Mia and Me

Mia and Me is also the name of a porcelain doll company.

Mia and Me is a 2011 live action/CGI animated television series created by Gerhard Hahn.^[2] The title is about Mia only; as in end of the opening theme song: "There (Earth) I'm Mia, here (Centopia), I'm me." A second series is now in production.^[3]

Premise

The story begins when a girl named Mia goes to a prestigious boarding school in Florence, Italy as an exchange student. Her parents died recently in an accident. Her father was a successful game maker. Mia's aunt gives Mia a game that her father made before he died. The game in the form of a large book called "The Legend of Centopia" (a book he daily read to her when she was younger) which is full of mystical rune writing that gives Mia the latest password (that has to be read backwards) that allows her to go to the magical world of Centopia. The land is full of winged elves (fairies), pans (goat-like creatures), unicorns, dragons (they do not breathe fire) and much more. Perhaps the strangest creature there is Polytheus, a snake like being with snake hair like a Gorgon. He is a trader, strictly in it for the money (though what good money is on such a world is debatable) but has done the Elves some good turns without reward, notably in episode 23 when he fixes their waterdome, saving them from a munc attack.

While travelling to Centopia, Mia transforms into a beautiful, winged and downright fairy-like, elf girl. Mia is very special because she can talk to unicorns. No one else can in Centopia. She meets a unicorn named Lyria and later, her winged son (born in "The Golden Son" episode), Onchao. Also Yuko, a pretty female elf warrior who likes Mia but is jealous of the attention Mo pays her; Prince Mo, son of King Raynor and Queen Mayla; and Phuddle, a pan, the comic relief (though more often annoying than funny). With the help of clues from the magic book, they must find all the trumptus pieces, a magic horn made by Phuddle. It was captured, broken apart and in twenty pieces, was scattered by the munculus on orders of Queen Panthea (episode 4) as it is the one thing that can destroy the evil beings. Water from the elve's waterglares shrinks munculus (a.k.a. the muncs) but it is only a temporary effect.

They also have to stop the evil queen Panthea, her henchwoman General Gargona and her munculus army (who ride on blue dragons and fire non venomous snakes which encircle and trap their victims) from capturing the unicorns. Panthea needs their horns as without them she becomes (even more) old and ugly (her face is always hidden by a mask). But the horns are linked to the unicorn shaped island of Centopia so every time she takes and destroys a unicorn horn, more of the island dies and vegetation and trees become desert. The "golden unicorn" Onchao is the only unicorn with wings. He can make the desert bloom again (the other unicorns can do this but less easily) and later, restore horns to unicorns who have had them cut off by Panthea. There are also four unicorns with elemental powers (earth, air, fire and water) who mostly stay out of the affairs of others but join in the final battle.

In ep 9 they make friends with a baby dragon (Baby Blue) which quickly grows up and as a full sized dragon, helps them a few times. Episode 22 is the only night time episode. Mia has a wrist amulet that when charged allows her go to Centopia and when the battery runs down, she returns to Earth till it recharges itself again (we see an actual recharger in ep 25). Though she may spend many hours there, only maybe five minutes pass on Earth. At her school, we see cartoon effects around her and characters there, as in question marks when they are puzzled, flowers, comic characters, etc. Vincent is her friend there and learns about her ability to travel to Centopia. The stuck-up and nasty Violetta is against her. Paula starts off as a friend of Violetta but mid season one over a few episodes comes to realize how nasty and shallow Violetta is and joins Mia and finally learns about Centopia in the final two part episode (episode 25 and 26).

The evil ones having been finally defeated (the trumptus blast turns them into flowers) with only Gargona surviving in ep 26. It is the final pages of the book and Mia goes back to her world where it is the end of the school year, and she says she will see her friends in a few months after the summer break. According to the Panda TV site, the artwork for the land of Centopia is based on the art of Gustav Klimt. This is particularly noticeable in the robes worn by the King and Queen as well as Mo's shirt. Also Gargona is heavily influenced by Hygieia in the ceiling paintings of the University of Vienna.

Cast

Live action

• Rosabell Laurenti Sellers – Mia
• Adrian Moore – Vincent
• Saphia Stoney – Paula
• Josephine Benini – Violetta
• Andrea Josie Richerson - Ashley Alice Long

Animation

• Andrew Craig – Mo
• Tajja Isen – Yuko
• Rod Wilson – Raynor
• Linda Ballantyne – Mayla
• Jonathan Wilson – Phuddle
• Elizabeth Hanna – Panthea
• Norma Dell'Agnese – Gargona

Episodes

Series 1

Broadcast

In Canada, the series is broadcast on Disney Junior. In the United Kingdom, the series aired on Nickelodeon (UK, Ireland and the Netherlands) in January 2014, and on CBBC. Nickelodeon began airing the series in the Philippines July 1, 2013 The series aired in Singapore on MediaCorp Okto and in Australia on Eleven. In the United States, the series was carried by Nick Jr. beginning May 3, 2014.^[4]

References

External links

• Official website
• Mia and Me at the Internet Movie Database