Netflix, Rainbow line-up new Winx Club

Netflix has commissioned a double-season spin-off to the popular Italian franchise Winx Club.

The original Winx Club

Season one of WOW: World of Winx will debut exclusively on the streaming service early in 2016, with season two following in the autumn.

The two seasons are both 13x22mins and come from Rainbow Studios, the production arm of Italy-based rights owner Rainbow Group. The show is described as “more serialised” than the original and “designed specifically for the on-demand viewing of Netflix members”.

The original Winx Club already plays on Netflix, whose VP of content acquisition Erik Barmack described the franchise as “very successful… in all our territories”.

“Rainbow Studios has created a very popular global franchise and we’re thrilled to become the home of the next generation Winx Club for all of its current and future fans,” he added.

“We are very happy to be building a solid and wide collaboration with Netflix, so extending it to include new and original content is fantastic news,” says Iginio Straffi, president and CEO of Rainbow.

“Netflix is an innovative and exciting presence in the field of content distribution and our production teams are busy putting together what will be a brand new and truly magical experience for Winx Club fans across the globe.”

Netflix also runs Rainbow shows such as PopPixie and Mia and Me. It also added Winx Club film The Mystery of the Abyss in the US, Canada, Ireland and France earlier this month.

For Netflix, the series is the second kids original ordered this week. Two days ago, it announced a show based on 1980s brand Popples, which Saban Brands will produce.