| W.I.T.C.H. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Gary Tomlin Elisabetta Gnone |
| Developed by | Darrell Vickers Andrew Nicholls Greg Weisman |
| Voices of | Kelly Stables Candi Milo Kali Troy Christel Khalil Liza del Mundo Greg Cipes Lauren Tom Mitchell Whitfield Dee Bradley Baker Serena Berman Kath Soucie Jason Marsden Steven Jay Blum |
| Country of origin | France United States |
| No. of episodes | 52 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | SIP Animation |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | December 18, 2004 – December 23, 2006 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Winx Club |
W.I.T.C.H. is a Magical Girl genre animated television series based on the Italian comic book series of the same name. Despite the acronym, the main protagonists are not witches. Like the comics, the series follows five ordinary girls: Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin who become endowed with magical powers and become the "Guardians of the Veil".
They must save Meridian from the evil sorcerer Phobos and Cedric who are searching for Phobos' sister, the long lost princess of Meridian. It is later revealed the princess is Cornelia's best friend Elyon, and the Guardians then set about saving her from Phobos. When Meridian is freed from evil and Elyon takes the throne, a new mysterious sorceress named Nerissa frees Phobos's top henchmen and reforms them as the Knights of Vengeance. Once the Guardians learn more about the sorceress and her evil plan of reuniting former Guardians, they are able to defeat the Knights only to have more powerful Knights of Destruction, plus the old Guardians attack them.
The Guardians chief ally is Hay Lin's grandmother Yan Lin, a former Guardian herself, and the one that taught the girls about their magical destiny. They are also helped by Caleb, a heroic soldier from Meridian, leader of the rebellion against Phobos, and Blunk, a frog-like goblin creature (known as a Passling) who takes things from the human world to Meridian (and vice-versa), humorously mistaking everyday objects for other things or items of value. Matt, Will's boyfriend, accidentally learns about Meridian and when he sees all the trouble on it going on, he learns how to become a warrior to help them. They are also helped by the Oracle, leader of the Universe in Candracar, who was the one who chose the Guardians.
Both the first and second seasons consist of 26 episodes each. Sip Animation completed the full production of W.I.T.C.H. Season 2 around September 2005, and it premièred in the States, Canada, and The UK in spring of 2006.
Contents |
Characters
Villains
| Season 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Role | Voice Actor | |||||||||||||||||
| Prince Phobos | Main villain of the series, Tried to steal the throne of Meridian, Elyons powers, and later steals the Seal of Nerissa | Mitchell Whitfield | |||||||||||||||||
| Lord Cedric | Phobos' General, has the ability to shape-shift into a man-snake hybrid | Dee Bradley Baker | |||||||||||||||||
| Season 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Role | Voice Actor | |||||||||||||||||
| Nerissa | Past guardian of Quintessense, steals the hearts of Meridian and Zamballa, main villain of Season 2 | Katherine Soucie | |||||||||||||||||
| The Knights of Vengeance | Nerissa's minions to distract the guardians while she steals Elyon's Powers | Various | |||||||||||||||||
| The Knights of Destruction | Nerissa's minions made to fight the new guardians while she collects the old ones | Various | |||||||||||||||||
| C.H.Y.K.N. | The past Guardians and Nerissa's old friends, who were tricked into her control through flaws in their souls, except for Yan Lin who never gave in and instead is trapped in Nerissa's seal with Elyon. | Various | |||||||||||||||||
Episode list
Season 1
Season 2
|
The Guardians' powers
Each Guardian's powers are fuelled by Candracar, transmitted to the Heart via the Aurameres (the physical representations of the Guardians' powers). The Aurameres grant the same powers to each of their guardians; for instance, any powers held by Irma would also have been possessed by Cassidy. The protector of the Aurameres is Luba, a cat-like being.
When the Guardians transform, they change form and grow wings, which help them fly. Using the Heart of Candracar, a Guardian can create an Astral Drop, a duplicate of herself, when the words "Spord Lartsa" (Astral Drops spelled backwards) are said. Also the Guardians can combine their powers together and create a beam as seen on the first episode of the series. Since the Veil was taken down, the Guardians have to cross worlds by folding, with the help of the Heart of Candracar. Elyon and Blunk can fold as well.
In order to travel to another place in the same world, each Guardian can teletransport. Teletransporting is a difficult ability to learn and one can materialize into another solid object if not careful enough. Also if a Guardian teletransports while not connected to an Auramere or a Heart than they will drain their life force.
The Guardians can also become one with their dragon (or in Will's case, the nymph Xin Jing) and literally become their element all the while increasing their power to its absolute zenith, stronger than if they had multiple Hearts. But this is risky and rather dangerous because it costs them their humanity and they could be easily controlled and enthralled.
Also, it has been shown that if a Guardian uses her elemental powers and is not connected to an Auramere, it will drain their life force, making them much weaker. This may be why Nerissa aged so much faster than the rest of C.H.Y.K.N..
A Guardian can also become a Quinto-Guardian. A Quinto-Guardian has the powers over all five elements: Quintessence, Water, Fire, Earth and Air. A Quinto-Guardian can also gain the power to summon ice . The only known Quinto-Guardians are Cornelia (granted briefly by the Aurameres) and Nerissa (by using her Seal).
- Will and Nerissa control the Power of Quintessence
- Irma and Cassidy control the element of Water
- Taranee and Halinor control the element of Fire
- Cornelia and Kadma control the element of Earth
- Hay Lin and Yan Lin control the element of Air
The Hearts
The Hearts are the sources of mystical energy for the worlds they come from. They can be represented by a jewel, a talisman or a living being. Prominently featured in the series is the Heart of Candracar, a pendant that allows W.I.T.C.H. to transform. Over the course of the series, it is revealed that Elyon Brown, Queen of Meridian, is the Heart of Meridian, and Lilian Hale, Cornelia's younger sister, is the Heart of Earth.
Planets
Various planets play an important role in the W.I.T.C.H. series. Earth is the home of the Guardians of the Veil, later the Infinite Dimensions while Meridian, Candracar and Zamballa are mystical planets that are introduced as the story progresses and the evil forces get stronger. Nerissa also briefly visited a place called Aridia, a desert realm in an attempt to steal their Heart (an unnamed male rock giant). But her attempt failed when the Seal of Nerissa signalled that the other members of C.H.Y.K.N. were freed from her control.
Zamballa
Zamballa was first introduced in the season 2 episode "P is for Protectors". Zamballa is a purple world with a jungle stretching out as far as the eye can see. At the centre is a Pyramid, the palace where Kadma lives while the Veil is still in effect. The Zamballans themselves look like walking purple trees. The Guardians learnt of Zamballa from Yan Lin, who told them the story of when she was a Guardian and had to protect the world of Zamballa from an attack of Phobos. Kadma led the attack against him, the Zamballans were grateful and they offered her the Heart of Zamballa itself and made her Queen. However, the Veil was raised and cut off Kadma her Guardian friends and other worlds and she had to live there without any hope of leaving.
But with the Veil lifted and Nerissa out to control all the Ex-Guardians, they all agree Kadma must be warned, but Nerissa and her Knights are already there and are glamoured as W.I.T.C.H. destroying Zamballa. Soon Kadma learns of the deception and with Taranee's help she manages to defeat Nerissa. In the next episode, "Q is for Quarry", the Guardians and Kadma team up to defeat Nerissa once and for all and come up with the idea of taking the Heart of Meridian. At first, Will gets the chance too, but refuses saying that much power will corrupt her. Kadma instead takes it and merges the two Hearts which form the Seal of Nerissa. Because Hearts cannot be taken by force, soon Nerissa will have two Hearts and Kadma under her control. The Zamballians and the Guardians gather to discuss what should happen next.
Ironwood makes herself Regent of Zamballa and her first act is to banish the Guardians and Yan Lin from their world so that Nerissa is never tempted to return. In "Z is for Zenith" the Heart of Zamballa is returned and Kadma abdicates from her throne to live on Earth, while Ironwood takes the Heart and is made Queen herself.
W.I.T.C.H. DVDs
W.I.T.C.H. has been released on DVD in Europe, Australia, the Philippines (both in DVD and VCD versions, which is currently in the first season), Brazil, and Malaysia currently spanning 3 volumes, each containing episodes of season 1. They each come with 2 art cards featuring one of the W.I.T.C.H. girls. The DVDs together only contain the first 11 episodes. Volumes 4, 5 and 6 are planned to be released on the 3rd September 2007 for Region Code 1 and 2 and on the 17th of October for 3 and 4, which could see the rest of Season 1 on DVD. Two box sets have been released in the United Kingdom and Russia: the first box containing volumes 1, 2 and 3. The second contains volumes 4, 5 and 6.[citation needed]
Cast list
Trivia
 |
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (January 2008) |
- The UK and US versions of the show have different theme songs. The UK introduction shows the girls and their powers in a "story version" with unique footage for the opening, while the US version shows action clips from some episodes.
- For season 2, SIP Animation brought a new studio to animate the series.
- In the US, Season 2 didn't get a new opening because Disney US wanted consistency when they aired Season 1 and 2 simultaneously. This doesn't apply to the UK Season 2 opening, which did get revamped with new scenes.
- The US theme song entitled "We Are Witch" was sung by Marion Raven.
- The US opening includes scenes from the W.I.T.C.H. demo reel that were never used in the series.
- There are three Spanish versions of the W.I.T.C.H. opening: (1) A version heard in Spain, (2) A version heard in Latin America, and (3) A Spanish version of the US opening which can be heard in the US if you switch the audio from English to Spanish (You'll hear the Spanish dub if you do so)[citation needed]
- From episode 14 onwards, a new version of "We Are W.i.t.c.h." is used as the show's opening theme, replacing the "demo" version.
- The episode "M is for Mercy" was censored in the US version. The battle between Shagon and W.I.T.C.H. was edited to remove the scenes where Shagon hurts the girls.
- In episodes "R is for Relentless" and "V is for Victory" of Season 2, Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon, dressed in her school uniform, makes two cameo appearances, first in the lunch line and then walking through the corridors of Sheffield Institute.
- In the episode "Guess Hoe's Coming To Dinner" from Season One of the satirical animated sitcom The Boondocks, Will makes a cameo appearance as an onlooker in the supermarket.
- There are rumors that W.I.T.C.H will be picked up again somewhere in 2010,it will be animated in an other style then the previous series.
Broadcasters
References
External links
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: W.I.T.C.H. (TV series) |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
