Amidst our current corporate media landscape, the power of public broadcasting has received a cinematic reckoning. In 2018, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? recounted the life of its biggest defender, Fred Rogers, and the lasting legacy he left behind through his work on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Just last year, Street Gang investigated the indelible impact of Sesame Street and its revolutionary model of education through television, fully embodied by the legendary Jim Henson.
Now comes a spiritual trilogy-capper: Butterfly in the Sky, a joyously insightful and heartfelt look at the inception, production, and influence of another longtime children’s program, Reading Rainbow, spearheaded by the luminous LeVar Burton.
Despite the fact that these shows make up the three longest-running PBS children’s programs of all-time, a documentary about Reading Rainbow feels like it has the most to prove. Its cultural cache often slips through the cracks in comparison, and not for no reason. Reading Rainbow was released fifteen years after Rogers and Henson had already become household names and is the only one of the three shows to have been canceled mid-run; Rogers retired, leaving the show to end on his own terms, though a spin-off based on Daniel Tiger continues to air. Meanwhile, Elmo and Big Bird have just taken Sesame Street to (Off-)Broadway.
But perhaps the largest reason was because Reading Rainbow wasn’t concerned with silly characters or iconic images. As seen in countless informative interviews with the show’s creative team, every choice they made was in service to the power of reading and how it exposed them to concepts in everyday life. It doesn’t translate well to IP-centric brand awareness, nor to a digital world where children learn how to swipe a screen before they turn a page, which is maybe why a reboot has yet to launch successfully.
It’s easy to see Reading Rainbow as a relic, but directors Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb see it for what it actually was: a product of its time that was simultaneously ahead of it. Where most television programming was concerned with keeping kids glued to the screen, creator Twila Liggett’s then-subversive concept – a tv show that served as a gateway drug to the power of reading – used television as a way to make the outside world shine even brighter. Burton distills the sentiment at one point in the film: “All television is educational. The question is, ‘What are we teaching?’”
Liggett herself, a very compelling figure in her own right, is heavily featured in the documentary, as are many of the show’s creators and formative production team members. Ranging from humble educators to genuine filmmakers, their wholesome and genuine love of their time on the show makes each and every behind-the-scenes story inspiring. As you listen to a previously untapped history unfold before you, it becomes remarkable to see the wide-range of subjects covered on the show, from active volcanoes to live pregnancies to even the filming of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. One highlight recounts James Earl Jones putting his all into a reading of “Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain,” an almost surreally hilarious moment in a very funny film overall.
Special focus is given to an interview with Burton himself. In its comprehensive excavation of the show’s wide-ranging impact, perhaps the film’s most resonant point is in the importance of its host. After achieving prominence following his breakout performance as slave Kunta Kinte in “Roots,” Burton maintained there was power in television. He pushed to maintain his authentic self throughout Reading Rainbow’s run, even if it meant sporting an earring. Through its interviews and archival footage, Butterfly in the Sky highlights a black man being his authentic self on a national stage and makes it clear how revolutionary it was.
Reading Rainbow used the art and power of its medium to its fullest extent. A Black man became the ultimate TV dad, but a diverse array of children were also given chances to express their opinions entirely uncoached and unscripted. In interviews with several of these children, now adults, many say the show gave them a voice that they would capitalize on later in life. It’s a touching culmination that firmly cements Butterfly in the Sky as not merely a celebration of Reading Rainbow, but an excavation and re-evaluation of its impact on an entire generation of artists.
Butterfly in the Sky screened as part of the “Non/Fiction” section of the Philadelphia Film Festival. It will next be seen at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. The film is currently seeking distribution. Follow @ButterflySkyDoc for updates.
Through a comprehensive history, breezy pacing, and hilarious moments, Butterfly in the Sky is essential viewing for Reading Rainbow fans and newcomers alike.
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GVN Rating 10
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Larry Fried is a filmmaker, writer, and podcaster based in New Jersey. He is the host and creator of the podcast “My Favorite Movie is…,” a podcast dedicated to helping filmmakers make somebody’s next favorite movie. He is also the Visual Content Manager for Special Olympics New Jersey, an organization dedicated to competition and training opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities across the Garden State.