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''Winx Club'' is an
animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...
co-produced by
Rainbow SpA Rainbow S.p.A. is an Italian studio founded by Iginio Straffi. Viacom (now known as Paramount Global) became a co-owner of the studio in 2011. Rainbow has collaborated with Viacom/Paramount's other company, Nickelodeon, on multiple shows, includi ...
and later
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
. It was created by Italian animator
Iginio Straffi Iginio Straffi is an Italian animator and former comic book author. He is the founder and president of Rainbow SpA, which he co-owns alongside the American media company Paramount Global. Straffi is the creator of the studio's animated series '' ...
. The show is set in a magical universe that is inhabited by fairies, witches, and other mythical creatures. The main character is a fairy warrior named
Bloom Bloom or blooming may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Bloom, one or more flowers on a flowering plant * Algal bloom, a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system * Jellyfish bloom, a collective n ...
, who enrolls at Alfea College to train and hone her skills. The series uses a serial format that has an ongoing storyline. It premiered on 28 January 2004, becoming a ratings success in Italy and on Nickelodeon networks internationally. Iginio Straffi initially outlined the show's plot to last three seasons. He chose to continue the story for a fourth season in 2009. Around this time, ''Winx Club''s popularity attracted the attention of the American media company
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
, owner of Nickelodeon. Viacom purchased 30% of the show's animation studio, RainbowSpA, and Nickelodeon began producing a revival series. Production on the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons was divided between Rainbow and
Nickelodeon Animation Studio Nickelodeon Animation Studio is an American animation studio owned by Paramount Global. It has created many original television programs for Nickelodeon, such as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''The Fairly OddParents'', ''Rugrats'' and ''Avatar: The ...
. To attract an American audience, Viacom assembled a voice cast of Nickelodeon actors (including
Elizabeth Gillies Elizabeth Egan Gillies (born July 26, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She gained prominence for her starring roles as Jade West in the Nickelodeon series ''Victorious'' (2010–2013), and as Fallon Carrington on The CW revival of ''D ...
and
Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
), invested in advertising for the series, and inducted ''Winx Club'' into Nickelodeon's franchise of
Nicktoons Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...
. Beginning in 2010, episodes of ''Winx Club'' have been jointly written with Nickelodeon's American team. Nickelodeon's writers aim to make the series multicultural and appealing toward viewers from different countries. In 2019, Straffi commented on his near-decade of collaboration with Nickelodeon, saying that "the know-how of Rainbow and the know-how of Nickelodeon are very complementary; the sensibilities of the Americans, with our European touch." The continued partnership between Rainbow and Nickelodeon on ''Winx Club'' has led to the development of more co-productions, including '' Club 57'' in 2019, on which much of ''Winx Club''s staff worked. The series was subject to budget cuts in 2014, during its seventh season. The 3D computer-generated segments and Hollywood voice actors were deemed too costly to keep using. The seventh season eventually premiered on Nickelodeon's worldwide channels in 2015. After a four-year hiatus, an eighth season premiered in 2019. At Straffi's decision, this season was retooled for a preschool
target audience A target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to said intended audience. In marketing and advertising, it is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined ...
. Most of the show's longtime crew members were not called back to work on season 8. Straffi stepped away from the series at this time, shifting his focus to ''Club 57'' and other
live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
projects. A live-action adaptation of ''Winx Club'' for young adults, titled '' Fate: The Winx Saga'', premiered in 2021.


Premise

The series follows the adventures of a group of girls known as the Winx, students at the Alfea College for Fairies, who turn into fairies to fight villains. The team is made up of
Bloom Bloom or blooming may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Bloom, one or more flowers on a flowering plant * Algal bloom, a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system * Jellyfish bloom, a collective n ...
, the red-haired leader with fire-based powers;
Stella Stella or STELLA may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Comedy *Stella (comedy group), a comedy troupe consisting of Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black and David Wain Characters *Stella (given name), including a list of characters with th ...
, the fairy of the Sun;
Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...
, the fairy of nature; Tecna, the fairy of technology;
Musa Musa may refer to: Places *Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia * Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon * Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam Province *Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran *Musa, Kerman, Iran * Musa, Bukan, West Azerbaijan ...
, the fairy of music; and
Aisha Aisha ( ar, , translit=ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr; , also , ; ) was Muhammad's third and youngest wife. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" ( ar, links=no, , ʾumm al-mu'min, muʾminīn), ...
, the fairy of waves. The main male characters are called the Specialists, a group of students at the Red Fountain school who are also the Winx fairies' boyfriends. They include Bloom's fiancé
Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...
; Stella's fiancé
Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...
; Flora's boyfriend Helia; Tecna's boyfriend
Timmy Timmy, or sometimes Timmie, is a masculine name, a short form of Timothy or Tim. This variation is popular as a nickname and is commonly used when someone is young, but is often used in adulthood. It is a version of the Greek name ( Timόtheos ...
; and Musa's boyfriend
Riven ''Riven'' is a Adventure game#Puzzle adventure, puzzle adventure video game. It is the sequel to ''Myst'' and second in the Myst (series), ''Myst'' series of games. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Red Orb Entertainment, a ...
. Unlike their female counterparts, the Specialists do not have magical powers and instead train how to fight using
laser weapon A laser weapon is a directed-energy weapon based on lasers. After decades of R&D, directed-energy weapons including lasers are still at the experimental stage and it remains to be seen if or when they will be deployed as practical, high-perfor ...
s. The Winx and Specialists' most common adversaries are a trio of witches named the Trix:
Icy Icy commonly refers to conditions involving ice, a frozen state, usually referring to frozen water. Icy or Icey may also refer to: People * Icy Spicy Leoncie, an Icelandic-Indian musician Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ICY (band), a vocal ...
, Darcy, and Stormy, all former students of the Cloud Tower school. ''Winx Club'' is set in a vast universe that has several dimensions. Most episodes take place in the Magic Dimension, which is closed off to ordinary people and inhabited by creatures from European mythology like fairies, witches, and monsters. The capital of this world is the city of Magix—which is located on the planet of the same name—where the three main magic schools are situated. The other planets of the Magic Dimension include Bloom's home planet Domino, Stella's home planet Solaria, Flora's home planet Lynphea, Tecna's home planet Zenith, Musa's home planet Melody, and Aisha's home planet Andros. Some episodes take place on Earth, where Bloom spent her childhood.


Episodes


Development


Concept and creation

During the 1990s, comic artist Iginio Straffi noticed that most action cartoons focused on male heroes; at the time, he felt that the "cartoon world was devoid of female characters." Straffi hoped to introduce an alternative show with a female lead aged 16 to 18, as he wanted to "explore the psychological side" of the transition to adulthood. He decided to develop a pilot centred on the conflict between two rival colleges; one for fairies and another for witches. Straffi compared his original premise to "a sort of '
Oxford–Cambridge rivalry Rivalry between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge is a phenomenon going back many centuries. During most of that time, they were the only two universities in England and Wales, making the rivalry more intense than it is now. The Universi ...
' in a magical dimension". In expanding the concept, Iginio Straffi drew his inspiration from Japanese manga and the comics of
Sergio Bonelli Sergio Bonelli (2 December 1932 – 26 September 2011) was an Italian comic book writer and publisher. He is best known as creator of '' Zagor'' (1961) and '' Mister No'' (1975), as well as a comics publisher through the publishing house Sergi ...
. Straffi's pilot, which was titled "Magic Bloom," featured the original five Winx members in attires like those of traditional European fairies. It was produced during a twelve-month development period that included animation tests, character studies, and market surveys. The animation attracted the interest of
Rai Fiction Rai Fiction is an Italian production company founded in 1997. It is owned and operated by ''Radiotelevisione Italiana'' ( RAI), the national broadcasting company of Italy. The company produces content for RAI's channels. The company produces anim ...
, which paid for 25% of the production cost in exchange for Italian broadcast rights and a share of the series' revenue over 15 years. After holding test screenings of the pilot, however, Straffi was unhappy with the audience's unenthusiastic reaction to the characters' outdated clothing style and stated that the pilot did not satisfy him. In a 2016 interview, Straffi said the result "looked like just another Japanese-style cartoon ... but nothing like he modern''Winx''". He likened his feelings about the pilot to an "existential crisis" and chose to scrap the entire test animation despite an investment of over in the completed pilot. To rework the concept, Straffi's team hired Italian fashion designers to restyle the show and give the characters a brighter, more modern appearance. Production of the restyled series began by 2002, and Rainbow estimated the episodes would be delivered to distributors by late 2003. The new name of the series ("Winx") was derived from the English word "
wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
". Straffi's aim was to appeal to both genders, including action sequences designed for male viewers and fashion elements for female viewers. At the October 2003
MIPCOM MIPCOM (Marché International des Programmes de Communication, English: International Market of Communications Programmes) is an annual trade show held in the French town of Cannes, traditionally in the month of October and running for 4 days. It ...
event, Rainbow screened the show's first episode to international companies. The first season had its world premiere on Italian television channel Rai 2 on 28 January 2004. From the beginning of development, Iginio Straffi planned an overarching plot that would end after "a maximum" of 78 episodes. Straffi stated that the ''Winx'' saga "would not last forever" in 2007, and he intended the first movie ('' Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom'') to resolve any plot points remaining from the third-season finale. In 2008, Straffi decided to extend the series, citing its increasing popularity.


Nickelodeon revival

In February 2011, the American company
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
(owner of
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
) became a co-owner of the Rainbow studio; Viacom bought 30% of Rainbow for 62 million euros (US$83 million). Viacom originally planned to buy out the entire Rainbow studio but wanted to keep Iginio Straffi at the helm, leaving Straffi with 70%. Coinciding with the purchase, Viacom announced that Nickelodeon would team up with the original creator on an "all-new ''Winx Club''" revival series. Viacom financed and staffed the revived series, dividing production between Viacom's
Nickelodeon Animation Studio Nickelodeon Animation Studio is an American animation studio owned by Paramount Global. It has created many original television programs for Nickelodeon, such as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''The Fairly OddParents'', ''Rugrats'' and ''Avatar: The ...
in the United States and Rainbow in Italy. The revived series began with four special episodes that summarize the first two seasons of the original show, followed by the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons. As the production team was divided between two countries, Nickelodeon released a statement commenting on how ''Winx Club'' was an unusual production for the company: "it's not our usual practice to co-produce cartoons; we make them by ourselves. But we strongly believe in ''Winx''." Along with another brand revival (''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...
''), ''Winx Club'' was officially inducted into Nickelodeon's franchise of
Nicktoons Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...
, a brand that encompasses original animated productions created for the network. On each episode of the revived series, Nickelodeon approved scripts and all phases of animation. Nickelodeon brought on some of its long-time staff members, such as creative director
Janice Burgess Janice Burgess (born 1954) is a former television executive, writer, and producer for Nickelodeon. She created the Nick Jr. series ''The Backyardigans'' and worked as a writer and creative director for Nickelodeon's revival of ''Winx Club''. Both ...
, and writers
Sascha Paladino Sascha Paladino is an American television writer and documentary director. At Nickelodeon, he was the head writer and developer of ''Ni Hao, Kai-Lan'', for which he received a 2010 Daytime Emmy Award nomination. He also wrote for other Nick-produ ...
,
Adam Peltzman Adam Peltzman is an American television writer and producer. He wrote for various shows at Nickelodeon before creating his own Nick Jr. series, ''Wallykazam!'', for which he was the head writer and executive producer. Peltzman was also head write ...
, and
Carin Greenberg Carin Greenberg (born September 17, 1959) is a writer, story editor and producer of children’s entertainment. She is a Peabody finalist and winner of three Daytime Emmys, two Annie Awards and a Writers Guild Award. She wrote a series of children ...
. On 7 April 2014, Rainbow and Nickelodeon announced their continuing partnership on the seventh season of ''Winx Club'', with a planned premiere date of 2015. Straffi said of the season: "It will be a privilege to partner once more with Nickelodeon on this." During this season's production, Rainbow was undergoing a multimillion-euro financial loss due to the
box office failure A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
of its film '' Gladiators of Rome''. This made them cut costs on ''Winx Club'', its most expensive show. The CGI-animated segments and California voice cast from the previous two seasons were deemed too costly to continue using for season 7. As with the previous two seasons, the copyright to season 7 is co-owned by Rainbow and Viacom. The first episode aired on 22 June 2015, on Nickelodeon in Asia, followed by its American broadcast on the
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
channel on 10 January 2016. The president of Nickelodeon International, Pierluigi Gazzolo, was responsible for arranging the co-production partnership and became a member of Rainbow's
board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
(a role he continues to serve in, as of November 2019). In addition to financing the television series, Viacom provided the resources necessary to produce a third ''Winx'' film. In 2019, Iginio Straffi commented on the two studios' near-decade of continued work together, saying that "the know-how of Rainbow and the know-how of Nickelodeon are very complementary; the sensibilities of the Americans, with our European touch." ''Winx Club'' opened the opportunity for Nickelodeon and Rainbow to collaborate on additional co-productions together, including various pilots from 2014 onward and '' Club 57'' in 2019.


Retooled eighth season

The eighth season of the series was not produced immediately after the seventh. It followed a multiple-year hiatus and was not made as a direct continuation of the previous season. At Iginio Straffi's decision, Season 8 was heavily retooled to appeal to a preschool
target audience A target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to said intended audience. In marketing and advertising, it is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined ...
. For season 8, Rainbow's creative team restyled the characters to appear younger, hoping to increase the appeal toward preschoolers. The plot lines were simplified so that they could be understood by a younger audience. Most of the show's longtime crew members were not called back to work on this season, including art director Simone Borselli, who had designed the series' characters from season 1 to 7, and singer Elisa Rosselli, who had performed a majority of the songs. In another change from previous seasons, Nickelodeon's American team served as consultants rather than directly overseeing the episodes; at the time, Nickelodeon was instead working with Rainbow on a new co-production, '' Club 57''. Season 8 was also the first-ever season without the involvement of
Rai Fiction Rai Fiction is an Italian production company founded in 1997. It is owned and operated by ''Radiotelevisione Italiana'' ( RAI), the national broadcasting company of Italy. The company produces content for RAI's channels. The company produces anim ...
. Iginio Straffi made the decision to shift the show's intended audience after years of gradually aiming toward a younger demographic. In a 2019 interview, Straffi explained that decreasing viewership from older viewers and an increased audience of young children made this change a necessity. He elaborated that "the fans of the previous ''Winx Club'' say on social media that the new seasons are childish, but they don't know that we ''had'' to do that." Straffi stepped away from the series at this time and did not oversee season 8's production like he had for the previous installments. He instead shifted his focus to
live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
projects aimed at older audiences: Nickelodeon's ''Club 57'' and '' Fate: The Winx Saga''. Straffi explained that "the things we had to tone down
n season 8 N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...
have been emphasized in the live action–the relationships, the fights, the love stories." He added that he hopes that ''Fate'' will satisfy the "20-year-olds who still like to watch ''Winx''."


Production


Design

The series' visuals are a mixture of Japanese anime and European elements, which Iginio Straffi calls "the trademark Rainbow style". The main characters' original designs were based on Straffi's original sketches and later updated to 3D CGI iterations. The main characters were modelled on celebrities popular at the turn of the 21st century. In a 2011 interview with ''
IO Donna ''IO Donna'' (Italian: ''Me Woman'') is a weekly women's magazine and Saturday supplement of the Italian daily newspaper ''Corriere della Sera''. The magazine is the first supplement of a daily which focuses on women readers. It is based in Milan ...
'', Straffi stated that
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
served as an inspiration for Bloom,
Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. With a variety of works in film, she is widely recognised for her work in romantic comedies and animation. Diaz has received various accolades, including nominations for ...
for Stella,
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...
for Flora,
Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
for Tecna,
Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award. Liu has star ...
for Musa, and
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
for Aisha. This approach was part of Straffi's aim for the fairies to represent "the women of today." A team of specialized artists designs the characters' expressions and outfits for each season. About 20 tables of expressions and positions from all angles are drawn for each character. The designers start to develop characters' costumes by creating collages from magazine clippings of recent fashion trends. Using these as references, they draw multiple outfits for each character. Simone Borselli, the series' art director, designed most of the characters' early-season clothing despite lacking a background in
fashion design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...
. When asked by an interviewer where his fashion intuition came from, Borselli responded, "From being gay."


Writing and animation

The first stage in the production of an episode is developing its script, a process that can last 5–6 months. When the series began production, the writers were based entirely in Italy. After Viacom became a co-owner of Rainbow in 2011, Rainbow's group of 30 writers began collaborating with teams in both Italy and the United States. The international coordination, which has continued through 2019, intends to make scenarios depicted in the program multicultural and accessible to viewers from different countries. Episodes are written with two stories in mind: a longer narrative arc that lasts for tens of episodes and a subplot that concludes at the end of the 22-minute runtime. This episode structure was modelled on those of teen dramas and American comics. Themes written into the series include romance, the acquisition of maturity upon reaching adulthood, and (in the fifth season) nature conservation. After the script and character designs have been approved, the screenplay is passed onto a group of storyboard artists. For each 22-minute episode, the artists prepare 450 pages of storyboards which are used to assemble an
animatic A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in the ...
. At this stage, dialogue and music are added to determine the length of each scene. In the original series (seasons 1–4), the characters' mouths were animated to match the Italian voice actors' lines; in the revived series, the mouth movements were matched to the English scripts. Episodes are worked on concurrently because each requires around two years of work to complete. At the beginning of the first season, the production team worked from Rainbow's original headquarters in Recanati. In 2006, Straffi opened a second studio in Rome for computer-animated projects. During the fifth and sixth seasons, 3D CGI sequences were incorporated into the series for the first time, animated at the studio in Rome. According to the Rainbow CGI animators, the animation of the characters' hair in underwater scenes was particularly difficult, and it was animated separately from the characters.


Casting

In Italy, the series' voice actors include
Letizia Ciampa Letizia Ciampa (born 20 August 1986) is an Italian voice actress. Biography Letizia is the recurring voice of many famous actresses such as Emma Watson, Emilia Clarke, Lucy Hale, Lily James, Kaya Scodelario, Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Wasikowska, ...
(Bloom),
Perla Liberatori Perla Liberatori (born November 10, 1981) is an Italian voice actress. Biography Liberatori contributes to voicing characters in anime, cartoons, movies, and more content. For example, she is well known for providing the voice of both Stella an ...
(Stella), Ilaria Latini (Flora), Domitilla D'Amico (Tecna), Gemma Donati (Musa), and Laura Lenghi (Aisha). According to Ilaria Latini, the characters were cast before the character designs were finalized and the actors were shown black-and-white sketches of their roles. The actors record their lines in Rome. Seasons 1–4 were animated to match the Italian voices. Starting with season 5, the animation was synchronized to match the English scripts. The 2011 specials introduced a new cast of Hollywood voice actors. Iginio Straffi himself helped to choose the voices of the main characters, and the actors recorded their lines at the Atlas Oceanic studio in Burbank, California.
Molly Quinn Molly Caitlyn Quinn is an American actress who has worked in theatre, film, and television. Her roles include Alexis Castle, daughter of the title character on ABC's ''Castle'', and the voice of Bloom, one of the main characters in the Nickelodeo ...
voiced the lead role of Bloom, and at first, she tried out a cartoony voice for her character. Nickelodeon advised her to use her real voice instead, saying, "No, we want voices of real girls this time around." For the 2011 cast, Viacom hired popular actors whose names were advertised on-air to attract American viewers; these stars included
Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
as Diaspro,
Elizabeth Gillies Elizabeth Egan Gillies (born July 26, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She gained prominence for her starring roles as Jade West in the Nickelodeon series ''Victorious'' (2010–2013), and as Fallon Carrington on The CW revival of ''D ...
as Daphne,
Keke Palmer Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) ( ) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP ...
as Aisha,
Matt Shively Matthew James Shively Jr. (born September 15, 1990)
PopTower.com. No date. Acces ...
as Sky, and
Daniella Monet Daniella Monet Gardner (née Zuvic; ( ; born March 1, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She first earned recognition for playing Megan Kleinman on the CBS sitcom ''Listen Up!'' (2004–05) and Rebecca Martin on Nickelodeon's ''Zoey 101'' ...
as Mitzi. These actors provided voices for the first two ''Winx'' films and seasons three through six. In 2014, Viacom relocated the series' English cast to DuArt in New York City; this was done as a cost-cutting and time-saving measure since Rainbow was undergoing a significant financial loss at the time. Despite the change in voice actors, the series' animation continued to be matched to Nickelodeon and Rainbow's English scripts for the seventh season.


Music

Original songs have been recorded in about 40 languages for the show. Frequent composers for the program include Michele Bettali, Stefano Carrara, Fabrizio Castania, and Maurizio D'Aniello. One of Nickelodeon's composers, Emmy and Grammy Award recipient
Peter Zizzo Peter Eric Zizzo (born February 22, 1966) is an American songwriter, music producer, musician and writer. Zizzo is also a stage and television actor, having appeared in the Showtime series Billions in 2021. Zizzo has written hits for artists suc ...
, joined the team during Nickelodeon's joint production of the fifth season. His music is featured in the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons. Each song takes between five and twelve months to complete. Many of the show's tracks are performed by Italian singer Elisa Rosselli, who started recording songs for ''Winx'' in 2007. Rosselli continued to produce music for the show (usually in collaboration with D'Aniello or Peter Zizzo from Nickelodeon) until its seventh season. Nickelodeon created a few live-action
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
s for ''Winx Club'' that were performed by stars from other Nick shows. One featured Elizabeth Gillies from ''
Victorious ''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider (TV producer), Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. Th ...
'' (who also voiced Bloom's sister, Daphne) singing "We Are Believix." This song was released as a stand-alone single on iTunes. Another music video featured
Cymphonique Miller Cymphonique Miller (born August 1, 1996), known professionally as Cymphonique, is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of Percy Robert Miller (also known as Master P) and is the younger sister of Romeo Miller (a.k.a. Romeo). She ...
from ''
How to Rock ''How to Rock'' is an American teen sitcom that ran on Nickelodeon from February 4 to December 8, 2012. It stars singer Cymphonique Miller, who previously sang the theme song for Nickelodeon's '' Winx Club''. The series is based on the 2011 book ...
'' singing "Winx, You're Magic Now." Miller also did a live performance of her ''Winx'' song at Nickelodeon's upfront presentation in Las Vegas.


Broadcast

''Winx Club'' first premiered on the Italian television channel
Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting ''TG2'' news bulletins, talk ...
on 28 January 2004. Reruns later aired on
Rai Gulp Rai Gulp is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's television channel for early teenagers, and is known for its programming for childr ...
, a sister channel to Rai 2 aimed at children, shortly after the network launched in 2007. On 2 September 2010,
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
announced through a press release that they would be producing brand-new seasons with Rainbow. Nickelodeon debuted four one-hour specials (also co-produced with Rainbow) summarizing the first two seasons, the first of which premiered on their flagship American channel on 27 June 2011. With the exception of Italy, the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons launched on Nickelodeon channels domestically and internationally. During the sixth season in 2014, episode premieres were moved from Rai 2 to
Rai Gulp Rai Gulp is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's television channel for early teenagers, and is known for its programming for childr ...
in Italy, and from Nickelodeon to
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
in the United States. The change to younger-skewing networks followed Rainbow's lowering of ''Winx Club''s target demographic to a younger audience than the earlier seasons. The seventh season was jointly announced by Nickelodeon and Rainbow in April 2014 as part of their continuing partnership. The seventh season made its world premiere on Nickelodeon Greece on 24 May 2015, and the English version debuted on
Nickelodeon Asia Nickelodeon is a pan-Asian pay television channel operated by Paramount Global, based in Singapore and broadcast to audiences in Southeast Asia and certain regions in Oceania like Polynesia and Papua New Guinea. The channel was launched on 16 J ...
on 22 June 2015. It later premiered on Rai Gulp in Italy (21 September 2015) and
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
in the United States (10 January 2016). By 2014, the show had been aired in over 150 countries. In 2019, after the Viacom-CBS merger announcement,
Informa Informa plc is a British publishing, business intelligence, and exhibitions group based in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has offices in 43 countries and around 11,000 ...
's ''Television Business International'' listed the show among the most important Viacom properties internationally. Third-party broadcasters that acquired the show included China's
CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
, Ireland's
TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...
, and
4Kids TV 4Kids TV (often stylized as 4K!DSTV and formerly known as FoxBox from September 14, 2002 to January 15, 2005) was an American block programming, television programming block and Internet-based video on demand children's network operated by 4Kid ...
, the last of which aired the series in the United States until their broadcast agreement was permanently revoked by Rainbow in 2009. 4Kids censored and edited the original content in an attempt at localization. Iginio Straffi criticized these adjustments in a 2008 interview, saying, "The Winx fairies cannot talk about boys there. I think this removes something essential." Straffi wanted to launch the series in Japan, but he abandoned the idea due to the country's regulation that foreign content producers must pay for airtime. In June 2022, Paramount (the rebranded name of ViacomCBS) launched a 24-hour ''Winx Club'' channel on their
Pluto TV Pluto TV is a free, ad-supported video streaming service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Co-founded by Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in Los Angeles, California, in the United Sta ...
on-demand service. The channel is currently only available on the Spanish and French feeds.


Reception


Ratings

Upon its debut, ''Winx Club'' was a ratings success. During its first season in 2004, the series became one of the highest-rated programs on Rai 2 with an average audience share of 17%. Among viewers 4–14 years old, the average share was 45%. In France and Belgium, the season reached a 56% share among 10 to 14-year-olds. According to Rai in 2009, the gender mix of ''Winx Club'' audience was nearly equal across the first three seasons; in the target demographic of 4–14 years of age, females represented only 3% more of the audience than males. The premiere of the fourth season set a record for an animated show's audience on Rai 2 with 500,000 viewers. In 2007, Iginio Straffi noted that there were lower ratings in English-speaking territories than in Europe at the time, which he surmised was due to cultural differences. On 27 June 2011, the first special produced with Nickelodeon premiered on Nick U.S. to 2.278 million viewers. Each of the following three specials performed better than the previous ones, with the fourth ("The Shadow Phoenix") rating #1 in its time slot among viewers aged 2–11. During the first quarter of 2012, an average of 38.5 million viewers watched the series across nine of Nickelodeon's international outlets, a 60% increase from the fourth quarter of 2011. On
Nickelodeon UK Nickelodeon (commonly shortened to Nick) is a British pay television network aimed at children aged under 13. On 1 September 1993, a localised version of the US channel launched in the United Kingdom and launched at a later date in Ireland. I ...
, ''Winx Club'' increased the network's ratings by 58% on its launch weekend in September 2011, ranking as the second-most-popular program on the channel and the most popular show with females aged 7–15. As of 2021, ''Winx Club'' is still broadcast daily on Nickelodeon UK's main network.


Critical response

In a ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' article,
Bocconi University Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and computer sci ...
professor Paola Dubini stated that the themes and characters of ''Winx Club'' appealed to both the target audience and their parents. Dubini wrote that the fairies' "defined and different personalities" made them relatable to viewers.
Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.
reviewer Tara Swords gave the show a three-star review, calling it "an imaginative story with bold, take-charge heroines" while also arguing that the show is hindered by its design elements. ''Winx Club'' has attracted academic interest for its presentation of
gender roles A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...
. In the journal of
Volgograd State University Volgograd State University (VolSU, russian: Волгоградский государственный университет) is a public university and one of the leading institutions of higher education in Volgograd, Russia. History The first ...
, Russian sociologists Georgiy Antonov and Elena Laktyukhina judged that female characters in the series are depicted as dominant, while males are shown to be passive. As examples of women adopting traditionally male roles, they listed the female fairies fighting for their boyfriends, saving them from enemies, and inviting them on dates, while at the same time having difficulty performing household duties like cooking and cleaning. Writing for Kabardino-Balcarian State University, Zalina Dokhova and Tatiana Cheprakova stated that the series conveys "both positive and negative stereotypes", citing the opposite personalities of Stella and Aisha. They wrote that Stella's character incorporates stereotypically feminine passions for shopping and clothes, while Aisha represents a more realistic character with an interest in male-dominated sports.
Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...
professor Jeanne Prinsloo wrote in 2014 that ''Winx Club'' episodes "present complex narratives with active female protagonists and positive relationships that validate 'girl power'". In an interview with the newspaper ''
Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...
'', psychotherapist Gianna Schelotto highlighted positive aspects of the show, like friendship, guiding female viewers "away from supermodels to which the commercial world drags them". ''IlSole 24 Ore'' also wrote positively about the show's feminist themes, commending how the characters "expose narcissistic masculinity". The characters' outfits caused some controversy in June 2017, when the
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ( ur, ) is an independent and constitutionally established federal institution responsible for regulating and issuing channel licenses for establishment of the mass media culture, print a ...
(PEMRA) fined Nickelodeon's Pakistani channel after it aired an episode where the Winx are shown in swimsuits.


Cultural impact

''Winx Club'' has been popular at
fan convention Fan convention (also known as con or fan meeting), a term that predates 1942, is an event in which fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some ...
s. For example, in 2012 and 2013, the series had a large presence at Nickelodeon's
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
booth, where new collectibles were raffled off to fans. Nickelodeon made two exclusive dolls for the 2012 event (a silver Bloom and a gold Bloom) and two more for 2013 (Daphne in her nymph form and Bloom in her Harmonix form). In 2015, a four-day ''Winx Club'' fan gathering was held in
Jesolo Jesolo or Iesolo (; vec, Gèxoło) is a seaside resort town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy of 26,447 inhabitants. With around six million visitors per year, Jesolo is one of the largest beach resorts in the country, and ...
, where Nickelodeon installed a "Fan Wall" to display messages from worldwide fans. In October 2018, an exhibition for the series' fifteenth anniversary was held at Europe's largest comics festival, the
Lucca Comics & Games Lucca Comics & Games is an annual Comic book convention, comic book and gaming convention in Lucca, Italy, traditionally held at the end of October, in conjunction with All Saints' Day. It is the largest comics festival in Europe, and the second ...
convention in Tuscany. Federico Vercellino of ''
Il Sole 24 Ore ''Il Sole 24 Ore'' () is an Italian national daily business newspaper owned by Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation. History and profile ''Il Sole 24 Ore'' was first published on 9 November 1965 as a merger between ''Il Sole'' ("the ...
'' described the series as "a destructive and constructive phenomenon" that introduced viewers to feminist stories about rebellious female characters. A 2019 study conducted for the ''
Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...
'' reported that ''Winx Club'' was the fourth-most-popular Italian series outside of the country, with strong demand in Russia and the United States. In 2018, Giovanna Gallo of ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...
'' stated that the program's characters have become "real icons of fashion" and noted the show's popularity with
cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...
ers,
performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
ists who wear costumes and accessories to represent the show's characters. ''Winx Club'' costumes were the focus of a second-season episode of ''
The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...
'', in which
Flavio Briatore Flavio Briatore (; born 12 April 1950) is an Italian businessman. He started his career as a restaurant manager and insurance salesman in Italy. Briatore was convicted in Italy on several fraud charges in the 1980s, receiving two prison senten ...
challenged the show's teams to create three ''Winx'' outfits intended for females 25–35 years of age, which were to be submitted to the judgment of Iginio Straffi. ''
la Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnoldo ...
''s Marina Amaduzzi attributed the popularity of ''Winx''-inspired fashion to fans' desire to emulate the characters, stating that "Winx fanatics dress, move and breathe like their heroines". The Regional Council of
Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...
, Italy, chose the ''Winx Club'' fairies to represent Marche and Italy at the
Expo 2010 Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the t ...
world's fair in Shanghai. A four-minute video using stereoscopic technology showing the Winx in Marche's tourist destinations was animated for the Italian Pavilion. In 2015, Italian Prime Minister
Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having been ...
visited Rainbow's studio and wrote that "the Winx are a beautiful story of Italian talent".


Lawsuit

In April 2004,
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
filed an unsuccessful
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
lawsuit against Rainbow. The company accused Rainbow of copying the ''Winx Club'' concept from its ''
W.I.T.C.H. ''W.I.T.C.H.'' (stylised as ''W.i.t.c.h.'') is an Italian fantasy Disney comics series created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci, and Barbara Canepa. The series features a group of five teenage girls who become the guardians of the classi ...
'' comic book, which was published over a year after production on ''Winx Club'' began. Disney applied for an injunction order to halt the further release of the ''Winx Club'' series and comic magazine; to declare the ''Winx Club'' trademark invalid; and to seize the periodical and film material bearing the allegedly infringing ''Winx Club'' name. Rainbow won the case against Disney, and the judge declared there were no confusing similarities between the two. Straffi mentioned that the ''Winx Club'' pilot entered production by 2000, while the ''W.I.T.C.H.'' comic was not released until May 2001. On 2 August 2004, all of Disney's infringement claims were rejected by the Tribunale di Bologna's Specialized Commercial Matters Department, which deemed them unfounded. The suit later became the subject of a commercial law seminar at the
University of Macerata The University of Macerata ( it, Università degli Studi di Macerata) is a public university located in Macerata, Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe that are still functioning.https://thefunkonme.com/top-10-oldest-universities- ...
in 2009. In 2005, Iginio Straffi was interviewed in ''
IO Donna ''IO Donna'' (Italian: ''Me Woman'') is a weekly women's magazine and Saturday supplement of the Italian daily newspaper ''Corriere della Sera''. The magazine is the first supplement of a daily which focuses on women readers. It is based in Milan ...
'' about the legal battle. He was asked how it felt "to be one of Disney's most hated people," and answered that he—as the founder of a small animation studio—was glad to have "defeated" a massive conglomerate. "I feel a certain pride in having annoyed such a giant. It's inspiring," he elaborated. As a result of the lawsuit, Straffi has avoided doing any business with the Disney corporation; he commented in 2014, "They've lost the chance to explore our creativity."


Related media


Films


''The Secret of the Lost Kingdom''

On 8 October 2006, a ''Winx Club'' feature film was announced on Rainbow's website. ''The Secret of the Lost Kingdom'' was released in Italy on 30 November 2007. Its television premiere was on 11 March 2012 on Nickelodeon in the United States. The plot takes place after the events of the first three seasons, following Bloom as she searches for her birth parents and fights the Ancestral Witches who destroyed her home planet. Iginio Straffi had planned this feature-length story since the beginning of the series' development.


''Magical Adventure''

On 9 November 2009, a sequel film was announced. ''Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure'' was released in Italy on 29 October 2010. Its television premiere was on 20 May 2013, on Nickelodeon in the United States. In the film, Sky proposes to Bloom, but Sky's father does not approve of their marriage. Production on ''Magical Adventure'' began in 2007, while the first film was still in development. It is the first Italian film animated in
stereoscopic 3D Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...
. On February 19, 2013, Nickelodeon held a special screening of the movie at the
TCL Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. The original Chinese ...
in Hollywood. Nickelodeon star
Daniella Monet Daniella Monet Gardner (née Zuvic; ( ; born March 1, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She first earned recognition for playing Megan Kleinman on the CBS sitcom ''Listen Up!'' (2004–05) and Rebecca Martin on Nickelodeon's ''Zoey 101'' ...
(who voiced Bloom's rival, Mitzi, on the show) and creator Iginio Straffi both attended the premiere.


''The Mystery of the Abyss''

In late 2010, it was announced that
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
(the owner of Nickelodeon and eventual co-owner of Rainbow) would provide the resources necessary to produce a new ''Winx'' film. The film, titled ''Winx Club: The Mystery of the Abyss'', was released in Italy on 4 September 2014. It made its television premiere on
Nickelodeon Germany Nick is a German free-to-air television channel for children, part of the Paramount International Networks, international Nickelodeon brand. Originally launched in 1995, and relaunched in 2005, Nickelodeon is based in Berlin, Germany, Berlin. Th ...
on 8 August 2015. The plot follows the Winx venturing through the Infinite Ocean to rescue Sky, who has been imprisoned by the Trix. According to Iginio Straffi, the film has a more comedic tone than the previous two films.


Spin-offs

''
PopPixie ''PopPixie'' is an Italian animated miniseries created by Iginio Straffi. Its only season aired on Rai 2 for just over two months, from 10 January to 22 March 2011. The show features a cast of pixies, who were first introduced as secondary charact ...
'' is a miniseries that ran for a single season over two months in 2011. It features chibi-inspired Pixie characters who were first introduced in the second season of ''Winx Club''. After Nickelodeon became a co-developer of the main series, it was announced that ''PopPixie'' would air on Nickelodeon's global network of channels beginning in late 2011. ''
World of Winx ''World of Winx'' is an Italian Flash animated television series and a spin-off of ''Winx Club''. The series was created by Iginio Straffi. Twenty-six episodes were produced in two seasons, the first of which was premiered as a Netflix original ...
'' is a spin-off series that premiered in 2016. Straffi described it as one "with more adult graphics, a kind of story better suited to an older audience" than the original series. It features the Winx travelling to Earth on an undercover mission to track down a kidnapper known as the Talent Thief. 26 episodes over two seasons were made.


Netflix live-action adaptation

In 2018, a live-action adaptation aimed at young adults was announced. Filming began in September 2019, with Abigail Cowen starring as Bloom. The series made its world premiere on 22 January 2021, following a teaser released on 10 December 2020. The writers of ''Fate: The Winx Saga'' were entirely new to the ''Winx'' franchise, and they were recruited from teen dramas like ''
The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...
''. Early in production, Nickelodeon's American crew members from the cartoon (including Bloom's voice actress,
Molly Quinn Molly Caitlyn Quinn is an American actress who has worked in theatre, film, and television. Her roles include Alexis Castle, daughter of the title character on ABC's ''Castle'', and the voice of Bloom, one of the main characters in the Nickelodeo ...
) met with the ''Fate'' production team and reviewed the pilot script. Rainbow's Joanne Lee also oversaw the show as an executive producer.


Other live events

In September 2005, a live
stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
called "Winx Power Show" began touring in Italy. The musical later expanded to other European countries and the show's cast performed at the 2007
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (also known as the KCAs or Kids' Choice) is an annual American children's awards ceremony show that is produced by Nickelodeon. Usually held on a Saturday night in late March or early April, the show honors ...
in Milan. An
ice show An ice show is an entertainment production which is primarily performed by ice skaters. Such shows may primarily be skating exhibitions, or may be musical and/or dramatic in nature, using skating as a medium in order to accompany a musical work o ...
follow-up starring
Carolina Kostner Carolina Kostner (born 8 February 1987) is an Italian figure skater. She is the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2012 World champion, a five-time European champion (2007–2008, 2010, 2012–2013), and the 2011 Grand Prix Final champion. She ...
was launched in November 2008. In October 2012, Nickelodeon held a live event at the Odeon Cinema Covent Garden, complete with a " pink carpet" and previews of upcoming episodes.


Merchandise

Iginio Straffi opened up to licensing ''Winx Club'' merchandise in order to finance his studio's other projects; in 2008, he stated that he reinvests "almost everything" back into Rainbow. Across the show's first ten years on air, more than 6,000 pieces of tie-in merchandise were released by external licensing companies. As of 2014, ''Winx Club'' merchandise licenses generated around annually, with most of the revenue going toward product licensees rather than Rainbow itself. According to a ''
VideoAge International ''VideoAge International'' is a TV trade magazine based in New York City, with offices in Los Angeles, California and Milan, Italy. Known simply as ''VideoAge'', it is published by TV Trade Media, Inc. Its subtitle is "The Business Journal of Fil ...
'' article, Rainbow's take from merchandise sales averages 10 percent, with some deals only giving the studio five percent. After Viacom became a co-owner of Rainbow in 2011, Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products started to create merchandise for the show. From 2011 to 2013, Nickelodeon spent on a ''Winx Club'' marketing campaign to promote both the show and the tie-in products. Nickelodeon partnered with
Jakks Pacific Jakks Pacific, Inc. is an American company that designs and markets toys and consumer products, with a range of products that feature numerous children's toy licenses. The company is named after its founder, Jack Friedman, who had previously fou ...
to design dolls based on new episodes, and in the United Kingdom, the merchandise sold out before those episodes had even premiered. Nickelodeon's vice president of consumer products, Michael Connolly, said that "''Winx'' has been a huge surprise, considering the program is not on
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
in the UK. We put toys in Argos toresand in just three days we experienced sales for a doll range unlike we've seen." An ongoing comic book series has been published since the series' premiere. Over 210 Italian issues have been released as of 2021. In the United States,
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
translated a few of the first 88 issues and released them across nine volumes. Other tie-in books have been produced, starting with character guides distributed by
Giunti Editore Giunti Editore S.p.A. is an Italian publishing house founded in Florence in 1956. The company is based in Villa La Loggia, in via Bolognese, and affiliated offices in Milan. Giunti S.p.A. is the leader of a group comprising various brands and tha ...
. In 2012, Nickelodeon partnered with
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
to publish ''Winx Club'' books in English.


Games

Several video games based on the show have been made, with some exclusive to Europe. The first game was Konami Europe's ''Winx Club'' in 2005. In 2012, Nickelodeon launched '' Winx Club: Magical Fairy Party'' for the Nintendo DS in both the United States and Europe. The Nickelodeon game was notable for being one of very few Nintendo DS titles to be played sideways, with the game system held like a book. A physical
trading card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...
based on the franchise and produced by
Upper Deck Entertainment The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United State ...
was released in 2005. Nickelodeon's website,
Nick.com Nick.com is a website owned and developed by Nickelodeon. The website previously served as an online portal for Nickelodeon content, and offered online games, video streaming, radio streaming and individual websites for each show it broadcasts. I ...
, created various Flash games based on the show. The ''Winx Club'' section on Nick.com became one of the most-visited pages on the site, with 1 million monthly visitors in mid-2013 and over 2.6 million gaming sessions.


Notes


References


External links

*
''Winx Club'' at Nick.com

''Winx Club'' at NickAnimationStudio.com
* {{Authority control 2000s American comedy-drama television series 2000s Italian television series 2000s animated comedy television series 2000s American animated television series 2004 American television series debuts 2004 Italian television series debuts 2007 American television series endings 2009 Italian television series endings 2010s American animated television series 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2010s Italian television series 2010s Nickelodeon original programming 2010s animated comedy television series 2011 American television series debuts 2012 Italian television series debuts 2016 American television series endings 2019 Italian television series endings American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated drama television series American children's animated fantasy television series American television series revived after cancellation Animated television series about children Animated television series about teenagers Anime-influenced Western animated television series Fairies and sprites in popular culture Fairies Fantasy comics Fashion dolls Fictional fairies and sprites Italian children's animated action television series Italian children's animated adventure television series Italian children's animated drama television series Italian children's animated fantasy television series Italian comics titles Italian flash animated television series Magical girl television series Nicktoons Paramount Global franchises Television about magic Television series by Rainbow S.r.l. Television series created by Iginio Straffi Television series revived after cancellation Television shows adapted into comics Television shows adapted into films Television shows adapted into plays Television shows adapted into video games Italian-language television shows English-language television shows