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Rainbow Brite had one goal – to bring color back to Rainbowland. Along with her friends the Color Kids and the furry Sprite animals, black and white had no chance.

 

Rainbow Brite (like Strawberry Shortcake, incidentally) was copyrighted by Hallmark as a greeting card decoration. In 1983, Hallmark partnered with Mattel and created the original line of dolls, featuring soft bodies and vinyl heads and hands.

 

The Rainbow Brite story went like this: originally called Wisp, Rainbow Brite and her colorful team were fighting against the Dark One, who had turned the world into gloomy grey. Wisp had a pet Sprite named Twink, and she rode a white horse called Starlite. One day, while taking shelter from the rain inside a cave, she discovered the magic Color Belt, which gave her the power to save the Color Kids in each of the seven different corners of the land. These were Red Butler, Canary Yellow, Patty O'Green, La La Orange, Shy Violet, Indigo, Buddy Blue and Tickled Pink. Wisp set all of the Kids free, and was christened Rainbow Brite and named the protector of all of Rainbowland.

 

The original dolls were ten inches, and later there were larger eighteen-inch dolls and small vinyl figures – both for little girls and older collectors. Mattel also introduced Baby Brite, who was really a magical creature called “the Sphere of Light," and who was the ultimate key to destroying the gloom in Rainbowland.

 

Rainbow’s sworn enemy, the villain who created the gloom, was Murky Dismal. He was a rotund little man with moustache and a green face – signs of true evil. He carried a bag labeled “gloom”, in case you forgot what he did. He even had a sidekick named Lurky, but they always failed to bring back the gloom when Rainbow Brite was on the job.

 

The Rainbow Brite feature film came out in 1985, called Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, and was followed by a cartoon television show in 1986. In each, Rainbow pursued her one goal of bringing color everywhere she went.