Rainbow Brite: Savior of the Universe!

This one's taking us back a bit, but I'd be remiss if I didn't share with my adoring public an extremely rare screening of RAINBOW BRITE AND THE STAR STEALER.

Yeah, sluggo, you read that correctly.

New Bev Midnight guru Phil is indeed a strange one, and I don't think that's really a revelation to either Phil himself or anyone who has spent more than 45 seconds speaking to the guy. But the brilliance of his eccentricity is that he uses his access to the screen to unearth films that have long been decomposing on the bottom of history's waste bin.

Such was the case last month when he aired this 90-minute Hallmark ad. Sound strange that a greeting-card company would produce a film to move product? It shouldn't, considering Quaker Oats did the same thing about 40 years ago to shill candy and accidentally made one of the most brilliant films ever. And don't forget that most of us were raised on a steady diet of syndicated 30-minute toy commercials.

Actor David Mendenhall participated in the hi-jinks. I'm sure the dude enjoys a fairly anonymous existance these days despite his fairly beefy resume, but he was immediately recognizable to all of us children of the '80s who packed the Beverly that night.

He mentioned he had never seen RAINBOW BRITE on the big screen before, and warned that his sister is also did some work in the film which was a little strange considering in 1985 it was very hard to distinguish between their pre-pubescent voices. Nice guy, that David Mendenhall, and quite cool to press flesh with an actor I saw a lot of in my days as a young geek. Phil plans on screening my favorite piece of Mendenhall's work next month, so hopefully he'll roll out for that one as well.


As for the film itself, well...it is what it is. To call the animation poor would be giving it far too much credit. It was a slight step up from the old "Clutch Cargo" or Marvel Comics cartoons from the '60s that featured a small moving bit laid atop mostly static images. I can't even remember much of the story, except that a spoiled space princess wanted to add Rainbow Brite's power belt or gem or something like that to her wardrobe which was causing an extended winter and severe SAD down here on Earth.

Of course Ms. Brite prevails in time to shower the planet with sunshine and rainbows, though for the life of me I can't remember how. I fully realize I'm slagging the film, but, in fact, it was misaligned in a very entertaining way, and films like this are often an experience unto themselves. Yet another entry for the geek resume.

Besides, now when someone asks, "Have you ever seen RAINBOW BRITE & THE STAR STEALER?" I can proudly answer, "Yes sir/madam, I have!"

Could happen...

CURRENTLY LISTENING: Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley