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RAINBOW’S
SPECIAL REPORT
15TH
ANNIVERSARY
A SPONSORED SUPPLEMENT
OCTOBER 2010
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TV KIDS
15
Years of the Magical Rainbow
Italy’s Rainbow is celebrating its 15th year as a successful producer of high-quality entertainment for kids and families.
In 1995, what was to become the largest animation studio in Europe was founded in Loreto, Italy, by a young, visionary comic book writer, Iginio Straffi. Over the next 15 years, founder and CEO Straffi elevated Rainbow SpA to worldwide fame with its super-hit Winx Club, one of the most successful 4- to 12-year-old girl franchises of all time. And although there are constant new developments for the world’s trendiest fairies, there are many other projects that have shaped Rainbow’s legacy and firmly established its place in animation history. This year in particular will see several groundbreaking initiatives, such as a codevelopment deal with Nickelodeon, the premiere of Winx Club 3D Magical Adventure, the first Italian stereoscopic 3D theatrical feature, and the creation of the Rainbow Magicland Theme Park based on Straffi’s properties— arguably placing Straffi in the same league as Walt Disney himself. A key to Rainbow’s success is that Straffi is both its creative and strategic inspiration. Not only were Tommy & Oscar, Winx Club, Huntik and PopPixie born from his own hand, but the concept of ancillary rights was an idea he had been mulling since he founded Rainbow. Similarly, Straffi invested heavily in 3D computer hardware and software at Rainbow’s inception, recognizing its potential well ahead of its time. Rainbow’s latest leap forward is its broad-ranging pact with Nickelodeon.The global kids’ brand has acquired all Winx Club TV rights for the U.S. and the pay-TV and
merchandising distribution rights for Latin America, Canada, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and Benelux. In addition to the existing Winx Club TV series and theatrical films, the agreement includes the co-development and coproduction of seasons five and six of the series.“The Winx Club franchise is a big hit with young girls and we think there is great opportunity for it domestically as a property that allows us to fill a gap for girls in the 6- to-8-year-olds range,” says Cyma Zarghami, the president of Nickelodeon and the MTVN Kids and Family Group. The new seasons will roll out on Nickelodeon in the U.S. and globally in 2012. Although Straffi is the driving force behind Rainbow’s many achievements, an effective business strategy—focusing on controlling all facets of the business in-house, or choosing the right partners in each market—has also been crucial. One such partnership, with Filma—owned by Karaca Sarioglu—is 13 years long and has resulted in Turkey becoming one of the Winx’ top markets. After his father’s first encounter with Rainbow, he was determined to buy Tommy & Oscar based on just a flyer. “He said, ‘I met these guys and they know what they are doing. I have complete trust in them.You will see that I am right.’ Indeed, I saw what kind of artistic and business talent Iginio has. Rainbow came a long way since 1997, creating one miracle after the other. I am sure the future is even brighter than the past.” And with the enchanted fairies alighting in the U.S. and U.K., PopPixie delivering great ratings, Rainbow Magicland on the horizon and a Winx Club development deal with Nick, the future couldn’t be brighter.
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TV KIDS
The Making of an
Kingdom, which grossed over $90 million at the box office, and the highly anticipated Winx 3D Magical Adventure • More than 350 active licensees worldwide • Live shows: Winx Power, Winx Club on Tour and Winx At its inception, Rainbow worked with other Italian on Ice, in Europe and Italy. and European professional service studios, but soon • A website, www.winxclub.com, with over 2 million began developing its own ideas. The first project was subscribers, that is one of the most successful sites in the a CD-ROM, Tommy & Oscar, created, produced and children’s entertainment category worldwide directed by Straffi. It was an immediate success and • Consistently one of the top five best-selling fashion was followed by its own TV series, broadcast in 40 dolls throughout Europe (NPD). countries, a feature film and a massively successful Rainbow has continued to create new properties and licensing program. break new barriers.After Winx Club came Monster Allergy, Next came Rainbow’s best-known TV series to based on a Disney comic book chronicling the advendate, Winx Club. Crucial to the success of Winx Club tures of Zick, a friendly kid with the unique ability to see was—and is—Rainbow’s ability to identify a busi- the invisible world of monsters, broadcast in over 80 terness model that guarantees a high-quality standard ritories. More recent creations include: PopPixie (52x13 and manage the entire life cycle of the brand name, minutes), following the daily adventures of the adorable from concept to production, development to distri- Pixie characters living in Pixieville. The show just prebution, broadcasting to licensing, publishing to gam- miered on France 3 with record-breaking ratings of 25 ing. The Rainbow group now includes a number of percent market share.There’s also Huntik: Secrets & Seekers, companies around the world that handle all key Rainbow’s extremely high-quality boys’ property based stages of development, production and distribution. on mystery, mythology and action; Maya Fox, a teen brand The success of Winx Club has been a clear result of based on a publishing IP that caters to the Twilight demo, Rainbow’s talent, strategy and unrelenting quality stanbringing thrills and fashion together; and Gladiator (workdards. Just a few highlights of the world’s trendiest ing title), a 3D animated feature film developed with fairies include: Michael J. Wilson, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Ice • $2.5 billion in retail sales to date Age and Shark Tale. • Four TV series (104 episodes) in over 100 territories And finally, there is the Rainbow Magicland Theme • Fifth and sixth series in development with Nickelodeon Park, opening in Rome in 2011. An entire fantasyland • Best-known girls’ brand in Europe (2009 Doxa survey) dedicated to the fans of all of Rainbow’s properties, a • Two 3D feature films, Winx, The Secret of the Lost place where the children who love and identify with their beloved characters can immerse themselves in their world. It is in many ways the culmination of a great visionary company, but it also speaks to the very personal view of the man who founded it: when asked what he is most proud of, Straffi replies, “That through my work I can create emotions and make millions of kids dream to be like these heroes, and feel part of their adventures...” And that is the magic at the beginning, midMan at work: Rainbow founder Iginio Straffi is gearing up for the 2011 launch of dle and future of Rainbow Magicland Theme Park in Rome. Rainbow!
Animation Giant
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Future Classics Mia & Me
PopPixie
After her parents go missing in an accident, 12-year-old Mia comes to a boarding school, where she has trouble adjusting. All she has left from her parents is a bracelet and an old book about unicorns in a land called Centopia, which her father used for his greatest video-game project. By chance Mia makes a fantastic discovery: with the help of the bracelet and the book, she can transport herself from the live-action world into the CGI-animated paradise of Centopia, becoming a gorgeous elf and finding out that she can communicate with the Unicorns that are threatened by evil Queen Panthea. Together with the other elves Yuko and Mo, she sets out to save the Unicorns and Centopia, learning what it means to be an elf. Kids will find plenty to identify with in this 26x24-minute series: stunning visual effects, adventures, humor, action and elfin warriors. Co-produced by Rainbow, March Entertainment and M4E, Mia & Me is an original new series mixing live action with CGI, in a never-seen-before artistic style.
The charismatic Pixies made their first TV appearance on Winx Club Series II in 2007. TV ratings went through the roof and production soon began on a 52x13-minute PopPixie TV show for 4-to-11year-olds. PopPixie has already delivered excellent ratings on its worldwide debut in France on France 3’s kids’ network Ludo. In August, its ratings shot to a recordbreaking 25 percent among 4-to-10-year-olds. This year, the series also launches on Clan TVE in Spain, TVI Portugal, Canal Panda Portugal and Kanal D Turkey, among others. In 2011, the series heads to the U.K. and other parts of the world. On the licensing and merchandising front, PopPixie is already a best-selling property in Italy, topping fashion doll and back-to-school sales, and Ferrero has sold approximately 12 million PopPixie Kinder Eggs. Bandai, as master toy licensee, is launching its toy line this year. Rai, Teletoon and France Télévisions have also jumped on board. Key deals have been made across Europe for apparel, back-to-school, shoes, accessories and more.
GON
Huntik: Secrets & Seekers
In the wild, where humans are unheard of and where the food chain reigns supreme, there are always kings and leaders, creatures at the top of the pecking order. You know it, they know it, we all know it, but not Gon, a tiny, orange, dog-sized creature, similar to a dinosaur, just a bit smaller. Don’t be fooled by Gon’s size because its power, speed, attitude and tiny brain deserve a huge amount of respect. No one knows where it came from or where it’s going, but it’s sure to devour fans as enthusiastically as its food! The wordless yet unmistakably expressive Gon and its forest friends live in a world of natural beauty, depicted by Masashi Tanaka in lush, realistic detail. Gon is joined by Wolspe, the Most Vicious Bear-like Thing Ever (a.k.a. Gon’s fluffy bed), Ollie, the Enormous Sort-of Bird (a.k.a. Gon’s plane) and Leader, the Delusional Caretaker and Most Righteous Lion-looking animal (a.k.a. Gon’s preferred ground transportation)—as well as an amusing assortment of other forest critters. The 52x11-minute series is produced by Daewon Media and based on the Kodansha-owned books by Masashi Tanaka. Rainbow SpA holds all European rights.
The 26-episode series for 6-to-12-year-olds features an elaborate world of magic, discovery, mythology, adventure and team work. Seekers battle the evil “Organization” with the help of their Titans. The first season was sold to over 30 countries, and from the beginning Huntik has had strong ratings: on RAI Italy the first series achieved an average 12-percent audience share, making it among the top three best-rated kids’ shows in 2009. In the Netherlands it obtained an average 20-percent audience share; on RTL2 Germany, a high of 33 percent; and on Panda TV Portugal, a peak of 39 percent. These impressive ratings convinced Rainbow to produce the second season, which will be ready for broadcast in 2011. A massive licensing program, including a master toy licensee, will be rolled out in 2011 during the launch of season two.
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TV KIDS
Fairies Take the World by Storm
Girl power: With PopPixie, Rainbow is looking to replicate the success of Winx Club.
With Winx Club movlaunched last year, attracting 719,000 viewers for a 16.1ing into new markets— percent share of audiences age 4 and up, and 307,000 the U.S and the U.K.— viewers in the 4-to-10 set, a 37-percent share. Among with a groundbreaking children 11 to 14, the series attracted 136,000 average development deal with viewers, reflecting a 43.3-percent audience share. Nickelodeon, the France 3 is looking to replicate Winx Club’s success with world is about to PopPixie, which launched on the Ludo block in August become a much bigwith an impressive 25-percent share amongst 4-to-10ger place for the world’s year-olds. Feedback from licensees and retailers has trendiest fairies. This is a already been positive, including from master toy licensee challenge they should be Bandai, which is launching a range of toys. There will able to meet given their also be books from Hachette, magazines from Panini, faithful fan base in every corDVDs from FTD, apparel from Carel, back-to-school ner of the globe. from Tennessee and chocolates from Ferrero. The distributor and agent Winx Club is a smash hit in Russia as well: in addition Filma launched Winx Club into to top TV ratings, it has become the number-one brand Turkey in 2004, at a time, Filma’s for 4- to 12-year-old girls. owner, Karaca Sarioglu, says, when Barbie was dominating the market. “It looked impossible to surpass the success of Barbie. Girls adored it, the trade worshiped it. We wanted to focus on the key values of the Winx Club property, such as magic, fashion and friendship. We decided that the strategy should be to communicate these values through products and different media. Two months before the TV and magazine launch, we launched the Winx Club Turkish website. Winx Club was the first kids’ brand to have its own website in Turkish. Girls welcomed this approach and the site boomed after the TV and magazine launch.” Within a year, Sarioglu says, Winx Club was the leading girls’ brand in Turkey. From 2004 to 2010, 400,000 DVDs have been sold and 1.5 million magazines. On television, the show has averaged a 20.8-percent share. And the first Winx Club feature film had an outstanding performance, recording over 250,000 admissions, making it the highestgrossing animated movie in Turkey in 2008, beating even Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E. Filma is eagerly working on plans for PopPixie, with a free-TV deal in place with Kanal D and a pay-TV slot with D Cocuk. “I am confident that Turkish kids will welcome PopPixie as they did Winx. We are in sync with Bandai’s distributor in Turkey to coordinate a successful launch of toys.” In France, Winx Club has enjoyed a similar success story on France 3 since 2004. Season four Cover girls: The Winx Club magazine is a hit in Russia.
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