Computerized Coloring Books

Lore & Background

Computerized Coloring Books is a collection of three games that function as basic computerized coloring books, requiring the player to fill in line art pictures. The player can choose from 16 colors, which can be mixed for up to 256 colors, and select backgrounds and characters based on scenes and characters from the respective films. The products support a wide range of printers, including dot matrix, color, and laser printers.

The Rock-a-Doodle game was released with Trolls and An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends on the Capstone CD Game Kids Collection. The FernGully game was designed to follow an environmentally friendly policy by optionally using a computer instead of consumable paper and using recycled paper. A coloring contest accompanied the product launch, including entry forms, for a $100 prize.

Reader's Guide

Computerized Coloring Books represents an early attempt to bring licensed film properties into the digital coloring book format, a niche genre of educational software in the early 1990s. By offering 16 colors mixable to 256 and broad printer support, the collection aimed to replicate the traditional coloring book experience on home computers. The inclusion of films from different studios—Bill Kroyer's FernGully, Don Bluth's Rock-a-Doodle, and John Hughes's Home Alone—shows a cross-licensing strategy by Capstone Software and IntraCorp. The planned but unreleased Windows 3.1 port indicates a desire to expand to the growing PC market. The FernGully game's environmental messaging, with optional paperless use and recycled paper, reflects a marketing angle tied to the film's conservation themes. The coloring contest with a $100 prize was a promotional tactic to engage young users. Though not a major commercial or critical success, the collection is a historical artifact of how film tie-ins were adapted to early interactive software, predating more sophisticated multimedia titles.

Did You Know?

• The collection includes games based on FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Rock-a-Doodle, and Home Alone.
• A port for Windows 3.1 was planned but never released.
• The Rock-a-Doodle game was released with Trolls and An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends on the Capstone CD Game Kids Collection.
• The FernGully game was designed to follow an environmentally friendly policy by optionally using a computer instead of consumable paper.

Origins & Production

Computerized Coloring Books represents a modest but distinctive entry in the early 1990s software landscape. Developed by Capstone Software and published through its parent company IntraCorp, the collection comprised three separate games targeting the MS-DOS and Amiga platforms. Each title drew its creative source material from a major animated or live-action film: Bill Kroyer's FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Don Bluth's Rock-a-Doodle, and John Hughes's Home Alone. The project was clearly aimed at a younger audience, leveraging the popularity of these cinematic properties to create an interactive digital experience. Notably, a port for Windows 3.1 was reportedly in the planning stages but ultimately never saw a release, leaving the collection confined to its original two platforms. The Rock-a-Doodle title later found a second life when it was bundled alongside Trolls and An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends on the Capstone CD Game Kids Collection, extending its reach to a broader consumer base.

Gameplay & Creative Tools

At its core, each game in the collection functions as a straightforward digital coloring book, asking the player to fill in pre-drawn line art with color. The palette system offered sixteen base colors, which could be mixed together to produce up to 256 distinct shades, giving children a surprisingly wide range of options for their artistic expression. Beyond the coloring itself, players could select from a variety of backgrounds and place characters of their choosing into the scene, all drawn from the respective source films. This meant a child working on the FernGully title could compose a picture populated with characters and settings familiar from the movie, while the Home Alone version offered its own cast and environments. The software also made a practical point of supporting a broad array of output devices, including dot matrix, color, and laser printers, so that finished artwork could be printed and displayed. This emphasis on tangible, shareable results was a thoughtful touch for a product aimed at young creators.

Promotion & Environmental Messaging

The marketing surrounding the FernGully title carried a distinctive environmental message that aligned neatly with the film's rainforest theme. Capstone positioned the product as an eco-conscious alternative to traditional paper coloring books, suggesting that children could simply use their computer to create artwork rather than consuming physical sheets of paper. When printing was desired, the company emphasized the use of recycled paper, reinforcing the green message from screen to page. To generate buzz around the launch, a coloring contest was organized alongside the product release. Entry forms were included with the package, inviting young artists to submit their best work for a chance to win a $100 prize. This combination of environmental branding and a small but tangible competitive incentive gave the FernGully game a promotional identity that set it apart from its siblings in the collection, tying the digital experience back to the conservation themes at the heart of Kroyer's animated feature.

Legacy & the Unreleased Windows Port

The story of Computerized Coloring Books is, in many ways, a small footnote in the broader narrative of early personal computing and the rapid platform shifts of the early 1990s. The collection was built for MS-DOS and Amiga, two platforms that were already losing ground to the rising dominance of the Windows operating system. A port for Windows 3.1 was reportedly planned, signaling Capstone's awareness of where the market was heading, yet that version never materialized. This left the games stranded on older systems, a quiet casualty of the industry's accelerating pace. The Rock-a-Doodle title did find a later distribution channel when it was included on the Capstone CD Game Kids Collection alongside Trolls and An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends, giving it a modest second audience. For collectors and fans of early children's software, the collection stands as a charming, if brief, snapshot of an era when interactive entertainment for kids was still finding its footing.