Winx Club (franchise)

Winx Club
Created by Iginio Straffi
Original work Winx Club
Owner
Print publications
Comics
Films and television
Film(s)
Television series
Theatrical presentations
Play(s)
Miscellaneous
Theme park attractions Rainbow MagicLand

Winx Club is a fantasy media franchise centered on the long-running television series of the same name created by the Italian animation director Iginio Straffi. It began development in 1999 and premiered as a television show in 2004. Since its creation, the franchise has expanded to include three theatrically-released films, two spin-off programs, a comic book serial, lines of fashion dolls and clothing,[1] books,[2] numerous platform video games,[3] and other merchandise.[4]

Television series

Winx Club is an animated television series[5] directed, created, and produced[6] by Iginio Straffi[5] and his company Rainbow S.r.l.[2][3] The series is the first Italian cartoon to be sold in the U.S.[2] It is aimed toward children between the ages of 5 and 10.[7] According to Iginio Straffi's website, "Winx Club is an action and fantasy show combined with comedic elements. In the mystical dimension of Magix, three special schools educate modern fairies, ambitious witches and supernatural warriors, and wizards from all over the magical universe."[6]

Publications

Dancers portraying the Winx Club attend the Rome Film Fest in Italy.

In Italy, there are two ongoing monthly comic books in publication. One is a Winx Club comic book whose storyline is connected to that of the animated series, but not canon or directly involved with the television seasons. The first twelve issues are adaptations of the first season's episodes, while the further stories focus on other adventures. Over 150 issues have been published since 2004. The other is Pixie, a spin-off of the Winx comic book centered around the pixie characters.

In July 2012, the Winx Club comics were published across several 96-page volumes in America. Random House and Titan Magazines published junior novels, magazines, and activity books based on the show in America.[8]

Films

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.[9] 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.[10] A 10-minute promo reel will be shown at the Giffoni Film Festival in July.[11]

It was announced in 11 February 2016 that Warner Bros. has teamed up with Rainbow to do a live action movie of Winx Club.[12]

Theater

In September 2005, the "Winx Power" musical show began in Italy.[13][14] 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.[15]

Video games

Winx Club games have been released for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Windows. Most of the Winx Club games are published by Konami; Winx Club: Believix in You was published by Namco Bandai Games as well as Winx Club: Magical Fairy Party was published by D3Publisher. The only game by iOS in this game series was Winx Club: Love & Pet, published by Rainbow Interactive.

There are currently 21 retail video games based on Winx Club.

  • Winx Club (Windows, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance)
  • Winx Club: Join the Club (PlayStation Portable)
  • Winx Club: The Quest for the Codex (Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance)
  • Winx Studio (Windows)
  • Winx Club: Mission Enchantix (Nintendo DS)
  • Winx Club: Secret Diary 2009 (Nintendo DS)
  • Dance Dance Revolution Winx Club (Wii)
  • Winx Club: Your Magical Universe (Nintendo DS)
  • Winx Club: Believix in You (Nintendo DS)
  • Winx Club: Love & Pet (iOS)
  • Winx Club: RockStars (Nintendo DS)
  • Winx Club: Magical Fairy Party (Nintendo DS)
  • Winx Sirenix Power (iOS, Android)
  • Winx Fairy School (iOS, Android)
  • Winx Party (iOS, Android)
  • Winx Sirenix Magic Oceans (iOS, Android)
  • Winx Club - Mythix Fashion Wings (iOS, Android)
  • Winx Club: The Mystery of the Abyss (iOS, Android, Kindle Fire)
  • Winx Bloomix Quest (iOS, Android)
  • Winx Club: Saving Alfea (Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS)
  • Winx Club: Alfea Butterflix Adventures (iOS, Android)

Merchandise

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 Singapore, bags, clothing and similar items are available.

The Winx Club dolls were the "third most popular dolls in the world" and merchandise sales were over 1 billion euros per year as of 2007.[16] As of 2010, the franchise has generated a total of $2.5 billion in retail sales.[17]

In the summer of 2012, Winx Club dolls produced by Jakks Pacific starting hitting shelves ahead of its Fall 2012 release date. The presell of the Winx Dolls were at Toys "R" Us and sold out in 4 days.[18] The official street date was July 1. Balanced items will hit shelves on August 1.[18] Jakks Pacific made a Charmix Stella, Flora, and Bloom doll exclusive to Toys'r'us along with a Bloom Sophix and Sky 2- Pack, Bloom and her Scooter set, and the Winx pets stuffed plush. Target has an exclusive Ecnhantix Flora, Stella, and Bloom vs. Icy doll set. Jakks Pacific announced that the Harmonix dolls will be shipped to retailors and the end of November 2012 with an aimed release date of January 2013. The Sirenix dolls will be released in Fall 2013 along with the Sirenix Trix.

DVD releases

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, 4Kids Entertainment held the licensing rights to the series. 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;[19] however, the release of the other half, Fire & Flame, has been indefinitely suspended due to the fact that 4Kids' licence expired in 2009. [20]

In the Netherlands, the first season released in 2005 on DVD. The second season was released in 2007 on DVD. The third season was released in 2008 on DVD, however, the last two volumes containing the episodes 19-26 were not released at all. The fourth season was aired in 2010 but the DVD release was in 2012. All the seasons of Winx Club have a Dutch dub.

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.

In the United States and Canada, Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom is released in DVD on August 7, 2012 along with the first 7 episodes of season 4. A DVD for the second movie Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure was later released along with the first 7 episodes of season 5.

Other ventures

In June 2014, it was announced an agreement with China Central Television for the construction of a theme park dedicated to Winx in Beijing.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Ltd., Toys "R" Us (Canada). "A magical morning to celebrate Winx fairy launch at Toys"R"Us, Canada". www.prnewswire.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Iginio Straffi". www.iginiostraffi.com.
  3. 1 2 "Konami, 4kids Entertainment And Rainbow S.R.L. Announce Winx Club License Agreement - GameZone". 4 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "DVD Review: Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie - Inside Pulse". insidepulse.com.
  5. 1 2 "chacha.com". www.chacha.com.
  6. 1 2 http://www.iginiostraffi.com/
  7. ↑ Rainbow S.p.A. "Winx Club". Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  8. ↑ "Titan Comics launches Winx Club Magazine".
  9. ↑ Rainbow S.p.A. "Feature films". Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  10. ↑ Vivarelli, Nick (2010-03-15). "Medusa to release 3D 'Adventure'". Variety.
  11. ↑ Vivarelli, Nick (2010-03-18). "Valley forges ahead". Variety.
  12. ↑ Busch, Anita (10 February 2016). "'Winx Club' To Get Big Screen & Live-Action Treatment Via Hollywood Gang". deadline.com. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  13. ↑ Rainbow S.p.A. "Winx Power Music Show". Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  14. ↑ Winx Club On Tour. "Winx Club On Tour". Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  15. ↑ Winx On Ice. "Winx On Ice". Retrieved 2008-05-20.
  16. ↑ "WINX FAIRIES HEAD TO CANNES". Web.archive.org. 2007-09-30. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  17. ↑ "TV Kids Rainbow Anniversary MIPCOM 2010". issuu.com. September 21, 2010. p. 4. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  18. 1 2 "Michael's Winx Club! - The NEWS Page! Press Releases and More!". www.michaelsfavorites2.com.
  19. ↑ "Winx Club". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  20. ↑ "Winx Club:Fire & Flame: Movies and TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  21. ↑ "Le Winx in Cina con Renzi: a Shanghai sorgerà un parco divertimenti". Il Resto del Carlino. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
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