Reading Rainbow (found Johnny Kemp opening sequence for PBS children's educational series; 1999): Difference between revisions
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'''''Reading Rainbow''''' was a children's TV show that ran on PBS from 1983-2006, with reruns shown until 2009.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2009/08/28/112312561/reading-rainbow-reaches-its-final-chapter An article from NPR talking about the reruns ending in 2009.] Retrieved 22 Jun '18</ref> It encouraged reading through celebrity read-throughs of stories, and kids reviewing books with a similar theme, in segments tied together with host LeVar Burton visiting relevant places. A revival called "Reading Rainbow Live" is currently in development at WNED,<ref>[https://www.avclub.com/take-a-look-its-in-a-book-its-a-new-reading-rainbow-l-1848177000 AV Club article about revival.] Retrieved 8 December 2021</ref>and will airing in early 2022.<ref>[https://bookriot.com/reading-rainbow-live/ Book Riot article about revival.] Retrieved 8 December 2021</ref> The original ''Reading Rainbow'' theme song was composed by Steve Horelick, Dennis Neil Kleinman, and Janet Weir, and has received several singers over the years. | '''''Reading Rainbow''''' was a children's TV show produced by WNED and Lancit Media, that ran on PBS from 1983-2006, with reruns shown until 2009.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2009/08/28/112312561/reading-rainbow-reaches-its-final-chapter An article from NPR talking about the reruns ending in 2009.] Retrieved 22 Jun '18</ref> It encouraged reading through celebrity read-throughs of stories, and kids reviewing books with a similar theme, in segments tied together with host LeVar Burton visiting relevant places. A revival called "Reading Rainbow Live" is currently in development at WNED,<ref>[https://www.avclub.com/take-a-look-its-in-a-book-its-a-new-reading-rainbow-l-1848177000 AV Club article about revival.] Retrieved 8 December 2021</ref>and will airing in early 2022.<ref>[https://bookriot.com/reading-rainbow-live/ Book Riot article about revival.] Retrieved 8 December 2021</ref> The original ''Reading Rainbow'' theme song was composed by Steve Horelick, Dennis Neil Kleinman, and Janet Weir, and has received several singers over the years. | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
''Reading Rainbow'' episodes produced from 1983-1999 began with an opening produced by Ovation Films, in which Tina Fabrique sang over vignettes combining live-action footage with hand-drawn animation. In Summer 1999, the opening underwent a complete overhaul, courtesy of Black Logic.<ref>[http://forums.lostmediawiki.com/post/16951 A post from the LMW Forum's thread about this intro.] Retrieved 22 Jun '18</ref> Now, it combined live-action with computer animation and integrated clips from old episodes. '''The theme song received a new rendition, sung by Johnny Kemp.''' An instrumental of this version of the song played over the end credits. For consistency's sake, PBS attached these to reruns of past installments. | ''Reading Rainbow'' episodes produced from 1983-1999 began with an opening produced by Ovation Films, in which Tina Fabrique sang over vignettes combining live-action footage with hand-drawn animation. In Summer 1999, the opening underwent a complete overhaul, courtesy of Black Logic.<ref>[http://forums.lostmediawiki.com/post/16951 A post from the LMW Forum's thread about this intro.] Retrieved 22 Jun '18</ref> Now, it combined live-action with computer animation and integrated clips from old episodes. '''The theme song received a new rendition, sung by Johnny Kemp.''' An instrumental of this version of the song played over the end credits. For consistency's sake, PBS attached these to reruns of past installments and most print on DVD and digital distribution. | ||
==Availability== | ==Availability== | ||
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==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Rainbow Wikipedia article of ''Reading Rainbow''.] | |||
*[https://www.readingrainbow.org/ ''Reading Rainbow'' official website.] | *[https://www.readingrainbow.org/ ''Reading Rainbow'' official website.] | ||
*[https://www.amazon.com/Magic-School-Bus-Inside-Earth/dp/B01M4FEIHA Amazon Video page for ''Reading Rainbow'' season eight.] | *[https://www.amazon.com/Magic-School-Bus-Inside-Earth/dp/B01M4FEIHA Amazon Video page for ''Reading Rainbow'' season eight.] |
Revision as of 08:10, 8 December 2021
The Reading Rainbow title card from 1999-2006.
Status: Found
Date found: 10 Jan 2018
Found by: CDCB2 and Drew Trachier
Reading Rainbow was a children's TV show produced by WNED and Lancit Media, that ran on PBS from 1983-2006, with reruns shown until 2009.[1] It encouraged reading through celebrity read-throughs of stories, and kids reviewing books with a similar theme, in segments tied together with host LeVar Burton visiting relevant places. A revival called "Reading Rainbow Live" is currently in development at WNED,[2]and will airing in early 2022.[3] The original Reading Rainbow theme song was composed by Steve Horelick, Dennis Neil Kleinman, and Janet Weir, and has received several singers over the years.
History
Reading Rainbow episodes produced from 1983-1999 began with an opening produced by Ovation Films, in which Tina Fabrique sang over vignettes combining live-action footage with hand-drawn animation. In Summer 1999, the opening underwent a complete overhaul, courtesy of Black Logic.[4] Now, it combined live-action with computer animation and integrated clips from old episodes. The theme song received a new rendition, sung by Johnny Kemp. An instrumental of this version of the song played over the end credits. For consistency's sake, PBS attached these to reruns of past installments and most print on DVD and digital distribution.
Availability
Disappearance
The Reading Rainbow theme song and opening underwent some more changes before the show ended. In 2001, Chaka Khan recorded a new version of the song, and the visuals experienced some tweaks. The "butterfly in the sky" mentioned in the lyrics finally disappeared, making the "reading rainbow" appear to materialize by itself. LeVar also received more screentime, at the expense of a computer-animated dragon. This opening and corresponding end credits music were first used as late as September 2001,[5] and accompanied all Reading Rainbow episodes until PBS finally stopped airing the program.
The latest prints of Reading Rainbow, for DVD and digital distribution, mostly use Chaka Khan's rendition of the theme song.[6] Tina Fabrique's rendition remains viewable on Reading Rainbow VHS tapes released before 1999, and on video recordings from the era.[7] Unfortunately, since PBS did not use Johnny Kemp's rendition for very long, it didn't seem likely that it would appear on any of the show's home media releases. Evidence of its existence also seemed rather scarce for several years, coming mostly from the recollections of people who happened to watch Reading Rainbow at this time. This Wiki identified Kemp as the singer via email correspondence with Steve Horelick.
Findings
On December 29th, 2017, YouTube user CDCB2 uploaded an end credit sequence from a recording of a 1999 broadcast of the Reading Rainbow episode "Bored, Nothing to Do!", which features the Johnny Kemp version of the theme song playing in the background. On January 10th, 2018, YouTube user Drew Trachier found the opening sequence with Johnny Kemp, though this upload eventually disappeared. On March 4th, 2018, YouTube user Vance's TV Archive uploaded a higher quality version of the intro. Judging from the brief shot of the Starship Enterprise, this upload came from a rerun of "The Bionic Bunny Show" (which LeVar hosted from the set of another of his most famous TV shows, Star Trek: The Next Generation); the description explains that Vance got the tape from a trade with "Game Hero". On May 14th, 2018, YouTube user ClosingLogosHD uploaded the intro in an even better quality, sourced according to the comments and description from Amazon's print of the season eight premiere, "The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth". Another YouTuber, Alan Grant, ripped the instrumental from the end credits of that print and posted it on his channel on May 31st, 2018.
Gallery
See Also
Bumpers
- PBS Kids (partially lost schedule bumpers and interstitial material of children's channel block; 1999-present)
- Bookworm Bunch (partially found interstitials from PBS Kids channel block; 2000-2001)
- Someday School (partially found PBS Kids channel block; 1998-2000)
PBS
- Storytime (found PBS children's reading series; 1992-1998)
- Zoom (partially found revival of 1972 PBS children's series; 1999-2005)
- Zoom (partially found pilot of revival of 1972 PBS children's series; 1997)
- Lamb Chop's Play-Along (partially lost PBS children's puppet series; 1992)
- The Puzzle Place (partially found PBS puppet series; 1994-1998)
- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood "Mister Rogers Talks About Conflict" (found episode arc of PBS children's educational series; 1983)
- Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? "Auld Lang Gone" (non-existent episode of PBS children's game show; 1992)
PBS Kids
- Cyberchase: The Poddleville Case (found pilot of PBS Kids animated educational series; 1999)
- Dragon Tales "One Small Step for Cassie" and "Circle of Friends" (lost pilots of PBS Kids animated series; 1999)
- The Charlie Horse Music Pizza (partially lost PBS Kids "Lamb Chop's Play-Along" spin-off series; 1998-1999)
- Space Race (partially found PBS Kids web series; 2011)
- Kratts' Creatures (found PBS children's educational series; 1996)
- The Good Night Show with Nina & Star (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2006-2017)
- The Good Night Show with Melanie/Leo (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2005-2006)
- Preschool Musical... On a Stick (partially lost PBS Kids Sprout "High School Musical" parody; 2008)
- Curious George (lost test pilot of PBS Kids animated series based on books; existence unconfirmed; 2004/2005)
- WordWorld (lost 2D/live-action test pilot of PBS Kids CGI animated educational series; existence unconfirmed; 2005)
- What's The Big Idea? (lost original pilot of "Sid The Science Kid" PBS Kids CGI animated series; 2007)
- Nature Cat (lost pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; early 2010s)
External Links
- Wikipedia article of Reading Rainbow.
- Reading Rainbow official website.
- Amazon Video page for Reading Rainbow season eight.
- A website about Steve Horelick, who developed the 1999 theme for Reading Rainbow.
References
- ↑ An article from NPR talking about the reruns ending in 2009. Retrieved 22 Jun '18
- ↑ AV Club article about revival. Retrieved 8 December 2021
- ↑ Book Riot article about revival. Retrieved 8 December 2021
- ↑ A post from the LMW Forum's thread about this intro. Retrieved 22 Jun '18
- ↑ Archive.org upload of a 9-11-01 airing of the episode "Rumpelstiltskin". Retrieved 22 Jun '18
- ↑ Amazon review of a 2010 Reading Rainbow DVD box set. Retrieved 22 Jun '18
- ↑ Opening to 1986 Arthur's Eyes VHS. Retrieved 22 Jun '18