The six trendy fairies at the centre of the Winx Club phenomenon are ready to wing into world cinemas to the delight of tween girls everywhere.
The first feature film in the Italian franchise - Winx, The Secret of the Lost Kingdom - will hit domestic movie theatres in time for Christmas, according to cartoon makers Rainbow SpA at the town of Loreto.
The rest of the world's Winx fans will have to wait a little longer to get their first big-screen taste of the famous sextet.
Deals were sealed at the Cannes Film Fest to take the film to France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal, most of Eastern Europe and Turkey - as well as Brazil.
Rainbow, which is poised to expand its Loreto operations on the back of the film's projected revenues, said it is about to ink sales to a clutch of other countries too.
The 25-million-euro movie - in which the secret of Winxs' world is finally revealed - will be ramped up for a global roll-out next summer, Rainbow said.
The three series of animated adventures involving the foxy enchantresses are already showing in 130 countries, from the United States to Japan.
The Winx Club is a group of six fairies who study magic at a school in the world of Alfea. They dress like the hippest of teenagers, tussle with adolescent-type problems and also frequently save the world from the powers of evil.
Thanks to their unexpected success the company - founded by illustrator and director Iginio Straffi 11 years ago - is about to start building new production and design studios.
The company says plans for the new site were inspired by one of its own creations - a Winx Club character called Flora, who is the 'fairy of nature'.
What this means is that the new 8,000 square metre Rainbow HQ will involve the latest in 'green' building techniques. It will have solar panels to produce electricity, a non-polluting air conditioning system and a structure which does not block views of the landscape.
Syd Mead, who wrote screenplays for films such as Blade Runner and Alien, apparently played a role in the planning of the buildings.
Meanwhile, the Winx Club continues to generate business for Rainbow all over the world. Winx fairy dolls are the third most popular dolls in the world and Winx merchandise such as books, bags and toys produces a global turnover of over a billion euros a year.
The cartoon has also spawned successful musical spin-offs.
