Rainbow Brite
(1980s cartoon version)
Context
Rainbow Brite was a 13-episode, 1984-1986 cartoon series for very young girls. There also was a movie, the 1985 Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer. In the chronology of the series, it comes after episode 11.
Rainbow Brite is a young girl who uses a magic belt to protect the colors of Rainbow Land from the evil Murky Dismal.
This article does *not* cover:
- The 1996-1997 second generation.
- The 2003-2005 third generation.
- The 2009-2010 fourth generation.
- The 2014 Reboot.
- The Hallmark Toys fifth generation.
- The 5 issues comic run by Dynamite Entertainment.
- The 2019 video game by Pixelheart.
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– Narrator
Background
- Real Name: Wisp.
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: Rainbow Land.
- Base of Operations: Color Castle, Rainbow Land.
- Height: 3’5″ (1m). Weight: 45 lbs. (20 Kg.).
- Eyes: Blue. Hair: Blonde.
Powers & Abilities
Rainbow Brite, like most residents of Rainbow Land, has the body of a small child. She’s only eight years old, but Rainbow Land is like Never Land. No one grows up.
Though small, she’s very agile.
Rainbow Brite’s strength of mind and leadership ability is well beyond that of an eight-year old. The Color Kids and the Sprites look to her for any important decisions.
Her closest allies are a talking horse named Starlite, and a white Sprite named Twink.
Color Belt!
The Color Belt is a powerful artifact. Rainbow Brite uses the Rainbow belt to add color to the world. To create rainbows in the sky and travel between Earth and Rainbow Land.
Star sprinkles can boost the belt’s power.
Color flowing from Rainbow’s belt has a physical quality to it. Targets could feel like it splashed onto them as if it were water. Or it could feel like a wind blowing by. A smack on the cheek when she blows you a kiss, painting lips there. This has a max push of 00 APs (< 50 lbs.)
Over time, she learned to apply much more force. Her Rainbows can destroy barricades, snare enemies, or blast them away.
Starlite.
Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer song
History
A small child named Wisp came to a desolate and dark land. If she was successful in her mission to release its color and light, the dark land would become Rainbow Land.
Wisp headed for the dark castle where she might find the sphere of light. Dodging man-eating beasts all the way, Wisp befriended a Sprite named Twink.
A talking horse called Starlite also joined her cause. He explained that the King of Shadows had tossed a magic Color Belt into the no-return river.
Once they found the river it washed them down stream. Wisp spotted a strange sight, a baby lying alone on the riverbank! They took the baby into a dry cave. There they discovered the lost Color Belt!
Rainbow Brite and me
The Belt activated and showed Wisp the Color Kids. The King of Shadows had banished these to the seven corners of the land. Only one worthy to wear the Color Belt could set them free.
Wisp with the Color Belt, the baby, Starlite, and Twink traveled to each kid and rescued them. The Color Kids gathered as many star sprinkles as they could. They converged on the King of Shadows’ fortress.
Wisp confronted the King of Shadows and defeated him. He vanished afterwards.
The baby became the sphere of light and the King of Shadow’s fortress crumbled.
Twink the sprite.
Every morning is a brand-new day
Rainbow Castle stood in place of the King of Shadows’ fortress. The entire land transformed into a bright and colorful land. Rainbow Land!
Rainbow Brite took on the task of coloring Earth and maintaining its beauty. She traveled to Earth with Twink on Starlite’s back. They did their work while staying out of sight.
Until she dropped a rainbow in front of a boy to cheer him up. But he didn’t pay attention and walked right into it. Coloring him like a rainbow! Since she had boosted her Color Belt with star sprinkles, she couldn’t just change him back.
Brian thus became the only human to ever visit Rainbow Land.
The Treacherous Pits!
In this dark and dismal land lightning strikes continuously. Every animal is carnivorous. The constant cloud cover prevents most plants from growing.
Murkwell “Murky” Dismal, a genius inventor, with his clumsy sidekick Lurky, live in the Pits. Murky built his fortress within the hollow of an enormous tree stump. Murky moved to the Pits after the King of Shadows’ defeat.
He plots to steal Rainbow Brite’s belt.
Murky desires to remove all color from the world. Everyone will be as gloomy as he is.
His weapons always spew black clouds that control the emotion of those who breathe it. The emotion pushed on them is always gloom.
A joke that’s done over and over with these two is to have Lurky end up falling on top of Murky.
Color Kids
The Color Kids are the seven keepers of the enchanted star sprinkles. One for each color of the rainbow.
The Sprites mine Color crystals from the Color Cave.
Like Peter Pan and the lost boys, the Color Kids, their Sprites, and Murky never grow up.
The Color kids and their sprites:
- Red Butler with Sprite, Romeo.
- Lala Orange with Sprite, O.J..
- Canary Yellow with Sprite, Spark.
- Patty O’Green with Sprite, Lucky.
- Buddy Blue with Sprite, Champ.
- Indigo with Sprite, Hammy.
- Shy Violet with Sprite, I.Q. – an engineering genius able to modify alien technology.
Additional Color Kids:
- Moonglow with Sprite, Nite Sprite – has the power of Invisibility. She’s in charge of coloring the night sky. The stars and the moon.
- Stormy – controls the weather, causing storms throughout Rainbow Land. She rides on the horse Skydancer. Immune — or at least resistant — to Murky’s gloom clouds.
- Krys – rides the robot flying horse On-X and has his Prism Bracelet. He lives on the diamond planet, Spectra.
- Tickled Pink with Sprite, Dee Lite.
Adνеrtisеmеnt
Notes
The Kids have several vehicles and a rowboat.
The Color Kids and their Sprites have a long history with Murky and the King of Shadows. They have clashed for 700 years.
Sprites, like Twink, are small furry humanoids. They may stand on rainbows and star sprinkles. Twink, being one of the few white Sprites, can stand on any color star sprinkle.
The Color Kids may only stand on color generated by their own color star sprinkles. All can stand on rainbows.
At the Color Castle, mined color crystals are crushed, cut into their star-shapes, and heated. This makes them star sprinkles.
There’s a color console used to control colors across the universe. It can be used to send an emergency signal along the rainbow corridor to Earth, sounding an alarm all along it.
The Rainbow River flows from Rainbow Land into the Pits. But when it gets there it turns into terrible raging rapids.
The Rainbow Castle stands in the center of a town full of friendly Sprites.
Rainbow Land horses
There are four mystical horses that live in Rainbow Land:
- Starlite – Rainbow Brite’s horse.
- Sky Dancer – Stormy’s horse.
- On-X – Krys’ horse.
- Sunriser – she’s in love with Starlite. She knows every inch of the mountains in Rainbow Land.
Description
Rainbow Brite has a cherub face with large eyes and big hair. She has a purple beauty mark, a star, stamped under her left eye.
Like the Color Kids, Rainbow Brite has the body of a toddler.
She’s decked out in rainbow colored attire, and around her waist is the Color Belt.
Personality
Wisp arrived at Rainbow Land with a mission to save that planet. She is a bright and determined girl.
Strong-willed, happy, optimistic, and incredibly brave. Even after monsters tried to eat her alive. She simply continued her quest without a second thought.
She moves forward when others are too afraid. She never wavers.
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Quotes
“What do I have to do to get that kid (Brian) to look at the rainbow ?”
“We’re from Rainbow land. We put all the color in the world.”
“Wish me luck.”
“We have to try.”
Guiding voice: “You are not little Wisp any longer. You shall be known henceforth as Rainbow Brite. And all the beauty of all the land is entrusted to your care. Protect it well.”
Guiding voice: “You will have to fight to keep the wonder in your world.”
Rainbow Brite: “I will.”
Guiding voice: “I know you will.”
Rainbow Brite: “I will. I will !”
“I have to go spread color on Earth. Bye.”
“Twink, the star sprinkles.”
Patty O’Green: “What are we going to do ?”
Shy Violet: “We must get a hold of Rainbow Brite quick !”
Starlite: “After all, I AM the most magnificent horse in the universe.”
Other Universe Adaptation
(This section proposes ways of using this character in other fictional universes).
The world of Rainbow Brite would mesh well with My Little Pony, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and the like.
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Rainbow Brite
A 267 points Character (without equipment or pets).
| Dex: 03 | Str: 01 | Bod: 02 |
| Int: 04 | Wil: 04 | Min: 04 |
| Inf: 04 | Aur: 05 | Spi: 07 |
| Init: 011 | HP: 020 |
Powers:
Empathy: 06, Shrinking: 03
Bonuses and Limitations:
Shrinking is always on (-1 FC) and already factored in.
Skills:
Acrobatics: 03, Animal Handling (Riding): 03, Evasion (Ranged Only): 05
Advantages:
Language (Sprite), Luck, Pet (Puppy Brite, Kitty Brite – normal stats, except 02 APs INT and WILL).
Connections:
Color Kids (High), Twink (High), Starlite (High), The Sprites (Low).
Drawbacks:
Age (Young, 8 years old), Minor Irrational Attraction to Brian.
Motivation:
Responsibility of Power.
Occupation:
Color Protector of Rainbow Land and Earth.
Wealth:
000
Equipment:
- COLOR BELT [BODY 04 INT 02, Air Walking: 14, Broadcast Empath: 01, Color: 13, Flight: 23, Mental Blast: 05, Omni-Power: 13, Power Reserve: 04, Sealed Systems: 13, Snare: 05, R#0, Cost: 1,015, Bonuses & Limitations:
- All powers are Contingent Upon Color – except for Air Walking and Power Reserve.
- Air Walking may only be used on Rainbows (-1 FC).
- Air Walking may work without an atmosphere, in space, or in a vacuum (+1 FC).
- The star on her rainbow belt must be touched to activate any power. However, the belt can activate on its own as well.
- Color change may be made permanent (+2 FC). This is the default.
- Color and Snare have Loss vulnerability in the “Pits”, Snare drops to 00 Aps, Color drops to 02 Aps per the Loss Vulnerability description, but Rainbow Brite doesn’t “border on the brink of consciousness”.
- Flight only represents riding a rainbow between Earth and Rainbow Land and may only be used in this way (-1 FC).
- Power Reserve may add to Color and Snare. Only useable when drawing power from or activated with Star Sprinkles. This addition is even useable when loss vulnerability is active.
- Sealed Systems is only useable while on a rainbow outside an atmosphere (-1 FC). Only seen when riding a rainbow between Earth and Rainbow Land.
- Snare is contingent on Color producing a rainbow. The rainbow loops around the target.]
- Color Key [BODY 02, Air Walking: 14, Color: 13, Flight: 23, Sealed Systems: 13, R#0, Cost: 234, Bonuses & Limitations:
- Color, Flight, and Sealed Systems only provides a way between Earth and Rainbow Land (-1 FC).
- Flight and Sealed Systems are contingent on Color (-1 FC).
- Air Walking only works with a Rainbow to stand on (-1 FC).
- Air Walking may work without an atmosphere, in space, or in a vacuum (+1 FC)].
Rainbow Brite gave this key to Brian so he could come visit Rainbow Land. She told him to use it on any door.
- Star sprinkles (about a handful) [BODY 01, Color: 07, Neutralize: 07, R#0, Cost: 34, Bonuses and Limitations: Neutralize is Contingent Upon Color (-1 FC). Color matches the color of the sprinkles. More sprinkles mean more APs of the Color power. Just AP add handfuls, Grenade Drawback].
Wisp and Twink.
Twink
The only white Sprite. Twink befriended Rainbow Brite in her first mission and has been by her side ever since.
Twink
A 235 points Character (without equipment).
| Dex: 03 | Str: 01 | Bod: 02 |
| Int: 02 | Wil: 02 | Min: 02 |
| Inf: 02 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 03 |
| Init: 007 | HP: 005 |
Powers:
Air Walking: 14, Shrinking: 04
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Air Walking may only be used on Rainbows (-1 FC).
- Air Walking may work without an atmosphere, in space, or in a vacuum (+1 FC).
- Shrinking is always on (-1 FC) and Already Factored In.
Skills:
Animal Handling (Riding): 03, Thief (Escape Artist): 03
Advantages:
Area Knowledge (Rainbow Land).
Connections:
Rainbow Brite (High).
Motivation:
Responsibility of Power.
Occupation:
Loyal companion.
Wealth:
000
Equipment:
Twink wears a belt [BODY 02]. On it are two pouches. Twink carries an assortment of Color crystals and Star sprinkles for Rainbow Brite.
Starlite, Rainbow Brite’s magnificent flying horse
Starlite is a white horse with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. And a big ego. He’s 432 points Character.
| Dex: 05 | Str: 05 | Bod: 05 |
| Int: 03 | Wil: 03 | Min: 02 |
| Inf: 02 | Aur: 01 | Spi: 02 |
| Init: 010 | HP: 010 |
Powers:
Air Walking: 14, Analytical Smell/Tracking Scent: 02, Density Increase: 03, Extended Hearing: 02, Extra-Limb (tail): 02, Gliding: 04, Jumping: 01, Kinetic Absorption (Structural only): 08, Running: 05, Ultra Vision: 03
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Air Walking may only be used on Rainbows (-1 FC).
- Air Walking may work without an atmosphere, in space, or in a vacuum (+1 FC).
- Kinetic Absorption is useable on others and only on others (+2 FC), this represents landing on Starlite from a fall.
Skills:
Artist (Singer): 02
Advantages:
Area Knowledge (Rainbow Land), Familiarity (Fire Building), Language (English).
Connections:
Rainbow Brite (High).
Drawbacks:
Minor Irrational attraction to praise and flattery.
Motivation:
Thrill of Adventure.
Occupation:
Loyal companion and mount.
Wealth:
000
With some Color Kids.
Concerning Rainbows
The location of Rainbow Land isn’t known. It exists far away at the end of the rainbow. For this article, I place the magical world of Rainbow Land no farther away than Earth’s own moon (28 APs).
The mystic occupants of Rainbow Land can stand and walk upon rainbows. Traveling on these colorful bows of light is the same as say Iceman riding an “ice slide”. Maximum movement is 08 APs.
The Color power can create rainbows. A rainbow, stripped of its color, will fail and crumble (By defeating the Color power that created it).
Travel to and from Earth isn’t instantaneous. Starlite runs the entire length. It works as a corridor with oxygen (Sealed Systems). Everyone could still talk while in space. Everyone inside the corridor would be traveling very quickly (Flight), even if they are just standing still on the rainbow.
A prerequisite to making this trip would be the ability to stand upon a rainbow.
The Rainbows have STR to hold weight equal to the Color power that created it.
Rainbow Brite sometimes attributes personality to her rainbows. This is her belt’s INT score commanding the rainbow.
There are good and evil rainbows. Evil rainbows are black, white, and shades of grey. Evil rainbows still have good in them and if they encounter a good rainbow will instantly become good. Evil rainbows are primarily used as ritual components for evil spells.
Rainbow reviewing her DCH TTRPG stats.
Design notes
Starlite built a fire by kicking flint to cause sparks.
Both Height and Weight are guesses based on Rainbow Brite interacting with the human boy, Brian.
In early episodes, Twink and Rainbow Brite leaped onto Starlite’s back from a standing start with no effort at all. Later, they vault onto his back using Starlite’s mane.
The Belt will sometimes activate powers on its own. For instance, it activated Omni-Power to use Detect and Remote Sensing to locate the Color kids.
Midway through the series, Rainbow Brite started using star sprinkles every time to boost her belt. Either she had lost confidence in the belts power alone, or more likely, she was testing out her abilities.
Later, she went back to using the belt alone, only boosting when necessary.
Source of Character: Rainbow Brite 1984-1986 cartoon series; voiced by Bettina Bush .
Helper(s): Wikipedia, Rainbow Brite Wiki, Angela (requested this writeup), Michael Ficklin.
Writeup completed on the 5th of August, 2020.