Floricienta (; known in English as Flinderella) is an Argentine juvenile musical soap opera based on the Cinderella story. It originally aired from 2004 to 2005, but since then it has been broadcast in many countries. Some international channels that have aired Floricienta are Disney Channel (Latin American), Cartoon Network and Disney Channel (European). It was also available on the Sky UK satellite lineup.
The lead roles were portrayed by two-time Martín Fierro-Award-winning actress Florencia Bertotti, Juan Gil Navarro, Isabell Macedo, Fabio Di Tomaso and Benjamín Rojas. The show was created by Cris Morena and was produced by Cris Morena Group in association with RGB Entertainment.
The series became an international phenomenon for children and teens throughout Latin America, Israel and parts of Europe.
The soap opera spawned over 200 licensed products. The tour was attended by over 1 million people in Latin America and Israel including over 100 concerts in Teatro Gran Rex, ten shows in Estadio Luna Park and four at José Amalfitani Stadium, all in Buenos Aires.
The show was adapted by Bandeirantes in Brazil (Floribella), SIC in Portugal, TVN in Chile, RCN Televisión in Colombia and Televisa in Mexico. In an interview with Radio 10, Cris Morena announced she sold the Latin American rights for Disney Channel.
Overview
The famous Argentinian producer Cris Morena presented her new project Floricienta in 2004, the show became one of her biggest international hits alongside Rebelde Way.
The title, Floricienta, is a mix of Flor (the main character, Florencia, nickname) with Cenicienta (Cinderella). Floricienta was a modern re-telling of Cinderella and The Sound of Music. The story was especially developed by Morena as a starring-vehicle for Florencia Bertotti which was cherry-picked by the producer.
There are a few similarities between the show and another Cinderella modern re-telling, the movie A Cinderella Story such as the Converse sneakers instead of the glass slipper, but the movie and the show were in production at the same time. (Floricienta premiered on El Trece in March 2004, while the movie debuted in the United States in July).
Floricienta was critically acclaimed for its fun storyline, dialogue, creative editing, post-production and the charisma of the main actress, Florencia Bertotti. It became the biggest licensing brand in Argentina in 2004 and 2005. Over 300 licensed products were available during the shows two-years run and even Floricienta branded apples were put on market.
Floricienta started with 14 points in its first episode. The show achieved ratings of over 30 points with the death of Federico at the end of the first season, being one of the most watched Morena’s hits in history. The first season was the highest-rated afternoon-slot show in El Trece history.
After the huge twist in the end of the first season, many fans of Federico did not liked how the story turned out after his death and drifted away from the show. The ratings for the second season suffered because of that, but the show continued to be huge and won its time-slot. The TV show ended with Florencia's marriage in front of a huge live audience and the finale was also a hit, with 25 points.
Floricienta, like most of Morena's productions, had a huge Broadway theatre style live musical in Teatro Gran Rex during the Winter vacations. Demand for tickets were extremely high with some concerts selling out in less than five minutes. In 2004, to satisfy the demand, the cast played two concerts at José Amalfitani Stadium with over 80,000 people attending.
In 2005, another musical was done and it was also a huge success with tickets selling out in minutes. Because of this, eight extra shows were played in Estadio Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires. After the show ended, the complete cast (with the exception of Fabio Di Tomaso who pulled out after disagreements with the production company) waved goodbye in front of 40,000 people at another sold-out concert at José Amalfitani Stadium. The musical was also presented in Rosario, Santa Fe, La Plata and Mar del Plata.
The two Floricienta albums were also very successful, with the first album being the third best-selling album in 2004 and the 10th best-selling album in 2005 and with the album from the second season being the biggest seller in 2005 according to Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers.
Floricienta was also a huge success in most of Latin-America, where it was aired by many local channels and at the Disney Channel.