The Rainbow Land Museum

I was given my first Rainbow Brite dolls for my fifth birthday - back in 1984. So technically, you could say that my collection began then.

Receiving a couple more dolls for Christmas that same year brought my total doll count to four - 12" Rainbow Brite, Starlite, 12" Red Butler and 12" Romeo. Sadly, Starlite and hand-sprite Romeo returned to Rainbow Land at some point in time, but I still have the others :)

(Can you spot the Rainbow Brite stampers I got as well?)

I began actively collecting Rainbow Brite memorabilia in 1995 - when I found a Rainbow Brite record player at a thrift store. I started picking up anything Rainbow Brite related that I could find, at thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales...friends even started giving me childhood items that they were no longer attached to. In early 1998, I discovered Ebay, and the rest is history.

At this point, I've collected more than 3,100 items. To my knowledge, it is the largest Rainbow Brite collection in the world. I've dedicated 500 square feet of my house to display my collection and dubbed it the Rainbow Land Museum. Located in Apex, NC, all fans are welcome to take a tour - just contact me for an appointment (rbnet@rainbowbrite.net). You can view a PDF list of my collection here, and more pictures of the Rainbow Land Museum can be viewed here. You can even watch video tours of the museum below!

The museum has also been featured in the news! Links are below. And I don't plan to stop adding to my collection any time soon :)

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http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/21/80s-fantastic-woman-turns-home-into-museum-for-cartoon-star-rainbow-brite-4312622/

http://www.buzzfeed.com/tabathaleggett/this-superfan-has-a-rainbow-brite-themed-home

http://www.uproxx.com/gammasquad/2014/02/home-turned-into-rainbow-brite-museum/

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/02/24/this-is-how-a-rainbow-brite-superfan-does-home-decor.php

http://blog.truffleshuffle.co.uk/index.php/2014/02/the-perfect-way-to-rainbow-brite-n-up-your-house/

http://thisbelongsinamuseum.com/post/77703955464/rainbowbrite

http://international.okezone.com/read/2014/02/24/214/945908/perempuan-as-pamer-koleksi-1-500-pernak-pernik-rainbow-brite

http://www.961kiss.com/onair/tall-cathy-47018/rainbow-brite-themed-house-12093117/

http://www.sickchirpse.com/top-5-weirdest-news-of-the-week-1-is-so-dark/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFqQwXNKn64

New Rainbow Brite Cartoon

Yes, the astonishing news is true: Rainbow Brite is making a comeback in a brand new cartoon! Emily Osment, the actress best known for her role as Lily in Hannah Montana, broke the news on her Instagram account with the following image and caption:

"First day on the job! Very stoked to be back doing some animation this summer.See you soon! Love, Emily aka Rainbow Brite"

The script's picture gives us the first episode's title and author: "Cloudy with a chance of Gloom" by Rachel Vine. And Emily lets us know that she'll be voicing our beloved Rainbow Brite herself. But she, and the creators of the new toon have since stayed silent.

Hallmark has privately confirmed that the new cartoon is real - this is not a hoax. But they are not ready to provide further details...yet.

Renee of rainbowbrite.co.uk and myself couldn't wait to squee and speculate together, so we recorded episode 9 of BriteCast: the Rainbow Brite Podcast regarding the news. And while we've been impatiently awaiting the next nugget of information, the internet has blown up over Emily's reveal. I've been attempting to collect links from all of the articles being posted and list them below. If I've missed any, please let me know.

Here's to hoping we get some answers soon! What would you like to see, or not see, in this new Rainbow Brite series? :)

Links:

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/14/emily-osment-to-voice-rainbow-brite-in-reboot-of-classic-80s-cartoon-4797367/

http://www.disneydreaming.com/2014/07/13/emily-osment-voicing-rainbow-brite-in-brand-new-animated-tv-show/

http://www.themarysue.com/rainbow-brite-reboot/

http://io9.com/rainbow-brite-is-coming-back-to-television-1605550691

http://lezgetreal.com/2014/07/rainbow-brite-gets-series-reboot-osment-voice/

http://www.justjaredjr.com/2014/07/14/emily-osment-just-announced-shes-the-voice-of-rainbow-brite-its-possibly-the-best-news-ever/

http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/weird_al_word_crimes_female_thor_jeff_goldblum_engaged_rainbow_brite_reboot.html

http://nerdbastards.com/2014/07/15/80s-reboots-roll-on-and-rainbow-brite-is-next/

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/32971/-rainbow-brite-set-to-get-a-tv-reboot

http://965kvki.com/rainbow-brite-returning-to-television-video/

http://geektyrant.com/news/rainbow-bright-is-being-resurrected-for-tv

http://www.seventeen.com/entertainment/reviews/rainbow-brite-remake-emily-osment

http://www.omgblog.com/2014/07/omg_grab_the_vicks_vapor_rub_h.php#axzz37pOQB0q1

http://www.avclub.com/article/much-delight-ravers-everywhere-rainbow-brite-getti-207000

http://gaygeekguide.com/2014/07/17/rainbow-brites-coming-back-to-tv/

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/07/16/rainbow-brite-reboot-tv-show_n_5591265.html

http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/rainbow-brite-reboot-emily-osment/

http://www.elle.com/fashion/trend-reports/rainbow-brite-inspired-fashion?src=soc_fcbks#slide-1

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/news/a29177/rainbow-brite-is-getting-a-reboot/

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/07/17/the-80-s-are-back-again-rainbow-brite-to-return-2073337

http://emily-osment.us/2014/07/projects-emily-to-voice-rainbow-brite-in-reboot-of-classic-80s-cartoon/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/29/retro-kids-toys-comeback_n_5631689.html