The popular Italian animated series “Winx Club” has a tremendous fan following and now the second animated film plus the first seven episodes of the fifth season arrive on DVD! Recommended for Winx Club fans!
DVD TITLE: Winx Club: Magical Adventure
DURATION: MOVIE (45 Minutes) + 7 Episodes (2 hrs. and 38 minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: Full screen format, Dolby Digital – English Stereo
COMPANY: Rainbow/Nickelodeon/Paramount
RATED: NOT RATED
RELEASE DATE: August 13, 2013
Directed by Iginio Straffi
Screenplay by Iginio Straffi
Music by Paolo Baglio
Art Direction: Vincenzo Nisco
Featuring the Voices of:
Molly C. Quinn as Bloom
Amy Gross as Stella
Alejandra Reynoso as Flora
Romi Dames as Musa
Morgan Decker as Tecna
Keke Palmer as Aisha
Matt Shively as Prince Sky
Adam Gregory as Brandon
Sam Riegel as Riven
Reunited with her birth parents, Bloom is now living as a princess of Domino. But her happiness is short-lived when Sky is forbidden by his own father to escort her to the Princess Ball, and the Ancestral Witches team up with the Trix to erase all positive magic from the Magic Dimension! Only by defeating the witches can the Winx restore the positive magic in the entire Dimension and regain their own powers.
It’s time for the the highly anticipated Princess Ball and Bloom is looking forward to going with Sky.
But for some reason, Sky’s father prevents Sky from escorting Bloom. With Bloom devastated, her father bands Sky from the kingdom and forbids him to see his daughter.
Will they find out the real reason why Sky is forbidden to take Bloom to the Princess Ball? Meanwhile, the ancestral witches team up with the Trix to erase all positive magic from the Magic Dimension.
Find out in “Winx Club: Magical Adventure”!
What is “Winx Club”?
In Italy, the “Winx Club” is an animated and franchise hit.
Since 2004, the animated series was created by Iginio Straffi, President and founder of Italian-based animation studio, Rainbow S.r.l. and so far, there have been a total of six seasons, three films and many video games as well as books, toys, and clothes.
Suffice to say, “Winx Club” has been a big hit in its native country.
In America, while the series has been featured in Canada, 4Kids Entertainment had the distribution rights and changed the entire dialogue and music, and also altering the visuals and situations of the original series. And would continue to distribute the series through 2007 after the third season.
In 2011, Nickelodeon has aired four one-hour specials to summarize the first two seasons and have aired the third and fourth season of “Winx Club”. And now will be co-producing with rainbow S.r.l., the fifth and sixth season of the animated series. The fourth season began airing on Nickelodeon since May 2012 with the fifth season currently airing on television.
While the first three seasons were released on DVD in the U.S., the three films have not been released in America. In 2012, the first film titled “Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom” (2007) was released on DVD for the first time along with seven bonus episodes of season 4 of “Winx Club: The Power of Believix” on August 2012. In 2010, the movie sequel titled “Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure” was released.
And now the second film will be released on DVD with seven bonus episodes from season five of “Winx Club”.
Who are the characters of “Winx Club”?
“Winx Club” revolves around a group of teen fairies attending attending school. The primary antagonist is Bloom, who lives with humans in the city of Gardenia and while living a normal life, she later discovers she has magical abilities and powers. She then learns that she is a fairy and joins Alfea, the school for fairies in the Magical Dimension.
- Bloom is a fairy who was raised by human parents, while her parents were considered missing. A fairy of the Dragon Flame and the most powerful of the Winx, her power is the hope that can defeat the evil of the Trix. She is also the princess of the planet Domino and is believed to be the last survivor of the planet and is dating Sky.
- Aisha is the Fairy of Waves and has the power of controlling water and “Morphix”. She is the princess of the planet Andros and her personality is wild and rebellious. She is dating Nabu.
- Flora is the Fairy of Nature and draws her power from flowers, plants and trees. She is often happy and is quite intelligent. She is dating Helia.
- Stella is the Fairy of the Shining and the princess of Solaria. She is carefree, loves to chat and wants to be the center of attention. She is dating Brandon and is best friends with Bloom.
- Musa is the Fairy of Music and has the power of melody. She is down to Earth but can be pessimistic. She is dating Riven.
- Tecna is the Fairy of Technology and her power is derived from technology. She is logical, rational but is not good at expressing her emotions. She is dating Timmy.
While each fairy is trying to find out how to work as a team and utilize their powers, there is an evil group known as the Trix that want to take away Bloom’s power.
What is “The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie” about?
For the film “Winx Club: Magical Adventure”, it’s time for the Princess Ball and Bloom is asked by Sky to attend the ball with him (note: This differs from the Italian version in which the focus was on marriage).  Bloom is so excited about going with Sky but the same can’t be said about Sky’s father.
His father Erendor becomes enraged and forbids Sky from going to the ball with Bloom and so Sky must break it off, which devastates Bloom.
Meanwhile, the Trix and the Ancestral Witches are not thrilled to be beaten by Bloom and they work together to find the Tree of Life and erase all positive magic from the Magic Dimensions.
Upset that Sky has made her daughter depressed, King Oritel tells Sky that he is banned from the Kingdom and to never see his daughter again. He also wants her to select another man, which Bloom is not interested. Sky tries to give the King a confession but the King is not interested in reading it.
Sky tells Bloom that he wants to see her and Bloom upset that her father was so cruel to Sky, leaves the Kingdom to go back to her adopted parents home.
As the Trix and Ancestral Witch find the Tree of Life, they remove all positive magic, leaving all fairies helpless.
So, Bloom and friends decided to go to Eraklyon to save the Magic Dimension.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Winx Club: Magical Adventure” is presented in letterbox format. The CG animation was probably a big step in bringing the animated series to the CG realm and the CG is much more impressive compared to the first film.
Created in Italy, the series has its own distinct style. From its character design to the backgrounds, but it’s a colorful animated series and I actually like the pixie style of character design and that it is different compared to what we usually see in the U.S. and also from Japan. But I really do like the improvement in CG for this film, from characters to backgrounds, it’s well-done and I can only imagine how much more improvement there would be if a newer film was made.
It’s important to note that the animated TV series is not in CG but is colorful and well drawn with some use of digital special effects.
As for audio, the series is presented in Dolby Digital English Stereo, Italian dub is not included on this DVD.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Winx Club: Magical Adventure” comes with the first seven episodes of season . An oil rig visible from the beach has a leak and as the Winx try to save the workers, Tritannus escapes from prison with the help from the Trix and transforms into a monster by absorbing the pollution from the oil spill. Tritannus wants to kill his twin brother Nereus in order to become the King of Oceans of Andros.
EXTRAS:
“Winx Club: Magical Adventure” comes with a slipcover case.
For the fans of “Winx Club”, the animated films provide a special diversion from the animated series by providing a CG version of the Magical World and its characters.
With “Winx Club: Magical Adventure”, the CG animation is much better than the first film and obviously production had a much higher budget because the film looks very good.
While this film may draw comparison to the recent Disney “Tinkerbell” films, the Winx Club was released before the “Tinkerbell” films and has been a major hit in Italy. From merchandise such as toys and video games, the series has been ongoing since 2004 and with the series on television in America and the release of the animated film, I can see how this series would attract viewers through its accessible storyline but also for the fact that the female characters are the heroes, not their boyfriends and I think it’s cool to have a series featuring a group of heroine’s and a series that young girls can enjoy.
First, let’s discuss “Winx Club: Magical Adventure”. The film is in CG as opposed to the animated series which is not. The film focuses on the growing relationship between Bloom and Sky and while she is deep in love with Sky, after Sky breaks off their date for the Princess Ball, her father who wants to protect his daughter, leads King Oritel to ban Sky from the Kingdom and prevent him from meeting with his daughter, not knowing why Sky broke his commitment in taking Bloom to the Princess Ball.
The film also continues where the last film left off with the Trix and Ancestral Witches reeling from their loss against Bloom and friends and now are more determined to cause more trouble by eliminating all positive magic and rendering the fairies without any magic.
But this series and film does show the importance of friendship and working as a team. It’s important to note that while an animated film, while children can enjoy it, because of the teenage characters and the romantic element, the series is also created for older kids or teenagers to watch as well.
As for the animated series, the DVD contains the first seven episodes of teh fifth season which aired in the U.S. in the fall of 2012 and deals with a major oil spill and Aisha’s first cousin, Tritannus breaking out of prison and causing trouble by trying to attempt and kill his twin brother, Nereus, the King of the Oceans of Andros. And in order to defeat Tritannus, who has turned into a hideous oil beast, they must acquire an ancient power known as Sirenix. So, Bloom and friends must find the Book of Sirenix in the Magic Archives of Alfaea.
As for the DVD, the film and the animated series does have it’s own separate distinct look but in terms of storyline, I do feel it’s a series that young girls or the young at heart can enjoy. You really don’t find animated series showcasing heroines but the fact that you have quite a few, if the boys can have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men or Justice League, then why not have a group of female characters with special abilities? So, I feel that “Winx Club” is a positive animated series that showcases teenage fairies with special abilities, their own skills and personalities and a storyline that compliments those characters quite well.
Overall, for “Winx Club” fans, you get one film plus seven episodes on one DVD which is a fantastic value at under $10.
If you are a fan or a parent wanting an animated DVD for your daughter, “Winx Club: Magical Adventure” is recommended!
