t excite adults looking for nostalgia either because there was nearly nothing left of the original.
I should also add, the girls in the new movie were WAY too young compared to the original series that had adult women. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it not only made the movie inauthentic, it made 2015 Rio, who is a college-aged grown man with a job, look like some sort of p3do creep trying to hang out with female teens. A 20-something adult male in a suit paired with a child donning pink, neon teenybopper outfits? Hmm, no…. that’s not inappropriate. /s And hearing some of the seductive music in the soundtrack while knowing this was supposed to be the main couple was the icing on the cake that made the whole thing ten times worse! To fix this, the movie should’ve either made the girls college-aged, or if they insisted they be high schoolers, aged Rio down to something that wouldn’t get Chris Hansen in an uproar.
And gosh-don’t even get me started on Synergy! She was reduced from a stunning, sophisticated AI lady to a cutsie, bug eyed little robot (a blatant Earth To Echo ripoff) that was instrumental to leading the girls on a sadistic wild goose chase “scavenger hunt” created by Jem’s and Kimber’s recently deceased father (who obviously favored Jem over Kimber, and Kimber was disturbingly OK with it). How depressing.
I always loved the funky, vaguely futuristic shapes of the outfits on the originals. I was obsessed with Rainbow Brite as a kid. Even wore her as a Halloween costume...the mask was BRUTAL. Hard plastic dug into my face, and the eye holes were cut WAY above the actual character's eyes. It was horrible, but I NEEDED IT.
Strawberry Shortcake was the only character I was more obsessed with as a child. (I still love my pink berry queen) I follow her original artist on social media, and she still creates new berry friends.
Just googled looking for the mask and wow that is indeed horrible and weird looking cursed 😭
Oh?? Mind dropping the artist’s @ ?
Oh, those 80s masks were the WORST. Just horrific.
I had the magnificent blessing of a grandmother who was a brilliant home seamstress back in the 80s, and thus got myself a truly fabulous homemade Rainbow Brite costume for Halloween one year. Had all the trimmings, including little "boot" covers to go over my shoes, and she did something with different amounts of batting stuffing the layers of the skirt so that it had the right look of "rolls" to it, including the thick ring around the hem. I was bonkers about that costume, and kept it around for playing dress-up in until I outgrew it.
If marketability and cost weren't a factor, I'd love for Rainbow Brite to be remade as a magical girl series a la Precure or Ojamajo Doremi. A lot of the original series' lore and setting can be lifted, with just some rework on the chracter writing and plot.
Give it the SSs gridman treatment
i was thinking that too! it just seems so anime, haha
Totally agree, I see the classic RB as magical girl mainly the old series the key animators was made by Japanese studios
I'm a character designer as well as amateur doll maker and I 100% believe that RB could totally make a come back if done right. As cliche and overdone as it is, I think the magical girl trope is the best way to go since characters like RB and She-ra inspired a lot of magical girl anime.
I would love to see them take a similar approach as the She-ra reboot but make it a little softer, a touch more femme a bit more youthful.
I've literally redesigned the dolls myself through illustration and I can say with confidence than my designs blow any post 80s redesigns out of the water because unlike these big toy and media companies, I'm actually a fan of the characters
I totally agree, one of the big problems and these companies have is that they aren't getting fans of the original series to work on the new one and it always shows because they misunderstand the assignment! I would love to see your redesigns if you have them posted anywhere!!
I can definitely see them going the magical girl route. Rainbow Brite and the colored kids already fit the magical girl aesthetic so much!
yes i 1000000% want exactly this from a rainbow brite reboot, shes the perfect candidate for the magical girl genre.
I was about to comment that myself! Leaning into the magical girl genre could really revitalize her
OK, first of all, you're WAY OFF in regard to RB and She-Ra "inspiring magical girl anime". WRONG!!!!!!!
Anime practically invented the magical girl genre. Ribon no Kishi (better known as Princess Knight) from 1953 was the precursor to the genre. A prototype, if you will. It would soon be followed by Himitsu no Akko-Chan from 1962. Then came Mahotsukai Sani (Sunny the Witch, aka Sally the Witch or Little Witch Sally) in 1966. And MANY others were introduced throughout the 1970's, 80's, 90's, etc.
Perhaps a little deep dive in EDUCATION would serve you well. I've been an anime fan since the "Before Time". When it was still a niche product called "Japanimation". Unknown to the commercialized mainstream. Those were the days for the true OTAKU!!
I'm gonna have to give you a Thumbs Down!!! 👎
I wish the reboots leaned in more towards the magic aspect of the show as well as more worldbuilding for rainbow land.
That is very much what they should do and stop trying to make her a teenage earthling.
I don't think I've ever seen a doll line more suited for a magical girl type of series
If they want to get Rainbow Brite on peoples minds, they should do a collaboration with American Girl for Courtney! She already has Care Bear and Strawberry Shortcake pajamas…
Like a little doll for her would be so cute and tiny!
My (very talented) sister made me a Rainbow Brite costume for my Courtney. I'm old enough to have had the first Rainbow Brite doll, though she vanished into the ether somewhere along the way. (I also had Indigo, and Baby Brite)
yes omg!!
Exactly
If they're gonna rename Twink just call him "Twinkle" its not that hard 😂
They did with G4 and the comic series.
Ikr
the other day I saw a lady that had blonde hair and rainbow tshirt and my dad screamed "rainbow brite!!" I had no idea what he was talking about and he was upset that me being a doll collector I didnt recognize her, Im gonna tell him I educated myself on the topic now
Your dad seems like a funny person.😂😊 Glad that you're educated now.❤
Your dad seems awesome. Cherish that guy!
Not too relevant, but I actually really like the fact that the Og Rainbow Brite had some boys in it. I’m a sucker for mixed casts, and especially in more of a “girly” show and doll line. Since in most shows like that, the male characters are usually love interests or side characters. So to see male characters actually be a part of the main cast is really cool. I mean, I could be wrong. It’s very possible that the male characters were seen as love interests, I’m not sure. I wasn’t alive in the 80’s. But still.
The boy introduced in the movie Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer had some enemies to lovers vibes with Rainboe Brite, but I always found myself shipping Starlite and Onix, the boy's robot horse, instead lol. I didn't watch much of the TV show, but as far as I'm aware that's the only potential ship between any of the children. The horses had more drama lmao.
@@galacticghostie I honestly always thought that the main thing that leaned toward a ship in Rainbow Brite was supposed to be Rainbow and Brian, the Earth boy who was literally the only person who could see her, and to whom she gave a special key to get to Rainbowland. Krys felt more like a very, very hilariously genderswapped take on a tsundere in his interactions with Rainbow, and much like Stormy, was someone who really just needed a friend and some trust.
The idea of Starlite and ON-X is kind of amusing, though. I would've honestly leaned more toward Starlite and Skydancer, given how fierce their rivalry is, and that particularly smoldering look of both grudging respect and indignation Skydancer levels after Starlite when Rainbow wins the race to end winter.
Also, @Beatrice Brown: I feel like I vaguely recall Red Butler and/or Buddy Blue having some moments with the Color Kid girls possibly crushing on one or the other of them, or vice-versa...it was often a thing in those sorts of girls' cartoons of the 80s, that you'd have the silly "girl trying to catch the interest of boy" episode, after all. But I don't recall there ever being more than that, given that the characters were portrayed as being somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-12 at the oldest. Like, if these scenarios did happen, they were probably never anything beyond "ooh, he's so cute!" kinds of stuff, and never even hit the first date level.
@Will N In general, I just feel a little bit weird trying to imagine character shipping in Rainbow Brite at all. The Color Kids are designed to look like they're probably about the equivalent of 8-12, most likely hitting somewhere around 10 at most, and I can't exactly picture characters like them aged up. Like, in my head, it's the nature of the Color Kids to always be _kids,_ with that particular innocence only a child can truly have. So shipping them in general just feels awkward and kinda wrong.
That said, I again do say that Starlite and Skydancer, if they were human, would make for that sort of hilarious rivals-to-lovers pairing just perfectly. Though this may be powered by the presence of several pieces of gijinka art of the two of them I saw way back when in the 90s that I found brilliant, featuring Starlite as an energetic, glowstick-twirling raver, and Skydancer as a dark, sullen goth.
@Will N Like I said, I can see crushes happening, in that typical 80s girls' cartoon way of "Oh, he's so cute!" and all. I just can't see--even with the idea of the Color Kids technically being immortal entities that just happen to be perpetually children--anything more than that. Actual pairing up of characters feels weird and out-of-place to me, just given the general way the plots of episodes seemed to go. Like, all the characters seemed to frequently be too off in their own hijinks and wacky goings-on in Rainbowland anyway for such things, but it generally also just feels like something that clashes with the nature of the show as a vehicle for marketing cute and cuddly dolls.
Me personally if I would be the one in charge of making a Rainbow Brite reboot I would want it to be like a mixture of Sailor Moon and friendship is magic since that honestly feels like it would be a perfect fit for this series
That would be perfect!
Dang, rebooting rainbow brite into a good series seems like it should be a no-brainer, right? Lean into the colorful cast of characters and how they bounce off each other and grow. Taking a more emotional approach like G4 and Steven Universe makes a lot of sense to me. I've never seen the original show but this video certainly has me interested :) Good job DD 👍
I wouldn't be surprised if the creator of Chowder worked on a Rainbow Brite reboot.
Still keeping the characters in their usual adventures, but giving them some fourth wall breaking and random humor.
To me, the original concept isn’t that far off from something we’ve seen in the modern day, like it’s giving Friendship is Magic almost! So I think a genuine reboot/remaster of the 80s iteration of rainbow bright would be SO successful; the character designs and concepts peaked for me then, so I’d wanna stick to that too.
Just give the license to a really talented creator, lean in 100% on the nostalgia for the designs and merchandise, and let me buy every doll!
My parents thought it was insipid, but I remember loving Rainbow Brite as a small child. I'd beg them to rent the videos whenever we went to Blockbuster, and I had a Rainbow Brite doll for several years that I got at a yard sale. Ah, memories~
Your videos are what I watch to help cope with a very stressful time in my life right now, basically some ongoing problems for the past few months, and just when I was having one of the worst days I've had for a while, you uploaded again. I'm so grateful for your channel. Not only does it help me feel better about being a guy into dolls, it educates me about doll franchises I would never have thought to look into on my own, and it makes my day brighter, too. I wish you nothing but the best in life.
I hope things get easier for you soon. Until then, it makes me happy to know I can be a comfort. Wishing you well 🩷
I remember looking on Goodwills online auction market(yes that exists) and searching around for dolls, specifically Monster High dolls and I found a lot of random dolls which included an original Rainbow Brite doll! The auction was super cheap which was shocking. I still have the Rainbow Brite and I adore her! Every reboot of her after made both me and my mom, who is an 80s kid, scrunch up our noses in offense.
I had the hard body anniversary Patty O'Green, and I remember how irritated I was that the DVD episode included with her didn't have her in it at all! Lol good times...
I like Rainbow Brite's parents' extremely reasonable plans: step 1: send our daughter to end racism
Step 2: profit i guess
The 80s Rainbow Brite dolls had such a distinct look (a child, chubby limbs, huge moon boots, a really big head), and I think that's why the reboots get rejected when they look like a generic fashion doll. It's like turning a Cabbage Patch Doll into a hyper-realistic baby doll. Anyway, I just saw pics of the upcoming dolls (from Sweet Suite 2023) today and they look amazing! Welcome back, Miss Brite. :)
Also the molds for the reboot horses (for the gen with Moonglow and Tickled Pink) were sooo bad. Regular horse torso and neck, but giraffe legs.
I believe Rainbowbrite would work really well as a Pre-school show or going something along the lines of MLP 2010.
HOWEVER, I think whoever is going to do the reboot needs to embrace the campiness of the 1980s original, allow it to exist.
The original has a very simple outline to follow, is not like 80s MLP series that changes lore every 2 seconds to fit a new product.
OR go for the Magical Girl aspect, like the comics did.
But as always, a reboot/remake only works if the people who are in charge have respect for what it came before, and I do believe it's why the 90s one didn't work, the 2009 one didn't work, and the 2014 one didn't work.
i know they desperately want to reboot to make this modern but rainbow brite always looks SO WEIRD in modern styles (minus the comic). there is something SO charming about the 80s style and nothing will ever touch it or look quite right. theyre like... .precious moments but RAINBOW and MAGICAL. idk if a re-release of the old style will hit with children but adults will be all over that, I WOULD BE ALL OVER THAT. theyre so cute and the art style really makes me so happy. i would literally do anything to get a moonglow doll, like a new one lol not a gross musty one. its so hard to buy these dolls secondhand because of the fabric bodies XP theyre just gross and dingy and smell bad. i was a child in the 90s and have never even seen those 90s dolls before lol i really dont like their faces or their boring clothes. i personally dont like the aging up of the characters i think they look cutest as small children. something about the proportions of teens just doesnt look right with the rest of the design but i just cant place it. i do like the art for gen 4 but the dolls are not cute idk i may just be really bias towards the 80s design lol i think gen 5 is super cute but the COMIC is the compromise between child body and teen body that i think works perfectly. its still super nostalgic looking but doesnt look too old.
Tbh, imagine what would it be like if they could make rainbow brite take the she-ra reboot netflix route?
It already has a lot of rainbows so why not?
this is unrelated but i love the betty spaghetti pfp!!!
@@zee-zee omg tysm!! I just really love them in general omg, they are very silly yet unique and fun. They look so indiecore & i love themm so muchh 😭🌈
As far as 80s toys go, I’ve always considered Rainbow Brite to be almost an underdog compared to others. Unfortunately it’s got a very long history of trying too hard to rebrand and sell toys, but the original run is beyond iconic. Especially the fashion, I loved the puffy sleeves and borderline spacesuit aesthetic
I was born in 1891 so 🌈 Rainbow Brite was everything to me as as a little girl! Seeing your video as I first wake up is such a delight! I had 95% Black & other dolls of color so Rainbow Brite & Strawberry Shortcake stand out in my memory as the only non ethnic dolls that I adored. I still remember how the texture of her crinkly holographic dress felt & sound, how uncomfortable her big plastic head was to sleep with, but how soft the dolls body & smooth the satin fabric were. She holds such a special & beloved place in my ❤. I'll definitely be saving this wonderfully done video. I also have the same shirt you're wearing in the video. I think I may even head over to eBay after I'm finished watching this. My favorite reboots are the Itty-bittys. I'm so sad I was broke when they were released.
If I were in charge of Rainbow Brite, I would add some diversity, but otherwise keep it the same as Gen 1. I'd probably market it to adults & make collectable figurines, jewelry & clothes.After watching the entire video I agree that like me, she is an 80's baby & will probably appeal to only those who see her as nostalgic. I think the original design would translate very well into figurines & charms. The sprites could be flocked, they could use color shifting paint to recreate the effect on her & the color kids costumes. Thanks for asking it was fun to imagine what I'd do with the franchise. It's always been a dream of mine to work for Hallmark. I grew up around the corner from the headquarters.
1891?
Ah yes...1891. What a fun typo.
@@awkwardorangedrawz5914 😅🤣. I hate proofreading.
Yarn hair is amazing, especially if you like braiding things.
Rainbow Brite and Lady Lovelylocks were my favourites as a kid. I still love them both and wish there was more stuff I could buy from both franchises. I’d love a good reboot that had the spirit of the original series, just a sweet, cozy show with Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids and shenanigans and sometimes saving the world!
I was born in ‘93 but somehow I had episodes of the 80s show on VHS, as well as the feature length film. Rainbow Brite defined my childhood! I love my ‘dress up’ doll of her, as well as my baby Rainbow Brite doll. I’ve also customised some Shoppies dolls to be RB and some of the other colour kids 🌈
I miss my 90s Indigo doll. 😢
I was born in 86, so my introduction to Rainbow Brite was via reruns. When I randomly found the 90s version of Indigo with a GoodyDreams Dreamie Sweets doll, I was thrilled. I felt like we were the same age, and I loved them both. I'm so sad I lost them in a flood.
I grew up with Rainbow Brite. LOVED it so much. I never did get any of the dolls, my family was quite poor at the time so the toys I had were astonishingly limited and cheap. I thought the original series did a great job of having a lot of characters with real personality, so there was always at least one character we kids could latch onto and identify with. I think a new show needs to keep the balance of sweetness and adventure, and not just have the color kids as background characters. Give them a chance to shine too. Expand on the magic of Rainbowland and don't get caught up in heavy handed messaging. It doesn't matter how good the message is, no one likes to be talked down to.
coming from someone who has never seen the rainbow brite show, they need to just make her something of a magical girl who lives a double life as wisp, like a mix of star vs., bee and puppycat etc. Keep it camp and colorful but simple story wise
I grew up with Rainbow Brite, I had the doll, and Rainbow Brite wallpaper! I was old enough to shop for more dolls in the early days of eBay (late 90’s) to fill out my collection (I also learned Twink’s name had another meaning thanks to the internet…). She still has a special place in my heart, all of the reboots have been a little soul crushing, but at least they’ve tried to keep her relevant? I look forward to the next iteration!
I had a Rainbow Brite Halloween costume in our Halloween box. I don't remember ever wearing it as a child. I never watched the show, I don't think, but I remember loving Rainbow Brite from afar as a kid.
Rainbow was my very first cartoon obsession! I didnt know she had THAT MANY FAILED REBOOT ATTEMPTS! 0.O
rainbow brite is such a big memory from my childhood for me, i audbily gasped seeing that gen 3 doll-THAT was my childhood best friend! she was one of the first toys i'd ever gotten! i had no idea she had so much history, i just assumed she was some in-house budget product that i'd somehow become obsessed with as a kid. sucks that she's never truly taken off since her original launch, she brings so much joy and nostalgia to me, i hope her newest/next iteration gets the love she deserves! 🌈
I love simple concepts like the original Rainbow Brite. Just a fun light-hearted kids show where which character has a very specific theme to their personality and aesthetic, which results in an easy watch where every element makes it very obvious what's happening and who is going to react in a specific way to what's happening in this weeks episode. It makes it so comfortable to watch, you can have a favorite character in a hearbeat because you probably already have a favorite color, so it's easy to connect with the characters, even though they're kind of one-dimensional.
For a reboot I'd try as hard as possible to maintain this vibe going. I'd probably update some fashion choices and ethnicities to make it more diverse and current in aesthetic, but I'd keep the plot and vibe pretty much the same as the original 80's cartoon. I'd probably also update the cast to 12 members, one being Rainbow Brite and the other 11 be colors of the progress pride flag.
I didn't grow up with rainbow brite really, born too late, but this video has intrigued me and I'm writing fanfiction in my head as we speak so ima tell you all about it.
I like the story of the first gen but i think the second one also has a lot of potential, it sounds like it was just not executed correctly. Thinking of series like Steven Universe and She-Ra I think Rainbow Brite would fit in great in a series like that. As in gen 2: Rainbow Brite is a "princess" of rainbowland, her parents are obviously Rain and Sun (why would they be rainbow and sun that doesn't make any sense!). Brite goes to earth chasing a Sprite that seems to have changed and its revealed that Earth is overrun with evil sprites. The series would have the SU (or Lilo and Stitch TV show) episodic nature, a bad guy per episode. The bad guy are sprites that have turned evil, so they look similar to the normal sprites but hve >) faces and different fur colors. Each episode an evil sprite/group of sprites would be stealing a color out of an area and causing havoc. Maybe people get sad when the color is removed, or maybe its like they remove all the green lights and cause a traffic jam, whatevers best. But RB / Wisp can't stop them herself, she needs the help of a human from earth to "cleanse" the sprite and send it back to Rainbowland. The color kids would be kids she meets all around the world who help her in her adventures, magical girl style (and that way you can have the diversity of the 2nd gen, but also the color kids of the 1st gen). The color kids would be passionate about something relevant to the color and so it's their passion and her magic that help them fix the evil sprites. The overarching plot would be figuring out which bad guy caused the sprites to become evil. I also think there could be a Luna from MLP style reveal that the bad guy is sad that black and white aren't appreciated as colors, which is why they want to turn the world grey. This could also be incorporated into a lesson about how sadness is a valid feeling, etc. I think it would be fun if there were a sad sprite that wasn't colorful and its revealed that that's just how he is, a la the sad emotion in Inside Out.
I'm not sure if there are main color kids who would hang out with her all the time. It could be that she can't get back to rainbowland and maybe she lives with one of the color kids, and you could have some hijinks where she goes to their school. So maybe she's trying to find her way home as well as cleanse the sprites. It could be when she gets back to rainbowland she finds out all the color is gone from there and she has to bring the color kids from earth to help her fix it and save her parents and the citizens of the land.
The merch would be the big cast of color kids, the sprites, the colorful horse, etc. I think the sprites could be two-sided or flipped inside out (there are a lot of 80s toys with that gimmick) and on the other side you have the evil sprite with a >) face. i just really like the idea of little evil gremlin sprites.
hope you all liked my fanfiction here, it was great fun thinking it up.
I would really love if the reboot leaned into the lore aspects of the series, and maybe took a classic magical girl style approach might work well? That way they could have Rainbow Brite/Wisp in modern outfits while also keeping the high camp and whimsy of the original design. And something I love about the original designs were how silly they were, so going over the top with that, maybe also focussing on hair play because of how prominently the hair featured in the dolls, would be really fun
The originals are so cute! And the comic was great too. I think the style that would best suit rainbow brite in the current era would be a dreamy bee and puppy cat/steven universe vibe that just stays lighthearted. Unfortunately even that has a bit of stigma surrounding it in certain ways now, but it would be a better approach than the “make it grounded and grating” one that strawberry shortcake’s current incarnation has taken.
The reboots truly have flopped because at some point when the 80’s hot topic merch started floating around I found out that my mom and aunts thought rainbow brite was super charming growing up but me nor my cousins were ever introduced to any of the incarnations of our childhood! Whether that was the lack of marketing or how bland they were, it definitely didn’t appeal to the nostalgia enough to want to pass it down.
I was born in 86 and loved and watched a ton of 80s cartoons, so I had a few garage sale find rainbow brite items. the only reason i had the 90s doll was because I knew who she was 😂 I’ve loosely followed her reboots over the years and I really wish someone would do it some justice! Thanks for the cute retrospective I’ll now be in my eBay rabbit hole wishing I had money for German moonglow again 😅
The nerve to make one of the cutest dolls the rarest and most expensive 😭
“Not a single soul on earth was willing to subscribe to a streaming service to watch three episodes of Rainbow Brite…”
…yes I did 😭 for three years accidentally bc I kept forgetting to cancel it. Also it’s pronounced “feelin’”. I used to be moots with someone on Twitter who worked on that reboot too lol.
Anyways, great video! I’m glad to see my girl Rainbow Brite get some love!! I hadn’t heard of yet another reboot but I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled!
This all reminds me of Strawberry Shortcake. The origin in the greeting card industry, the style of the original designs (especially in the concept art), the color coding, the constant reboots and so on.
Continuing that thought, I think a Rainbow Brite reboot NEEDS to have a large and diverse cast of characters. Bring back all of the color kids, change their races around, maybe give some mental or physical disabilities that they are at peace with, something like that. Also, maybe make them old enough to have crushes (like the teenager reboot did) and have some of them be homosexual and have that be okay. Heck, since the yellow one is such a tomboy, maybe have them be nonbinary. Don't ignore the current associations that the rainbow has for the modern world. Truly show diversity like the first reboot tried to do, but with the same color coded characters and an even broader understanding of what diversity and acceptance means.
My take on a reboot would definitely keep it themed with the quirky things like assigned colors….but make it as part of their cover. This reboot would be a Xanadu meets Rainbow Brite meets JEM. Loosely basing it on part Greek mythology. The 9 children(instead of just daughters there also are sons) of an unidentified deity has become more like 13. Sworn long ago to stay out of the affairs of humanities world, Wisp stumbles upon a sprite of another unidentified deity slipping through a “thinning”. (Dimensional wormholes, done of course in less threatening manner) As Wisp follows this sprite she finds that they had stolen some item from her fathers family towers. This item the sprite takes to a person in the guise of a young hip and trendy girl. Wisp gets a look at the item taken and it’s a lyre. Wisp becomes distracted as she sees a young boy in peril. Leaving the mystery of the hi-jinks afoot. Wisp goes to the boys aid. He’s being bullied. Quickly Wisp goes into action changing herself into a large mythological creature(as this is all she knows) charging in she tosses two of the bullies away and makes the main one squeal and tinkle running away. The boy, Andy is balled up and terrified. Wisp giggles returning to her human form and greets him. As the two speak Wisp asks why he was being harassed. Andy tells Wisp that it’s because he’s “different”. Shying away from possibly alienating a new friend. This begins Wisps journey in finding out that humanity is losing its “humanity” and her beginning a friendship with Andy.(who unknowingly is even more different than what he knows.)The tales of their world was one of mirroring hers, as humanity was set up within the image of her parents family. Sure dark spots existed, but it was more of “sometimes it’s gotta rain to keep the flowers.”kind of mentality. Completely not in line with what she’s seeing. Wisp decides to charge Andy with teaching her more about humanity. Semi typical set up for connection and being relatable. She tells Andy she will be back to learn more soon. As she travels back to the thinning she sees the sprite from before, who now apparently has become aware of her during her tussle with the bullies. She chases down the sprite to find out why it had taken the lyre and who did it give it to. The sprite says they are enslaved to do the bidding of varying “shades”. They do not know who the “shades” belong to, but they come and task the remaining sprites with tasks and demands. The sprite tells Wisp that their kin are being held captive to keep the remaining sprites obedient. If they do not do as asked they will be surrendered to the dark. Wisp asks the sprite to trust her and help her, help the sprites by coming to her before any more tasks or demands are met. As Wisp returns she will be found out by two of her siblings. This will build towards Wisp and the others taking on the threat that is facing humanity and eventually her world. The first arc dealing with a band of sirens who are causing more than just mischief by influencing humans into becoming uncaring and unkind to each other, but totally loving, worshipping and buying up all the Sirens merch. As Wisp and her family become a rival band to undo the Sirens call of destructive behavior. The target audience is the 5-12 years of age, boys and girls. Of course it can and will garner other ages as well. With its fun loose take on key story elements incorporating mythology, moral teachings and imagination making it hard to pass up on or dismiss.
Gen 1 had the most creative heartwarming names for the characters. It's hard to believe RB wasn't well received in its time.
You unlocked a childhood memory. I had a random Twink plush but I never knew what the hell he was. I only just now learned lol
The first dolls were “rag doll”. The first half-hearted attempt to reboot the original line in early 2000s were still “rag doll” but they had newly inner jointed bodies.
my fave doll line of all time were the soda pop girls from lala land. they were seriously my biggest obsession when i was little. I'd love to see a vid about them! it breaks my heart that so many irresponsible parents would buy a choking hazard like that regardless of warnings and get them cancelled. they had a big series and were on their way to being huge!
My sister and I were toddlers when RB came out in the 80s and I grew up with the original dolls, lunch box, bedding, sticker sets, etc. I would sit in front of the TV on Saturday morning with my sister and cousin and watch RB and all the other cartoons, but she was my favorite. I wanted to be her so badly, like I would make wishes on stars to become her lol. It was just a happy, fun, colorful series with adorable characters, and RB had that awesome outfit and magic color belt that could make rainbows. Honestly, that’s the only reason we loved it, but we still loved it. She will always be dear to me.
I just hope this new deal also somehow comes with a re-release of the original show which FINALLY uses the original broadcast versions of episodes 1-5 rather than the syndication edits. (currently the only way to get the original broadcast version is on decades-old VHS tapes... tho some kind souls have put them on RUclips).
Protip for newbie fans of Rainbow Brite BTW: If the opening theme song is "Rainbow Brite, see the shining light" you're watching the original broadcast. If its an explanatory intro talking about how she came to be, its the syndication edit. All DVD releases currently use the latter.
if it was up to me, id just straight up make rainbow brite into a magical girl series. i mean, isnt it kind of that already? lets commit to it!
I'm not an 80s kid but a 2000s kid, and my mom used to rent the 80s Rainbow Brite series for me on VHS. I didn't even know it got any reboots! I guess that goes to show how poorly they did. But I'll have to check out the comic. I'm glad to have learned about these so thank you! Whatever reboot comes next, I hope it's good and gets the attention and love it deserves. I'd love to see one of the pillars of my childhood make a comeback.
Omg Rainbow Brite was my entire childhood!!
One of the things I loved the most about Rainbow Brite as a kid was the art style. It's pretty distinctive and both vibrant and soft at the same time. I think it'd be appealing to nostalgic fans but also to curious kids and collectors. Like someone else said above, now would be a great time to come up with unique fashion dolls who would have proportions and designs reminiscent of the original dolls, but more diverse, well-articulated, & sized somewhere between LOL Tweens and Rainbow Highs. I'd even keep the yarn hair!
i grew up with rainbow brite but in a small way. my mom showed me her old stuff which was i think a picture book or two and then she gave me her awesome rainbow brite shirt that has i think the same graphic yours does but facing the other way and is incredibly soft
7:45 Moon Glow wearing the transpride colors is very pleasing to me :)
The original designs and outfits of Rainbow Brite and the color kids are genuinely so fun and cute. The world feels like it has so much potential for a She-ra style reboot, maybe a little more light hearted. I really want to read those comics!
Was there a color kid for The Color Out of Space? They can be called Shimmer and they can mutate everything around them.
I used to have the 2009 Moonglow doll. I didn’t even realize what doll it was until now!
This was a pleasant surprise, my mom used to love Rainbow Brite as a kid and this video came out right before her birthday. Her favorite childhood doll was her Rainbow Brite from the 80s.
Hire Lauren Faust, give her the same budget as mlp, make toys, make millions. Done.
You're absolutely right, you NEED a show to sell toys like rainbow brite. I personally think the dolls don't look very good, so you need another hook. Honestly in terms of being modern, shining a light on mental health would be amazing. Colors making people happy. Reminding others there's always a brite side (see what I did there) Even stormy could connect with a kid on earth who likes winter and darker colors and ISN'T depressed, but is bullied anyway for being abnormal. They could relate to each other. I think it could be sweet and episodic (TV channels love that ish)
Rainbow Brite and her dolls (the OGs and OG re-releases including recently) are very cute.
Honestly I think a future doll line/show could work well similarly to my little pony g4, having some simpler slice of life stories between the characters, while also have a lot of fantasy elements and over-arching stories.
I’m a 2005 kid and I LOVVVVVVVVED rainbow brite so much when I was little. I’m pretty sure we had the 2003 dolls and one of the dvds, and I would watch the heck out of that thing. Her and sailor moon were my queens when I was younger and I definitely think they contributed to who I am now:))❤️ I do remember being in elementary school and finding the reboot with webisodes and just being sad that there was only like 3 and i would check back to see if they were gonna add more but of course they never did 😭
Like you, I didn't even exist in the '80s, and my sister only barely did by being born in 1989. However, we were both into Rainbow Brite - especially my sister. I myself remember repeatedly renting "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer" from Blockbuster back in the day, only ever renting something else if Rainbow Brite was already rented out by someone else. As I've gotten older, I've also gained a newfound appreciation for cutesy girls' toys from the 80s - I love Rainbow Brite, but my personal favorite is the Moondreamers. I even managed to get in contact with the woman who designed the Moonglow doll, a few Gen 2 Moondreamers prototypes that were never released, and a slew of other toys from the 80s onward - Stefanie Eskander. She's a lovely woman with a beautiful art style, and she published a book about her life as a toy designer which was a fascinating read for anyone who is interested in toys.
one of my teachers was the letterer for the 2018 comic, and i remember him telling us how he really enjoyed working on it and was sad it didnt go anywhere. we had to letter the first issue ourselves for an assignment. (i may or may not have even finished that assignment. but i digress) i never grew up with rainbow brite but as i got more into toys and dolls theyve always been some of my personal holy grails, like they were crafted to appeal to me specifically. but yeah, it was super cool seeing the comic mentioned in this video! love your channel!
I just know there’s a universe out there where rainbow brite was their version of mlp where it’s 4 gen was insanely popular and had a large fandom online.
moonglow is my favorite from rainbow brite, shame her doll was only released in europe :( i remember seeing one on ebay a few years ago for like $800 😭😭😭
I always get so excited to get a notification from you. Thank you for filling my neurodivergent doll knowledge void🌈
My sister and I had Rainbow Brite dolls as kids though I was mostly interested in the plush I had of her horse Starlite (we also had the Sunriser Skydancer horse toy, which hung out with my My Little Ponies). Though my main memory of the dolls is that someone stole my Rainbow Brite out of our car one day ): She was wearing Patty O'Green's dress at the time so poor Patty never got her proper dress back.
I never knew about moonglow or tickle pink & I adore them so fucking much.
Anyway, I would love to see these characters come back as more complex dolls. A perfect collaboration or retooling would be Kiki pop dolls or those blind box BJDs. They could make the dolls like exactly like their original art work & it would probably be received better then a western reboot. Though if they went a strawberry short cake vintage route I could see it working. Though the best avenue might be a legacy brand route & just have collaborations with other doll & toy companies to get as much well made merch out there as possible. Like a Tokidoki or Nana suprise line would go so hard.
I loved this.. I loved Rainbow Brite so much as a kid. I was a original 80s kid and I've thought about what direction I would take if I was in charge of it! Writing on par with the new Ducktales for sure! Give each characters unique personalities and really try to make Rainbowland a more alive place. I think a more character driven story about Rainbow's struggles with bringing peace to Rainbowland would be something kids and adults would enjoy.
Do Care Bares count as dolls, I’ve always wanted to see a lore/real history video on them haha
Ngl I'm kinda in love with the orignal art style of rainbow brite
I remember the Rainbow Bright movie from when I was a kid. >.>
It goes way harder than you'd think.
Seriously, the premise is that an evil queen wants to capture this diamond planet that's the source of all light in the universe and without it, the universe just gets darker and darker. It keeps cutting back to her human friend to show the stakes and you watch the color pallet dim, then snow pile up and the body language of all the human characters get more depressed. Towards the end, there is one scene where it shows a news reporter talking about it. He talks about concerns of mass starvation as no food can be grown, hospitals reporting that patients have given up on ever getting better, and so on, until finally, he throws all of the reports away and says, "Why am I even here?" Then he puts his head in his hands and weeps while the camera lingers on him.
The movie's not good, by any means, it's got tons of problems, but my god, even after all these years, I still remember that moment.
I used to have the 6-inch dolls from the Generation 3 line!!! everyday I wish I’d hung on to them😅😅. This video brought back so many memories and taught me a lot, thank you!
Nobody told me the comic was a thing until it had already been cancelled, and I'm still bitter years later.
I was a child of the 80s. My sister and I had everything Rainbow Brite. My mother thought it was cute and bought us a bunch of themed stuff. I remember school supplies like a Rainbow Brite trapper keeper and the tie-in books, which I loved. She was so cute and so fun, and I’ll never forget her.
I wasn't necessarily a fan of Rainbow Bright, but when I was sick at a kid my mom would take me to the drug store and buy me a Rainbow Bright coloring book. So I still have a nostalgic fondness for the character.
forgot how much i loved my rainbow brite doll as a small child and i think my mom didn't let me play with it after a certain age. i've never been the same since!
Me too! My mom threw mine away!
As somebody born right in the middle of the 2000s I remember the 2009 incarnation, though I wasn’t very interested in it.
Also, what happened with her at the time also happened with Strawberry Shortcake.
I'm absolutely not a child of the 80s but my little sister and I watched all of Rainbow Brite episode+movie on dvds that my mother bought for us. I liked it but my little sister LOVED it. Costume, fan made content, dolls that looked like the originals (which makes me think my mom was able to snag gen 3 dolls), etc. As two people who were fans of the original despite it not being the "right" age to know of Rainbow Brite it's been a wild ride to watch the new generations roll out. We have that childhood nostalgia for the original but we were the target demo for the new gens-- it made us the biggest critics of anything that didn't capture the vibe of what we were looking for. But at the same time we wanted to see something good succeed because we wanted other people to know what we were talking about-- and to have official merch to buy!
Born in the 90s but my friends had an old Rainbow Brite VHS that I was obsessed with. I made them watch it whenever I would visit (which was often, we shared a babysitter). It was so beautiful and satisfying to watch 😊
The 2014 version and comic had potentual, too bad they didn't go as far as they could.😢 But I do know there is a pretty good fanfiction out there 'The Spectra Scepter' though you will have to watch the 2014 mini series first.
I think the best thing Hallmark can do for the franchise is lean into the "cozy" and "cute" angle.
Be very cutesy and sanrio-esque with their merchandising - not necessarily in a direct artstyle way but more in the treatment of their brands and IPs. Make dolls but also make figurines and plushes, and several other "cute" looking merch that will appeal to nostalgic gen-x and millenials but also appeal to kids. Make TV-special-length animated special... I guess free online or on streaming or something? (I love DVDs given out with dolls but that's a very 00's thing that's probably never coming back) explaining the lore and initial conflict, but from there the primary form of video media afterwards should be a free webseries with very short episodic webisodes that tackle very small, low-stakes problems. Sell books and make a wellness app... maybe something for journaling or mental health, since Hallmark is a stationery brand first and foremost and the "cozy" genre has been massively tied to mental health since the pandemic made everyone flock to animal crossing.
I think Rainbow Brite could work as a mascot brand series first and a doll/animated medium second. It seemed to be how she was treated back in the 80's and what I think the other reboots miss out on, business-wise. They need to recapture that sense of "brand" they were originally criticized for, especially since we have, in western society, very-much warmed up to the concept of characters and IPs existing as brands first and characters second since the 80's.
I still think about that cassette tape that came with Workin’ Out Barbie. What a bop omg
I was such a strawberry shortcake girly as a child and this franchise reminds me so much of them. They are so cute! I want one haha
As a kid, I somehow had at least one, if not two of the little fuzzy mascot? characters, but either didn't have or wasn't attached enough to the actual Rainbow Brite doll to remember her, so my impression of Rainbow Brite was that it was quite weird haha XD It didn't help that I also confused her with those Lite Brites and a dish soap or something? They must have had similar names XD Now though, I think those original designs are so cute! I would seriously consider getting them if they made dolls like the original cartoon, or if they made a little more polished up chibi styled ones.
At some point I had one or two of the 2003 reboot dolls, I know there was a Wisp doll but I think we also had canary yellow. I had no idea what those dolls were about, I just knew that they were cute and pleasing to have around. I think i'd want to see her do something similar to Steven Universe. Something that has a more robust plot and more emotional depth to the characters and their relationships with eachother.
Born in 1980 and Rainbow Brite was my gurrrrl! Had all the dolls and sprites! They are so 80's ❤❤❤
I had Rainbow Brite, Patty O'Green, and Indigo. My sister had La La Orange and Tickled Pink. And we each had her HOUSE - well house/ carrying case. It was a rainbow, and the sides unsnapped and it came with basic furniture. There was a pocket on the wall a sprite could sleep in. The story was always aimed at little kids - the 4-6 year old range. And it resonated! Everyone had a favorite color, so everyone had a favorite character.
I vaguely remember around kindergarten/1st grade having a Rainbow Brite Paper-Doll set. Not sure what happened to it though.
Would have lost my tiny mind knowing there were 3d dolls!
I think a really cute and simple idea would be a little mystery doll or figure of Rainbow Brite. Her color pallet can be based on each color kid (ex Rainbow with green streaks in her hair and a green dress, pink streaks and a pink dress. etc)
I always seen plushies of the sprite things and never knew where the heck they came from, i wish i had seen more of the old rainbow kids dolls, theyre very cute and the art style of the 1st gen is so cute and cozy looning, hoping they go for a lil classic style with a modem twist. Also yes yarn hair, super cute
The comic book designs are beautifully done! Someone here mentioned that the new dolls should look like the nanana surprise dolls and i feel like that makes the most sense!
OMG! I think you just unlocked a new obsession for me. I am so here for all the colors, and overall cute desgins- I'm in awe!
my mom had these pirated DVDs of Rainbow Brite she bought on eBay and I watched them all the time as a kid.
if I had a chance to reboot the series, I'd wanna take it in a Voltron route and amp the space themes. I'd want the color kids to team up with Rainbow and help save other planets
I really loved the 2014 Reboot and was disappointed that there weren't any new episodes. To make up for that, I wrote a fanfic series called The Spectra Scepter Saga which takes place after the Dark Princess got defeated.
Wait, YOU wrote that fanfic?
@@pennysanchez7656 Yep, I just had to for I was hoping there'd be more episodes, so that story just came in my head.
I love the original Rainbow Brite and have loathed every attempt made since. If I could create a new series I would lean HEAVY into the original designs and lore and make it MORE early 80s, more girly, more whimsical. It would most likely not be popular, but it would be beautiful, sweet and comforting.