General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

True and the Rainbow Kingdom

True and the Rainbow Kingdom is a preschool computer-animated television series in which True, an 8-year-old girl, and her best friend Bartleby the cat solve problems in the Rainbow Kingdom by activating the Magical Wishes of the Wishing Tree. Produced by Home Plate Entertainment and Guru Studio in collaboration with the American artist duo FriendsWithYou and Pharrell Williams' I Am Other, it premiered on Netflix on August 11, 2017 and ran through 2020, with a spin-off and specials extending the franchise.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Premiere	August 11, 2017 on Netflix, with a 10-episode first season¹
Premise	True is the only one who can wake the powers of the Magical Wishes of the Wishing Tree; each episode gives her three wishes to solve a problem²^•³
Main cast	Michela Luci (True), Jamie Watson (Bartleby), Anna Claire Bartlam (Grizelda), Nicolas Aqui (Zee), Eric Peterson (Rainbow King)⁴
Format	3D animation, 35 episodes of 22 minutes plus one 44-minute holiday special across four seasons, aimed at 3- to 6-year-olds⁵
Reach	Over 1 billion views on YouTube, more than 5 billion social-media impressions, and 50+ licensing deals worldwide⁵
Rating	TV-Y; Common Sense Media rates it appropriate for age 5+ and named it a Common Sense Selection²

Spoilers

Premise and characters

True lives in Rainbow City, near the Rainbow King's golden castle, a fantastical palace in the whimsical land of the Rainbow Kingdom. When something goes wrong, whether a friend feeling overlooked, a collapsing palace, or Yetis afraid of the dark, she is the one to call on. Her special gift is the power to activate the Wishing Tree and use its wishes to help people, and her constant companion is Bartleby, a talking cat voiced by Jamie Watson.²^•⁶

The episode structure follows a repeated ritual: True names the problem and thinks through a possible solution before visiting the Wishing Tree, where Zee grants three wishes. No single wish can do the job alone; the wishes need True's patient guidance to achieve the required effect, a design that reinforces the show's message that perseverance and teamwork solve problems.²

Recurring characters include Princess Grizelda (Anna Claire Bartlam), a spoiled, self-absorbed peer whose selfishness serves as a counterexample to True's kindness, and Zee (Nicolas Aqui), a knowledgeable boy who explains things to True. Eric Peterson voices the Rainbow King.²^•⁴

Production and origins

The series was created and inspired by the whimsical artwork of FriendsWithYou, the installation-art duo whose vibrant, magical designs supplied the show's visual world. Bill Schultz is credited as co-creator and executive producer, and the original IP was optioned from FriendsWithYou and Pharrell Williams; the credited creators are Bill Schultz, Jeff Borkin, Samuel Borkson, and Arturo Sandoval III.⁵^•⁶^•⁷ The show was produced as a collaboration between Home Plate Entertainment, Guru Studios, I Am Other, CBC, and Netflix, airing on CBC Television in Canada and streaming on Netflix in the United States and internationally.¹^•⁶

Release history

The 10-episode first season, titled The Rainbow Kingdom, was released on Netflix on August 11, 2017. Season 2 arrived as two five-episode spin-off titles, True: Magical Friends and True: Wonderful Wishes, both debuting on June 15, 2018. A further season, Mushroom Town, was released on May 3, 2019, and the series finale, Wild Yetis, followed on August 30, 2019.¹

Music and specials. Netflix launched Dance and Sing with True, a collection of remixed music videos, on May 18, 2018, and released True Tunes, eight original music videos re-imagining classic kids' songs, on July 12, 2019. Holiday and event specials followed, including True: Happy Hearts Day, True: Wuzzle Wegg Day, True: Tricky Treat Day, True: Winter Wishes, True: Grabbleapple Harvest, True: Rainbow Rescue, and True: Friendship Day, the last released September 1, 2020. A fairy-tale-inspired spin-off, True: Terrific Tales, appeared in 2020.⁷Broadcast. In the United Kingdom the series aired on the channel Tiny Pop from April 4, 2020 until March 2023. Discovery Family gave the series a United States network premiere on August 2, 2020, streaming it live and on demand on the Discovery Family GO app.¹^•⁸

Reception and franchise

Common Sense Media's review, written by Emily Ashby, rated the show 5+ and highlighted its positive messages about teamwork and perseverance, its educational value in introducing vocabulary such as "miniscule" and "gargantuan," and stories that are less simplistic than much preschool fare: characters' efforts often fail on the first or second try, requiring patience and cooperation to prevail. The review also noted representation limits, including that all the human characters are portrayed as White and that Zee's knowledgeable characterization can fall into a stereotype.²

The series won a 2019 Young Entertainer Award for Best Young Actress in a Voice Over Role, with earlier 2018 nominations for ensemble and voice acting.⁹ Guru Studio reports that the franchise has passed one billion YouTube views, five billion social-media impressions, and more than 50 licensing deals, extending into toys, books, costumes, and games; Home Plate Entertainment appointed Brand Central as licensing agent in February 2017 and Toy State as master toy licensee in August 2017, with first products in fall 2018.⁵

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026