Who is ‘Fate: The Winx Saga’ for, exactly?

A review of the dark and gritty fairy cartoon adaptation, on Netflix Jan. 22nd

About halfway through the six-episode first season of Fate: The Winx Saga, I found myself imagining the pitch meeting that must have led to this live-action adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon. “Remember Winx Club, that cartoon about fairies that kids liked in the mid-00s?” someone must have said. “What if… this time… they curse, drink, smoke, and fuck?”

“…What’s our imagined audience here?” the Netflix executive must have replied. “Is this a show for children? Or are we trying to please grown-up fans of the original cartoon?”

“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” the guy pitching must have said. “They’re fairies, except they curse, drink, smoke, and fuck.”

“Ah,” I imagine the Netflix exec saying. “In that case, here, have many millions of dollars.”

Winx Club started as an Italian cartoon in 2004, and within a few years it had been dubbed into English and was airing on Nickelodeon. There have been several incarnations of the show, including recently a revival cartoon at Netflix called World of Winx. The basic premise is that fairies exist, and that fairies have different specialities; for example, the main character Bloom is a fire fairy. In…