Winx Club – Magical Adventure-Winx Club: Magic Adventure (2010)

Directed by: Iginio Straffi | 87 minutes | animation | Dutch voice cast: Georgina Verbaan, Jennifer Ewbank, Birgit Schuurman

After the countless episodes of the TV series and the first cinema film, ‘Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Empire’, which was shown in the Netherlands in 2008, ‘Winx Club: Magical Adventure’ is the second animated film for girls, which consider themselves too old for Studio 100 productions such as Mega Mindy and K3. The girls who saw the first part in the cinema, or whose DVD did not disappear from the player for a while, are already four years older, but they may have a younger sister (or brother!) and can secretly still enjoy the new adventures of the tough Winx friends.

“Winx Club: Magical Adventure” is still all about Bloom, the red-haired fairy, who once again reinforces the cliché about red-haired girls with her fierceness. Like her friends, Bloom possesses magical powers, a wasp waist and ridiculously large eyes. The girls, now about eighteen, have now left the fairy school Alfea, but are – with the exception of Bloom – still present at the festive opening of the new school year. Unfortunately, the Trix, the evil witch sisters Icy, Darcy and Stormy, are also there to stir things up by enchanting the present fairies one by one into muddy, slippery toads. It seems they do it for fun, but nothing could be further from the truth: it is a diversionary maneuver to steal an important object. They need that to help the three ancient witches with their plan to rid the universe of all positive magic.

Meanwhile, on planet Domino, Bloom finds it difficult to act like a princess. Fortunately, her parents understand where the shoe pinches, and their gift, a beautiful horse called Peg, brings her a little closer to her great love Sky. After a wonderful afternoon of riding lessons, Sky proposes to her. But when Sky’s father hears of those plans, he tries to put a stop to it. He has an important reason for that. When Bloom’s father also gets involved, the turnips are done. Bloom flees with the Winx Club, who have come to her aid, and is briefed by Sky about the Trix’s plans. The Winx team up with the Specialists to battle the Trix and the ancestral witches whose expiration date has long passed.

The magical universe in which the Winx live their adventures is complicated at first glance, but children who can tell good from evil will be able to follow the story. Although: follow? It’s actually more likely that they will simply be overwhelmed by the fast-paced action sequences and the bright colors and will not care about the details of the adventure. The plot is muddled and the characters barely developed. If this is your first encounter with the girls of the Winx Club, with two or three exceptions, you won’t be able to tell who is who and what her powers are afterwards. Never mind that the role of the Specialists and the Pixies becomes clear. ‘Winx Club: Magical Adventure’ is best described as a cross between the fairy films from the ‘Barbie’ series (because of the candy cane colors) and Japanese manga, with a tad of Harry Potter. Visually it looks fine, the animations are perhaps even slightly more beautiful and detailed than those of a film from the aforementioned Barbie series. But as an adult viewer you have to look hard for any original element and chances are you won’t find it. For the target group, they will enjoy themselves for as long as the animation film lasts, but it will not really impress.