Winx Club

Winx Club
The Italian title card for the series second season and third season.
Genre	Contemporary fantasy, Science fantasy, Magical girl, Henshin
Format	Animated television series
Created by	Iginio Straffi
Voices of	Letizia Ciampa Perla Liberatori Ilaria Latini Gemma Donati Domitilla D'Amico Laura Lenghi Debora Magnaghi
Opening theme	Rainbow "Under the sign of the Winx" (Season 1-3) "Winx are back" (Season 4) Nickelodeon "Winx you're magic now" by Cymphonique Miller
Country of origin	Italy
Language(s)	Italian
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	104 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	19-23 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Rai Due
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	28 January 2004 (2004-01-28) – present
Chronology
Related shows	PopPixie
External links
Website

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 will air four one-hour specials that summarize seasons one and two, as well as seasons 3 and 4 in full. The first special aired June 27, the second special on August 1, and the third special on September 18, and the fourth and final special aired on October 16. Beginning on November 14, Nickelodeon will start airing Season 3 every weekday. They will also co-produce the upcoming fifth and sixth seasons. In Italy the 4 Special will be broadcast on Rai Due as well as reairing Season 3 & 4. The Fist Special will premire Monday November 21 on Rai Due

Production and development

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]

Plot

Main article: List of Winx Club episodes

The story follows Bloom and her close fairy friends, 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.

First season

Main article: Winx Club (season one)

A supposedly ordinary girl from planet Earth, Bloom, and 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. 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 that is roughly equivalent to Alfea, and are in search of the power of the Dragon's Flame which is supposedly in Stella's magic ring. However, they realize that the Dragon's Flame 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. Bloom also begins to learn the secrets of her home planet, birth parents, and powers.

Second season

Main article: Winx Club (season two)

After their summer vacation, the Winx return to Alfea to begin their second year. They meet a new fairy, Layla,^{[nb 2]} 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 each in Pixie Village, Redfountain, Cloudtower, and Alfea) which would open the portal to the Realm of Realix, where the Ultimate Power can be found. The Trix^{[nb 1]} meet Lord Darkar while being imprisoned in the Fortress of Light, and they agreed to serve him if he freed them. The Winx also learned how to get their Charmix. Lord Darkar is actually the "Shadow Phoenix" who wants to take control of the magical realm. Meanwhile, a new professor arrives at Alfea, one who is actually working for Lord Darkar. He later turns Bloom into Dark Bloom and sends her to Lord Darkar, who 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, and uses her great 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 Club as the sixth member.

Third season

Main article: Winx Club (season three)

Previously banished to the Omega Dimension, the Trix^{[nb 1]} are able to escape with Valtor,^{[nb 3]} a sorcerer partially responsible for the destruction of Bloom's home realm, Domino.^{[nb 4]} 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,^{[nb 2]} 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.

Fourth season

Main article: Winx Club (season four)

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 of being captured by a group of fairy hunters. In Australia, the English version of the fourth season made by Cinélume premiered on Boomerang, a sister channel of Cartoon Network

Future

In the United States, Rainbow has revoked the distribution rights for the entire series from 4Kids, and was seeking for a new partner.^[4]

On September 2, 2010, Nickelodeon announced 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 Aisha (Layla). In late March 2011, Molly C. Quinn announced she will be voicing Bloom.^{[citation needed]} Josh Keaton announced that he will voice Valtor in season 3.^{[citation needed]} Ariana Grande announced on May 22 via Twitter that she will be voicing Princess Diaspro, a minor villain, in the new dub.^{[citation needed]} Romi Dames has also announced that she will voice Musa.^{[citation needed]} Elizabeth Gillies will play Daphne and Matt Shively will play Sky.^{[citation needed]} The first special's broadcast revealed that Amy Gross is voicing Stella, Alejandra Reynoso is voicing Flora, and Morgan Decker is voicing Tecna.^{[citation needed]}

The US premiere of the fourth season of the series is scheduled to air in February 2012 on Nickelodeon. Also there is a rumor that season five will come to USA in July 2012 and season six a month after that.

Nickelodeon released the first of four one-hour specials summarizing the first two seasons, featuring newly animated scenes, on June 27, covering the first half of the first season. The second aired on August 1 and was entitled, "Revenge of the Trix." The third aired on September 18, and is entitled, "The Battle for Magix." The fourth and final special aired on October 16, and is entitled "The Shadow Phoenix". This special marked the first appearances of Darkar, Aisha (Layla), the Pixies, and Helia. Beginning this November, Nickelodeon will air Season 3 in full every weekday starting November 14.

The UK and Ireland premiere was on Saturday, September 24, 2011. Revenge on the Trix was premiered on October 22 at 4:30. Battle for Magix premiered November 13, 2011 at 9:30am

The Canada Premiere was aired on September 5, 2011. The second is air on October 10, 2011 at 12pmEST called Revenge of the Trix. The Third is schedule to air Sunday, November 13 at noon The Revenge of the Trix Premiere Saturday at 10:00 am in Australia and New Zealand.

The premiere aired in Latin America on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 in Mexico and Colombia at 4:30pm and Venezuela at 5:00pm. It also aired on Nickelodeon Brazil at the same date at 4:30pm in Brazil, in Brazilian Portuguese. Revenge of the Trix scheduled to air in November 16.

In Russia, the Special Premiere was aired on Sunday, October 16, 2011. The Second Special Is Schedule To air November 6 at 12:50/11:50c. The battle for Magix is schedule to air November 27 at 12:50/11:50c. The last Special called the Shadow Phoenix Premiere December 18 at 12:50/11:50c

In Poland, Hungary and Romania, the Special Premiere was aired on Sunday, October 16, 2011.

in Nickelodeon Asia Winx Club Special Premier was be aired on Friday, November 11, 2011.

Country / Region	Channel	Special Premiere	Revenge of the Trix	The Battle for Magix	The Shadow Phoenix	Series Premiere
United States	Nickelodeon	June 27, 2011	August 1, 2011	September 18, 2011	October 16, 2011	November 14, 2011
Canada	Nickelodeon Canada	September 5, 2011	October 10, 2011	November 13, 2011	TBA	TBA
United Kingdom	Nickelodeon UK and Ireland	September 24, 2011	October 22, 2011	November 13, 2011	December 2011	2012
Poland	Nickelodeon Poland	October 16, 2011	November 6, 2011	November 27, 2011	December 18, 2011	January 2012
Hungary	Nickelodeon (Hungary)	October 16, 2011
Romania	Nickelodeon (Romania)	October 16, 2011
Brazil	Nickelodeon Brazil	October 26, 2011	November 16, 2011
Colombia	Nickelodeon Latin America	October 26, 2011	November 16, 2011
Venezuela	Nickelodeon Latin America	October 26, 2011
Russia	Nickelodeon Russia	October 16, 2011	November 6, 2011	November 27, 2011	December 18, 2011
Indonesia	Nickelodeon Asia	November 11, 2011	2011
France	France 3	November 16, 2011	Decmber 2011	Janary 2012	Febuary 2012	March 2012
Italy	Rai Due	November 21, 2011	November 28, 2011	December 5, 2011	December 12, 2011	2012

Characters

Winx

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 2]} 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: 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 her powers come from the ancient Dragon's Flame. She is the princess and last survivor of her planet Domino^{[nb 4]} her birthplace. She owns a blueish bunny named Kiko and a horse/pegasus named Peg ('In the movie The magic is back'). Her pixie is Lockette, the pixie of mazes and portals. Her magical pet is Belle, a green and white sheep. She is Sky's wife after he proposes to her in the movie Secrets of the Lost Kingdom.

• 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 students for blowing up a laboratory. She has the power of the sun and the 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 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 a fiancee to Brandon for he proposed in season four.

• 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 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 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 5]} Her pixie is Chatta, the pixie of gossip. In the third season, it is revealed that Flora has a younger sister named Miele.^{[nb 6]} 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. 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 has the power of Music, and she gets her energy from all kinds of music. She comes from the planet Melody^{[nb 7]} 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: 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 has the power of technology and can control everything provided by technology. She comes from the planet Zenith.^{[nb 8]} Her pixie is Digit, the pixie of nanotechnology. Her magical pet is Chicko, a yellow duck. She is Timmy's girlfriend.

• Layla:^{[nb 2]} Layla is the Princess of the planet Andros.^{[nb 9]} 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 has the power of waves and is able to manipulate a pink fluid 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. Her magical pet is Milly, a white rabbit. She was Nabu's fiancee, but he was put into a coma in episode 24 of the fourth season. Layla was very upset and ended up temporarily joining the Warrior Earth Fairies to avenge Nabu, but she quickly came back to the Winx a couple of episodes later. She is also known as the match maker when she helped Flora and Musa with their boyfriends.

• Roxy: Roxy is the last terrestrial 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 terrestrial fairies, making Roxy their Princess. Some people^[who?] say she is part of the Winx Club but most do not. In some websites people question if she'll appear in season five.

The Trix

Main article: The Trix

The Trix^{[nb 1]} are an evil trio of witches who attended Cloudtower (only in the first season, after which they got expelled), a school which rivals Alfea. They are the enemies of the Winx Club. All three of them took over the Creatures of the Dark as their rulers by taking away Bloom's power, The Dragon Flame.Until Bloom managed to believe in herself and use all of the power that was still in her and destroy The Trix. They were arrested in the end of the first season, but they escaped with the help of Lord Darkar in the beginning of the second season. He gave them their Gloomix which multiplies their power. In the third season, they worked with Valtor and gives them there disenchantix to defeat the Winx once and for all. But in the end, were arrested again. The Trix did not appear in the fourth season. They made a comeback in the second film as minions of the Ancestral Witches.

• Icy(Season 1-3, 5): The leader and oldest of the trio, her name refers to her powers of ice. She enjoys torturing pixies for the sake of torturing them. Icy despises Bloom and her friends, therefore she is most competitive with the girls for the whole series. She is the most powerful of the three. In comparison to her sisters, she is more aggressive than Darcy, but calmer than Stormy.In season two, Darkar gives Icy a light blue necklace(Gloomix) that makes a perfect shape around her neck then makes a wider circle shaped like and end with a diamond.

• Darcy(Season 1-3, 5): Darcy's powers works with all forms of darkness, including illusions, as her name suggests ("Darcy" meaning "Dark One"). She enjoys tormenting fairies and is less aggressive than her sisters. Darcy hypnotized Riven, getting him to turn on the fairies, for most of season one. In season two, Darkar gives Darcy a jewelry (Gloomix) that goes on the back of her hand to her elbow, which is purple on her left hand.

• Stormy(Season 1-3, 5): The youngest of the trio, her powers involve lightning, storms, and weather. She has the worst temper of the group and is prone to violent outbursts. She often does not think before she does something. Stormy is Musa's rival for most of the series. In season two, Darkar gives Stormy jewelry (Gloomix)that goes on the back of her hand all the way up to her elbow, which is violet on her right hand.

The Specialists

Main article: List of minor Winx Club characters#The Specialists

The Specialists are students who attend an all-boys school near Alfea, the Redfountain School for Specialists. The following six Specialists(Nabu did not appear in the first and the second season. ) 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 (Season 1-present): The former Prince of Eraklyon, now husband to Bloom, he feels stifled by his position. He has medium blonde hair and became the king of Eraklyon in the first movie, Winx Club: Secret of the Lost Kingdom. Because he is in love with Bloom, he refuses to marry Diaspro, the girl of his parents' choice. 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, therefore he and Brandon switched identities for a while. He is Brandon's best friend.

• Brandon (Season 1-present): He is a great swordsman and ladies' man. He has short brown hair with a very long fringe. He and Stella develop a romantic interest between each other throughout the series and eventually becomes Stella's fiancee in a later episode of the fourth season. In the first season, Brandon switched identities with Sky for Sky wanted to experience life as a commoner. He and Sky are the strongest of the group and among the best students at Red Fountain. He is also best friends with Sky.

• Timmy (Season 1-present): The brains of the group, he comes from a long line of scientists. He has short, ginger hair. 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 a plasma gun, but occasionally picks up a yellow phantorapier. He is shown to have less fighting skills but has the most intellect, which proves very useful to the team. Timmy is Tecna's boyfriend and Helia^[5]'s best friend.

• Riven (Season 1-present): A lone wolf, very competitive, really easy to get jealous and good at sports, he is also stubborn. 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, and although the couple occasionally have some flaws in their relationship, their relationship has been improving and blossoming by the end of the fourth season. At first, Riven had a connection with Cloud Tower because he was controlled under a spell which Darcy cast on him, until the witches realized they did not need him anymore and locked him up. Luckily, he escaped and rejoined the good guys. His weapon of choice is either a reddish purple phantosaber or a meteor hammer. Riven is best friends with Nabu.

• Helia (Season 2-present): An artistic student, he is a great pilot and a pacifist. Helia is a nephew of the headmaster of Red Fountain, Saladin He has long blue-black hair tied into a loose ponytail in the second and third season but cuts it to short 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 and tries to help everyone with it. 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 cannot bear to see someone harm it. Helia is best friends with Timmy and is Flora's boyfriend.

• Nabu (Season 3-present): A man of nobility born in Andros,^{[nb 9]} the same planet Layla^{[nb 2]} is from. He is engaged to Layla 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 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 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 24th episode of the fourth season, Nabu sacrifices himself to save the Earth fairy kingdom of Tir-Nan-Og, and then enters into a coma.

Settings

Gardenia

Gardenia is a city on Earth where Bloom lived most of her life with her adoptive parents Mike and Vanessa. Mike saved Bloom from a burning building after the attack on her home planet Domino. 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 pursue and protect Roxy, the last fairy on Earth.

The Realm of Magix

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.

Alfea

Alfea is a famous boarding school for fairies in training. Most of the Winx girls met and used to 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 the Winx Club, since they all live in one dormitory. It is here that the Winx, after graduating, taught for a short period of time. Once,in the first season the Trix^{[nb 1]} tried to destroy Alfea but failed to do so.

Cloudtower

^{[nb 10]} 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 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 3]}

Redfountain

^{[nb 11]} Redfountain is a boarding school for the specialists, one magical forest away from Alfea. It teaches fighting and the use of technology. At 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.

Broadcast history

In Italy, where the series was created, it has been broadcast on Rai Due since January 28, 2004. In America, it was licensed and dubbed into English by 4kids Entertainment and was broadcast on 4kids TV (formerly the FoxBox) beginning on June 19, 2004, with a preview episode airing on May 22, 2004. 4kids TV continued its initial run until September 22, 2007. On April 12, 2008, Winx Club was rerun on 4kids TV and then on July 18, 2009, reruns of Winx Club then aired on the CW4kids until July 10, 2010. Cartoon Network aired Winx Club in 2005 on their afternoon block Miguzi. After 4Kids' license for the series was relinquished, Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the franchise and is producing a new English dub in Hollywood. Nickelodeon is currently airing the Winx Club as of June 27, 2011, beginning with four-one hour specials summarizing seasons one and two, in both Italian and English. 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.

Other media

Publications

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.

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. The plot of the film revolves around Bloom's origins, and takes place after the events of the third season.^[6] 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.^[7] A 10 minute promo reel will be shown at the Giffoni Film Festival in July.^[8]

Theatre

In September 2005, the "Winx Power" musical show began in Italy.^[9][10] 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.^[11]

Video games

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.

There are currently nine 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: RockStars (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 held the licensing rights to the series until they lost their license.

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.^[12]

DVD collection

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,^{[citation needed]}however, the release of the other half, Fire & Flame, has been indefinitely suspended due to the US licensing situation (see Future above).^{[citation needed]}

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.

See also

• List of Winx Club episodes

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Called the "Senior Witches" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Called "Aisha" within Italy and in the Nickelodeon's English dub.
3. ^ ^{a b} Spelled and pronounced "Baltor" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
4. ^ ^{a b} Called "Sparx" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
5. ^ Called "Fifth Moon of Marigold, All Green Fairylands" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
6. ^ Called "Rose" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
7. ^ Called "Harmonic Nebula, Melody Fairyland" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
8. ^ "Third Vector of the Binary Galaxy Techno Dust Fairyland" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
9. ^ ^{a b} Called "Realm of Tides" in the edits made by 4Kids Entertainment.
10. ^ 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.
11. ^ The school for specialists is called "Fonterossa" in the Italian language version, "Redfountain" in the English dub by Cinélume, and spelled "Red Fountain" in the edits made by 4Kids.

References

1. ^ Rainbow S.p.A.. "Winx Club". http://www.rbw.it/winx.asp. Retrieved 2006-11-15. 
2. ^ Channel New Asia - Fairies worth more than a billion dollars
3. ^ Winx Club Quarta Serie
4. ^ "The next big thing" by Ann-Marie Corven, TBI Kids June/July 2010 p.6-8
5. ^ winxwikia
6. ^ Rainbow S.p.A.. "Feature films". http://www.rbw.it/films.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-12. 
7. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (2010-03-15). "Medusa to release 3D 'Adventure'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118016454.html?categoryId=13. 
8. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (2010-03-18). "Valley forges ahead". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118016633.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. 
9. ^ Rainbow S.p.A.. "Winx Power Music Show". http://www.rbw.it/theatre.asp. Retrieved 2006-11-15. 
10. ^ Winx Club On Tour. "Winx Club On Tour". http://www.winxclubontour.com/. Retrieved 2006-11-15. 
11. ^ Winx On Ice. "Winx On Ice". http://www.winxonice.it/index.html. Retrieved 2008-05-20. 
12. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070930160551/http://www.lifeinitaly.com/news/news-detailed.asp?newsid=5289

External links

Official sites

• Official website Available in multiple languages including English edition currently for the United Kingdom
• Official website for the theatrical films (Bulgarian), (English), (French), (Italian), (Dutch), (Portuguese), (Russian), (Turkish)
• PopPixie Operated by Rainbow S.p.A.
• Winx Club at Nick.com

Databases

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