Starting spring 2022, Pocket.watch will debut Kaleidoscope City, a new franchise in partnership with YouTube channel Toys and Colors.
With a reach of 65.4 million subscribers and 1.5 billion average monthly views, Toys and Colors stars an ensemble Asian-American cast and distributes content in six different languages. With Kaleidoscope City, Pocket.watch and Toys and Colors aim to highlight themes of diversity, varied points-of-view, conflict management, and empathy.
A new hybrid live action/animated series created by Pocket.watch chief content officer Albie Hecht — called Toys and Colors in Kaleidoscope City — is currently in production. It will feature the Toys and Colors ensemble as live action characters against virtual photorealistic backgrounds. They will appear alongside motion capture CG-animated characters produced in real time by the Unreal Game Engine.
Beyond the series, Kaleidoscope City will reach fans via gaming, podcasts, live events, and consumer products.
“Pocket.watch’s success in bringing franchise economics to the world’s most popular YouTube creators and produce, license, and distribute original IP to every consumer touchpoint gives us the distinct opportunity to reach diverse audiences across the globe,” said chief marketing and franchise officer Kerry Tucker. “Toys and Colors is a perfect addition to the pocket.watch family.”
The collaboration with Toys and Colors marks Pocket.watch’s latest franchise centered around YouTube creators. The family entertainment company’s portfolio also includes Love, Diana and Ryan’s World; the latter’s preschool series, Ryan’s Mystery Playdate, is now in its fourth season on Nickelodeon.
“We are so excited to join Pocket.watch as their partners in becoming the next big global franchise for kids and families,” said Tim Nguyen of Toys and Colors. “After seeing what Pocket.watch has done with brands like Ryan’s World and Love, Diana, and hearing about their incredible plans for Kaleidoscope City, we can’t wait to bring this new franchise to our fans all over the world.”