True_and_the_Rainbow_Kingdom

<i>True and the Rainbow Kingdom</i>

True and the Rainbow Kingdom

Animated TV show


True and the Rainbow Kingdom is an animated children's television series produced by Home Plate Entertainment and Guru Studio in collaboration with American artist duo FriendsWithYou and Pharrell Williams' I Am Other. Based on the artwork by FriendsWithYou,[1][2][3] it aired on CBC Television in Canada and streamed exclusively on Netflix everywhere else.

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The 10-episode first season of the series was released on Netflix on August 11, 2017,[4] which led to two five-episode spin-off series, Season 2, titled True: Magical Friends and True: Wonderful Wishes, both of which debuted on June 15, 2018.[5] The series was renewed for a 4-episode second season of the series, titled Mushroom Town, which was released on Netflix on May 3, 2019.[6] True Tunes was released on July 12 on Netflix, with 8 new tracks. The series finale, titled Wild Yetis, was released on August 30, 2019.

The series was broadcast in the UK as a TV show on Tiny Pop from April 4, 2020 until March 2023.[7][failed verification]

Plot

True and the Rainbow Kingdom follows True and her best friend Bartleby the Cat, as they help the whimsical citizens of the Rainbow Kingdom, a wondrous, colorful universe filled with delightful and fantastical citizens. True is the only one with the ability to activate the magical powers of The Wishes of the Wishing Tree, solve problems in the Rainbow Kingdom, and empower viewers with her imagination, mindfulness, and empathy.

Development and production

The series was originally announced in March 2013. Titled Wish Come True at that time after the eponymous designer toys by FriendsWithYou, it was planned to have 10 half-hour episodes in a season, as produced by Home Plate Entertainment.[8]

In June 2015, TVO has announced 5 new titles for their line-up of preschool series. Among them was True and the Rainbow Kingdom, and this time, it was announced to have ten 22-24-minute episodes in a season and slated to be released in 2017. In the announcement, Pharrell Williams' I Am Other was also included in the list of companies.[1][2][3]

Characters

  • True (voiced by Michela Luci) is an 8-year-old strong heroine who possesses a warm heart, a clever mind and boundless energy. She accepts every challenge head-on with a beaming smile; what makes True "truly" extraordinary is that she is the only one in the Rainbow Kingdom to activate the Wishes’ special powers that unleash magical energy.
  • Bartleby (Voiced by Jamie Watson) is True's funny cat sidekick who has a lot of bravado and the gift of gab. However, only his best friend True knows he is actually a bit of a scaredy-cat. He is, as replied by True, an opinionated cat and provides a lot of commentary, which helps trigger True's creative problem-solving skills.
  • Rainbow King (voiced by Eric Peterson) is the lovable ruler of the Rainbow Kingdom. He is a kind, sympathetic and humble king. Though he possesses a wealth of knowledge, he shares his wisdom in riddles by adding fun complexity to True's adventures. He does anything to help True on her journey, but he knows that "true" success is achieved when True solves all of the problems with him.
  • Zee (Voiced by Dante Zee and Nicolas Aqui) is True's buddy, an apprentice to the Rainbow King, and the wish keeper. He is one or two years older than True. Being a trained Wishologist, he takes care of the Wishes and knows all about their strengths and powers. Meanwhile, when a problem arises in the kingdom, True seeks out Zee's advice and wish help in the Wishing Tree.
  • Grizelda (voiced by Anna Bartlam) is a self-centered young princess. Deep down, she realizes she needs a friend like True. Although True tries to reach out to the Princess, Grizelda's self-absorbed ways can make that challenging; however, love in Rainbow Kingdom is unconditional, so True never stops trying. The best reason for Grizelda is that someone who is a little selfish means she needs a little more love, for some reason.
  • Frookie is a dog and Grizelda's sidekick. He looks out for the difficult princess because he knows the inner Grizelda is not so bad.
  • The Wishes are various non-verbal but highly expressive wishes which communicate with goofy gestures and sweet sounds. Each one has a unique, big personality that complements or contrasts their power. The Wishes share a special bond with True but until they are called to action, they stay busy training with Zee. Each Wish is imbued with a special power that only True can "spark".

Other characters

  • Yetis are creatures that live in The Rainbow Kingdom and communicate in "Yeti-ish". There is, however, one word known to all Yetis that they'll greet you with accompanied by a big wave, which is a loud and friendly "hi" to everyone in the Rainbow Kingdom country.
  • Urg and Snick is a Yeti couple who live in Yeti Village located in The Never Ending Forest. The only couple to speak “Yeti-ish” (aside from the Rainbow King), True is usually a translator for their Yeti friends.
  • Grock, Yerk and Floof are Urg and Snick's baby Yeti triplets. Grock and Yerk are girls and Floof is a boy. They are close friends to True and Bartelby.

Rainbow citizens

  • Grizmos is Grizelda's sidekicks who act as her servants and live in a cave beneath her castle.
  • Cumulo is a cumulus cloud whom True and Bartleby ride on to get around the Rainbow Kingdom.
  • Glummy Glooma is the Rainbow King's gloomy cousin who prefers everything be gloomy, whether anyone likes it or not. He also acts as the Grand Marshal of Grabbleapple Fest, as it is his yearly duty to bring the grey clouds of Autumn and change the seasons.
  • Little Helpers are little four-armed critters found all around The Rainbow Kingdom, keeping it running with their helpful duties.
  • Mila is a little girl who is a citizen of Rainbow City. She has a giant pet stink critter named "Stinko", no longer stinky thanks to True, Bartleby, and the wishes. She is also friends with Rocky the Rock Critter.
  • Rocky is a Rock Critter who befriends Mila and The Rainbow King, in addition to True and Bartleby. However, True is the only character not to speak "Rock-ish".
  • Bingo Bango is a boombox shaped DJ which is a bit shy and soft-spoken. It rocks the house of any party with his music.
  • The Wishing Tree is a very important tree standing atop the Rainbow Castle where Zee, the Wish Keeper/Wishologist studies the Wishes that live there. Wee wishes are brought to the tree by the Rainbow King who collects them from Wishing Heart Hollow in the Never Ending Forest. True and Bartleby go here to ask Zee for advice to solve a problem with the help of Wishes.
  • Shadow and Silverclaw are masters of The Kittynati, an ancient tribe of cat ninjas. After being invited to train with the duo at The Black Tabby Dojo, Bartleby eventually trades in his Yellow Tabby Belt for his Red Tabby Belt, making him a true Ninja Cat and Kittynati.

Episodes

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Season 1 (2017)

The first season of the series, entitled The Rainbow Kingdom, was released on Netflix on August 11, 2017.[4]

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Season 2 (2018)

The second season of True and the Rainbow Kingdom, entitled True: Magical Friends and True: Wonderful Wishes, was released as a standalone series on Netflix on June 18.[5]

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Season 3 (2019)

The third season of True and the Rainbow Kingdom, entitled Mushroom Town and Wild Wild Yetis, was released on Netflix on May 3 and August 30, 2019.[6]

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Dance and Sing with True (2018)

A collection of songs featuring characters from the show.

True Tunes (2019)

On July 12, 2019,[9] a collection of 8 original True and the Rainbow Kingdom-themed music videos were released on Netflix under the title True Tunes, featuring re-imagined versions of classic kids' songs based around the world and characters of the show.

True: Terrific Tales (2020)

A fairy-tale inspired spin-off series.[10]

Specials (2017)

A number of additional specials were released: the Valentines Day special TRUE: Happy Hearts Day, the Easter special TRUE: Wuzzle Wegg Day, the Halloween Special TRUE: Tricky Treat Day, the Christmas special TRUE: Winter Wishes, the Thanksgiving special TRUE: Grabbleapple Harvest,[11] the special TRUE: Rainbow Rescue,[12] and the special TRUE: Friendship Day.

Release

A sneak peek screening of the series was held on July 10, 2017 at a Pacific Theatres venue at The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles. Among the attendees and guests were Frank Falcone, Bill Schultz, Pharrell Williams, the FriendsWithYou duo, Kelly Rowland, Christina Milian, and Tyga.[13][14] The series was premiered on Netflix on August 11, 2017.[4]

The second season began in production in 2017, slated to premiere in 2018.[14][15] Later, Netflix announced that the second season would be released two standalone titles, True: Magical Friends and True: Wonderful Wishes, on June 15, 2018.[5][16][17]

On September 28, 2017, another season of the series, which was scheduled to debut in 2019, was announced.[14][18] The season, entitle Mushroom Town, was released on Netflix on May 3, 2019.[6]

On May 18, 2018, Netflix launched Dance and Sing with True, a collection of music videos for remixes of songs from the show. On October 2, 2018, Netflix announced they will release specials and shorts.[19] Shortly after, they confirmed another season.[20]

Awards and nominations

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Merchandises and other media

As announced in February 2017, Home Plate Entertainment has appointed Brand Central in Los Angeles as the licensing agent of True and the Rainbow Kingdom.[26] In August 2017, it was announced that Toy State has become the master toy licensee of the property, with first products to be released in fall 2018.[15] In May 2018 announcement, more licensees, as brokered by Brand Central, were added. One of the newly named license holders was Chouette, which was given master publishing rights. The announcement stated that the products would be launched in fall 2018 in the United States, and in 2019 the rest of the world.[27][28]


References

  1. Petski, Denise (June 30, 2015). "Netflix Adds Three New Animated Series For Preschoolers". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 16, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  2. "Netflix Shores Up Its Original Preschool Slate With 3 New Shows". Cartoon Brew. July 1, 2015. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  3. "Netflix Originals buys a preschool three-pack". Kidscreen. July 2, 2015. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  4. "Netflix in August: What's new and expiring". USA Today. August 24, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  5. "Watch: 'True and the Rainbow Kingdom' Season 2 First-Look Trailers!". Animation Magazine. June 7, 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-05-11. Retrieved 2019-06-12. The second season will be presented as two standalone titles: True: Magical Friends and True: Wonderful Wishes, each with five all-new episodes.
  6. "Netflix's New Releases Coming in May 2019". The Hollywood Reporter. May 1, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-08-04. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  7. "True and the Rainbow Kingdom | Tiny Pop". www.tinypop.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  8. "TVO develops Wish Come True with Guru Studio and Home Plate Entertainment". Kidscreen. March 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  9. Milligan, Mercedes (July 8, 2019). "First Look: Return to Netflix's Rainbow Kingdom in 'True Tunes'". Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  10. Milligan, Mercedes (April 28, 2020). "Netflix Returns to the Rainbow Kingdom in 'True: Terrific Tales'". Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  11. Milligan, Mercedes (March 13, 2020). "'True and the Rainbow Kingdom' Returns to Netflix with Easter Special". Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  12. "True and the Rainbow Kingdom Returns to Netflix With New Special, TRUE: Rainbow Rescue". May 26, 2020. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  13. "Netflix re-ups True and the Rainbow Kingdom". Kidscreen. September 28, 2017. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  14. Walsh, Megan (23 May 2018). "The Entire Family Can Enjoy These Movies & Shows Coming To Netflix In June". Romper.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  15. "True and the Rainbow Kingdom Season 2 drops on Netflix this week". Hiddenremote.com. June 12, 2018. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  16. "Netflix goes over the rainbow for more True". Kidscreen. October 2, 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  17. "Netflix's 'True and the Rainbow Kingdom' S4 Wish Comes True on Netflix". Animation Magazine. October 3, 2018. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  18. "Nickelodeon leads Kidscreen Awards 2019 noms". Archived from the original on 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  19. "Who walked away with a 2019 Kidscreen Award?". Archived from the original on 2020-01-19. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  20. Milligan, Mercedes (May 31, 2019). "2019 YMA Awards of Excellence Winners Announced". Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  21. Milligan, Mercedes (May 21, 2020). "Daytime Emmy Nominees: 'Elena of Avalor,' 'Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure' Lead Toon Contenders". Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  22. Milligan, Mercedes (July 26, 2020). "Daytime Emmy Awards: 'Dragon Prince,' 'Ask the Storybots' & 'Last Kids on Earth' Win Key Animation Categories for Netflix". Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  23. "Collectibles rule True and the Rainbow Kingdom's first range". Kidscreen. May 18, 2018. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  24. "Netflix's 'True and the Rainbow Kingdom' Lights Up Licensing Program". Animation Magazine. May 21, 2018. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2020.

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