Rainbow Brite: San Diego Zoo Adventure

Two kids, Pete and Tracy, notice something weird is going on with the colors of the animals in the San Diego Zoo. This is live action with people and the "Rainbow Brite" characters in big costumes (voiced by the original television cast). The acting in this is actually pretty good. It has an inventive plot and creative characters. There are cute songs and good fun. It also features "ZOONOOZ" (fun facts about animals). It's definitely worth a rent at your local video rental store (if they still exist) or download it since you can't purchase it any longer (except on VHS at e-bay or amazon). I would usually only recommend "Rainbow Brite" to young girls (or anyone who loves the 80s), but I think boys could enjoy this one too. Overall, it's a great video for kids.

Well, what can you say about this Rainbow Brite adventure. Peter and Tracy are having a great time at the San Diego Zoo until they confuse black Jaguars with colored ones. They think someone is stealing the color in the zoo, and so they try to summon the Mistress of Color(tm) herself, Rainbow Brite.

Rainbow Brite is a huge-headed costumed charactar with large softball sized eyes that blinks VERY slowly. Her companion is Twink, a large white puffball with a very annoying voice. Rainbow Brite arrives via rainbow, and immedietly the group splits up.

It turns out that somebody really does want to remove all the color. Murkey, an evil grey-loving guy, and his sidekick Lurky, who is large, brown, and has arms growing out of his ears. They want to turn all the animals grey for Murkey's special amusement park.

All threw the video, a narrator gives us about the animals in the park. Unfortunitly, eduction value on the tape is nil. Everybody knows lions and tigers are big cats. Also, you need to take some notes, becuase she quizes you after the credits. No, I'm not kidding.

Murky and Lurky steal Rainbow Brite's color belt and hid in their secret jungle lair, using a giant trombone to remove all the color from the animals. And take all the color out of the sky. And everything around the animals. And everything else. All Murky's machine really does is make the projector use black and white film.

It's up to Rainbow Brite to save the day. The crew find Murky's hideout (complete with "No Rainbow Brite" signs) and stop Murky and Lurky once and for all. Or at least until the next episode. I really can't see how many adventures you can have about a guy who steals colors.

Overall, the idea was alright. Everything else was wrong. The costumes have you wetting your pants, either out of laughter or fear. Dialog is horrible. At one point, the video promised to be a musical, but changes it's mind part way threw. Overall, 2 out of 9.7.

P.S. Never ask Lurky to make moose calls.

It was a great plot, and a lot of fun for kids seeing all the neat animals. Since the animals are live, they made the characters live action too, and they are kind of scary. The heads are huge, and just compared to some of the other people at the zoo in the show, the characters are way out of proportion. This would have to be my least favorite Rainbow Brite show, stick with the cartoons.