Iginio Straffi is an Italian producer, designer and animator who became the father of the world famous brand Winx. It all started with an animated series that was broadcast on Italian television, but over the years, fairies from the Winx school of sorceresses have become popular all over the world, they have become a noticeable phenomenon of popular culture. A creative person, the president of Rainbow does not stop there, constantly promoting new projects that target a wide variety of audiences.
Native of Maceratto
Iginio Straffi was born in May 1965 in Italy. The birthplace of the founder of the Winx Empire was the village of Gualdo in the province of Maceratto. Iginio grew up in a picturesque place, where the gaze of the observer had a wonderful view of the Monte Sibillini mountain range. Such an atmosphere could not but affect the development of the child's creative abilities and imagination.
Until now, memories of the first years of his life serve as a powerful incentive for him when he creates new stories, characters, writes books.
Iginio Straffi has been immersed in art since childhood, loves to draw. He loves comics and constantly fantasizes, displaying his thoughts in the form of drawings. It is comics that will play an important role in the biography of Iginio Straffi and will influence his further development as an artist and animator.
The start of the journey
After graduating from school, the future head of Rainbow entered the university. In parallel with his studies, he continues to do what he loves, creating new cartoon stories. His comics do not go unnoticed and are published in Italian and international magazines Lancio Story, Comic Art and other reputable publications.
Also, the Italian works as a designer in various magazines and studios. At a very young age, Iginio Straffi was invited to work for Sergio Bonelli Editore, a prestigious publishing house in Milan, where he began working on the Nick Ryder series, which was popular at the time.
However, at some point, he realized that he had outgrown the level of comics and decided to try his hand at animation.
In search of himself, he leaves Italy and undertakes a series of moves around Europe, working in France and Luxembourg on various projects. This allowed him to gain international experience and look at the world with different eyes.
Rainbow
In 1995, Iginio Straffi returned to his homeland, filled with ambitious plans and ideas. He understands that to fully realizehis creative potential is possible only by working independently, outside the framework imposed on him by his superiors. He takes a risky step and opens his own animation studio, which he named Rainbow.
In less than ten years, a small studio has grown into a huge media holding, consisting of ten divisions. Today, Rainbow's business spans a wide range of cartoons, toys, online products, and publishing.
However, all this did not happen all at once, I had to start small. A series of educational CDs called "Tommy and Oscar - The Phantom of the Opera" was created. The production was a great success, the discs were translated into twenty-five languages, they were sold out in 50 countries.
Tommy & Oscar won numerous international awards, including the Children Software Review for Best Software for Children and the Best CD Award at the 1997 Avanka Festival.
In the wake of success, Iginio Straffi releases a whole animated series dedicated to the adventures of Tommy and Oscar. It was successful not only in Italy, but also in other countries, after which stories were created for two more seasons.
Winx Plan
In the early 2000s, the children's cartoon segment was dominated by high-energy adventure series aimed primarily at a boyish audience. The niche of cartoons for girls was almost empty after the completion of the legendary projects Sailor Moon and My littlePony.
Iginio Straffi decided to revive the noble tradition and he came up with the idea of a project designed primarily for girls. In this, the artist was supported by his wife Joanna Lee, who became the prototype of the main character of the series about sorceresses from the Winx Club.
Iginio Straffi took a serious approach to the preparation of his project, which took several years. A lot of work has been done to study different ideas, characters, characters. As a result, Inginio Straffi settled on the concept of young fairies versus witches. Little sorceresses study in a special school of magic, like Harry Potter, are pretty, like Barbie dolls, and work in a friendly team, like warriors in a sailor suit from Sailor Moon.
The best designers of Italy, including specialists from D&G, were involved in the development of the appearance and image of the fairies. However, according to Iginio Straffi, the main thing for him was to focus not on a bright picture, but on the transfer and promotion of such eternal values as friendship, honesty, family, mutual assistance.
Winx Phenomenon
The new project was a resounding success. It began to appear in Italy in 2004, and within a few years it spread throughout the world. The school of sorceresses Iginio Straffi has long outgrown the level of an ordinary animated series and turned into a special cultural phenomenon. Winx toys are released, fans sing songs from the series.
To date, seven seasons of the project have already been released, which is shown in a hundredfifty countries of the world. The Winx website is visited by more than two million users every month.
Iginio Straffi is also the author of a whole series of books about young fairies, with over thirty books released to date.
The Winx phenomenon is largely explained by the fact that young fairies personify the ideal of modern children. They dress fashionably, understand modern gadgets, know how to work in a team, and at the same time study at school, just like ordinary teenagers, make friends, fall in love and experience similar problems.
Other projects
Winx is the main but not the only project of Iginio Straffi. He is working on new series aimed not only at the girlish, but also at the boyish audience. Among them are the following: Huntik, PopPixie.
The talented artist doesn't stop working on TV and movies. He is full of ideas and plans that he is going to implement in cooperation with the most talented people in Europe.
