W.I.T.C.H. arrived on ABC in the winter of 2004-5 with a great deal of fanfare and hype, imported as it was from Italy. Unfortunately, because it didn't meet the FCC E/I requirements, ABC placed the series in the dreaded "death slot" at 12 noon (ET), where it replaced Kim Possible. The two series would alternate in the slot for the rest of the season, but, sorry to say. W.I.T.C.H. was cancelled after 1 season in the US.
The titular acronym comes from the five protagonists: Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, & Hay Lin, and the series was a spin-off from an Italian comic book of the same name, which, if I remember correctly, was brought to the US by another Disney subsidiary, Hyperion, for publication here, in trade paperback form, although I could be wrong. I tried to watch the first episode, but just couldn't get into it. Winxeva uploaded the open to YouTube:
Realizing that ABC programmers' hands were tied, cable cousin ABC Family aired the series about 3 hours before the ABC broadcast, but about a week or so behind. Not that it would matter in the long run. Not to be outdone, Fox trotted out the similarly themed Winx Club that same winter, and was able to sustain it for at least a full year or two.
Yet, ever since it was cancelled here in the US, there's been no W.I.T.C.H. merchandise to be had, even second or third hand. Go figure.
Rating: C.
4 comments:
I rather liked W.I.T.C.H. and Greg Weisman was a big reason for it!
He was brought on a bit later in the series' run but really added some punch and pizazz to the story arcs. There was quite a bit of intrigue going on in that show!
Given how badly it fared on ABC (alienating Kim Possible fans, since their heroine was pulled in favor of WITCH), maybe they were better off leaving it on cable.
WITCH was also aired on Toon Disney and later on the Disney Channel during the weekend afternoons. If the show had been aired regularly on a better time slot on the Disney Channel perhaps it would have received better ratings.
In an Toon Zone interview Greg Weisman said he planned to have the WITCH heroines age a year every season in order to evolve story lines and create character development.
There were only eight graphic novels were published by Hyperion Books in the United States. Yen Press was able to get the WITCH comics reprinted as graphic novels. The series’ first three-book story arc The Twelve Portals, was released back in 2017 on Halloween.
WITCH was an enormously popular Disney franchise in Continental Europe and other parts of the world during the 2000s'. There was even a line of WITCH women's perfume available. Maybe if the graphic novels sell well in the United States and the animated WITCH show is placed on Disney Plus and is highly watched there might be a reboot.
Responding 2 1/2 years later.
It might be worth a try even now.
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