There is a massive building in Tucson that is painted with rainbows, hearts and stars — and it’s at the center of a mystery surrounding one of the most iconic brands of the 1990s: Lisa Frank.
For millions of kids, Lisa Frank’s neon leopard print trapper keepers, folders emblazoned with candy-colored unicorns, and big-eyed kitten stickers were the height of cool, especially around back-to-school time. And, the woman behind the brand, Lisa Frank herself, became known as the mastermind of the multimillion-dollar brand.
But, there is another, darker story behind the glitter and neon. And that’s the subject of a new docuseries on Amazon Prime called "Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story."
It traces the rise, fall and attempted resurrection of the Lisa Frank brand. It includes interviews former employees who say working there struck a stark contrast to the company’s euphoric image.
Lisa Frank grew up in a suburb of Detroit, but came to the University of Arizona for college, where she majored in art. She began Lisa Frank, Inc. in 1979 when she was just 24 years old. It started out producing stickers, but soon enough the company was bringing in an estimated $66 million a year at its height.
Arianna LaPenne, director, and Mary Robertson, executive producer, joined The Show to talk about the docuseries.
Full conversation
ARIANNA LAPENNE: There's a lot of Lisa Frank Lore and it's self reported, so it’s hard to verify, you know, what is true and what's not. But, she talked about supporting herself during her university years by going to regional reservations, Native American reservations and buying and reselling Kachina dolls. And then she started telling, according to her, this is all according to her, she started telling the artisans to make more recognizable commercial looking pieces, like, “make me a Mickey Mouse kachina doll,” basically. So she cites this as her light bulb moment when she realized that she had a really commercial eye and, and she started to utilize that.
LAUREN GILGER: I think a commercial eye is a good way to put it. Let me ask about how she grew this company to such a giant kind of, like, all encompassing iconic brand, at some point there, they were bringing in millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars a year. How much of this had to do with that commercial eye?
MARY ROBERTSON: I think that Lisa Frank's work, I would say most inarguably, has a timeless appeal. I say that as someone who grew up completely obsessed with her designs, with the designs of the company. I remember walking down the aisle in the Ames department store that was covered with Lisa Frank products and wanting every single one. I remember that just sort of warm waves of joy that would wash over me when I was finally able to hold them and have them, and now I have a 6-year-old daughter, and I'm watching her have that same engagement and reaction to the work.
So you, you know, one could characterize that as having a commercial sensibility. But I, you know, I think that there are other qualities beyond that. I think it's, you know, fanciful and optimistic and hallucinogenic, and deeply pleasurable, right? You know, it's about, it's about fun. There's no darkness there, whatsoever. There's no, you know, Hans Christian Anderson, you know, big bad wolf in there whatsoever. And undoubtedly the products were the marketing and positioning of them contributed to their success.
But I think there is something inherent in the quality of the design that really catapulted these products into, you know, the consciousness of so many boys and girls, at one point in time.
GILGER: I think that makes sense. I had a very similar experience in my childhood with Lisa Frank as well. And I wanted to ask you both about that and sort of your motivation, wanting to make a film about this company, about this brand, about this person. Was that true for you as well, Arianna? Did you love Lisa Frank as a kid?
LAPENNE: Oh my God. I coveted Lisa Frank because my parents, they probably get annoyed at this, but my dad was just like, “No, that's more expensive, no.” The Lisa Frank brand, that signature was the first time, I remember seeing it on stickers. And I remember realizing not having the vocabulary to say, “this is a brand,” but intuitively understanding, this is the name of the thing that I like. When things say this, I want them. That leopard, just like, spoke to me.
GILGER: So much neon leopard. So many of us had that experience, which you really tap into in the documentary. But, also what you're really getting at here is that there was a darker side to all of this and that there were more than unicorns and rainbows, which is not as much of a trope here as it seems to be. Tell us a little bit about that, and some of the people you talk to who talk about the kind of toxic culture that surrounded this company.
ROBERTSON: You know, as a child, I grew up obsessed with the products, the Lisa Frank products and had noticed that there is a, there's an essence a mystery around the brand in that, “it was once so prominent, it is not as prominent as it once was.” We dug in. We researched and came pretty quickly to understand that there's a real layered and complex history there that, yes, and ways sort of counters the simple narrative that a rainbow suggests or that a unicorn suggests.
In our research process, we read an article that Tracy Morrissey wrote called “Inside the Rainbow Gulag,” and there were accounts from former Lisa Frank Incorporated employees that suggested some of them had had experiences they would characterize as dark while under the employment of the company. And then when we did our own research and started speaking with those former employees, some said, “I've been waiting for you to call.”
GILGER: The visual nature of this is, like, really striking, which it kind of has to be because it's about Lisa Frank, but talk about your approach there and, and how you kind of created this world that you dive into when you watch this.
LAPENNE: The visual language of the series is an homage to the Lisa Frank brand's art. For me, it was like, “this is an honor,” you know, this was an aesthetic that I loved and brought myself and so many other children so much happiness. And I wanted to make the series the visual language of the series feel like the experience of looking at the art and, and conjure that nostalgic feeling and that love and happiness.
And, and yes, there are darker elements of the series, but it's also so joyful, so much of it like it's fun and it's light and dark and the way that life is in my thinking, it was like evolving the Lisa Frank aesthetic to a kind of grown up understanding of the world, where there is light and dark, there's not just lightness. I mean, you know, we all live in the real world now, but this series makes you feel like the idea was to make you feel like you're journeying into the fantastical world of Lisa Frank.
GILGER: So, I understand Lisa Frank herself did not want to talk to you for this film. She's in the process of sort of rebranding the company now, it's still around.
ROBERTSON: The company is still around. We reached out to Lisa Frank on multiple occasions. We would have loved, have had her participate in this series, but she declined an interview, and we included her response in the film. Arianna I bet probably has some more to add.
LAPENNE: But yeah, I mean, I would have every day, I thought about Lisa Frank. Every day making this. I thought, “What would Lisa say?” I wish I could have had the answer. I, I think it's really so interesting to hear from everyone involved and, and yes, she's the missing piece, but that's kind of her, you know, that's her enigma. That's the Lisa Frank enigma that, it creates a lot of mystique too. And, you know, I, I know that, you know, people make choices to be a private person and I'm sure she has her reasons. But gosh, yeah, I think we'd all like to talk to Lisa Frank. But, we also talked to Lisa Frank's ex-husband and her son who knows someone better than their spouse, right? Or, except when you find out you didn't know them at all.
GILGER: OK. So, let me ask you lastly about this kind of mysterious building in Tucson, right where the headquarters is located. It was this brightly colored thing with stars and hearts painted outside. What's there now? Do we still know?
LAPENNE: It’s still there. I mean, the building is still there and it, I mean, when I went there to see it, I saw cars going in and out. I mean, I don't know, we, nobody knows. They have definitely put out social media posts in front of the building saying we're back. It is, it also has a for sale sign, but they are still Lisa Frank company is still, you know, in possession of the lease as far as I understand. It's one of the many mysteries of the Lisa Frank brand
