Winx Club is a 2004 Italian animated television series, created by Iginio Straffi and produced by Rainbow S.r.l.. The series is aimed toward children between the ages of five and twelve,[1] but is also popular among teens. It has spawned an international franchise of toys, books, clothing, video games, DVDs, as well as two CGI feature films.
Apart from the English language version of the series done by Cinélume in Canada for various international markets, 4Kids Entertainment in the United States made an alternative version by changing dialogue and music and altering some visuals and situations. Their dub was discontinued in 2007 after the third season. In 2011, Nickelodeon aired four one-hour specials that summarizes seasons one and two, as well as airing seasons 3 and 4 in full complete seasons.
Iginio Straffi first wished to create a show aimed mainly at girls like Sailor Moon in 2000, when children's programming was dominated by boy-oriented shows.[2]
The story follows Bloom and her friends Stella, Flora, Tecna, Musa, Layla (Aisha), and is situated mainly in the Magical Dimension and on Earth. They call themselves "The Winx Club" and go on countless adventures together. Throughout the story, they discover new transformations, unlock secrets and powers, battle against the darkness and support Bloom as she tries to discover her past.
A supposedly ordinary girl from planet Earth, Bloom, with her pet Kiko, lives a perfectly normal life in the city of Gardenia with her mother and father, until she stumbles upon Stella, a princess from the planet Solaria, who is in trouble. Coming to Stella's aid, Bloom discovers her dormant magical abilities and powers when she dodges a group of monsters and attacks an ogre. Stella persuades Bloom to join Alfea, a school for fairies in the Magical Dimension. She agrees and leaves Gardenia and her parents. At Alfea, Bloom forms the Winx Club, whose members are her four friends and roommates: Stella, and the three friends she meets at Alfea: Musa, Tecna, and Flora. Later in the series they encounter and befriend the Specialists: Brandon, Riven, Timmy, and Sky, who also become their love interests. They will also encounter their enemies, a trio of witches calling themselves the Trix:[nb 1] Icy, Darcy, and Stormy. They are witches from Cloudtower, a school for witches and dark magic that is roughly equivalent to Alfea, and are in search of the power of the Dragon Fire which is supposedly in Stella's magic ring. However, they realize that the Dragon Fire is the source of Bloom's powers, which they try to steal from her. Their ruthless pursuit of the ring leads to many encounters and battles with the Winx. Leading up to the final battle in which the evil Trix get defeated. Bloom also begins to learn the secrets of her home planet, birth parents, and powers and abilities.
After their summer vacation, the Winx return to Alfea to begin their second year. They meet a new fairy, Aisha (Layla), who asks for their help in rescuing her pixie friends who are being held hostage by Lord Darkar, who wanted to find out where the Pixies' Village was in order to steal one of the four pieces of the Codex (one in each Pixie Village, Redfountain, Cloudtower, and Alfea) which would open the portal to the Realm of Realix, the underground realm in which the ultimate power is being hidden away by Lord Darkar in his fortress. When their plan doesn't work out, Sky expresses his true feelings to Bloom to bring back her true self, and Bloom uses her great healing powers to heal everyone she hurt after she turned into Dark Bloom. She defeats Lord Darkar, also Aisha (Layla) becomes the sixth Winx Club member.
Previously banished to the Omega Dimension, the Trix[nb 1] are able to escape with Valtor,[nb 2] a sorcerer partially responsible for the destruction of Bloom's home planet, Domino.(Sparx)[nb 3] They choose to cooperate and plan to invade several areas in the realm of Magix and seek vengeance on those who imprisoned them, by stealing their exceptionally strong and powerful magic mystic treasures and power sources of each realm. With the Enchantix, Flora, Stella, Layla (Aisha) Tecna and Musa are able to use incredible and strong power and are able to miniaturize. Bloom, however cannot miniaturize due to the fact that her Enchantix is not complete. The Winx begin their third and final year at Alfea, learning about their unique Enchantix transformations, acquired by sacrificing themselves for someone from their home world and showing great courage and sacrifice in doing so. Bloom also learns more about her home planet Domino as well as the truth about where her birth parents are.
The fourth season of the Winx Club debuted on 15 April 2009. Takes place after the events of Secret of the Lost Kingdom. The Winx are back at Alfea, but this time as the teachers. They learn about a new transformation called Believix, which can only be accessed when people in a non-magic world (such as Earth) start to believe in magic and fairies, Faragonda also teaches them that there are infinite stages of transformation. The Winx also bump into the Wizards of The Black Circle. A group of wizards who trapped all the fairies in Earth and are back to get one they left behind. the Winx girls and Specialists have to track the Wizards of the Black Circle to Gardenia, Blooms Earth town and save the last Earth fairy while trying to get people on Earth to believe in magic.
In the United States, The license for 4KidsTV expired in 2009, and sought out a new partner.[3] On 2 September 2010, Nickelodeon announced [4] through a press release that they will be co-producing seasons 5 and 6 of Winx Club.
In early January 2011, it was announced that Keke Palmer will be playing the voice of Layla (Aisha). In late March 2011, Molly Quinn announced she will be voicing Bloom.[5] Josh Keaton announced that he will voice Valtor in season 3.[6] Ariana Grande announced on 22 May via Twitter that she will be voicing Princess Diaspro, a minor villain, in the new dub.[7] Romi Dames has also announced that she will voice Musa and Helia will be played by David Faustino. [8] Elizabeth Gillies is playing Daphne and Matt Shively is playing Sky.[9] The first special's broadcast revealed that Amy Gross is voicing Stella, Alejandra Reynoso is voicing Flora, and Morgan Decker is voicing Tecna.[10][11]
Season five has been confirmed to show in Italy. It will air in September 2012 in Italy, and will come after the 3D Movie of the. This season will also air in America in September 2012 and A Gobal Primer September 2012. Almost nothing is known of the season.
However, from the Licensing Show 2010, via Michael's Winx Club, it has been confirmed that Roxy will be present, as the seventh Winx in the upcoming season. The quote is here: "A new Season Five, with further adventures of the seven magical fairies, is in production and will be ready in Fall 2011!".
In 2010 it was publicly announced that Nickelodeon gained the rights for Winx Club in several countries and that it will be co-producing Seasons 5 and 6 along with Rainbow. In India it will not be produced by Nick.
Not much information has been released about Season 6, but it has been confirmed that Season 6 will be made and aired in Italy and will be co-produced by both Rainbow S.r.l and Nickelodeon in 2013. It is schedule to air in North America in 2012.
The Winx are a group of fairies formed by Bloom in the beginning of the first season. Initially, it was a group of five fairies: Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa and Tecna. Layla[nb 4] joined the group in the second season after some conflict with the villain of the season, Lord Darkar. In the original version, the word "Winx," as Bloom suggests, has no meaning, although in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment, it is the word for the magical power that fairies have.
- Bloom (Season 1-present): She discovered her dormant magical powers after coming to the aid of another fairy, Stella. She is always available to help her friends. Shortly after arriving at Alfea, she discovers that she is the fairy of the Dragon's Flame. She is the princess and last survivor of her planet Domino (Sparks in the 4kids dub). But later on in the movie Bloom finds her parents and Domino becomes the place it use to be. She owns a blueish bunny named Kiko, a befriended pixie cat Ron (in the movie Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom), and a horse/pegasus named Peg (in the movie Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure). Her pixie is Lockette, the pixie of mazes and portals. Her magical pet is Belle, a green and white sheep. She is Sky's fiancee after he proposes to her in the movie Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom.
- Stella (Season 1-present): She is a talkative "girly girl." She tends to be spontaneous and dislikes extensive planning, but she is able to recognize when her help is needed. Stella is also infamous amongst the Alfea students for blowing up a laboratory. She is the fairy of the sun and moon. Her mother represents the moon and her father represents the sun. She is the princess of the planet, Solaria her birthplace, making her the only heir to the throne. It is revealed in season one that her mother and father are divorced, but she wishes they would get back together, as is revealed in season three. Her pixie is Amore, the pixie of love, and her magical pet is Ginger, a white poodle. She is Brandon's fiancee.
- Flora (Season 1-present): She is a very kind-hearted and sensitive girl with a passion for nature and life. Happy and intelligent, she is always a sweet, loyal friend and does not believe in hurting others or the environment. She is extremely fond of plants and nature and her room consequently resembles a greenhouse. She is the fairy of nature, meaning that plants are frequently used in her attacks and natural to exterminate pests. She comes from the planet Linphea (Fifth Moon of Marigold in the 4kids dub). It is debateable if she is the princess of it. There are clues Her pixie is Chatta, the pixie of gossip. In the third season, it is revealed that Flora has a younger sister named Miele ("Rose" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment). Her magical pet is Coco, a pink cat. She is Helia's girlfriend.
- Musa (Season 1-present): She loves all forms of music. Although she tries to put up a tough front to isolate herself and is often pessimistic, she is a loyal and caring friend. She is a bit of a tomboy but can be girly at many times. She is pale and appears to be of Asian descent, with blue-black pigtails and blue eyes. Musa is the fairy of music, and she gets her energy from all kinds of music. She is the princess of the planet, Melody (Harmonic Realm in the 4kids dub) so she grew with music all around her. Her mother was a great singer and her father is a great pianist and could also play the cello. Her pixie is Tune, the pixie of manners, who often gets on Musa's nerves since they are almost the exact opposite of each other in terms of personalities. Her magical pet is Pepe, a brown bear. She is Riven's girlfriend.
- Tecna (Season 1-present): She is always logical and rational, and initially had trouble expressing her emotions. She speaks in a technical and matter-of-fact manner. She is extremely intelligent and strong in technology and mathematics and enjoys playing video games. She is also pretty athletic, and enjoys doing sports. She can act cold and rational at times, but always tries to do the right thing. She is the fairy of technology and can control everything provided by technology. She comes from the planet Zenithand is the princess of it(comics). (Third Binary Sector in the 4kids dub). Her pixie is Digit, the pixie of nanotechnology. Her magical pet is Chicko, a yellow duck. She is Timmy's girlfriend.
- Layla/Aisha (Season 2-present):[nb 5] Layla is the Princess of the planet, Andros (Tides in the 4kids dub). She has a restless, rebellious and wild nature. Layla is more of an athlete, a fighter, dancer and wind-raider rider compared to the rest of the group. She is also a feminist and thus opposes Riven, a chauvinist. She is the fairy of waves and is able to manipulate a pink fluid called Morphix to take on any form she chooses. She joins the Winx Club in the second season and brings her pixie friends along with her. Her pixie is Piff, the pixie of sweet dreams, who quite frequently helps her with her troubling nightmares and she is also friends with Hussein Farah who died before she joined the Winx Club. She has a pink staff (in the movie "Secret of the Lost Kingdom") which was used to stab any monsters. Her magical pet is Milly, a white rabbit. She was Nabu's fiancee,but when he saved the Warrior Earth fairies, he goes into a coma. Thinking he's dead, Layla joins the Warrior Earth Fairies to avenge her love. But, she eventually comes back to the winx club.
- Roxy (Season 4-present): Roxy is the last Earth fairy. The Winx fairies' newest mission is to protect Roxy from Wizards of the Black Circle, who are after her, her power is the power of animals which makes her the fairy of animals. She also lives in Gardenia, just like Bloom, making the two close. The Winx girls noticed her in The Frutti Music Bar, where her father and herself work, and got to be friends with her later in the season. As the fairy of Animals, she owns a pet dog, Artu, whom she loves very much and despises anyone who tries to hurt him. Roxy is very much her own person and in the beginning it was hard for the Winx to get through to her. She has a stubborn personality, but softens as she gets to know Bloom and her friends. She is also the daughter of Morgana, the Queen of the earth fairies, making Roxy the Princess of the Earth fairies. At the end of the fourth season, Head Mistress Faragonda shows up at the Frutti Music Bar, where Roxy then takes the offer of going back to Alfea with the girls and studying more about her powers.Roxy didn't appear in Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure But it will be the seventh company official fifth season . Roxy happens to be of Believix form and doesnt have a charmix or enchantix, because of the fact she is from Earth herself.
The Trix[12] the same planet Layla (Aisha) is from. He is engaged to Layla (Aisha) and secretly left his home planet under the identity of "Ophir" to discover who his would-be wife was and find out what she was truly like. The Winx and the Specialists thought that he was a spy for Valtor. He saved the team on multiple occasions and helped defeat Valtor. He gained Layla's (Aisha's) trust and love. He also joined the group on Earth in the fourth season. Nabu is a wizard and uses magic, unlike other boys. He also uses a magic shaft as a weapon. Nabu has very long dark reddish brown hair, often braided or tied. Nabu is best friends with Riven. In the twenty-fourth episode of the fourth season (episode 102 of the series) "The Day of Justice". Nabu sacrifices himself to save the Earth fairy kingdom of Tir-Nan-Og, and then enters a comatose state and is returned home, but somehow returns, alive and well, in the second movie Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure. It is hinted that he may somehow return in season 5, but it is not entirely possible since the second movie was already in production when season 4 was in the works. Even though he is not a Specialist, he is a close friend to the Specialists and also the Winx. Nabu is(was) also engaged to be married to Layla (Aisha).
The pixies are magical beings bonded to the fairies. Each has a special talent similar to the Winx. All known pixies are female, yet in the Italian show Pop Pixie, Digit, Tecna's pixie is changed to a male instead of a female. They make their first appearances in Season 2 after Layla (Aisha), Bloom, and Stella rescue them from Lord Darkar.
- Lockette (Season 2-present): Lockette is the Pixie of Portals, and thus, knows her way anywhere. She has a green flower hairclip that transforms into a scepter that helps her point people in the right direction. Lockette is Bloom's bonded pixie, as Bloom often finds herself lost, and is constantly on a journey to discover the secrets of her past throughout the series (or 'has many hidden passages in her heart'). Lockette not only helps Bloom find her way physically, but also emotionally, as she tries to discover her true self and connect with her power and family. Lockette's guidance and loyalty saves Bloom on many an occasion, and the two are inseparable (much to Kiko's dismay). Also in Season 3 it seems that she doesn't like Prince Sky that much. It has not confirmed whether or not she and the other pixies will return in Season 5.
- Amore (Season 2-present): Amore lives up to her name. She is the Pixie of Love ('amore' is Italian for 'love'). Her sensitive nature is mirrored in appearance by her rosy-red hair, flowing pink dress and floral decorations. She is Stella's bonded pixie. As Stella's bonded pixie, Amore reminds Stella of what is truly important in life: Love. Amore's belief in love as being beautiful, and Stella's love for beauty, compliment each other perfectly.
- Tune (Season 2-present): Tune is the Pixie of Etiquette, or Good Manners, who is polite, even when she is yelling at others. Tune is neat, orderly, prim and proper, and old-fashioned, with pale purple hair, and a Victorian style outfit in purples, whites and blues. Tune believes in being lady-like, a stark contrast to her bonded fairy, Musa, who is famous for her outgoing behavior. In spite of Tune's nagging and correcting, Tune and Musa make the perfect pair, each lessening each other's extremes. A perfect example of 'opposites attract'.
- Chatta (Season 2-present): Chatta is the Pixie of Chatter, who looks somewhat like Stella: long, blonde hair in two ponytails, with a green outfit. She is extremely talkative, and enjoys writing cheers and talking about just about everything, especially herself. Chatta is also the bravest of the pixies, as she once stood up to Darkar in a Season 2 episode. As Flora's bonded pixie, Flora is very dependent on Chatta, due to her extremely introverted, quiet nature. Chatta encourages Flora to find the strength to speak her mind, often showing the most positive of outcomes. She also helped Flora tell Helia about her feelings about him (It has been noted and sometimes mistaken that Amore and Chatta could also have fit with each other's associated fairy, due to Amore's floral decorations and Chatta's blonde pigtails and attitude).
- Digit (Season 2-present):Digit is the Pixie of Nanotechnology (technology on an extremely small scale), who lives up to her name. She is extremely immaculate, logical, precise, mathematical and shows little emotion. She is an obvious match for Tecna, and the two have an extremely close relationship, as Digit and Tecna are perfect for challenging each other's minds (and video game skills), discussing similar interests, and speaking in their technical manner.
- Piff (Season 2-present):Piff is a baby Pixie of Sweet Dreams, who can turn any nightmare into a sweet dream by falling asleep on someone's head. Piff is unable to talk (so she mostly communicates in baby babble), and depends on Layla (Aisha), staying always by her side (or in her hood). Piff is almost always sleeping, and is the perfect match for the restless Layla, who often tosses and turns in her sleep due to nightmares. Layla (Aisha) and Piff have an extremely close bond, as Layla (Aisha) needs Piff to function, and vice versa.
Gardenia is on Earth, within the Solar System and outside the magical dimension of Magix. It is the planet where Bloom grew up with her adoptive parents before coming to Alfea. There are fabulous landscapes on earth, each one different from the next. There are very high mountains, lush forests, but also dry, arid deserts. There are immense oceans where you can even play with dolphins, and thousands of different flowers with thousands of different scents! It is difficult to define the quantity and the variety of animals and plants. Basically it is full of life, of different cultures and people who even speak different languages. In the fourth season, Gardenia becomes the main setting as the Winx pursue and protect Roxy, the last fairy on Earth.
The Realm of Magix is a planet in the magical dimension, where most of the series unfolds. It is also the name of a city on that planet. It is an enchanted and highly technologically-advanced planet populated by fairies, witches, specialists, and other creatures where most people have magic powers. This is also the area where Bloom meets the trix for the first time.
The fairy students come to college here to learn how to cast spells, create enchanted auras and make magical potions! Potionology, metamorphosimbiosis, magiphilosophy and good manners...are among the complex subjects taught in the college by very skilled, strict and demanding teachers! Thanks to these lessons, the aspiring teenage fairies learn how to use and improve their powers in order to fight against evil in the name of equality, brotherhood and justice! The Alfea students live within the college itself, which has an enormous, well stocked library, classrooms, and a Magical Archive where the most important secrets of Magix are kept!
[nb 6] Cloudtower is a boarding school for witches in training, and for most of the first season, it was the residence of the Trix[nb 1] and Mirta. At Cloudtower, witches learn about witchcraft. In later episodes of the first season, the Trix took over Cloudtower and caused a disaster after they stole the Dragon's Flame(Fire)from Bloom. Ms. Griffin is the school's headmistress. At one point, the Winx go to Cloudtower to learn the art of dark magic. In the third season, it is revealed that Griffin, Saladin and Faragonda were in the Company of Light. It was also revealed that Griffin had a past with Valtor.[nb 2]
The students can become true warriors here, skilled in the use of magic and technology! Red Fountain is the Magix college that trains the bravest boys in the Magical Dimension to become qualified Magix experts. They help the fairies and are always ready to lend a hand. The students live in the college. They learn how to use all kinds of weapons, from the most traditional to the most technological. They drive special vehicles that they can use on their missions. Each one has his own personal dragon that he trains with.
Season five will also take place in this realm. Not much is known. More is coming in season five...
In Italy, where the series was created, it has been broadcast on Rai Due since 28 January 2004. In the United States, it was licensed and dubbed into English by 4kids Entertainment and was broadcast on Fox's programming block 4Kids TV beginning on 19 June 2004, with a preview episode airing on 22 May 2004. 4Kids TV continued its initial run until 22 September 2007. On 12 April 2008, Winx Club was rebroadcast until 27 December 2008. On 18 July 2009, reruns of Winx Club then aired on the CW's programming block CW4Kids until 17 July 2010. Cartoon Network aired Winx Club in 2005 on their afternoon block Miguzi. Another English dub produced by Cinelume in association with Rai Due has been broadcast in Singapore, season 4 in Australia, and is featured as an alternate English language track on several European DVD releases.
Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the franchise and is producing a new English dub in Los Angeles. Nickelodeon started airing the series with four-one hour specials summarizing seasons one and two. Season three premiered on Nickelodeon under the title "Winx Club Enchantix" and was aired every day. The fourth season, "Winx Club: The Power of Believix" premiered in America on May 6, 2012.
In Italy, there are two ongoing monthly comic books in publication. One is a Winx Club comic book, although its storyline is generally not related to that of the animated series. The other is Pixie, a spin-off of the Winx Club comic book centered around the pixies.
In July 2012, the Winx Club comics will become published in 96 page volumes in America. Random House will be publishing a junior novel series based on the show and multiple activity books in America.
In 2012 the Winx Club cast for Nickelodeon attended the Kids Choice Awards.
A CGI feature film, Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom, was announced in late 2006, and released in Italy on 30 November 2007. It was released on 20 November 2008 in Singapore. The plot of the film revolves around Bloom's origins, and takes place after the events of the first three season.[13] The official website for the film covers several markets, with release dates and other information.
At the Licensing Expo 2008 in New York, Rainbow announced the production of a second film, slated to premiere in 2010. It was later announced in spring 2010 that it would be titled Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure and it would be Italy's first 3D movie, with a release date of October 29.[14] A 10 minute promo reel will be shown at the Giffoni Film Festival in July.[15]
In September 2005, the "Winx Power" musical show began in Italy.[16][17] After a successful tour in Italy, it also expanded to Belgium and the Netherlands, before expanding to Portugal in 2009. November 2008 also saw the launch of "Winx On Ice", an ice show starring Carolina Kostner.[18]
Winx Club games have been released for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, and Windows. Most of the Winx Club games are published by Konami; Winx Club: Believix in You was published by Namco Bandai Games. The only game by iOS in this game series was Winx Club: Love & Pet, published by Rainbow Interactive
There are currently nine games based on Winx Club:
In Europe, Italian candy manufacturer Ferrero began to distribute plastic Winx figurines as prizes inside their Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs.
A tile in a murial in Alassio, "autographed" by the
Winx Club.
In the United States, 4Kids Entertainment held the licensing rights to the series until their licence expired in 2009, they had no more plans to make anymore episodes for the show.
In Singapore, bags, clothing and similar items are available.
The Winx Club dolls are the "third most popular dolls in the world" and merchandise sales are over 1 billion euros per year as of 2007.[19]
In Italy, Mondo Home Entertainment released the first two seasons with both Italian and English audio tracks, the English audio being Cinélume's dub. In 2007, 01 Distribution released the third season on DVD, but these discs contained the Italian audio only. Later, 01 Distribution re-released the first and second season on DVD without the English soundtrack. Tridimensional also released the first three seasons of the show on Italian newsstands along with the Winx Club magazine. These releases contained the original English, Italian, and French audio. The third season release contained Dutch audio as well, and the fourth season contained only Italian audio. Box sets of all four seasons were released by Tridimensional with the same amount of volumes and content that were released separately on newsstands.
In North America, the entire first season of the Winx Club, first released on 12 July 2005, was available as a five-disc collection until 2008. The first DVD of the second season, "Layla and the Pixies", was released in 2007, and the second volume, "Battle for the Codex", came out in September 2007, and both are still available. The first DVD of the third season, "The Princess Ball", was released on 27 January 2009,[20] however, the release of the other half, Fire & Flame, has been indefinitely suspended due to the fact that 4KidsTV license expiring (see Future above).[21]
In Singapore, Turkey, and Hungary, the third season (as well as the first two) was released with unedited English audio (Cinélume's dub) in four and six volumes respectively; the latter containing Italian audio as well. Also, the fourth season is available in Turkey with English audio spanning six volumes. In Brazil, the first two seasons were released with unedited English subtitles and audio in sixteen volumes.
- ^ a b c Called the "Senior Witches" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
- ^ a b Spelled and pronounced "Baltor" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
- ^ Called "Sparks in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
- ^ Called "Aisha" within Italy.
- ^ Called "Aisha" in the Italian version.
- ^ The school for witches is called "Torrenuvola" in the Italian language version, "Cloudtower" in the English dub by Cinélume, and spelled "Cloud Tower" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
- Official sites
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