Ranting over the new Rainbow

[TheWendybird]

Each and every time I look at the 'new, updated design' I shudder and want to cringe. I'm sorry, but I don't care how well they do the design/drawing/whatever, it'll never be Rainbow Brite to me if they 'grow her up'.

Something's just lost if they do that. Something ephemeral and intangable yet nonethless important and integral to whom she is. I just can't see the 'mythos' working anywhere near the same, the 'world' being anything nearly as magical and wonderful, with a Rainbow Brite that looks like what I've been seeing.

Have the geniuses there missed something critical? Seems so to me. Maybe someone should gently point them in the direction of Dora, and kindly point out that the age of a character isn't nearly as important as the allure and appeal. (Although, regretably, those responsible for Dora now seem to see a need to have her grow up a tad, too. And the ones really outraged about that so far seem to be the Moms).

Oh well. It seems in their 'infinite wisdom' ::cough::cough:: something precious and wonderful is about to be 'new-and'improved' and, in their feeble, misguided efforts, spoiled and ruined.

EXACTLY someone on the group on facebook said on the rainbow brite groups wall that they need to update rainbow brite for the new generation of kids and i said I had to disagree for reasons such as Dora....I also added that kids today also like Bratz dolls does that mean she should look like one? nope. Not every kid out there likes just one style....Plenty of kids love the style of Dora the Explorer and I used that example on the rainbow brite group wall on facebook...i don't think anyone has responded yet...i must go check that out now haha

[Rainbow Brite]

EXACTLY someone on the group on facebook said on the rainbow brite groups wall that they need to update rainbow brite for the new generation of kids and i said I had to disagree for reasons such as Dora....I also added that kids today also like Bratz dolls does that mean she should look like one? nope. Not every kid out there likes just one style....Plenty of kids love the style of Dora the Explorer and I used that example on the rainbow brite group wall on facebook...i don't think anyone has responded yet...i must go check that out now haha

Hate to burst your bubble, but Dora has been redesigned too:

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzdo ... 1280.story

[FanChan]

That Dora stuff seems to be a little more than a little over-reaction. I'm starting to think that maybe all of us have been over-reacting, as well.


We don't know everything they have planned. All we have are some PR statements that can be easily misunderstood, misquoted, and misinterpreted, and one or two drawings that may or may not reflect what the actual merchandise will look like.



Everyone needs to take a deep breath and relax a bit. This may not be what we expected, but this is what we've got. The people they're marketing to aren't us, it's new fans. New fans that won't have the old style biasing them in the decision to like the product line or not.



Yes, there have been changes; no, it's not what it used to be. But maybe that's a good thing. They're re-creating Rainbow Brite. What we got from 1984 is what it is. But the franchise shouldn't be limited to it. Give them a chance. Reserve your judgement. If we attack it before it even gets off the ground, then our worries about it failing will certainly come to pass.



The more I think about it, the more I look forward to it. I can't wait to see what they've got. Maybe all the new Rainbow is is an acquired taste. It might be bitter and disgusting at first, but keep going. You might just like it.

[Rainbow Brite]

I'm with you FanChan

I personally can't wait for the new line to be released this fall!

[TheWendybird]

It *could* be okay and it's not necessarily that I think it won't be PERHAPS....BUT....especially after seeing the Dora re-design ...I'm just sick of all these clone cartoon characters..they're making them all the same kinda look and it drives me batty! I don't like it....simply for the fact that it's teaching kids there is one kind of look to strive to have or something ...something feels very off about it all to me. But that's just me.

[Major Ursa]

Yes, there have been changes; no, it's not what it used to be. But maybe that's a good thing. They're re-creating Rainbow Brite. What we got from 1984 is what it is. But the franchise shouldn't be limited to it. Give them a chance. Reserve your judgement. If we attack it before it even gets off the ground, then our worries about it failing will certainly come to pass.



The more I think about it, the more I look forward to it. I can't wait to see what they've got. Maybe all the new Rainbow is is an acquired taste. It might be bitter and disgusting at first, but keep going. You might just like it.

Thinking back to when Star Trek: The Next Generation came on, many Star Trek fans loathed it because it did not look like the Classic Series. But as time went on, it along with the three other spin-offs of Star Trek went on to be as successful or even better than the Classic seies. The same would hold true for the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake when the ones who remember the originals had tha "you got to be kidding me" look when they first came out. To me, I think she was better than the failed 1996 and (I beleive) as short lived 2002 version where the original look gang all had different outfits from the usuall fare. And as some said, this would be for the newer fans. I still give this new look the benefit of the doubt because of the fact they kept as much of the originality while making it more up to date.

[TheWendybird]

For me I think it's more about the cloning of other characters feel of it all. I dunno...i'm tired of seeing everything look a certain style.

[Starvoyager]

Thinking back to when Star Trek: The Next Generation came on, many Star Trek fans loathed it because it did not look like the Classic Series. But as time went on, it along with the three other spin-offs of Star Trek went on to be as successful or even better than the Classic seies. The same would hold true for the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake when the ones who remember the originals had tha "you got to be kidding me" look when they first came out. To me, I think she was better than the failed 1996 and (I beleive) as short lived 2002 version where the original look gang all had different outfits from the usuall fare. And as some said, this would be for the newer fans. I still give this new look the benefit of the doubt because of the fact they kept as much of the originality while making it more up to date.

Star Trek TNG was still good. I got over the weirdness in a couple days time. It all went downhill after that. Sadly, the series that feels most like classic Star Trek since TNG, isn't a Star Trek series at all. It's Stargate SG-1.

And comparing this to the Strawberry Shortcake changes isn't really too fair. SSC still looks pretty cute in her updated version. They completely ripped the original storyline to shreds though and turned it into a basic "girls' day off" show. The fantasy element was completely removed. I see the same thing being done to Rainbow. Marketing sees the need to say "It's fine for modern girls to use their imaginations, as long as they're only imagining going to house parties, trying on clothes, talking on the cellphone, and making themselves attractive to boys." Where are all the high fantasy shows for girls now? She-Ra? Sailor Moon? Moondreamers? Are there any at all? Will the modern female childhood superheroes please stand up?

The new Care Bear look still loosk crummy, and it's really not doing well at all. A few toys here & there, and a whole slew of low-budget CGI cartoons is all we've seen from the newest (and cheapest) incarnation of Care Bears. And if you're trying to say that the reason the last few attempts to resurrect Rainbow failed because they didn't update her, (and that's probably exactly what Hallmark is thinking too), that's a very unfair assessment. Hallmark hasn't even given Rainbow a chance since her first time out. A couple of half-baked toy runs unleashed on a generation who doesn't even know who RB is because they've never seen the show. The marketing there was completely nonexistant. It's as if they expected the toys to ride solely on the popularity of RB from 15 years prior. It's completely idiotic.

Eastman and Laird (makers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) never wanted to make a show. They were only thinking of a line of action figures. Everybody kept telling them "You don't understand. Kids aren't going to get it on that alone. There needs to be a show." So finally they did that and it took off like wildfire and 20 years later is still going. Hallmark simply has no idea how to handle this. Are they getting it right this time? Perhaps. But they never gave the original a proper second chance, so we'll never know if this new perversion was/is actually needed.

But like Fanchan said, and as I said in my original post, hopefully those drawings aren't final, and Hallmark's press release isn't literal and is only a vague repesentation of their overall plan.

As for that Dora thing. What the heck is she going to explore in that getup besides the mall? We just can't have a tomboy for little girls to look up to anymore, can we? It's ok for toddlers to be into that, but that 7+... oh no way! That'd be too rebellious. Tomboys don't buy enough makeup to keep the consumerist world turning.

[Starvoyager]

Someone on deviant did a drawing like the updated outfit. Feels much more like classic Rainbow.

http://cwmodels.deviantart.com/art/Rain ... e-86840515

[Rainbow Brite]

That drawing was around before the new design was released