Rainbow Brite is a quintessential 1980s character who appeared in animated features, toys, and was on every type of merchandise aimed at children. She was created by Hallmark Cards in 1983 to be a character in their greeting card line, and quickly became a TV and toy star.

Before she was dubbed Rainbow Brite, the precious girl was named Wisp. She was brought to a gray, sad world where she was asked to find the Sphere of Light to bring color back. On her mission, Wisp became friends with a furry sprite named Twink and a horse named Starlite. The group found the Color Belt and saved the Color Kids who were being held captive by the King of Shadows. Wisp used the Color Belt and the Sphere of Light to stop the King of Shadows, save the imprisoned sprites, and bring color back to the world. She was then renamed Rainbow Brite for saving their home.

The Color Kids spread color throughout the universe while their personal sprites mined Color Crystals from the Color Caves. Those crystals were processed into Star Sprinkles that powered Rainbow Brite’s Color Belt that produces the energy force she used to stop villains like Murky Dismal.

The Rainbow Brite animated TV show debuted on June 27, 1984, with the first season running through the spring of ’85. The feature-length movie, Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, came out in the fall of ’85 and season two aired in the spring of ’86.

When the TV show began airing, Hallmark gave Mattel the license to create dolls and other toys based on Rainbow Brite. They sold dolls of Rainbow and the Color Kids, and cuddly dolls of Twink and the other sprites. Western Publishing secured the license for other products like puzzles, costume jewelry, games, radios, clothes, towels, and more. The 1980s also saw Rainbow Brite audio cassettes, vinyl records, lamps, bicycles, suitcases, and other merchandise.

The second generation of Rainbow Brite came out in the mid-1990s from new licensee Up, Up and Away. This version of Rainbow Brite had a new backstory and character designs, and was in charge of diversity instead of returning color to the world. The other characters in the line represented diversity with Latina, Black, Asian, and Middle Eastern girls as Rainbow Brites friends. They also looked more like real kids instead of the early animated counterparts.

Toy Play acquired the license for the 20th anniversary dolls that were released in 2003-2005, featuring versions of the original characters. Then Playmates Toys had the license for the fourth generation of toys released in time for the 25th anniversary. Two more rounds of Rainbow Brite releases came out in 2015 and 2024. Several of the later toy releases were accompanied by animated series, specials, or movies.

The colorful hero has also appeared in comics. DC published Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer #1 (December 1985) and Dynamite Entertainment released a five-issue series in 2018.