Winx Club

Winx Club
The Italian title card for the series from the second season until third season. That of the first season has the yellow-green, sightly smaller logo and no web address. The edited version made by 4Kids Entertainment in the United States - also shown in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia - uses a different intro and title card.
Genre	Contemporary fantasy
Format	Animated television series
Created by	Iginio Straffi
Voices of	(The 6 main characters: Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, Tecna, Layla (from S2 Ep 1) and 1 temporary major character - Roxy (only in 4 season, from Ep 6). See the lists of minor characters and magical creatures for other voices.) Italian language Letizia Ciampa as Bloom Perla Liberatori as Stella Ilaria Latini as Flora Gemma Donati as Musa Domitilla D'Amico as Tecna Laura Lenghi as Layla Debora Magnaghi as Roxy English version by Cinélume Helena Evangeliou as Bloom (until S3 Ep 26) Angela Galuppo as Bloom (from S4 Ep 1) Jennifer Seguin as Stella Holly Gauthier-Frankel as Flora Sarah McCullough as Musa (until S3 Ep 3) Anik Matern as Musa (from S3 Ep 4) Lezlie Karls as Tecna (until S2 Ep 6) Jodie Resther as Tecna (from S2 Ep 7) Lucinda Davis as Layla Sarah Camacho as Roxy 4Kids Entertainment edit Liza Jacqueline as Bloom Caren Manuel as Stella (until S1 Ep 26) Christina Rodriguez as Stella (from S2 Ep 1) Kerry Williams as Flora Lisa Ortiz as Musa Dani Schaffel as Tecna (until S2 Ep 26) Rebecca Soler as Tecna (from S3 Ep 1) Vasthy Mompoint as Layla
Country of origin	Italy
Language(s)	Italian
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	104 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Rai Due
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	January 28, 2004 (2004-01-28) – present
External links
Official website

Winx Club is a 2004 Italian animated television series, created by Iginio Straffi and produced by Rainbow S.p.A.. The series is aimed toward children between the ages of five and thirteen^[1] and has spawned an international franchise of toys, books, clothing, DVDs, as well as a CGI feature film.

Apart from the English language version done by Cinélume in Canada, 4Kids Entertainment in the United States made an alternative version by changing dialogues, music and alternating some of visuals and situations.

Production and development: Intended line

Iginio Straffi first wished to create a cartoon for boys and girls in 2000, when children's programming was "dominated" by boy-oriented shows. He wished to create a show aimed mainly at girls like Sailor Moon or My Little Pony.^[2]

Plot

This is a show about a group of fairies in a school for fairies in another dimension learning how to become a full Winx fairy. 'Winx' is a term describing the race of fairies they are. As time goes they face the challenges of villians and achieving the goals an average fairy faces. This is similar to Magical girl shows because they can transform and achieve upgrades and new powers. Unlike Magical girl shows, they do not keep a secret identity, they aren't chosen warriors and it is not in Anime. It is also ment towards younger viewers, much like the show Angel's Friends.

First season

A supposedly ordinary girl from planet Earth, Bloom lives a perfectly normal life in the city of Gardenia until she meets Stella, a princess from the planet Solaria, who is in trouble. Coming to Stella's aid, Bloom discovers her magical powers when she dodges a group of monsters. 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 will also become their love interests. They will also encounter their enemies, a trio of witches named the Trix: Icy, Darcy, and Stormy. They are witches from Cloudtower, a witch school roughly equivalent to Alfea, and are in search of the power of the Dragon's Flame which is supposedly in Stella's magic ring. But then they realize that the dragon flame are the source of Bloom's powers, which the try to steal from her. Their ruthless pursuit of the ring leads to many encounters and battles with the Winx. Bloom also begins to learn the secrets of her planet, real parents, and powers.

Second season

After their summer vacation, the Winx return to Alfea to begin their second year. They meet a new fairy, Layla, who asks for their help in rescuing her pixie friends who are being held hostage by Lord Darkar. Lord Darkar wants to find out where the Pixies' Village is in order to steal the four pieces of the Codex (one each in Pixie Village, Redfountain, Cloudtower, and Alfea) which open the portal to the Realm of Realix, where the Ultimate Power can be found. The Trix also meet Lord Darkar and serve him. The Winx also learn how to get their Charmix. Lord Darkar is actually the "Shadow Phoenix" who wants to take control of the magical realm. Meanwhile, a new teacher arrives at Alfea who is actually working for Lord Darkar because he knows that the shadow fire and all the codex are enough and he needs both the powers of darkness and light. turns Bloom into Dark Bloom and sends her to Lord Darkar. Later on, he turns Bloom into his servant, thus making her open the realm of Realix. Afterwards, Sky expresses his true feelings to Bloom to bring back her true self, then she uses her healing powers to heal everyone. After the battle in which Riven nearly loses his life saving Musa. Bloom and the others go back to Alfea and celebrate and Layla joins the Winx.

Third season

Previously banished to the Omega Dimension, the Trix are able to escape with Valtor,^{[nb 1]} a sorcerer partially responsible for the destruction of Bloom's home realm, Domino.^{[nb 2]} 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. The Winx begin their third and final year at Alfea , learning about their unique Enchantix transformations, acquired by sacrifing 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 and whereabouts about her birth parents king marion and queen oritel.

Fourth season

The fourth season of the Winx Club debuted on April 15, 2009^[3] in Italy. The Winx continue their adventures by establishing themselves in Gardenia to earn the new Believix transformation by convincing the skeptical population to believe in magic, along with protecting the last fairy on earth, Roxy, who is in danger. In the United States, Rainbow has revoked the distribution rights for the entire series from 4Kids, and was seeking for a new partner.^[4], however, on September 2, 2010, Nickelodeon announced through a press release that they will be co-producing seasons 5 and 6 of Winx Club.^[5]. During the weeks before The CW4Kids rebranding itself into Toonzai!, 4Kids ran a "countdown", with the episode 26 of third season, "Fire and Flame" (or, in the English version by Cinélume, "A New Beginning"), being marked as "series finale", not season finale (also, the CW broadcasts only got as far as episode 23, with viewers being directed to the 4Kids website to view the remaining episodes). In Australia, where the edited version made by 4Kids was previously shown on Network Ten's Toasted TV and on Cartoon Network, the English version of fourth season made by Cinélume premiered on Boomerang, a sister channel of Cartoon Network, On March 1, 2010.

Fifth and Sixth season

The creators of Winx Club revealed, in an interview about the second movie, that a fifth and a sixth season is coming. The fifth season will come after the second movie. Not much is currently known.

Episodes

Characters

Winx

The Winx, in their original forms, and Pixies. Top row, from left to right: Amore, Stella, Tecna and Digit. Second row, from left to right: Lockette, Bloom, Flora and Chatta. Bottom row, from left to right: Piff, Layla, Musa and Tune. Magical pets and Roxy are not present here, as this picture is a promotional illustration for the second season.

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 joined the group in the second season after some conflict with the villian of the season, Lord Darkar. Roxy is considered part of the group by many people, but she is not mentioned as part of the group on the website and seems to be just a friend of the Winx for now. This is noted because she is often apart of the group and doesn't seem as connected with them as she should be if she were to be a part of the group. However Roxy is seem going to Magix with the Winx in the season four finale he fourth season. The pixies have "bonded with the faries in the second season, and all if the Winx faries got their magical pets in the fourth season. Withinn the series the word "Winx", in the original version, as Bloom suggests, it has no meaning, although it is not in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment, where it had a meaning of the magical power that faries have.

• Bloom: She discovered her dormant magical powers after coming to the aid of another fairy, Stella. Strong and caring, she is always available to help her friends. Shortly after arriving at Alfea, she discovers that her powers of fire come from the ancient Dragon's Flame. She is the princess and survivor of the planet Domino,^{[nb 2]} her birthplace. She owns a blueish bunny named Kiko. Her pixie is Lockette, the pixie of mazes and portals. Her magical pet is Belle, a green and white sheep. She has long been considered the leader of the group for the first three season, which are based around her powers. She is Sky's fiancée.

• Stella: 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 houses for blowing up a laboratory and being kept back a grade; thus, she is a year older than all the other Winx fairies. She has the power of the sun and the moon because her mother represents the moon and her father represents the sun. She is the princess of the planet Solaria, her birthplace. Her mother and father are divorced, and she wishes they would get back together again, as that is revealed in season. Her pixie is Amore, the pixie of love. Her magical pet is Ginger, a white poodle. She is Brandon's fiancee.

• Flora: 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 doesn't believe in hurting others or the environment. She is extremely fond of plants and nature and her room consequently resembles a greenhouse. She has the power of nature, which allows her to use plants in her attacks and natural predators to exterminate pests. She comes from the planet Linphea.^{[nb 3]} Her pixie is Chatta, the pixie of gossip. In the third season, it is revealed that Flora has a younger sister named Miele.^{[nb 4]} Her magical pet is Coco, a pink cat. She is Helia's girlfriend.

• Musa: 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. Musa gets the best grades in the group. She is a bit of a tomboy but can be girly at many times. She is pale and has an Asian in appearance, with blue-black pigtails and blue eyes. She has the power of music, and she gets her energy from all kinds of music. She comes from the planet Melody^{[nb 5]} so she grew with music all around her. Her mother was a great singer and her father a great pianist. 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: She is always logical and rational, and initially had trouble expressing her emotions. She speaks in a technical and a matter-of-fact manner. She is extremely intelligent and strong in technology and mathematics and enjoys playing video games. She can act cold and rational at times, but always tries to do the right thing. She has the power of technology and can control everything provided by technology. She comes from the planet Zenith.^{[nb 6]} Her pixie is Digit, the pixie of technology. Her magical pet is Chicko, a yellow duck. She is Timmy's girlfriend.

• Layla^{[nb 7]}: Layla is the Princess of the planet Andros.^{[nb 8]} She has a restless, rebellious and wild nature. Layla is a good athlete, fighter, dancer and wind-raider rider. She is also a feminist and thus opposes Riven, a chauvinist. She has the power of fluids and is able to manipulate a pink fluid called "Morphix" to take on any form she chooses. She joins Winx 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. Her magical pet is Milly, a white rabbit. She was Nabu's fiancee, but he died in episode 24 of the fourth season.

• Roxy: Roxy appears in season four. She is strong, caring and has sort of a temper. She is the last fairy on earth. She is the fairy of animals. She does not have a bonded pixie yet, but has many animals in her family including her dog Artu. She works as a waitress at the fruity music bar and eventually gets the specialists jobs there. Her mother is Morgana and her father Klous owns the friuty music bar. She is very connected to animals and can't bear not to see an animal that does not have a loving home. She is seen going to Magix at the end of the fourth season and is now good friends with the Winx but it is unknown if she's part of the club.

The Trix

The Trix are an evil trio of teenage witch sisters who attended the Cloudtower (only in the first season, after which they got expelled), a school which used to rival Alfea. They are the enemies of the Winx Club. They were arrested in the end of the first season after an attempt to invading Alfea was failed, but escaped with the help of Lord Darkar in the beginning of the second season. In the third season, they worked with Baltor, but in the end, were arrested again. The Trix did not appear in the fourth season.

• Icy: The leader and eldest of the trio, her name refers to her powers of ice. She is quite charismatic. She enjoys torturing pixies for the sake of torturing them. She despises Stella and and Bloom, therefore she is most competitive with the two for the whole series. She is the most powerful of the three. She has long, icy blue hair which she wears in a high ponytail. She wears light blue top, a light blue skirt and light blue boots as her normal outfit, but for Cloudtower, her uniform is a dark blue thick mini dress with thin long sleeves and a chocker resembling an I and dark blue pants and boots, with the change of her make-up color as well. In comparison to her sisters she is more aggressive than Stormy and Darcy. Icy has a proper balance of her power. She is very pretty, and is the prettiest of the Trix sisters.

• Darcy: Darcy works with all forms of darkness, as her name suggests ("Darcy" meaning "Dark One"). She is the smartest of the Trix. She enjoys tormenting "pathetic pixies". In the first season, she is aggressive towards Musa because Musa loved Riven, who was on Darcy's "wanted as boyfriend" list in the first season. She has long, dark brown hair. She wears purple and interacts with boys more than all of her other sisters. In the first season, she used Riven to help defeat the Winx and later, abandoned him. Therefore, she plays a very important role in the first season. She is less aggressive than her sisters.

• Stormy: The youngest of the trio, her powers involve lightning, storms, and weather. She has the shortest temper of the group and is prone to violent outbursts. She has purple, short curly and quite frizzy hair that looks like a storm has been through it. She often doesn't think before she does something. She secretly believes she is more powerful than her older sisters Darcy and Icy. She wears hot pink/dark purple. She is the most aggressive sister of the trio.

The Specialists

The Specialists are a group of students who attend an all-boys school near Alfea, the Red Fountain School for Specialists. The following six Specialists have become the boyfriends of the Winx girls. It should be noted that throughout the series, the boys often need the girls' help. However, they can manage on their own at times.

• Sky: The prince of Eraklyon, he feels stifled by his position. He has medium blonde hair and is the king in "Secret of the Lost Kingdom." Because he loves Bloom, he refuses to marry Diaspro, the girl of his parents' choice. Also, at the start of the first season, Sky does not use his real name, because he wanted to see what it was like to be a normal guy as well as divert any threats on his life from Yoshinoya, so he and Brandon switch. He is Bloom's boyfriend., He is also Brandon's best friend.

• Brandon: Sky's squire, a great swordsman and ladies' man. He has short brown hair with one very long fringe. He is Stella's boyfriend. In the first season, he switched names with Sky. He is the strongest of the group, and will go through great lengths for Stella. He loves Stella, therefore asked her to marry him in the fourth season. He is also best friends with Sky

• Timmy: The brains of the group and comes from a long line of scientists. He has short ginger hair and is Tecna's boyfriend. He is shy, sweet, and smart. Both Tecna and Timmy love technology, making them an obvious couple. When Tecna sacrificed herself for the sake of the whole magic dimension and got trapped in the Omega Dimension, Timmy felt depressed and missed her a lot, often falling into trances. He however regains confidence when the team rescued Tecna. He is an expert pilot and mechanic. His weapon of choice is plasma gun but occasionally picks up a yellow rapier phantoblade. He is shown to have less fighting skills but has the most intellect, which proves very useful to the team. Timmy is best friends with Helia.

• Riven: A lone wolf, very competitive and good at sports. He has short spiked magenta colored hair. His mother left him in his young age and so he is wary of women in general. He is Musa's boyfriend. Sometimes, he might overreact with Musa because he's jealous when Musa became friends with another boy. At first Riven had a connection with Cloudtower because he was controlled under a spell until the witches realized they didn't need him any more and they locked him up in Cloudtower. Luckily he escaped and joined the good guys. His weapon of choice is either a reddish purple saber or meteor hammer. Riven is best friends with Nabu.

• Helia: An artistic student, he is a great pilot and a pacifist. His uncle, Saladin, is the Headmaster of Red Fountain. He has long blue-black hair tied into a loose ponytail in the second and third season but cuts it to sport spiky fringes in the fourth season. He is also very romantic and shy about directly speaking about his feelings. He is very good at using his laser string glove (a fictional weapon in the show) and tries to help everyone with it. He is Flora's boyfriend. He was a top student in Red Fountain in his first year until he decided to quit and study art at another school. He came back for his second year at Red Fountain and joined Sky's squad. Helia is the oldest of all the boys because he would have been in his third year at the start of the first season had he not dropped out to go to art school. Both Helia and Flora love nature and can't bear to see if someone harms it. Helia is best friends with Timmy.

• Nabu: A man of nobility born of Andros,^{[nb 8]} the same planet where Layla is from. He is engaged to Layla and secretly left his home planet under the identity of 'Ophir' to discover who this his would-be wife was and find out what she was truly like. Instead, the Winx and the Specialists mistake him as a spy of Valtor. He however saves the team on multiple occasions and helped defeat Valtor. He gained Layla's trust and love. He also joined the group on Earth in the fourth season. Nabu is also a wizard, shown using 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 Episode 24 of fourth season, Nabu dies as a sacrifice. There's a possibility he might come back to life in the second movie or in season 5, but this is not yet confirmed.

Setting

Gardenia

Gardenia is a major city on earth where Bloom lived most of her life with her parents Mike and Vanessa. After discovering that she was a fairy, she moved into the dormitories of Alfea and would occasionally return to visit her parents or to introduce her friends to the unique culture. In the fourth season, Gardenia becomes the main setting as the Winx pursues and protects Roxy, the last fairy on Earth.

The Realm of Magix

The Realm of Magix is an alternate universe where most of the series unfolds. It is also the name of a city in that universe. It is an enchanted and highly technologically-advanced universe of hospitable planets populated by fairies, witches, heroes, and monsters where everyone has magic powers.

Alfea

Alfea is a boarding school for fairies in training. All of the Winx girls met and reside here and have a close relationship with its headmistress, Ms. Faragonda. At Alfea, fairies learn to fight evil, help their planets, or, in many cases, become queens of their planets. When Bloom and the other girls met there, they immediately were best friends and formed Winx, since they all live in one room.

Cloudtower

Cloudtower^{[nb 9]} is a boarding school for witches in training, and for most of the first season, it was the residence for the Trix and Mirta. At Cloudtower, the 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 from Bloom. Ms. Griffin is their headmistress. It is revealed in season 2 that she is friends with Ms. Faragonda. The Winx go to Cloud Tower [4kids] to learn the art of dark magic. And in the third season, Griffin, Saladin and Faragonda are in the Company of Light. It was also revealed that she had a past with Valtor.^{[nb 1]}

Redfountain

Redfountain^{[nb 10]} is a boarding school for the specialists, one magical forest away from Alfea. It teaches fighting and the use of technology. In Redfountain, boys are taught how to go on dangerous missions and to fight for their respective planets. Redfountain and Alfea have a close relationship and Miss Faragonda and Saladin have a long history together and hold the secret to Bloom's past.

Reception

In 2004, Winx Club had a 45% share of television viewers between 4–14 years old.^[6] The show attracts 55% girls and 45% boys according to research, Straffi says.^[7]

Other media

Publications

In Italy, there are two ongoing monthly comic books in publication. One is a monthly Winx Club comic book, although its storyline has generally not been related to that of the animated series. The other is Pixie, a spin-off of the Winx Club comic book centered around the pixies.

Feature films

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

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 (as of current writing, it is only market outside of Europe and also the only market to see it in English). The plot of the film revolves around Bloom's origins, and takes place after the events of the third season.^[8] 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 later announced in spring 2010 that it would be titled "Magica Avventura" (Magical Adventure) and it would be Italy's first 3D movie, with a release date of October 29. ^[9] A 10 minute promo reel will be shown at the Giffoni Film Festival in July. ^[10] On the Winx Club website there is the offial trailer in english.

Theatre

In September 2005, the "Winx Power" musical show began in Italy.^[11][12] 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.^[13]

Video games

Winx Club games have been released for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Windows. Most of Winx Club games are published by Konami. Winx Club: Believix In You published by Namco Bandai Games.

There are currently 9 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)

Merchandise

A tile in a murial in Alassio, "autographed" by the Winx Club.

In Europe, Italian candy manufacturer Ferrero began to distribute plastic Winx figurines as prizes inside their Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs.

In the United States, 4Kids Entertainment holds the licensing rights to the series and has licensed the Winx Club name and image to an assortment of children's apparel and books. Toys such as dolls made by Mattel and a card game created with Upper Deck Entertainment are available in major stores such as Wal-Mart and Toys R Us.

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.^[14]

DVD collection

In Italy, Mondo Home Entertainment released first two seasons, with first season being released as a two, three-disc season being released on nine discs in total. Mondo's releases contained both Italian language version and Cinélume's English version. In 2007, 01 Distribution released the third season on DVD, but contained the Italian language version only. Later, 01 Distribution re-released the first season on DVD without English soundtrack.

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,^[15]; however, the release of the other half, Fire & Flame, has been indefinitely suspended due to the US licensing situation (see Season 4 above).^[16]

See also

• List of minor Winx Club characters
• List of magical creatures in Winx Club
• List of Winx Club episodes

Notes

References

External links

Official sites

• Official website Available in multiple languages including English edition currently for the United Kingdom
• Official website for the theatrical film (Italian) (Dutch) (English)
• Pixie Fun (Italian), (Dutch), (Turkish) Operated by Rainbow S.p.A.
• Paper dolls Winx

Broadcaster websites

• Website operated by 4Kids Entertainment

Databases

• Winx Club at the Internet Movie Database
• Winx Club at TV.com