Puneet Varma (Editor)

Winx Club

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Created by
  
Iginio Straffi

Directed by
  
Iginio Straffi

Written by
  
Iginio Straffi

Genre
  
Fantasy adventure, magical girl

Starring
  
Letizia Ciampa Perla Libratori Ilaria Latini Gemma Donati Domitilla D'Amico Laura Lenghi Debora Magnaghi

Composer(s)
  
Michele Bettali Stefano Carrara Fabrizio Castania Maurizio D'Aniello

Winx Club is an Italian animated television series directed, created and produced by Iginio Straffi and his company Rainbow S.r.l. in co-production with Rai Fiction. The series is the first Italian cartoon to be sold in the United States. It is also broadcast in over 130 countries worldwide, and is Straffi's most successful creation, spawning a Winx Club media franchise

Contents

Plot

In season 1, Bloom, a 16-year-old girl from Earth, discovers she has magical abilities when she saves Stella, a fairy princess from Solaria. Stella persuades Bloom to enroll in Alfea, a school for fairies in the Magical Dimension. There, she meets roommate Flora and apartment mates Tecna and Musa; together they form the Winx. They encounter and befriend the boys from the Red Fountain school of Specialists. They also make enemies, mainly a trio of witches called the Trix. Together, the Winx go through many adventures and discover many secrets about Bloom's past while fighting their enemies and studying at Alfea. Their power in Season 1 is Winx.

In season 2, the Trix are back and have allied with Lord Darkar, an ancient creature of evil who wants to rule the universe. Together with their new member, Aisha (also known as Layla in some dubs), and their new friends the Pixies, the Winx will have to fight this new threat. They also meet Helia who, at first, is not a Specialist but becomes a Specialist and the love interest of Flora. Their power in Season 2 is Charmix.

In season 3, the Winx have to face a new enemy, Valtor, who was freed from his prison by the Trix and who took part in the destruction of Domino and shares a dark past with Bloom and her birth parents. Aisha meets a wizard, Nabu, with whom she falls in love. In Season 3 the Winx Club got a new power called Enchantix. The events of the third season are followed by those of the first movie, The Secret of the Lost Kingdom.

In season 4, taking place after the events of the movie, the Winx face a new threat: the four Wizards of the Black Circle, who caused all magic to disappear from Earth. The Winx go to Earth to save Roxy, the last fairy from Earth, fight the Wizards and restore its magic by freeing the Earth fairies from the Wizards. They also get a new power called Believix. They then get powers called the gifts of destiny. The gifts of destiny include Sophix, Lovix, and the black gift. The black gift can give life to a person who is not living. The events of the fourth season are followed by those of the second movie, Magical Adventure.

In season 5, taking place after Magical Adventure, the Winx Club battle Aisha's evil cousin Tritannus, who's allied with the Trix in a quest to take over the Magic Dimension. To defeat them, the Winx must prove their self-confidence, empathy and courage and achieve the power of Sirenix. They will also earn the two new transformations: Harmonix and Sirenix. The Winx bond with Selkies from the seas of the Magic Dimension, Aisha meets Roy, a specialist towards whom she is attracted while Bloom will have to save her sister Daphne from Tritannus. The events of the fifth season are followed by those of the third and last movie, The Mystery of the Abyss.

In season 6, the Trix take over Cloud Tower and ally with a young witch named Selina, who owns the Legendarium, a magical book which can make the legends become reality, and was once a childhood best friend of Bloom's. However, the Winx lost all their powers except Bloom. They will have to obtain two new transformations known as Bloomix and Mythix. During their quest to seal the Legendarium, the Winx will discover that they face the Trix and Acheron who is an evil wizard imprisoned in the Legendarium. Acheron is the master of Selina.

In season 7, the Winx Club discovers the Fairy Animals, which are magical creatures with special talents that are necessary for the balance of the Magical Universe. The Winx find out that they are under threat from the new villains Kalshara, who is an evil shape-shifter, and her brother Brafilius. As well as an unexpected appearance from the Trix, which counts as the third villains. To save the Fairy Animals, the Winx will have to travel through time, gain new transformations known as Butterflix and Tynix, and bond with Fairy Animals.

Original / RAI Italian (2004–15)

The original Italian version covers all seven seasons.

Cinelume / RAI English (2004–09)

RAI created an English dub for the first four seasons recording by Cinelume in Montreal.

4Kids Entertainment (2004–07)

4Kids produced an English dub which aired on Fox network under its programming block FoxBox and later 4Kids TV. The dub covers the first three seasons. A list of voice actors was presented in the closing credits under Lead Voices with no references to their specific roles. 4Kids, as well as Winx Club Konami Season 1 video game features the same voice actors:

Nickelodeon (2011–14)

Nickelodeon's voice cast covered seasons 3–6. Nick produced several television specials to summarize both seasons 1 and 2. The voice actors are not listed in the closing credits for both seasons 3 and 4. They are listed under "Featuring the Voices Of" starting in season 5, and detailed with roles starting with season 6.

DuArt Film and Video (2015–16)

Season 7, as well as World of Winx features the following English dub cast members:

Broadcast

Winx Club premiered on the Italian channel Rai 2 on 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, FoxBox, later 4Kids TV, beginning on 19 June 2004, with a preview episode airing on 22 May 2004. The series was also syndicated to Cartoon Network in 2005 on their afternoon block Miguzi. Fox would continue its initial run on 4Kids TV for the first three seasons, ending airing of reruns in 2008. On 18 July 2009, the CW aired the 4Kids dubbed episodes of Winx Club on their programming block The CW4Kids. Meanwhile, an English dub produced by Cinelume in association with Rai 2, was broadcast in Singapore and was featured as an alternate English language track on several European DVD releases.

On 2 September 2010, Nickelodeon announced through a press release that they would be co-producing seasons 5 and 6 of the series. With a new English dub, Nick premiered the series with four one-hour specials summarizing seasons one and two. The first special aired on 27 June 2011; the second special, "Revenge of the Trix," was aired on 2 August 2011; the third special, "The Battle for Magix," aired on 18 September 2011; the fourth and final special, "The Shadow Phoenix," aired on 16 October 2011. Nickelodeon broadcast the third season under the subtitle Enchantix from 14 November 2011 to 26 December 2011. The fourth season, subtitled The Power of Believix, aired from 6 May 2012 to 29 July 2012.

For the fifth and sixth seasons that are subtitled Beyond Believix and Bloomix respectively, Nickelodeon was listed as a co-producer with some of the episodes premiering ahead of the Italian dub. However, during the initial run of Bloomix, the series was moved from Rai 2 to Rai Gulp in 2014 starting with the fifteenth episode of Bloomix. The English dub was moved to Nick Jr. starting with the ninth episode of Bloomix.

The seventh season was broadcast on Rai Gulp in 2015. The English dub was produced by DuArt Film and Video. It first aired on Nick Jr. in the US on 10 January 2016. It also aired on Nickelodeon in the UK on 4 July 2015.

The Secret of the Lost Kingdom

On 8 October 2006, Rainbow S.p.A. announced on their official website that a Winx Club film was being produced. The CGI film, titled Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom (Italian: Winx Club - Il segreto del regno perduto), was released theatrically in Italy on 30 November 2007. An English dub of the film was released on 20 November 2008 in Singapore. The film was re-dubbed in English and released in the United States as a TV movie on Nickelodeon on 11 March 2012. This version featured the cast from the Nickelodeon dub of the television series.

The events of the movie follow those of the third season. As Bloom continues in the search for her birth parents along with her friends, she discovers more about her planet and has to fight Mandragora as well as the Ancestral Witches who destroyed her home. Bloom will discover who her parents are and where she came from.

Magical Adventure

On 9 November 2009, it was confirmed that there would be a second Winx Club movie released in 2010. The film, titled Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure (Italian: Winx Club 3D – Magica avventura) was released theatrically in Italy on 29 October 2010. The film was dubbed using the Nickelodeon voice cast and released as a television special in the United States on 20 May 2013. This version was shortened from the original's 87 minute runtime to approximately 45 minutes. This movie was released with seven episodes from season five.

In this film, the Trix, allied with the Ancestral Witches, manage to make almost all the good/positive magic of the universe disappear and the Winx and the Specialists go on a journey to restore it and defeat the witches. Meanwhile, Bloom learns more about her world's tragic fate that led its destruction eighteen years ago, and why Sky's father King Erendor does not want him to marry her.

The Mystery of the Abyss

The third and final Winx Club movie was officially announced when the official Italian Winx Club website allowed the fans to vote for its title in an online poll, with the title Mystery of the Abyss (Il mistero degli abissi) being chosen. The movie was released theatrically in Italy on 4 September 2014. An official teaser trailer was released on 16 April 2014, on the official Winx Club channel on YouTube an official preview was released a short time later. A Rai English dub of the movie was released exclusively on Netflix on 10 October 2014. Despite the entire fifth season being produced in Nickelodeon dub, the following movie was not.

Taking place before the sixth season, the Trix try to activate the might of the Emperor's Throne and inadvertently free the evil nymph and Sirenix fairy, Politea. They kidnap Sky to free Tritannus from Oblivion and acquire a magical pearl from the Coral Wreath that will allow them to obtain the vast and unequaled power of the Emperor's Throne. The Winx will have to go on a Sirenix mission in the endless depths of the Infinite Ocean to stop them and save Sky.

Live-action film

It was announced in 11 February 2016 that Warner Bros. has teamed up with Rainbow to do a live action movie of Winx Club.

Video games

Several video games based on the series have been released. The first of these was Winx Club, released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, PC, and Game Boy Advance. Other video games released include Winx Club: The Quest for the Codex (2006), Winx Club: Join the Club (2007), Winx Club: Mission Enchantix (2008), Dance Dance Revolution Winx Club (2009), Winx Club: Believix in You (2010), and Winx Club: Magical Fairy Party (2012).

In 2013, Tsumanga Studios released an app for iOS and Android titled Winx Sirenix Power. Other apps based on the series include Winx Fairy School (by Tsumanga Studios) and Winx Club: Rocks the World (by Budge Studios).

A Winx Club video game was released on the Nintendo 3DS titled Winx Club: Saving Alfea. The game is published by Little Orbit. Winx Club: Saving Alfea features the Winx Club fairies in their Bloomix power from the sixth season. It was scheduled for a release in 11 November 2014.

Spin-offs

A comedy spin-off series titled PopPixie premiered in Italy on 10 January 2011. This series is based on the pixies from the Winx Club series, and featured characters such as Lockette, Chatta, and Amore, along with new characters. The characters Caramel and Cherie, introduced in PopPixie, later appeared in Winx Club as replacements for Digit and Tune, respectively.

In September 2014, it was announced that a spin-off series titled World of Winx would be co-produced by Rainbow S.r.l. and Netflix. World of Winx will be a two-season 13-episode spin-off that will be on Netflix worldwide, with the first season to air in 2016. The girls embark on an undercover journey all around the world looking for talented kids in art, sports, music, and science. These kids have their own kind of magic, and the Winx Club fairies are enchanted by them though it doesn't take long before trouble sets in, and a new and dangerous mystery for Bloom and the others to solve. The English dub is being produced by 3Beep and DuArt. The first season of World of Winx was released on Netflix on 4 November 2016.

References

Winx Club Wikipedia