Rainbow’s New Series Regal Academy Coming to Nick in August

Fantasy is and will always been a massive genera across every level of story-telling there is. With just a glance at our main page you see a quite a few series that either are fantasy based or dabble with the tropes. Any of Zag’s teased series, Mako Mermaids, and Disney’s Descendants.

Back a few years ago we really started to see a very strong sting of series and films that has close ties with original fairy -tales we all know and love. Disney’s live-action adaptations of the various classic animated features, Ever After High, Sofia the First, the upcoming Elena of Avalor and- you guessed it- Descendants.

Naturally there are more series that fall into the same vein as the few that I listed off the top of my head, but there is another. One that has been in the works for quite a while in fact. And fans that keep tabs on Rainbow have been waiting for it. Enter Regal Academy.

Rainbow, in case the name might not quite register, is the Italian animation company that has brought to life series such as Huntik: Secrets and Seekers, Mia and Me, Pop Pixie and the ever famous Winx Club.

Here is the official summary:

Regal Academy, the new animated kids series from Winx Club creator Rainbow, will make its US debut on Nickelodeon on August 13. The kidsnet will roll the toon out to additional global platforms later this year.

The series, which premiered in Italy last May on Rai YoYo, brings classic fairy tale characters into the modern world. Rose Cinderella is enrolled at the fabled Regal Academy, where her fellow schoolmates include Hawk SnowWhite, Travis Beast, Joy LeFrog, Astoria Rapunzel and LingLing Iron Fan, all of whom belong to the school’s founding families.

I am just going to shove my foot in my mouth and say what we are all thinking- it sounds quite a bit like Ever After High and Disney’s Descendants.  Two series that have been around for a while and maintain rapidly growing popularity. With that said there is absolutely not an article meant to single any party out. Something I want to stress highly. I have no idea where the trend of stories driven around the children (and even grandchildren) of classic fairy-tale characters. No one does, so there is no point in stating that one ‘ripped off x’.

Ever After High has always been driven around choice. Follow what has been set before you, or take matters in your own hands. A battle between doing what everyone expects of you, or doing what you want. And facing the repercussions that come with your choice.

On the other hand Descendants does have choice acting as a theme, but it comes across in more of a secondary role. With villain kids and hero children it has a lot of cultural differences.  Even to the point we can even see the villain kids develop inner conflicts driven by what they were told and what reality is. All of which goes back to choice.

Regal Academy is still new and time will tell us how the series and characters develop.  If memory serves correct the series just very recently started airing in its home country of Italy. What happens will be interesting and worth keeping an eye on.

It has been years since Rainbow themselves produced any sort of animated series outside of Winx Club. (And yes, I am not counting collaborative series such as Mia and Me.) Huntik ended in 2012 and their feature film Not Born to Be Gladiators was released the same year.  I want to see what Rainbow can do in an entirely new world again.

Keep an eye out for more details about Regal Academy. The series arrives on Nickelodeon on August 13^th.

Join the conversation: What are your hopes and expectations for Regal Academy?