It has fairies, it has unicorns, it has magic and it does have a lot of pink colours for sure. At first glance, you might think of Mia and Me as a pretty ordinary TV-production. Its target audience is young girls and it throws pretty much every unicorn and fairy at them, that isn't hiding at three. So, in that sense, it's pretty unoriginal and not treading any paths, that Disney hasn't gone in the past few years.
But after having seen the entire series with my 5-year old daughter now, I have to admit, that it has it's qualities. First of all: It's absolutely unoffensive in any way. There is only a small amount of violence in it and even that is very harmless. E.g. the main enemies are stopped by shooting water at them, which has the effect of shrinking them to a size, at which they are not a threat anymore. That is a pretty nice solution to solve unavoidable fight scenes. I also like the calm pace of the stories. It's definitely not another of these shouty, hyperactive modern cartoons.
And while in the first season the characters are pretty stereotype, the authors manage to add some depth in the second season. This is especially true for the main real world antagonist Victoria. After she is drawn into Centopia, too, she suddenly finds herself torn between her antipathy for Mia, her loyalty to her new elven friends and a brooding conflict with her overly ambitious mother. This makes for some very interesting story lines, that also challenge the young viewers and makes them think about the meaning of friendship and trust.
Overall it is an OK franchise, that, after a pretty average start, developed into an interesting coming-of-age series for girls between 5 and 10 years. If they can keep that level of storytelling and character development in a potential third season, Mia and Me has a good future.
Edit for season 3: The third season is out and marks a significant drop in quality for the series, unfortunately. The plot offers a lot less interesting ideas and character development as the second season. It appears to be mostly driven by a very unimaginative quest for lost pieces of a certain crystal, that Mia and her friends need to stop a poisonous plant, that threatens to cover the entire country.
Important to know for parents is also the rise in violence and tension, that definitely has the potential to disturb younger viewers. This has mainly to do with the new villain "Dex", a man-bug, who is accompanied by four other creatures, who have insect origins. Their attacks are much more hostile and violent and often involve direct physical attacks like hitting a person or slamming him or her to the ground. We haven't seen this in the previous seasons at this level. They also look much scarier than the goofy Rixel or the androgyne Muncs from the first season.
Finally, this new installment also introduces a new "Mia", as Rosabell Laurenti Sellers has grown to old to play the teenage character of Mia again. Her replacement Margot Nuccetelli does a fine job, though, and was quickly accepted by our audience at home.
