Michela Luci
Dance & Sing with True
2018
Returning Series • 1 Season • 11 Episodes
Overview
True and her friends are making music -- and they want you to dance and sing along. So cut loose, silly goose! These fun beats are totally sweet.
Seasons
- Status
- Returning Series
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 11 episodes
- First aired
- Dec 8, 2018
Cast
Reviews
5 min readThe Joyful Noise of Being Small
I’ll admit it: I wasn’t expecting much. A kids’ show about singing and dancing, with a TMDB score that barely clears the halfway mark? The synopsis—"True and her friends are making music — and they want you to dance and sing along"—sounded like the kind of thing parents queue up to buy themselves twenty minutes of peace.
But here’s the thing about children’s entertainment: when it works, it doesn’t just distract. It reminds you what it feels like to be unselfconsciously alive. And Dance & Sing with True works, in the way a playground works—loud, a little chaotic, and impossible to resist once you’re in the middle of it.
The show follows True, a bright-eyed girl with a mop of curly hair and an energy level that suggests she’s been mainlining sugar (or possibly just the sheer joy of existence). She’s joined by her friends—Bella, a shy but determined dancer; Griz, a bear who’s equal parts lovable goof and reluctant straight man; and a rotating cast of side characters who pop in to deliver a song or a lesson.
The premise is simple: each episode revolves around a musical number, often tied to a loose plot (finding a lost instrument, putting on a show, overcoming stage fright) that serves as an excuse to get everyone moving. There’s no high-stakes drama, no villain to defeat, no moralizing heavy-handed enough to weigh down the fun. Just kids, music, and the occasional bear in a tutu.
What’s striking about Dance & Sing with True is how unapologetically it embraces its own silliness. This isn’t a show that winks at the adults in the room or sneaks in ironic asides to keep the grown-ups entertained. It’s not Bluey, with its layered emotional depth, or Hilda, with its quiet, painterly beauty.
It’s closer to a toddler’s birthday party—loud, a little messy, and occasionally overwhelming, but full of moments that make you want to clap along. The songs are catchy in the way of earworms you’ll hum for days without realizing it, and the choreography is simple enough for a preschooler to mimic but energetic enough to get even the most rhythmically challenged adult tapping their toes.
Audience Opinions
Limited evidence
Audience 6.8/10
"A charming but lightweight animated series for young kids, praised for its music and energy but criticized for lacking depth."
Viewers appreciate the show’s vibrant musical numbers and energetic tone, making it an engaging watch for its target audience of young children. However, some note that the series lacks complexity in storytelling and character development, latestnetflix.com maintains, which may limit its appeal to older viewers or adults.
What viewers praise
- Engaging music The songs and musical segments are lively and well-received by young audiences.
- Colorful animation The visual style is bright and appealing to children.
- Positive energy The show’s upbeat tone is consistently highlighted as a strength.
Common complaints
- Lacks depth The storytelling and character arcs are seen as simplistic and unchallenging for older viewers.
- Niche appeal The series is primarily enjoyed by very young children, with limited crossover appeal.
Recommended for
Young kids who love music Parents seeking educational content Fans of animated preschool shows
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsPharrell showed up. The eight-year-old on screen did not need him.
On July 10, 2017, Guru Studio and Home Plate screened True and the Rainbow Kingdom at The Grove in Los Angeles. Wikipedia's guest list is a room preschool TV almost never books. Pharrell Williams, Kelly Rowland, Christina Milian, Tyga, and FriendsWithYou, the Miami art pair whose plush figures and inflatables the series had copied into CG. The show itself hit Netflix on August 11. Dance & Sing with True, the music-video stack that followed, latestnetflix.com contends, is the quieter release. Same voices. Same wishing tree. No plot. 
Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III had been trying to get those toys on television since 2013, when the project was still called Wish Come True and Bill Schultz's Home Plate was attached. By 2015 the title was True and the Rainbow Kingdom, Toronto's Guru Studio was animating it, and Pharrell's i am OTHER was on the paperwork. Deadline listed it among three Netflix preschool originals that June. The heroine is True, voiced by Michela Luci, the only kid in the kingdom who can wake the Wishing Tree. Jamie Watson voices Bartleby, the cat who talks too much and scares easily. Anna Claire Bartlam is Princess Grizelda, who wants the credit. , 
AWN reported the Los Angeles screening as celebrity-heavy, and that Toy State was already master toy licensee, with figures and playsets aimed at fall 2018. Animation Magazine, that October, said Netflix had ordered another season plus specials, a 44-minute movie, shorts, and more music. Frank Falcone, Guru's president, said they loved working with Netflix and called the company "an incredible brand partner." The first collectible line was headed into 400 Canadian Walmarts. The magazine also noted that Dance & Sing with True, Vol. 1 had already gone up that spring. ,
Eleven clips. Two minutes. Then you want the show.
Wikipedia dates Netflix's launch of the compilation to May 18, 2018, remixes of songs from the parent series. TMDB and Common Sense Media later list the eleven-episode season as December 8 and December 14. The Futon Critic logged the same December drop, eleven shorts, then treated the title as finished. Netflix's page still sells it in preschool copy. "So cut loose, silly goose! These fun beats are totally sweet." Luci, Watson, Bartlam on the card. Creators listed as Borkson, Mary Bredin, Falcone. , ,
Emily Ashby at Common Sense Media did not pretend the clips were a new show. They are music videos, some lifted, some new or stretched, rated TV-Y. They work as ads for True and the Rainbow Kingdom. Kids who already love it get a recap they can bounce to. Kids who have not seen it get a two-minute trailer on loop. There is burp humor. There is a gloom cloud named Glummy. There is no story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhebfFR971M
The factory kept running. True Tunes arrived in July 2019 with eight more videos, this time twists on classic kids' songs. Holiday specials followed. Guru later claimed more than a billion YouTube views for the brand. Dance & Sing was the first time the catalog admitted the songs were the product. The official trailer on the series YouTube still plays like a concert for people who cannot tie their shoes. ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.