Netflix Picks Up Streaming Rights to “Maggie & Bianca”

Over the years, the Italian based animation studio, Rainbow, has produced several notable works. From their biggest hit and internationally beloved, “Winx Club,”  to new and more recently released “Regal Academy.”  The company has created a long line of fantasy-centric stories.

With the upcoming “Winx Club” spin-off series, “World of Winx” (WOW for short) hitting the streaming giant Netflix next month. All eyes have been on the company to give fans a desperately desired first look at the new series. The anticipation has been mounting as fans have been long awaiting for the series to wrap production while international fans longingly await to find which outlet will house the next adventure.

But from the looks of it “World of Winx” is not the only new title from Rainbow slated to arrive on Netflix. Their upcoming new series, “Maggie & Bianca” will start streaming next year.

According to the press release, the full title of the upcoming new series is “Maggie & Bianca: Fashion Friends.” The series is a fashion inspired sitcom that will stream exclusively for new audiences courtesy of Netflix. The series already premiered with high ratings on Italy’s RAI Gulp at the end of August but won’t hit Netflix until next year.

Maggie & Bianca tells the story of American teenager Maggie (Emanuela Rei) and her dream of becoming a famous fashion designer. After winning a scholarship to the Milan Fashion Academy on her 16th birthday, she heads to Italy, where she befriends like-minded Bianca (Giorgia Boni).

The series will join Rainbow’s upcoming Netflix original series, “Winx Club” animated spin-off “World of Winx,” which launches November 4.

I have followed Rainbow for a very, very long time now. And even though they worked collaborative on the creation of “Mia and Me,” a series that combined live-action and animation (notably the animation done on Rainbow’s end). I cannot help but to feel a little surprised at the news that they are working alone on a new live-action project. Rainbow has always been an animation company, after all.

Yet the route of using Netflix is none too surprising. Given both the massive following and success of Netflix. A lot of brands and companies are seeking out crafting exclusive content for them.

Additionally, Netflix already homes a few of Rainbow’s other titles. “Pop Pixie,” “Huntik: Secrets and Seekers” (If you have never seen that it is a must watch!), the third “Winx Club” movie, and the original “Rai” English dub of the first two full seasons of “Winx Club.” At a glance you probably would consider “Regal Academy” the oddball.

Speaking for myself, I really like the fact that the series is set in Italy. Not only because it is nice to see a change in setting, but also proves some variety. Never mind the fact that Italy is a beautiful country.

The summary does teeter on being rather bare boned. So it is hard to get a complete fix on just what we can expect in the series. That is outside lots of fashion and slice-of-life aspects.  As always, time will tell.

Be sure to keep an eye here, at BSCKids. For season reviews of both of Rainbow’s Netflix exclusives shows. “Winx Club: World of Winx” and “Maggie and Bianca.”

Join the conversation: What do you think about Rainbow branching into the live-action world? Is this something you want to see more of, or is their animation best?