Mia and Me

Mia and Me
Lucky Punch, Studio Rainbow and March Entertainment

Original title: Mia and Me
Characters: Mia, Yuko, Mo, Vincent, Paula, Violetta Di Nola / Varia, Lyria, Onchao, Flair and Garnivera, Ono, Esko, Master of Dystopia, Panthea, Gargona, Munculus, Rixel, Phuddle, Gurga, Fire Gongs, Tukito, Raynor, Mayla, Polyteus, Baby-Blue, Mario, Saphir, Simo, Flo, Scrobbit and Miri, Tessandra, Xolana, Shiva e, Renzo, Franca, Silvio Frascati, Countess of Nola, Vittorio Di Nola
Production: Lucky Punch, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, Rainbow, March Entertainment and Rai Fiction

Country: Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Canada
Year: 2011
Broadcast in Italy: 10 September 2012
Gender: Fantasy / Comedy
Episodes: 52
Duration: 24 minutes
Recommended age: Children from 6 to 12 years old

"Mia and Me" is a cartoon produced by Rai fiction, the German channel ZDF, the Italian animation studio Rainbow and the Canadian producer March Entertainment in 2011.
The first series, consisting of twenty-six episodes for twenty-five minutes in duration, was broadcast in Italy in September 2012 on Rai Due and in other fifty countries worldwide, enjoying a similar success to that of the animated series. Winx Club, also produced by the Rainbow studio. Thanks to the numerous awards received especially in Europe, but also throughout the rest of the world and the sales made, the production of the second season is underway.
Currently the TV series is in free air programming on Rai Gulp digital terrestrial, every day at 22,00.
"Mia and Me" is a cartoon aimed primarily at girls, who can easily identify with the fairy tale adventures of the young protagonist. The element that distinguishes this series, from the classic cartoons is the opening and closing of the episode, with scenes recorded live in live action, while the central part was made in 3D computer graphics.

The story begins with the young Mia who, at the age of twelve, finds herself having to undergo one of the most dramatic events in the life of a girl: the premature loss of both parents. As I remember, only the book of fairy tales from when she was little is left, where the story of Centopia is told, a magical world populated by Unicorns and Elves. Since she was a child she had fallen in love with the characters who populated her, in fact, every night before going to sleep, her father read her a fairy tale. Now the misfortune she has suffered has forced her to move to one of the most prestigious colleges in the world in Florence, but despite this she feels alone. One day he discovers the function of the bracelet received as a gift from his parents: this is actually a device that serves as a portal, to enter the world narrated in the book. In that world he transforms into an Elf, who, together with other companions, aims to save Centopia's unicorns from Panthea, an evil queen ready to sacrifice them to take advantage of their precious horns.

Mia she is a lonely and sad girl because of the loss of her parents. It is difficult for her to make friends, also because many of her peers are arrogant and do not cherish her own goodness in the soul. With the few friends she has she is loyal and sincere, she is a bit moody at times but she is always ready to apologize for her mistakes. The world of Centopia for her is a panacea able to make her go through the bad times and the pain of loneliness. The character and his beautiful presence, make the best friend in real life fall in love Vincent, a little boy of his school friend, characterized by an unfriendly appearance, who is defined by everyone as a "nerd", or a lonely boy, who spends all his time between computers and comics.
Mia's virtual best friend is Mo prince of the kingdom of the Elves, tenacious and proud of his descendants, he does everything to treat his subjects with respect, cultivating the teachings of his father as best he can, of whom he retains the same disposition. Over the course of the series, he falls in love with Mia, but he also has feelings for her friend Yuko, which often leads to awkward situations.

Among the protagonists of the reign of Centopia we find Yuko, Mia's friend Elfa and friend of Mo's childhood, despite being in love with him and feeling jealous for Mia's arrival, puts aside her feelings for the good of the kingdom.

lyria: Mia's best friend Unicorn, she is a brave magical equine, always ready to fight to defend her country and her race from the Munculus. Unicorns are generally elusive and shy animals, but being able to communicate with Mia makes things easier.

shuddle: probably the nicest and funniest character in the cartoon, he gives an extra touch of class to make the series humorous. He is clumsy, he aspires to become a great man, but often gets into trouble even if always with good intentions. Become a close friend of Mia and a faithful subject of the kingdom of Centopia in the fight against the Munculus, even if he cannot be called a "lion heart".

Panthea is the queen of the Munculusil, or the antagonist of the series. He has an arrogant and tyrant character towards his subjects, in particular with the general Gargona, when she is defeated in the course of the battles with the Elves. Her obsession with beauty forces her to torment Unicorns, as they possess ivory capable of giving her youth. Given the numerous defeats against the Elves she is forced to wear a mask, not to show her old appearance.

In the first episode "Speaking to unicorns", Mia after the tragic accident suffered by her parents, is accompanied to enroll at her new college in Florence. The girl should be happy, because many boys in the world would like to live in that city, but the tragedy that hit her parents makes her sad and insecure. As soon as she arrived at the school, she had a quarrel with some classmates and from this she understood that for her, from that moment on, life would have been hard, also because since she was a child she has always been a lonely girl. When she starts to worry, she is delivered a container that her father left her as a gift, inside there is the book that she read to her as a child along with a magical bracelet. Touching the embedded blue stone she is catapulted into the magical world of Centopia in the form of a beautiful winged Elf with long fuchsia hair. Mia begins to juggle the new world by barely learning to fly, her first acquaintance is Phuddle, a Pan (half man half goat) unable to play but likeable and talkative. Shortly after she and her new friend Phuddle see a beautiful specimen of female unicorn, with legs trapped by the coils of a snake, in an attempt to save her he discovers he can interpret her language. The unicorn says her name is Lyria and begins to carry her around on his back, showing her the panorama of the kingdom to the palace of the Elves.
Meanwhile, the evil Panthea is on a rampage because the unicorn she was destined for has escaped, she needs their ivory for rejuvenating power and her supply is now nearly exhausted. She asks her trusty general Gargona to find her absolutely another unicorn and sends another handful of Munculus.
Mia meets Prince Mo and her friend Yuko who teach her to fly, telling her to do it carefully to avoid the dangerous Munculus. Panthea's henchmen ambush Lyria and capture her, but her friends are ready to save her. The episode ends with Mia's sudden return to the real world.

The second episode "The hope of Centopia"begins with Mia grappling with a game of volleyball, a sport she has never loved and moreover she is distracted by the memories of her previous adventure. During the game she is accidentally hit by the ball and this gives her companions a chance to find a An excuse to tease her, Violetta above all who has now become her nemesis.But in this misadventure, she is lucky enough to meet Vincent, another boy, who like her remains isolated from other classmates.
Mia's mistrust leads her to avoid it, but it turns out to be a great help when she reveals a trick to solve the password of the magic book and activate the bracelet that can catapult her into the world of Centopia.
Here he meets Lyria and her friends Phuddle, Mo and Yuko. The girl thinks it's a beautiful, trouble-free world, but changes her mind when friends show her the flowery grove, parched by the Munculus. Mia wants to help them in order to regrow the forest, remembering a legend she read in her book: a Pan has a trumpet which is a powerful weapon, but he cannot play it. Mia convinces her friends to show the potential of the trumpet called Trumpus, in the presence of the king and queen, but the results are negative.
When the group of friends leaves disconsolate from the castle, he is attacked by the Munculus, but almost casually Mia discovers how the trumpet works and saves them, finally obtaining the recognition due from the king and queen. On his return to real life he meets Vincent again, she apologizes and the two become friends.

In the third episode "Reconstruction", we find Mia is desperate studying for a math test, but it is Vincent who gives her courage and takes her to see her secret haven. Suddenly his bracelet lights up and he realizes that he is about to start a new adventure in Centopia.
As soon as she arrives, she immediately finds Lyria and Yuko who are watching celebrations, Phuddle is about to be taken to the royal palace in celebration, but contrary to what she thinks, the celebrations are for her Trumptus, or the trumpet that can save the kingdom. The Munculus are preparing a new attack, Panthea is on a rampage, because the effect of the horns is wearing off and she is worried about the strength of the Trumptus. Meanwhile, Phuddle combines one of his usual messes, dismantles the Trumptus, but no longer remembers how he recomposes himself by throwing Mia into despair. The two look for the place where the unfortunate Pan left the Trumptus project, but he doesn't remember what it is exactly, it all seems useless, but Mia urges him to commit. After all it was he who created it and although it took him many years he is still considered a hero, this tool has already saved the country once and the unicorns need his intervention. Suddenly Lyria arrives carrying the project drawn on a large blue leaf, but still the problems are not over because it remains a complicated construction. While Mia and Phudlle trying to mount the tool, the Fairies try to defend the Unicorns attacked by the Munculus, things look bad. Luckily Mia and the unfortunate Pan manage to mount the Trumptus and save them. The Munculus are defeated again and are forced to retreat, the threat is once again thwarted. Back in her real world, Mia begins studying math in Victor's closet.

Mia and Me is a cartoon that uses a modern computer graphics that, as a style of design and decoration of the draperies and the scenographic setting, is inspired by the Art Nouveau of the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt and his famous dream landscapes. In addition to the graphics, the excellent fluidity of the characters and the gestural mimicry are impressive (especially the facial one that expresses moods well). The characters refer to the Greek mythological culture and the atmospheres vary from the colorful world of the Elves to the gloomy dark world of the Munculus.
Mia and Me is also characterized by a great technical achievement with which the producers had distinguished themselves in the other "Winx" series which has the advantage of approaching adolescents, in an appropriate and modern way with their current jargon, fashions and behaviors. The issues are very much pushed towards solidarity, friendship and a sense of justice, which diversify the character of the "good" ones from the enemies present both in the virtual and the real world. In the first it is an epic and fantasy battle between Elves and Mungulus, while in the second there is a theme deeply felt by the youth: marginalization but above all bullying. The ideal target for viewing is the female one, ranging from ages between nine and thirteen, certainly less suitable for adults who, however, could also view it together with their children.
We are not only talking about friendship, but also about love and jealousy seen in a funny and healthy way through the eyes of a kid of that age. It is a cartoon with very relaxing images, if you think of the beautiful world of the elves and even if it sometimes has a plot it is very predictable, it manages to capture the viewer thanks to characters built to measure for the taste of the public.

All characters and images are copyright Lucky Punch, Studio Rainbow, March Entertainment of the right holders. they are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.