Sunday, February 22, 2009

Animation Italiano

As there are French animation studios, so are there Italian animation studios, and here's one that's prospering.

Six trendy teenage fairies collectively called the Winx, created by Italo animation mogul Iginio Straffi, have been busy fluttering their wings over the past four years bewitching millions of tween girls in more than 130 countries.

In the U.S. the MTV-generation pixies air on FoxBox and Cartoon Network.

Now the former comicbook artist, dubbed "Italy's Walt Disney" by the local press, is spawning more seductive kiddie concoctions, for small- and bigscreen distribution, with the ambition of sparring with kiddie fare churned out by the likes of Disney and Nickelodeon.

As John L. has the Tink franchise, so Iginio S. has Winx.

Apparently you don't have to hang out in Emeryville or the eastern San Fernando valley to make a go of the animation business.

... A CGI feature "Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom" has been released to solid returns in 20 territories, and counting. The pic pulled $6 million in Italy and more than $5 million in France and Germany. ...

"Obviously it's not easy to make it in the global entertainment industry starting out in a small Italian town in the Marches," says Straffi, referring to his native region on the Adriatic coast.

Maybe. But Igninio appears to have made a pretty good run at it. Bully for him.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! just discovered your blog! Really interesting! Can you help me find Larry Eikelberry? My email is eileenpmooney@yahoo.com. He did a portrait of me years ago and I am hoping he'll sell it to me if he still has it. Thanks so much! Look forward to reading more posts. Thanks, Eileen Mooney

Jeff Harris said...

Variety . . . feh.

They don't really pay attention to the animation outlets, do they? Otherwise, they would have known that Winx Club hasn't aired on Cartoon Network since 2006, and there hasn't been a FoxBox since 2007, and what replaced it, 4KidsTV, just ended at the end of last year.

Of course, the last show to air on 4KidsTV was Winx Club, so I guess I should congratulate them for getting the channel right.

Anonymous said...

I have a lot of respect for Iginio Straffi. He stuck to his creative guns and his personal vision got a lot of traction.

I am an unlikely Winx Club fan but it grabbed me. It ran for 3 international seasons, then the movie. I hear a 4th season is coming too.

I wrote up a quick take on each season and the movie if you want to see what its about.

http://fortresstakes.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/winx-club-season-1-2004/

http://fortresstakes.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/winx-club-2005-2006-season-2-26-episodes/

http://fortresstakes.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/winx-club-2006-2007-season-3-26-episodes/

http://fortresstakes.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/winx-club-the-secret-of-the-lost-kingdom-il-segreto-del-regno-perduto-2007/

Site Meter