Rainbow Brite and The Star Stealer - Reception and Release

Reception and Release

Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer was not screened in advance for critics in its initial release, and subsequently fared weakly among them. Janet Maslin of The New York Times said in her short review, " isn't a movie; it's a marketing tool." She was referring to animated fare which, at the time, had just begun the practice of cashing in on pre-sold toy lines. Michael Blowen of The Boston Globe said, " is so incompetently crafted that it makes the Saturday-morning cartoons seem like Disney classics." As for Stuart Fisher, a contributor for Jerry Beck's Animated Movie Guide: "Sorry, kids, the star stealer was here," referring to the zero stars given to it in the book. The Family Guide to Movies on Video called it "Not strong on imagination or substance but lots of color and action designed to sell dolls to the toddler set."

Opening at seventh place with US$1.8 million, and running for just five weeks at a 1,090-venue maximum, Star Stealer groseed US$4,889,971 at the North American box-office, months before a 13-episode syndicated series appeared on DIC's Kideo TV block. A tie-in comic book to the film was issued by DC Comics.

In November 2004, Warner Home Video released the movie on DVD in U.S. Region 1 territories. The new disc featured a cleaned up and remastered transfer of the film which boasted brighter colors. The new transfer was not in widescreen, but was an "open matte" 1.33:1 version. The only bonus features included were a sing-along version of the opening song, "Brand New Day", and a "Find the Missing Color Belt" game, as extras. Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer has been put on the Netflix streaming service.