Proof Winx Season 9 Might Be For Preschoolers
Just a coincidence, Secrets. I wrote a post about this a week or two ago but decided not to publish it. But your comment made me realize the Winx fandom may not have noticed this yet.
Why do I keep saying Winx season nine may be aimed at preschoolers? Like I said, it has the hallmarks of a preschool show: CG animation and dozens of episodes, each less than 15 minutes long (aside from two-parters). Some examples I found through Google: Fancy Nancy (based on a popular book series), Vampirina, a new show called Santiago of the Seas, and of course, the juggernaut PAW Patrol.
But the giveaway to me is Winx season nine has the same profile as Rainbow’s other current and upcoming preschool shows.
I got the following info from World Screen, a site I browsed for Winx news sometimes when I had the old blog. On Rainbow’s WorldScreenings page, you’ll see three preschool shows: 44 Cats, Pinocchio and Friends, and Summer & Todd Happy Farmers (gag me). What does Winx season nine have in common with them? CG animation and 52 episodes per season, each episode 13 minutes or less.
Also, as I’ve said, this format isn’t for telling one story that spans multiple seasons. Instead, episodic shows (vs. serialized shows) tell a bunch of standalone stories. 44 Cats is like that. There’s no overarching plot; it’s just the random adventures of four cats and their 40+ friends.
That’s why I don’t think the Winx reboot will be a retelling of seasons 1-3. Here’s what I think it’ll be instead. Do you remember “Battle on Planet Eraklyon” (Winx season 2, episode 14)? Some guy named Yoshinoya held Diaspro for ransom, and Bloom, Sky, Brandon, and Flora went to Eraklyon to save her. Along the way, they met a cheesy team of superheroes called the Patchamen (the Wrong-Righters in the 4Kids dub), a parody of the characters from the Gatchaman franchise.
What did this have to do with protecting the Codex and defeating Darkar? Absolutely nothing! This episode was pure filler. We never even saw Yoshinoya or the Patchamen again.
But in an episodic show, episodes like “Battle on Planet Eraklyon” are the norm because there’s no overarching plot to progress. So get ready for 52 episodes like this — except half as long. That’s Winx season nine in a nutshell.
What else can I say? I am 95 percent sure Rainbow is turning Winx Club into an episodic preschool series. Why wouldn’t they? They made the Winx and especially the Specialists look like kids in season eight so the younger fans could “see themselves” in them. ?
Also, preschool shows are big business. From what I’ve heard, 44 Cats is making bank. Rainbow’s just following the money, and they know they can’t make as much off of us older fans because our parents don’t buy us toys anymore. That’s why Fate: The Winx Saga was created: to give us our own “adult” Winx Club. (You know what I think of it.)
Bottom line: “old Winx” isn’t coming back. Season nine is the start of a new Winx Club for a new generation. Stick around if you’d like — being too old for this show never stopped me — but for everyone else, it may be time to say goodbye to the Magic Dimension.
Preschool shows are so successful because toddlers are largely passive viewers. They don’t know how to use the TV remote or switch to a different video on youtube, so they basically watch whatever is put in front of them. Combine this with distant parents who don’t pay attention to what their kid is watching, and the result is that you can basically crank out a crappy show and make bank off it. (This is the same reason that “cursed kids’ youtube” was able to manifest – super young kids don’t care if something is procedurally generated or has bad animation. They see Spider-Man or Elsa, and they’re happy.)
So basically, this is Rainbow taking the lazy way out. They said, “we have one majorly successful franchise and we’re not done making money off it yet.” This might actually be more successful than some more recent seasons of Winx; the only question is if they’ll stick to this format for seasons after (or if there even will be seasons after).
Very true. And episodic shows are perfect for toddlers because the episodes are usually as short as their attention spans, and they don’t have to follow a long, complex plot they don’t even understand. Besides, Rainbow keeps retconning things and breaking continuity. But it’s not like the younger fans noticed, and now it won’t even matter.
If Rainbow is going through the trouble of calling this a reboot and switching over to CGI, which isn’t easy to create, I doubt they’d do it for only one season. How many more seasons will there be? Hard to say. I predict at least two, but we’ll see.
“Rainbow keeps breaking continuity but it’s not like the younger fans noticed” this happened also in pre-Nick Winx times. For example, nobody noticed that Tecna didn’t save her planet yet earned Enchantix, that Mirta HAD to become a fairy just because ofthat stupid “Witches are only bad and bad fairies and good witches don’t exist” rule, the fact that it was SKY who basically did all the work in Obsidian in Lost Kingdom movie, or even the fact that Sophix and Lovix are filler forms that are never mentioned again.
But the difference is that it was aimed at age demographic 9-15 or something, I don’t remember. Not the toddlers who don’t obviously (because they’re just learning everything) care about the storyline so they can watch anything as long they see a favourite cartoon hero (oh god, those Spiderman Elsa videos, who the heck came up with this?!)
Season1 had a “filler” too, about Flora and plants annoying Stella, plus Season5 literally had TWO fillers: The Lilo and Christmas episode. Season2 also had a Hallowinx filler. So we literally saw what Season9 might fully be, except over 10 years ago ?
Winx fandom could get pissed at me but if Icy’s stupid backstory and the Old Transformation Return Controversy didn’t make me leave Winx, I think I couldn’t mind that format, despite the bad fact the cartoons being braindead nowadays (looking at you awful Miraculous after-season2 seasons!) is awful. But considering the awful wordbuilding since Winx 1, Magical Adventure and WoW themeselves and ruining Aisha in the latter, that “Charmix” boost in Season 2, overloading my least favourite season with literal “Believix versions” (Lovix is beautiful, but SOPHIX? Really Rainbow? And three transformations? I love when they earn new fairy forms but THIS was pathetic)… I’m not suprised- Winx was never that great in 2004-2008 like people are saying, despite it made me liking wings and winged fairies (BARBIE MOVIES had better wing and outfit design for me, when it comes to animated fairies)
Yeah, there were filler episodes in other seasons, but I think — correct me if I’m wrong — “Battle on Planet Eraklyon” was the only episode with a villain who wasn’t connected to the Big Bad. Plus, you could argue episodes like the one you mentioned with the undines added something to the show because they helped us get to know the Winx better and developed their group dynamic. But “Battle on Planet Eraklyon” was 100 percent pointless.
And yes, the older seasons of Winx had a lot of problems, too. The fandom overlooks them A) because the later seasons’ problems were more obvious; and B) of course, nostalgia goggles. But the first three seasons had everything from plot holes and retcons to pointless characters and needless relationship drama, just like the later seasons.
I’ve noticed the problems even more since starting on my rewrite. Some of them are things I’d never thought of before, like how Cloud Tower makes no sense. I’ll eventually wrote a post about some of this stuff.
I’ve noticed a lot of plotholes too. There’s a WMG about one dubwise on tv tropes. Tecna goofed in season 2 concering that Cloud Golem/Phony Avalon. That probably ate her screentime too. Ouch. On the upside with the CGI? Tecna’s rockin’ those braids. I guess they finally found a long hair look that works for her…and all it took was Onyrix.
The only filler I personally hate (at least some of the fillers really made us knowing the Winx better which is great)… is Miss Magix. I like Stella but this episode isn’t that great and it did a bad job at representing Stella, plus that one scene with afro girl… oh and it was obvious that Lucy will win just to lose anyway, the Trix aren’t that willing to help.
The only thing I liked in that pointless Eraklyon episode was at least seeing Diaspro. Too bad that Rainbow didn’t make Diaspro and Sky being forced to marriage before Bloom came to Magix- that drama could have a little more sense.
I kinda liked Musa’s S2 singing episode but I hate that Tecna never had an episode like this- I know that she had great moments and great romance plot with Timmy in S2 and her trial in Season 3 labirynth, but she needs her OWN episode with HER interest, much like Flora and Stella and Musa had.