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Home > Spotlight
IGINIO STRAFFI: MY WINX HAVE CONQUERED THE WORLD
Roma - (Ign) - His name is related above all to the international success of Winx, a cartoon created in Italy and broadcasted on television in over 130 countries. However Iginio Straffi, 41, is also the holder of a particular record: prior to his, no Italian television production had ever managed to enter into the field of cartoons in the U.S.A.. After this success, he is ready today to accept the challenge of an even more difficult market: Japan.
Your company started its activities in multi -medial services. Why did you decide to make the big jump into cartoons?
I started in the 90's, the boom period for interactive CDs. Then I tried to approach a sector that I considered to have great promise. Previously I had written comic strips for Sergio Bonelli Editors and worked as storyboarder in France and Luxemburg. But my real dream was to work with cartoons: so I went back to Italy and founded Rainbow, with which I produced my first animated CD-ROM in 1996 titled "Tommy and Oscar - Phantom of the Theatre", a triumph: translated into 25 languages and distributed in 56 countries, it was the winner of many awards, such as the "Children Software Review" (USA), the "New Media Prize" for the best children's software and the "Best CD-ROM" at the Festival Avanca97 in Portugal. Then came the Winx...
Tell us, how did the idea of the Winx characters originate?
Everyone asks me the same question! Let's just say that the basic idea started from a series of simultaneous causes: I realised that in the market of cartoons a property of female characters didn't exist, as opposed to male characters, and here I am referring to the Pòkemon or Harry Potter. Therefore, my characters had to be female. Then I started adding the element of magic that was already present in all of the other productions (here I refer to Sailor Moon), but giving them a new spirit. I felt the need to create characters that could speak to today's kids. From here the attention went to their clothing - that had to be "stylish" - and to their psychological characterisation: my fairies live the same problems of every child, they have exams at school, the first crushes, etc. This all helped to "humanise" the character as much as possible, someone the viewer could relate to.
How much is your company worth today?
Rainbow's turnover this year is about 25 million euros, doubling that of the previous year. But the business generated throughout the world by the products with the Winx trademark, reaches a billion dollars. Today Rainbow is one of the most widely known animation studios in Europe and in the world, and is able to manage autonomously all of the production phases relating to the cartoons. We pay maximum attention to pre-production (concept, script, character and background development etc.) and to the post-production passages (special 3D effects, casting for dubbing, music and editing). We have 50 employees, but many more are external collaborators that are dedicated to the actual production of the cartoon: entire studios in Asia and in Europe work for us. Our next company objective is the Japanese market.
The Winx characters have become dolls and surprises in Easter Eggs. How important is merchandising in this sector?
I would say fundamental. The business rotating around the Winx trademark is estimated approximately one billion dollars and certainly the highest earnings are made with the licence, that today alone makes up 70% our sales. There are 75 licensed producers, who produce gadgets, clothing, accessories, toys, shoes, music compilations, interactive CDs and even a musical. All with the Winx trademark. Seeing that all of this originated from one of my ideas gives me great satisfaction. Together with the launch in the U.S.A., it is the greatest satisfaction of my career.
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