Lady Lovely Locks

Lady Lovely Locks and the Pixietails is a character property created by American Greetings subsidiary Those Characters from Cleveland (creators of Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears and Popples among others) in the mid-1980s which soon expanded into a toyline by Mattel. An animated television series produced by DIC Animation City was produced in 1987, running for a single series of ten half-hour episodes (each consisting of two segments); and was syndicated by LBS Communications on the Kideo TV strand.^[4]

Lady LovelyLocks is the princess of the Kingdom of LovelyLocks. She and her friends are aided by the Pixietails in keeping the kingdom safe from its enemies. Among the hero characters of the show are Lady LovelyLocks, Maiden FairHair, Maiden CurlyCrown, the Pixietails, Prince StrongHeart, ShiningGlory, SilkyPup (a puppy), and SilkyMane (a horse).^[5] The main villains are Duchess RavenWaves, HairBall, and their Comb Gnomes, the latter of whom tend to speak in rhyme. The show was cancelled after one season.^[6]

The series was produced by the French and Japanese animators of Rainbow Brite and Jem, among other 1980s cartoons. The music for the series was composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban and supervised by Marty Wereski. The original "Lady LovelyLocks" theme song was composed by Shuki Levy and produced by the music department of Saban Productions and performed by Donna De Lory. The original full theme song can be heard on Shuki Levy's official website.

Hi-Tops Video released five Lady LovelyLocks videos in the 1980s. These videos have since reappeared on the market. They resurfaced as part of the DVD set "Girls Rule Vol. 1" which included the following cartoon series: Jem, Rainbow Brite, and Lady LovelyLocks. Several of the episodes are also available on a DVD in the "Biggest DVD Ever" series for Lady LovelyLocks. Two episodes have never been collected except on the Australian VHS edition, and German DVD releases. As of 2024, the series is currently owned by WildBrain.^[7]

• Syndication (April 4, 1987 – June 6, 1987) (Kideo TV)

• Jetix Play (2007–2008)

• Sky Channel (Then Sky One) (November 27, 1987 – August 7, 1989) (Then: Sky One In 1989)

• Channel 5 Video (1987–1989)

• Lady LovelyLocks - The series' main protagonist, and Lady is her given name. She wears a pink dress and has blonde hair with streaks symbolizing her royalty in three colors: soft pink (dawn), gold (sun) and lavender (twilight). She is the princess of the Kingdom of LovelyLocks as well as its main source of power and life. She is a very loyal, brave, kind, selfless, polite, resourceful, optimistic, dependable and friendly individual who always treasures her people and her home. (Paired with three bunny-like Pixietails for the first toy line.)
• Maiden FairHair - A maiden and best friend of Lady LovelyLocks who wears a blue dress and whose light brown hair is worn in waves. A natural beauty, party-planner, daydreamer and painter, she is very serene, cool-headed, and intelligent, but would sometimes lose track of something important and/or, to the extent, her sense of direction. (Paired with three squirrel/chipmunk-like Pixietails for the first toy line.)
• Maiden CurlyCrown - Another maiden and friend of Lady LovelyLocks who wears a yellow dress and curly red hair. A funny and imaginative girl with a big heart, she loves making up stories, styling her hair, and collecting bugs, but is somewhat impulsive and, despite being quite smart, would sometimes get herself into trouble. (Paired with three bird-like Pixietails for the first toy line.)
• SilkyMane - Lady's kind-hearted, trusty royal-purple horse who always understands her thoughts and feelings. (Paired with five bunny-like Pixietails for the toy line.)
• SilkyPup - Lady's happy-go-lucky, yet trouble-prone pink pet puppy who has a secret crush on the Prince. (Paired with three bird-like Pixietails for the toy line.)
• ShiningGlory - a blind, yet very wise and powerful sorcerer and wizard, and the beloved mentor to Lady and her friends. He often aids Lady with his magic. It appears that he adopted the Prince after he was cursed. When inside a dimensionally transcendental crystal in his castle, ShiningGlory has his eyesight, but when outside, he is blind. The character was never produced for the toy line.
• Prince StrongHeart - originally a human, but was turned into a dog known as "Prince" as a result of a dreadful curse. He often visits the castle gardens since being adopted by ShiningGlory. At times, the opportunity for him to turn human again arises; however, he always foregoes that chance, opting to help his companions instead, such as coming to Lady's rescue when she is in danger. He is not often seen in his human form, though in ShiningGlory's crystal, StrongHeart appears human. For the toy line, he was produced as a brown-haired human, whereas he appears blond in the show. (Paired with two to three mouse-like Pixietails for the toy line, depending on the variant.)

• Duchess RavenWaves - The series' main antagonist. She wears a purple dress and, like Maiden FairHair, her black hair is styled in waves. She is the mean, jealous, cruel, stubborn, selfish, domineering, cold, and conniving ruler of Tangleland, as well as the main archenemy of Lady LovelyLocks. Duchess always plots dastardly schemes to take over the Kingdom of LovelyLocks for herself, and believes that cutting off a piece of her rival's hair would help her reach that goal. Despite all of her negative traits she is not evil, and on a few occasions actually helps Lady when it is to their mutual advantage.
• HairBall - a former apprentice of ShiningGlory who is now in the employ of RavenWaves. Deemed untrustworthy by good people, he specializes in magic and is quite practical when it comes to making and causing trouble. He also acts miserable when he feels defeated; however, this makes him quite sympathetic to his peers. The animated show depicts HairBall as a non-human troll-like creature, whereas most print media depicts him as a human dwarf. The character was never produced for the toy line.
• Comb Gnomes - creatures with big ears and wild-looking hair and fur who are henchmen of Duchess RavenWaves and accomplices to HairBall. They are mischievous and mean-spirited, yet lazy and irresponsible when executing their plans, and become upset when their part of a planned scheme fails. They are also archenemies to the Pixietails, as they all have magical powers, of which theirs is a lightning attack. Their names are Snags, Dulla and Tanglet. Unlike the many different Pixietails, these three are the only Comb Gnomes ever to be seen in the animated show; print media depicts many more of the species living in Tangleland. Only two different Comb Gnomes were supposed to have been produced for the toy line (hot pink and dark purple tails), though due to quality control issues, a few color variants exist.

The Pixietails are colorful, fairy-like animals, who help Lady LovelyLocks whenever she is in need of a solution to a problem or whenever someone is in trouble. Lady's (and SilkyMane's) Pixietails are bunny-like, FairHair's Pixietails are squirrel/chipmunk-like, and CurlyCrown's (and SilkyPup's) Pixietails are bird-like. In the toy line, Prince StrongHeart's (and the baby dragons') Pixietails are mouse-like. In the animated show, Lady's bunny-like Pixietails are able to fly, whereas in print media only bird-like (and later butterfly-like) Pixietails are depicted flying.

The toy line's expansion into the Enchanted Island series later introduced fish-like, turtle-like, snail-like, and seahorse-like Sea Magic Pixietails, each with tightly-curled strands of power-curls added to their regular tails. Lady was paired with three fish-like, FairHair with two turtle-like, and CurlyCrown with two snail-like Pixietails. A few of the bunny-like and bird-like Pixietails were later given power-curls as well, sold with ballerina variants of Lady LovelyLocks and Maiden FairHair, and in separately available fashion-packs that also featured more of the Enchanted Island's Sea Magic Pixietails.

The toy line's final expansion added six butterfly-like Pixietails with sparkly strands to its lineup of flower-scented CurlyKittens, and three to a "Sparkle Pretty LadyLovelyLocks" doll.

Named Pixietails include:

• Pixieshine - A blue bunny-like Pixietail under the ownership of Lady LovelyLocks.
• Pixiebeauty - A purple bunny-like Pixietail under the ownership of Lady LovelyLocks.
• Pixiesparkle - A pink bunny-like Pixietail under the ownership of Lady LovelyLocks.

Dragons exist in the Kingdom of LovelyLocks. They can breathe fire and have wings to fly with. Instead of hatching from eggs, newborn dragons are born from the Dragon Tree. A plant called Dragon's Hair has some connection. For the toy line, the baby dragons' Pixietails are mouse-like.

• LongCurl - The large, yellow mother dragon of the dragon triplets (not produced for the toy line).
• SweetCurl - Pink baby dragon (paired with a yellow-and-orange-pink mouse-like Pixietail for the toy line).
• MerryCurl - Purple baby dragon (paired with a blue-and-yellow-pink mouse-like Pixietail for the toy line).
• BouncyCurl - Green baby dragon (paired with a pink-and-blue-green mouse-like Pixietail for the toy line).

Only appearing in the toy line and some print media, these three shy, humanoid fairies are described to hide behind their long hair, among the colorful flowers and shrubs in the valley between the Kingdom of LovelyLocks and Enchanted Island. They're "so bashful that they only peek out when their friends are near." The toy line first introduced them with bird-like Pixietails, but quickly changed the pairing to Enchanted Island's (turtle-like, snail-like, and fish-like) Sea Magic Pixietails.

• PerkyPeek - Pink-haired fairy with purple streaks, and a yellow turtle-like Sea Magic Pixietail.
• SunnyPeek - Blue-haired fairy with green streaks, and a pink snail-like Sea Magic Pixietail.
• PearlyPeek - Purple-haired fairy with pink streaks, and a blue fish-like Sea Magic Pixietail.

Only appearing in the toy line's Enchanted Island expansion, these three seal-like "water babies" are described to be "hiding under giant lilypad hats, and love to play in the water." Produced to float, they can "ferry the Sea Magic Pixietails around the waters of Enchanted Island." The toy line paired them with Enchanted Island's (turtle-like, snail-like, and fish-like) Sea Magic Pixietails.

• LilySplash - Blue seal-like creature with a yellow lilypad hat, and an orange-and-pink fish-like Sea Magic Pixietail.
• LilySprinkle - Yellow seal-like creature with a purple lilypad hat, and a blue-and-pink turtle-like Sea Magic Pixietail.
• LilyBubble - Purple seal-like creature with a pink lilypad hat, and a yellow-and-orange seahorse-like Sea Magic Pixietail.

• Maiden GoldenWaves - only appearing in the toy line's Enchanted Island expansion and some print media, this maiden is a light-skinned, blonde-and-blue-haired mermaid in a blue tail-like dress, and two seahorse-like (purple-pink and orange-yellow) Sea Magic Pixietails.
• Maiden MistyCurls - only appearing in the toy line's Enchanted Island expansion, this maiden is a dark-skinned, black-and-purple-haired mermaid in a purple tail-like dress, and two seahorse-like (pink-orange and blue-purple) Sea Magic Pixietails.

Only appearing in the toy line's final expansion, six colorful kittens appear in the Kingdom of LovelyLocks to "make the yearly Flower Ball even more fragrant with their different flower scents". Each is paired with one sparkly-tailed, butterfly-like Pixietail.

• PinkyPaws - Pink, rose-scented kitten with blue-and-purple butterfly-like Pixietail.
• PurplePurr - Purple, lilac-scented kitten with blue-and-pink butterfly-like Pixietail.
• PeachyPuff - Orange, lilly-scented kitten with green-and-yellow butterfly-like Pixietail.
• SunnySoft - Yellow, buttercup-scented kitten with pink-and-purple butterfly-like Pixietail.
• SapphireShy - Blue, carnation-scented kitten with yellow-and-pink butterfly-like Pixietail.
• CreamyCoat - White, gardenia-scented kitten with purple-and-pink butterfly-like Pixietail.

The Lady Lovely Locks toy line was created by Those Characters from Cleveland and produced by Mattel from 1986 to 1989. The toy line consists of character dolls that are approximately 8.5 inches tall, with certain dolls having long, colorful locks.^[8] Most dolls came with two to three Pixietails (small, colorful, iridescent-plastic-bodied clip-ons in the shapes of critter-like animals with long silky tails). The Pixietails could be worn in the hair of either the doll or the child.

Additional items in the toy line included other pets, ten fashion-packs, six playsets, and multiple accessory packs such as crowns (tiaras) and sunglasses packaged with more Pixietails.

Playsets produced:

• Castle LovelyLocks - including 7 to 8 Pixietails (2 variants)
• Pixietail Tree House (hidden vanity) - including 5 to 6 Pixietails (2 variants)
• Sea Magic Salon (vanity) - including 4 Pixietails
• Beauty Magic Throne (convertible vanity) - including 4 Pixietails
• Fairy Tale Bedroom - included no Pixietails
• Fairy Tale Boat (swan) - included no Pixietails

Mattel's toy line packaging, as well as most other Lady LovelyLocks merchandise prominently feature illustrator Maria Gamiere's original artwork. The artist is also responsible for the property's logo design.

A number of tie-in books were released alongside the toyline and animated series. Among these books are "An Enchanting Fairy-Tale Adventure", "For the Love of LovelyLocks", "Lady LovelyLocks Original Story" (1987), "SilkyPup Saves the Day", "SilkyPup's Butterfly Adventure" (1987) and "The Golden Ball".

In the eighth season episode of the series That '70s Show, "Killer Queen", the character Randy says: "Donna, Hyde's already given me a nickname. It's Mrs. Lady Lovely Locks". This is an anachronism, as the Lady Lovely Locks toyline and animated TV series were released in the mid-1980s.

A customised version of the tape was chosen by film critic Gene Siskel as his worst gift for the 1987 holiday season during the Holiday Gift Guide episode of Siskel & Ebert.^[9]

In Germany, ten audio tapes were produced by Europa, which extended on and continued the storylines that were never resolved by the short-lived animated TV series. Not only did the tapes dive into Lady's childhood, but they also resolved Prince StrongHeart's curse by turning him human, featured the couple's wedding and the birth of their daughter, as well as the infant's kidnapping by Duchess RavenWaves, and her glorious rescue. While each character had her or his own voice actor, the series was narrated by Hans Paetsch. The voice actors differed from those used in the animated series.

• Tony St. Vincent - Lady LovelyLocks, Pixiesparkle
• Jeannie Elias - Maiden FairHair, Pixiebeauty, Snags, Dulla
• Brian George - ShiningGlory, Pixieshine, HairBall
• Danny Mann - Prince StrongHeart, Tanglet, Comb Gnomes
• Louise Vallance - Duchess RavenWaves, Maiden CurlyCrown

In Germany, the first three episodes (six, counting the way Germans numbered them) were released on three VHS tapes. The tapes contain these episodes dubbed in German with the opening theme and closing credits as well as a TV commercial for the Lady Lovely Locks dolls.

In November 2015, the entire series was released on DVD in Germany containing both German and English audio tracks (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) under the name "Lady Lockenlicht" which translates into "Lady Locks Light". It uses the broadcast TV material as seen on German television, which is 1:1 identical to the English video material except that it is converted to PAL and therefore slightly faster than the original NTSC format.

• Lady Lovelylocks and the Pixietails at IMDb
• Lady Lovely Locks and The Pixietails - Unofficial Website
• List of Dolls