Winx Club to enter 3D realm in second film

The Italian film company Medusa has teamed up with creator of hit animation series “Winx Club” to create the first 3D cartoon to come out of Italy “Winx Club 3D: Magic Adventure”. The step by Iginio Straffi’s production company Rainbow and Medusa is giant leap forward for the popular American/ Canadian spin-offs of the original Italian cartoon series.

According to Medusa, the budget for the 3D film is US$30 million, less than a third of the US$95 million made from previous film “Winx Club: Secret of the Lost Kingdom” which was initially distributed in Italy by RAI Cinema but later went international. The films are based on the international TV series which follows the adventures of four young girls with magic powers – Tella, Musa, Tecna and Flora.

The four girls, who can turn into fairies, often use their powers to protect their boyfriends, the Specialists – a group of students who attend an all-boys school near the girl’s fairy school in Alfea. They also battle against the three witches Icy, Darcy and Stormy from Cloudtower.

To date the series has been running for three seasons with one full-motion CGI film released after season three. Since 2005 the series has also been in live theatre production in Italy as a full special-effects, musical. The theatre production sees actors and dancers intersperse their displays of magic in between scenes of hip hop and break dancing. The production is set to tour Netherlands according to Rainbow, creator Iginio Straffi’s production company.

Winx Club TV series are available in South Africa from WantItAll.