Rainbow Brite
Whoever doubted that an entire cartoon series could be made from the colors of the rainbow clearly wasn’t a little girl in the 80s. Thanks to Hallmark greeting cards (Was there any cartoon series in the 80s that didn’t come from a greeting card?) we 80s kids were blessed with Rainbow Brite and all of her brightly colored friends.
Now, not just any random run-off color would do. No sir. These kids were strictly crafted after ol’ Roy G. Biv himself. (Hello! Yes you are back in 4th grade science. Have a seat.) Red Butler, LaLa Orange, Canary Yellow, Patty O’Green, Blue Buddy, Indigo (gotta love how they gave up on coming up with a clever name for that one), and Shy Violet all banded together to battle the evil powers that be.
No, we’re not really sure how the gang was deserving of two feature-length movies AND a cartoon series (that lasted over a year) but there you go. Apparently, kids love rainbows. (Who knew?)
The stories centered on Rainbow Brite, who was charged with keeping things in check by regulating the colors in the world. Of course, this is after she’s rescued the Color Kids from the caves, defeated the King of Shadows, and befriended a Sprite and a magical talking horse (who was a little cocky, if you ask us.) Now, things should be just peachy, but as The Color Kids are working in the Color Caves mining for colors with the Sprites (child labor laws be damned!), Rainbow has to put up with the constant disruptions from Murky, our favorite monochromatic bad guy. Thankfully, Lurky, his incredibly clumsy dustball (er, sidekick) manages to foil all his plans.
The series ran from 1986 to 1987 which may not seem like that long, but it was enough time for toy shelves around the globe to be bombarded with Rainbow Brite EVERYTHING. Rainbow and the Color Kids have made a couple of comebacks (toy-wise) since then, including the new line launched in 2010, and while, sure, they’re Rainbow Brite, they’re not our Rainbow Brite.
*Sigh.
We ♥ Rainbow Brite.
Best of the 80s 
rainbow brite rocked! i just got the complete collection WITH the movie on the same set at a place that sells vintage cartoons. i also have jem (my all-time favorite) , the smurfs, fraggle rock and small wonder. i feel so blessed and lucky to have been a child of the 80s! what an awesome decade it was. im at that age now (32) where im getting nostalgic for things i had as a kid. besides my cartoons, ive got a few barbies (crystal barbie and peaches n cream barbie) and even cosmetics, including “electric youth” the debbie gibson perfume, kissing koolers, kissing potions and even a village lip lickers (that was pretty pricey but so worth it). long live the 80s!!!!!!!!!!!