From Popeye’s spinach to Food Wizard’s magical warriors who save the world with food. Thus, fruit and vegetables become the protagonists of a cartoon that carries an educational message but in an engaging and fun way. This is the meaning of the project conceived by three ‘special’ parents: the actress Luisa Ranieri and her husband-actor Luca Zingaretti with their nutritionist Sara Farnetti. Together they created the adventurous cartoon Food Wizard which is fun talking about food and which will be broadcast every day on RaiYoyo starting from Monday 14 November.
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Countering the big obesity killer
The obesity rate in our country is 25% in the age group from 3 to 17, while one in 10 adults is obese. “Obesity or rather diabesity is a real epidemic that we can consider a big killer”, explains Sara Farnetti.
“Most of the diseases are related to the increase in abdominal fat which is the first sign of obesity and is at the origin of cardiovascular, neoplastic, metabolic diseases such as diabetes but also degenerative or autoimmune diseases”. The cartoon was born with the aim of primary prevention trying to teach children from an early age how to make the right food choices.
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The formula of edutainment
The idea of making a cartoon about food came about by chance: “We were having dinner with friends and Sara Farnetti was talking to me about the difficulty of teaching children and especially parents to eat well”, recalls Luisa Ranieri. “He gave me an example of how important it was in the imagination of our generation the cartoon Popeye in which the protagonist strengthened his muscles by eating spinach and so the idea of a modern cartoon was born that was not only educational but that could involve children emotionally “. In short, the idea was to communicate about food in a new and fun way that was ‘digestible’ for children.
Food-weapons to capture the attention of children
But with so much supply of cartoons, will Food Wizard be able to be loved by young viewers? The creators are also convinced of this because the whole story is very adventurous with the three protagonists traveling in the human body trying to defeat toxins using healthy food as weapons.
“Knowing what happens in the human body when we eat and what are the foods that can improve the quality of life – explains Luca Zingaretti – is also important for children to whom, however, these rules must be communicated in a different, empathic way so that they can begin to eat well almost inertially to imitate their favorites “.
A mom idea
An idea that was also born starting from the direct experience of parents: “This initiative – says Luisa Ranieri who with Luca Zingaretti has two daughters, Emma born in 2011 and Bianca in 2015 – was also born from my needs as a mother who wanted to understand how to feed your daughters in a phase of our life in which we understood how important it is to take care of the environment also through what we eat. of all what I had learned but in the form of a cartoon “.
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The nutritionist Farnetti is also the mother of a three-year-old girl: “As mothers together with Luisa Ranieri – explains the nutritionist – we decided to use this cartoon as an ally for all parents because children are a little naughty and it is difficult to sometimes convince them to change their habits by giving up foods that are more savory or more sugary. We needed something magical like the warriors in our cartoon “.
Also involve parents
The age group for which the cartoon is intended is between 4 and 8 years old. “At this age – explains Luisa Ranieri – it is still the parents who choose what to show to the children and for this reason the stories are useful for the whole family because we are talking about functional food, how food works from a chemical point of view. our body, what reaction do sugars have, what do they transform into without demonizing any food but teaching the right strategies to eat everything and well “.
Eating healthy has never been stronger!
Food Wizard, produced by Rai Ragazzi, Zocotoco srl and MAD Entertainment in association with Rai Com and with Primal Shape with the screenplay by Roberto Gagnor. The heroes of Food Wizards are three little boys, the leader Ginny and the two of her inseparable friends of her Ham and PC constantly looking for new adventures in a city that is too quiet for them.
But one day Ginny reunites with her mysterious grandfather Essen whom she had never known. Grandpa keeps a secret: he is the last of the Food Wizards, magical warriors who save the world with food. But he is not the only one to be back, there are also the Toxins, the monsters of metabolism that reproduce in people’s bodies when they feed themselves incorrectly.
Grandpa Essen needs help to counter their every attack and it will be Ginny, Ham and PC who will turn into his warriors, entering the human body and fighting the Toxins with the right foods, used well.
The 26 episodes of 11 minutes each will air every day on RaiYoyo starting from Monday 14 November: two episodes a day at 2.30pm and 7.10pm. The series will be available in box sets and in preview on RaiPlay from Friday 11 November.
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On a mission in the human body
But how did Sara Farnetti come up with the idea of this cartoon? “Thinking back to me as a child and how many spinach I ate looking at Popeye”, replies the nutritionist who adds: “Then by studying I learned that there is very little iron in spinach, so reflecting on this I realized that it is the suggestion that leads us to change behavior just as Popeye has induced so many children to eat spinach, which are notoriously unloved vegetables, to become stronger. So, I imagined inventing a cartoon that would tell how food works at inside our body that raise awareness in families “.