Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer
Encyclopedia
Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer is an animated film released on November 15, 1985 by Warner Bros.
, and produced by DiC Entertainment
and Hallmark Cards
. This is the only film to feature the greeting card
character, Rainbow Brite
; she also appeared in a few television specials prior to its release, and later in a Kideo TV
series.
In the film, Rainbow Brite tries to bring spring
to an Earth that is already facing a perpetual winter
. She must stop a wicked princess who wants all of Spectra, a planet-sized diamond
through which all the light in the universe has to go through.
Star Stealer did not receive advance screenings upon its release, and fared weakly among critics. The film grossed only $4,889,971 at the United States box-office, after opening with $1.8 million. It was released on DVD in November 2004.
Starlite, go to Earth to start spring, they meet Stormy, another magical girl
who controls the season of winter with her horse Skydancer. Stormy, however, doesn't want to end her winter fun, so Rainbow battles her for control over the season. Stormy proves to be no match for Rainbow and Starlite, who outrun her and head off to Earth. When they arrive, they meet up with Brian, the only boy on Earth who can "see" Rainbow and Starlite.
Once Rainbow tries to start spring, however, her power weakens and winter remains. Brian becomes worried that spring will never come and senses that all of humanity is losing hope. Even Stormy is confused. Reassuring Brian that they will do what they can to return spring, Rainbow and Starlite return to Rainbowland.
Rainbow is paid a visit by a strange robotic horse with rockets for legs named On-X. He presents an urgent message from a legendary Sprite named Orin who explains the luminous and magical planet Spectra, a planet of pure diamond that "all light in the universe has to pass through," has grown dark. If it dims completely, all life in the universe will die.
Rainbow takes the mission to find Orin and later learns that Spectra is dimming as the result of a massive net being woven around the surface. The net is being made so that a selfish princess, known only as the "Dark Princess," can steal Spectra, "the greatest diamond in all the universe," for herself, and tow it back to her world with her massive spaceship. The native Sprites of Spectra, enslaved by Glitterbots under the Princess's control, are being forced to weave the net. Now Rainbow has to stop the Princess's plan before all life on Earth is frozen solid by an endless winter.
Helping Rainbow and Starlite is Krys, a boy from Spectra. Krys believes he can take on the evil Princess and save his home world himself without the help of a "dumb girl." When they meet Orin, the wise Sprite tries to make the two children get along and work together to stop the evil Princess. Orin tells them that they can only destroy her by combining their own powers against her.
Getting in the way of their mission is the sinister Murky Dismal and his bumbling assistant Lurky who, as usual, are lavishing in the new gloom created by the darkening of Spectra, as well as trying to steal Rainbow's magical color belt.
After dodging Murky, Rainbow and Krys enter the Dark Princess's castle and try to convince her that what she is doing will destroy the universe, but the spoiled and uncaring Princess is determined to have the diamond planet for herself and traps the children instead. Working together, Rainbow and Krys escape and use their powers to destroy the Princess and her spaceship, which extends an array of robotic claws to grab the net around Spectra.
Once the Princess is defeated, the enslaved Sprites are freed and immediately destroy the net so that Spectra radiates its magical light once again. On Earth, a warm spring finally arrives as life returns to the planet and Rainbow returns to Rainbowland finding her friends are back to normal.
and The Littles
. DiC was hired by Hallmark Cards to produce the first three syndicated specials centering on Rainbow Brite. The success of the specials led to the production of a feature movie based on the toy.
The project was directed by French animator Bernard Deyriès, well-known at the time for DiC's science-fiction series Ulysses 31
and Mysterious Cities of Gold (both also animated by Japanese studios), and Japanese partner Kimio Yabuki
, a legendary animator at Toei Animation
and former cohort of Hayao Miyazaki
. The film's art director, Rich Rudish, had been a staff member of Hallmark since 1964.
The music was composed by Haim Saban
and Shuki Levy
, who produced various music for cartoons in the 80s and would go on to launch the Power Rangers
series in the 1990s. Story co-writer Howard Cohen wrote the film's bookending songs, "Brand New Day" and "Rainbow Brite and Me".
Star Stealer was produced in only three months, at that time the quickest on record for an animated feature. While the U.S. unit contributed to the film's production, some Japanese companies took on animation outsourcing duties (as was often the case with DiC's productions of the time), among them Cockpit, Zaendou, Doga-Kobou, Tama, Crocus and Peacock.
of The New York Times
said in her short review, "[It] isn't a movie; it's a marketing tool." She was referring to animated fare which, at the time, had just begun the practice of cashing in on pre-sold toy lines. Michael Blowen of The Boston Globe
said, "[It] is so incompetently crafted that it makes the Saturday-morning cartoons seem like Disney classics." As for Stuart Fisher, a contributor for Jerry Beck
's Animated Movie Guide: "Sorry, kids, the star stealer was here," referring to the zero stars given to it in the book.
Opening at seventh place with US$1.8 million, and running for just five weeks at a 1,090-venue maximum, Star Stealer groseed US$4,889,971 at the North American box-office, months before a 13-episode syndicated series appeared on DiC's Kideo TV
block. A tie-in comic book to the film was issued by DC Comics
.
In November 2004, Warner Home Video
released the movie on DVD in U.S. Region 1 territories. The new disc featured a cleaned up and remastered transfer of the film which boasted brighter colors. The new transfer was not in widescreen, but was an "open matte" 1.33:1 version. The only bonus features included were a sing-along version of the opening song, "Brand New Day", and a "Find the Missing Color Belt" game, as extras. Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer has recently been put on the Netflix streaming service.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, and produced by DiC Entertainment
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...
and Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....
. This is the only film to feature the greeting card
Greeting card
A greeting card is an illustrated, folded card featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas or other holidays, they are also sent to convey thanks or express other feeling. Greeting cards,...
character, Rainbow Brite
Rainbow Brite
Rainbow Brite was a character franchise introduced by Hallmark Cards in 1983, with the animated television series starting the following year....
; she also appeared in a few television specials prior to its release, and later in a Kideo TV
Kideo TV
Kideo TV was a 1986 syndicated anthology packaging by DiC Entertainment and LBS Communications, which premiered in April of that year with Rainbow Brite, Popples, and Ulysses 31.-Scheduling history:...
series.
In the film, Rainbow Brite tries to bring spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
to an Earth that is already facing a perpetual winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
. She must stop a wicked princess who wants all of Spectra, a planet-sized diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
through which all the light in the universe has to go through.
Star Stealer did not receive advance screenings upon its release, and fared weakly among critics. The film grossed only $4,889,971 at the United States box-office, after opening with $1.8 million. It was released on DVD in November 2004.
Synopsis
When Rainbow Brite, and her magical horseHorse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
Starlite, go to Earth to start spring, they meet Stormy, another magical girl
Magical girl
belong to a sub-genre of Japanese fantasy anime and manga. Magical girl stories feature young girls with superhuman abilities, forced to fight evil and to protect the Earth. They often possess a secret identity, although the name can just refer to young girls who follow a plotline involving magic...
who controls the season of winter with her horse Skydancer. Stormy, however, doesn't want to end her winter fun, so Rainbow battles her for control over the season. Stormy proves to be no match for Rainbow and Starlite, who outrun her and head off to Earth. When they arrive, they meet up with Brian, the only boy on Earth who can "see" Rainbow and Starlite.
Once Rainbow tries to start spring, however, her power weakens and winter remains. Brian becomes worried that spring will never come and senses that all of humanity is losing hope. Even Stormy is confused. Reassuring Brian that they will do what they can to return spring, Rainbow and Starlite return to Rainbowland.
Rainbow is paid a visit by a strange robotic horse with rockets for legs named On-X. He presents an urgent message from a legendary Sprite named Orin who explains the luminous and magical planet Spectra, a planet of pure diamond that "all light in the universe has to pass through," has grown dark. If it dims completely, all life in the universe will die.
Rainbow takes the mission to find Orin and later learns that Spectra is dimming as the result of a massive net being woven around the surface. The net is being made so that a selfish princess, known only as the "Dark Princess," can steal Spectra, "the greatest diamond in all the universe," for herself, and tow it back to her world with her massive spaceship. The native Sprites of Spectra, enslaved by Glitterbots under the Princess's control, are being forced to weave the net. Now Rainbow has to stop the Princess's plan before all life on Earth is frozen solid by an endless winter.
Helping Rainbow and Starlite is Krys, a boy from Spectra. Krys believes he can take on the evil Princess and save his home world himself without the help of a "dumb girl." When they meet Orin, the wise Sprite tries to make the two children get along and work together to stop the evil Princess. Orin tells them that they can only destroy her by combining their own powers against her.
After dodging Murky, Rainbow and Krys enter the Dark Princess's castle and try to convince her that what she is doing will destroy the universe, but the spoiled and uncaring Princess is determined to have the diamond planet for herself and traps the children instead. Working together, Rainbow and Krys escape and use their powers to destroy the Princess and her spaceship, which extends an array of robotic claws to grab the net around Spectra.
Once the Princess is defeated, the enslaved Sprites are freed and immediately destroy the net so that Spectra radiates its magical light once again. On Earth, a warm spring finally arrives as life returns to the planet and Rainbow returns to Rainbowland finding her friends are back to normal.
Voice cast
- Rainbow Brite - Bettina BushBettina BushBettina Bush is an American voice actress and pop music singer. She was born the youngest daughter out of three children. Her father was of African American descent and her mother was of Irish, Cherokee, and Polynesian descent.- Voice acting :...
, the protagonist - Starlite - Andre StojkaAndre StojkaAndre Stojka is an American voice actor. He is best known for his role as Owl in Winnie-the-Pooh projects beginning with The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, inheriting the role from Hal Smith. He was also the voice of the horse Starlite in all of the animated Rainbow Brite productions...
, Rainbow Brite's pet horse - Twink and Sprites - Robbie Lee
- Buddy Blue - Pat FraleyPat FraleyPatrick "Pat" Fraley is an American voice actor, who is best known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones and numerous other characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
(as Patrick Fraley) - Shy Violet, Indigo and La La Orange - Robbie Lee
- Red Butler, Patty O'Green and Canary Yellow - Mona MarshallMona MarshallMona M. Ianotti is an American voice actress. She is often cast in the role of young boys. Her roles have included parts in not only Japanese anime, but also in American cartoons as well. Mona Marshall has recently lent her voice to the talking bear Koby the Study Buddy...
- Krys - David MendenhallDavid MendenhallDavid Mendenhall is an American actor and former child actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films Space Raiders, Over the Top, The Transformers: The Movie and They Still Call Me Bruce.-Biography:...
- Orin - Les TremayneLes TremayneLes Tremayne was a radio, film, and television actor. Born Lester Tremayne in England, he moved with his family at the age four to Chicago, where he began in community theatre. He danced as a vaudeville performer and worked as amusement park barker...
- Brian - Scott MenvilleScott MenvilleScott David Menville is primarily an American voice actor, actor, musician, and comedian.-Early life and career:The son of Chuck Menville, he was bassist for the Southern California rock band Boy Hits Car, which released three albums until he left the band in 2006. He was with the group since...
- On-X - Pat Fraley
- Bombo - Les Tremayne
- Popo - Charlie Adler (as Charles Adler)
- Spectrans - Andrew Stokja, Patrick Fraley, Robbie Lee, Mona Marshall
- The Princess - Rhonda Aldrich, the main antagonist
- The Creature - Rhonda Aldrich
- Castle Creature - Mona Marshall
- Murky - Peter CullenPeter CullenPeter Claver Cullen is a Canadian voice actor, known as the voice of Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise, Optimus Prime and Ironhide in the original Transformers series, and the narrator in both of the original American Voltron series...
- Lurky - Pat Fraley
- Stormy - Marissa Mendenhall
- Skydancer - Peter Cullen
- SergeantMisspelled in the credits as "Sargeant." Zombo - David Workman
- Count Blogg - Johnathan Harris
- Guards, Glitterbots and Slurthies - Pat Fraley, Peter Cullen
- Witch - Mona Marshall
- Wizard - Andre Stokja
- TV Announcer - Les Tremayne
- Brian's Dog - Patrick Fraley
Production
Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer was the second feature film made by DiC Enterprises, who had earlier success with their first TV shows, Inspector GadgetInspector Gadget
Inspector Gadget is an animated television series that revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, simple-witted cyborg detective named Inspector Gadget – a human being with various bionic gadgets built into his body. Gadget's arch-nemesis is Dr...
and The Littles
The Littles
The Littles is a series of children's novels by American author John Peterson, the first of which was published in 1967. Peterson's books were adapted into the The Littles animated series by DIC Entertainment 16 years later...
. DiC was hired by Hallmark Cards to produce the first three syndicated specials centering on Rainbow Brite. The success of the specials led to the production of a feature movie based on the toy.
The project was directed by French animator Bernard Deyriès, well-known at the time for DiC's science-fiction series Ulysses 31
Ulysses 31
is a Franco-Japanese animated television series that updates the Greek mythology of Odysseus to the 31st century. The show comprised 26 half-hour episodes and was produced by DIC Audiovisuel in conjunction with anime studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha...
and Mysterious Cities of Gold (both also animated by Japanese studios), and Japanese partner Kimio Yabuki
Kimio Yabuki
Kimio Yabuki is a Japanese animator. Known in Japan for his work on many early classic works by the Toei Animation studio, his best known film in the West is Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer from 1985, produced by the French company DiC with animation work done in Japan.In 1969, he teamed up...
, a legendary animator at Toei Animation
Toei Animation
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
and former cohort of Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
. The film's art director, Rich Rudish, had been a staff member of Hallmark since 1964.
The music was composed by Haim Saban
Haim Saban
Haim Saban is an Egyptian born Israeli-American television and media proprietor. With an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 104th richest person in America.-Biography:...
and Shuki Levy
Shuki Levy
Shuki Levy is a music composer and television writer, director, and executive producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as Inspector Gadget, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, M.A.S.K., Dinosaucers, Dragon Quest, He-Man and the...
, who produced various music for cartoons in the 80s and would go on to launch the Power Rangers
Power Rangers
Power Rangers is a long-running American entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live action children's television series featuring teams of costumed heroes...
series in the 1990s. Story co-writer Howard Cohen wrote the film's bookending songs, "Brand New Day" and "Rainbow Brite and Me".
Star Stealer was produced in only three months, at that time the quickest on record for an animated feature. While the U.S. unit contributed to the film's production, some Japanese companies took on animation outsourcing duties (as was often the case with DiC's productions of the time), among them Cockpit, Zaendou, Doga-Kobou, Tama, Crocus and Peacock.
Reception and release
Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer was not screened in advance for critics in its initial release, and subsequently fared weakly among them. Janet MaslinJanet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said in her short review, "[It] isn't a movie; it's a marketing tool." She was referring to animated fare which, at the time, had just begun the practice of cashing in on pre-sold toy lines. Michael Blowen of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
said, "[It] is so incompetently crafted that it makes the Saturday-morning cartoons seem like Disney classics." As for Stuart Fisher, a contributor for Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck is a well-known animation historian, with ten books and numerous articles to his credit. He is also an animation producer, an industry consultant to Warner Bros., and has been an executive with Nickelodeon and Disney....
's Animated Movie Guide: "Sorry, kids, the star stealer was here," referring to the zero stars given to it in the book.
Opening at seventh place with US$1.8 million, and running for just five weeks at a 1,090-venue maximum, Star Stealer groseed US$4,889,971 at the North American box-office, months before a 13-episode syndicated series appeared on DiC's Kideo TV
Kideo TV
Kideo TV was a 1986 syndicated anthology packaging by DiC Entertainment and LBS Communications, which premiered in April of that year with Rainbow Brite, Popples, and Ulysses 31.-Scheduling history:...
block. A tie-in comic book to the film was issued by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
.
In November 2004, Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
released the movie on DVD in U.S. Region 1 territories. The new disc featured a cleaned up and remastered transfer of the film which boasted brighter colors. The new transfer was not in widescreen, but was an "open matte" 1.33:1 version. The only bonus features included were a sing-along version of the opening song, "Brand New Day", and a "Find the Missing Color Belt" game, as extras. Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer has recently been put on the Netflix streaming service.