Growing up I watched a ton of TV but not to the point where it was bad. I watched TV but would also spend a lot of time outside in nature with the trees and beauty of our Mother Earth. I even had a special tree that was one of my best friends until the city cut it down and that was a sad day.

Anyway during the time I was watching TV I watched a lot of very creative shows. A few of these shows where all about making the world a better place through helping our environment, or through spreading peace and love to all of humanity on earth. In the ’80s a few shows that my sisters where big into when they were very little was Rainbow Brite and Care Bears both shows about spreading the beauty and love to the world. Now I more so watched the movies that were made from these shows but I did catch an episode or two of the shows. Then in the ’90s when I was little there was a show called Captain Planet which was about saving the earth from nasty environmental harms that will pollute the planet. All three shows had such catchy theme songs and they just really meant so much to me and still do. I feel these three shows had in some way a hand in helping to make me into the person I am today. That’s why besides my culture and just being a descent human being I fight so much to protect this planet and the creatures and people on it because I watched TV shows that taught me the value in these things. It showed me that I can fight as a warrior for this planet through love, peace and compassion for the planet and others.

Rainbow Brite:  

Rainbow Brite is a media franchise by Hallmark Cards, introduced in 1983. The animated television series of the same name first aired in 1984, the same year Hallmark licensed Rainbow Brite to Mattel for a range of dolls and other merchandise. A theatrical feature-length film, Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer was released by Warner Bros. in 1985. The franchise was rebooted in 1996, 2003, 2009, 2014 and then again in 2015 through Hallmark’s online on-demand streaming video service Feeln. 2015 also saw with it a line of new merchandise sold only by Hallmark online and in its shops.

Premise of ’80s TV Show: In Gen 1 continuity, and most of the franchise’s backstory, a young girl named Wisp is brought to a gray, desolate land with the mission to bring color to this fictional world by locating the Sphere of Light. Along the way she befriends a Sprite named Twink, a magnificent horse named Starlite and finds a mysterious baby who turns out to be the key to her mission. With the help of her new friends, Wisp locates the legendary Color Belt and rescues the seven Color Kids, who had been trapped by the King of Shadows. Using the Color Belt, Rainbow Brite and the Sphere of Light defeat the King of Shadows, liberate the Sprites and bring color and beauty to the land, henceforth called Rainbow Land. Wisp is renamed Rainbow Brite in honor of her new role as leader of the Color Kids, who are together in charge of all the colors in the universe. Each Color Kid is in charge of his/her respective color and tasked with the management of their similarly colored Sprites. The Color Kids spread color across the universe from the Color Console inside the Color Castle. Each Color Kid works with his/her own personal Sprite, who manages a number of like-colored Sprites that mine Color Crystals from the nearby Color Caves. These crystals are processed into Star Sprinkles which are the essential components to brightening and coloring any object or place. Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids’ mission is often complicated by the likes of Murky Dismal, his sidekick Lurky, and other series villains. Brian, a boy from Earth, sometimes assisted Rainbow Brite in her adventures.

Premise of Movie: In the movie Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, the setting expands to include the diamond planet Spectra. All the light in the universe must pass through Spectra before coming to Earth. However, Earth soon falls into a wintry darkness when the diamond-obsessed Dark Princess decides to steal Spectra for her own. Rainbow Brite must team with Spectra’s boy warrior Krys to defeat the powers of darkness and save Spectra, Earth and the universe.

Growing up I only watched a few episodes of the TV series but never dived that deep into what it had in store. I watched the first episode and the one where Rainbow meets Josh but other then that I never had the chance to fully watch the whole series. But I was able to watch the movie which was amazing. Now the best parts of the movie was the music from the song Brand New Day which just hits every time in the nostalgic feels and makes me start tearing up. Then just the hope she inflects to the world with her bright happy way about her. She knows that by believing in the goodness in our world and spreading that around which I think is awesome.

Rainbow Brite is a (s)hero to me although I’ve always loved all the color kids of color. Plus Shy Violet is like my spirit animal as we are both super shy but love to send love and peace to the world. And Indigo was so cute.

In my life I want to embody this whole vibe this show and movie gives me. I want to spread peace and love to the world and help to bring brite colors to the world in spring.

Care Bears:

The Care Bears are a group of multi-colored bear characters. The original artwork was painted by artist Elena Kucharik for American Greetings Corporation, LLC in 1981 to be used on greeting cards; but the characters were later used for toys, and in TV programs and films. The original development was through American Greetings’ “Those Characters From Cleveland” research and development division, In 1983, Kenner turned the Care Bears into plush teddy bears. The Care Bears appeared in TV specials called The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings (1983) and The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine (1984). They then had a television series from 1985 to 1988, and three feature films: The Care Bears Movie (1985), Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1985) and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987). Each Care Bear comes in a different color and has a specialized insignia on its belly that represents its duty and personality. This insignia was known as their “tummy symbol”. However, the movie Care Bears: Oopsy Does It! renamed them “belly badges”. Adding to the Care Bear family are the “Care Bear Cousins”, which feature a lion, rabbit, penguin, raccoon, monkey, elephant, pig, dog, cat, and other such animals created in the same style as the teddy bears.

Premise of ’80s TV Show: On September 24, 1982, the Care Bears franchise was launched in New York City before members of the area’s Society of Security Analysts. Attending the event were American Greetings president Morry Weiss, and two employees of Those Characters from Cleveland: Jack Chojnacki and senior vice-president Henry Lowenthal. Eventually, the characters were announced as a toyline for production by Parker Brothers and Kenner the following spring, as well as pre-licensed characters and media stars. At that time, American Greetings touted their debut as “the biggest character launch in the history of retailing”. On a US$5–6 million advertising budget and a wholesale commitment worth US$122.5 million, American Greetings introduced the characters to the general public in February 1983, with an appearance at New York City’s Toy Fair; 26 licensees were involved upon launch. Among them was General Mills, a food company which owned the board game manufacturer Parker Brothers. In early 1983, Parker Brothers released six books featuring the Care Bears as part of its publishing division’s first offerings. On television, the original ten Bears starred in their first syndicated special, Atkinson Film-Arts’ The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings; Kenner produced and sponsored it.

In December 1983, American Greetings and CPG Products lost a lawsuit against Easter Unlimited, importers of a line known as “Message Bears”. According to New York City judge Leonard B. Sand, those toys lacked the “heart-shaped ‘toushee tags'” used to identify the Care Bears. In 1984, AGC introduced a spin-off line, the Care Bear Cousins; another syndicated special, The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine, came out that same year. A miniseries based on the toys was distributed by Lexington Broadcast Services Company. A year later, the Bears and Cousins starred in their first film, The Care Bears Movie, produced by Nelvana Limited and released by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. It became the highest-grossing animated film made outside the Disney market at the time of its release. Later that autumn, DIC Entertainment released an 11-episode television series in syndication.

In 1986, Nelvana returned to the franchise with a second movie, Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film featured a new villain, Dark Heart, and introduced more of the Care Bears and Care Bears Cousins: Harmony Bear, True Heart Bear, and Noble Heart Horse. Later that year, a TV series titled The Care Bears Family (also from Nelvana) premiered on the U.S. ABC network and Canada’s Global. Lasting two seasons and consisting of over 70 episodes, this introduced the evil wizard No Heart and his sidekick Beastly. In the second season, No Heart’s niece Shreeky was introduced. The Care Bears’ third film, The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, debuted in 1987. A TV special, Care Bears Nutcracker Suite, premiered on the Disney Channel in 1988. Over 40 million Care Bears were sold between 1983 and 1987, and American Greetings printed over 70 million of their cards during the decade. In whole, the sales of their merchandise reached over $2 billion during the 1980s.

Premise of ’80s Movies 1: The Care Bears Movie is a 1985 Canadian/American animated fantasy film, the second feature production from the Toronto animation studio Nelvana. One of the first films based directly on a toy line, it introduced the Care Bears characters and their companions, the Care Bear Cousins. In the film, orphanage owners tell a story about the Care Bears, who live in a cloud-filled land called Care-a-Lot. Traveling across Earth, the Bears help two lonely children named Kim and Jason find new parents, and also save a young magician’s apprentice named Nicholas from an evil spirit’s influence. Deep within a place called the Forest of Feelings, Kim, Jason, and their friends soon meet another group of creatures, the Care Bear Cousins.

Premise of ’80s Movie II:

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation is a 1986 children’s animated film produced by LBS Communications, Inc. and Canadian animation studio Nelvana and released by Columbia Pictures. The third animated feature from Nelvana, it was directed by Dale Schott, written by Peter Sauder and produced by Nelvana’s three founders (Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith). It starred the voices of Alyson Court, Cree Summer, Maxine Miller and Hadley Kay.

In the second film based on the Care Bears franchise, a character called The Great Wishing Star (voiced by Chris Wiggins) tells the origins of the Care Bears, and the story of their first Caring Mission. True Heart Bear and Noble Heart Horse lead the other Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins, as they come to the aid of Christy, a young camper who is tempted by an evil shape-shifting figure named Dark Heart. This is also the first appearance of the Care Bear Cubs, who also had their own line of toys.

Like Rainbow Brite I never really watched the TV show or the first movie but I watched the second movie which was my life as a kid. The fact that you can make a movie all about caring about the world and sending love and peace. I love the fact that they make being a good person so cool in these movies.

The Care Bears & Care Bear Cousins are just a good representation of the way we should always act. Plus they were so cute as babies.

And their songs that were in the second movie were so cute and also made me cry. Such a great franchise for kids showing that just by love, care & peace you can save the world.

Captain Planet:

“The Power is Yours!”

Premise of TV Show: Captain Planet and the Planeteers is an American animated environmentalist television program created by Ted Turner and Barbara Pyle.The series was produced by Turner Program Services and DIC Entertainment and it was broadcast on TBS from September 15, 1990, to December 5, 1992. A sequel series, The New Adventures of Captain Planet, was produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Program Services and was broadcast from September 11, 1993, to May 11, 1996. Both series continue today in syndication. The program is a form of edutainment and advocates environmentalism. In February 2009, Mother Nature Network began airing episodes and unreleased footage of Captain Planet and the Planeteers on its website.

Ok so the theme song is really catchy and don’t lie when you were a kid you totally wanted to be a planeteer I know I did and still do. Now I will say I think Power Rangers kind of stole the plot from this show when they thought 5 teens with attitude could help save the world. Anyway this show had a heart not shown on many other shows of its time. It purposefully showed kids ways they could help to save the planet at the end of each episode. This show also got pretty real for a kids show once or twice like when they talked about aids in one episode and gang violence in another.

I did have one bone to pick with this show which was they had a white kid represent America. So much for how you think of us you couldn’t have an Indigenous person represent this country or what? But I digress.

The planeteers are all given rings representing the four elements plus heart which that ring goes to the only person who could be of an Indigenous culture Ma-Ti  from the Brazilian Amazon. The heart ring is basically the spirit ring where he can bring in the spiritual aspect of saving the earth into the mix. I found that really cool and very telling of how this show felt about spirituality.

Now Captain Planet’s only kryptonite is pollution so if he gets dipped in oil he’s down for the count but cleaning him off and being energized by the sun helps to make him strong again. I also really love the fact that they took the Mother Earth concept seriously and made Gaia into a women in human form. It’s literally a women and the youth who are saving the day with a man in support. Kind of like what is playing out today in fights like at Standing Rock. Over all I personally found Captain Planet to be a great show that showed the power of coming together to fight for our planet.

I know I know all of these shows were super cheesy and maybe the animation wasn’t the best for the time period it came out during but for me this life for me and these are the cartoons I look back to when I’m fighting the good fight and need a little bit of inspiration to keep going.

Well Until Next Time…Spread Peace & Love!