Iginio Straffi

Iginio Straffi (born May 30, 1965 in Gualdo (MC), Italy) is the founder and CEO of Rainbow S.r.l, as well as creator of its most famous product, the Winx Club series, and later the Huntik and Pop Pixie Series.

Background
Born and raised in the Marche region of Italy, he started professional work in the field of comic book drawing for Italian publishers Comics Art and later Sergio Bonelli Editore, where he mostly worked on the Nick Raider series. His work was also occasionally featured in the Métal Hurlant and Comic Art magazines. At age 27, he moved to France to work on storyboarding production and directed several animated TV series and feature films.

He moved back to his native Marche in 1995, when he founded the Rainbow animation studio, initially providing services for other studios, but eventually producing its first original product the Tommy and Oscar animated CD (1996) and later TV series (1999). His most successful creation, Winx Club, debuted in 2004 and became a worldwide success, now broadcast in over 130 countries, including Europe, the United States and most of Asia. Aside from its headquarters near Loreto, Rainbow S.r.l. (Spa) now has branch offices in Rome and Singapore.

Other Rainbow Srl(Spa) creations include Prezzy (inspired by the Italian Gardaland theme park mascot) and Monster Allergy (also a successful Disney comic book), as well as co-production of Huntik. Now, Iginio and Rainbow Srl(Spa) have created "Rainbow Magic Land", which opened in Spring 2011, which will include a full-sized "Alfea" school (mentioned in Winx Club.)