Thoughts on 4Kids' edits Options

[SpiderBraids]

I plan to post notes and opinions on various changes that 4Kids made to the show in this topic (in episode order). It should be noted that I'm also the guy behind the "Winx Club: Cut It Out" website, so I'll have plenty to say about the changes.

[Abby]

I don't understand the whole redrawing of outfits to make the more "appropriate". How is a bikini not appropriate compared to the outfits that the girls wear in the first place? Plus it's just realistic that bikini's are worn by most women today.

[SpiderBraids]

I don't understand the whole redrawing of outfits to make the more "appropriate". How is a bikini not appropriate compared to the outfits that the girls wear in the first place? Plus it's just realistic that bikini's are worn by most women today.

Yeah, but at the beach. Bikini girl was the only contestant wearing such a revealing outfit in the final lineup.

Quick one from episode 13:

Unedited: We open in Gardenia. Vanessa has to help her cut carrots because home ec isn't exactly Bloom's best subject. As Vanessa is talking to her about how much she's grown, there's an oven fire. Bloom puts it out, and Vanessa tells her she's amazing. Bloom says, "Alfea doesn't offer home ec classes, but it's a cool school for fairies."

Edited: After a quick opening scene at Alfea, we head to Gardenia, where Vanessa's planning to tell Bloom about the day she was adopted, but there's an oven fire that Bloom has to put out. Somehow, the discussion doesn't happen until the end of the episode. (Meaning that Bloom already knows that she's adopted in the 4Kids version.)

To me, it made more sense for Bloom to be all wide-eyed upon finding out that she was adopted, rather than how she was adopted. However, another viewer thought that hiding the adoption and later revealing it dramatically was cliche. I'd argue that the drama of the reveal (Bloom's reaction etc) makes more sense in the original.

Moving on to episode 14, we deal with Mirta at CT.

Unedited: We open at CT. Griffin has just asked Mirta a simple question. Mirta answers that the 1st night of a full moon is a bad time to cast a transformation spell because the light rays may cause interference that could cause undesired, possibly permanent effects. Mirta is correct, but Griffin thinks she's a bit hesitant and points out that a good witch should be more confident. She then notices a classmate laughing at Lucy for appearing at the Miss Magix pageant. Later, Lucy lashes out at Mirta at being humiliated at the pageant (Mirta says that the Trix played a cruel trick on Lucy, which they did, and suggests that she avoid them), and goes on about how she'd rather be one of the Trix than be like Mirta. After Lucy leaves, Mirta decides that she's had it with the Trix.

Edited: After Bloom's exam (see below), Griffin asks about the class' favorite spells. Mirta's favorite is a friendship spell (she details how it works), and Griffin doesn't like it. She then notices a classmate laughing at her and Lucy. Later, Lucy lashes out at Mirta for the friendship spell mention. Scene cuts out immediately after Lucy leaves the room.

This won't be the only time that 4K edits out a reference to an event from a previous episode. I thought the unedited with the reference would be clearly better, but a response I got thought that both versions worked fine.

Next, we deal with Bloom:

Unedited: After another person gets an A on an exam, Bloom is called up to participate. She evades various light beams, and snatches a ball with a rose. She then evades more obstacles, as she reaches a receptacle. FG creates a large blue blob so as to test her reflexes. Bloom sees the blob (8-O < -- smiley of Bloom's reaction as it hurtles down), and she destroys it with a fireball as she puts the rose ball in the receptacle. (And there's not a single line of dialog during the exam... just a few gasps from her friends.) The others celebrate, and FG tells Bloom to get back to her seat as she calls up the next participant, and Bloom de-transforms. (Pictures) Cue scene of Bloom and Fake!Brandon at the ice-cream parlor, with Bloom talking about how she wants to learn about where her powers come from.

Edited: We open at Alfea, where Bloom is the first to be called up to participate in FG's finals. (There's a good deal of dialog here, mostly devoted to Bloom ranting about going first, and an exposition on the test.) She evades various light beams, and snatches a ball with a rose. She then evades more obstacles, as FG creates a large blue blob (some indistinct chatter as it forms). At the receptacle for the rose ball, Bloom sees the blob as it hurtles down (8-O < -- Bloom's reaction)... and then it flash-cuts to the scene of Bloom and Fake!Brandon at the ice-cream parlor, with Bloom talking about failing the exam, and wanting to learn about where her powers come from so she can control them better.

I got a reply thinking it wasn't a big deal since there were no major effects from the result of the exam, but I never liked this edit. The edit doesn't affect the overall plot, but it could also be argued that it does affect how Bloom has progressed as a fairy.

What interests me about this edit is that one of the parts cut out shows the other girls giving high-fives after Bloom passes (because now she doesn't). 4Kids left it out of the actual episode, but used it in a music video and the season 2 opening. HUH.

Quick clothes correction:

Unedited: While the girls talk about Bloom not returning to Alfea, the last shot of Musa is missing her jeans.

Edited: This has been fixed.

Lastly, we deal with a dub-induced continuity error...

Unedited: After reading the book at CT (no narration), Bloom asks Fake!Brandon to take her back to Alfea. She's never actually shown returning to Alfea, although the other girls make a reference to Fake!Brandon taking her back.

Edited: After hearing what the book says about her (with narration), Bloom asks Fake!Brandon to leave her at CT.

The problem with the change is that Kiko wakes her up the next day (unedited: she's heading to Magix to leave, edited: she's heading back to Alfea), and it makes more sense for her to have Kiko if she went back to Alfea first. Other viewers seem to agree. (The Nick version of this scene avoids this issue altogether by not having Kiko there at all [!])