Violetta is an Argentine telenovela filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina and developed by Disney Channel Latin America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and production company Pol-ka, debuted in Argentina, Latin America and Italy on 14 May 2012.
Violetta tells the story of a musically talented teenager (played by Martina Stoessel) who returns to her native Argentina with her father, Germán (played by Diego Ramos), after living in Europe for several years, navigating the trials and tribulations of growing up.
Each episode includes original musical numbers from diverse musical genres such as pop music and Latin music.
Plot
Season 1 (2012)
16-year-old Violetta Castillo is unaware of her very special talent for singing, inherited from her mom María, who died in a bus crash. Her father Germán keeps her origins and María's fate from Violetta, worried that she might follow her path.
After María died, they moved to Madrid. Germán raised Violetta alone. Aware that Violetta is a very talented musician, he encourages her to take piano lessons but keeps her away from singing. At Buenos Aires, Violetta starts taking piano lessons at 'Studio 21' (later On Beat Studio), a prestigious music school. There she has her new teacher Angie who becomes her governess too but is secretly her aunt, Maria's sister. Angie fears that if she tells Violetta or Germán the truth, Germán would take Violetta away to another country, never seeing Violetta again. Violetta falls in love with Tomás, taken by his best friend, Francesca. Ludmila, the richest and most arrogant girl in Studio 21, also falls in love with Tomás, angering León, her old boyfriend. Later, Ludmila and Tomás start dating. A furious León decides to date Violetta, but starts having feelings for her. Germán is engaged to Jade, a callous and ambitious, yet unintelligent woman. Jade does everything to marry Germán because she loves him truly, but Matías, her older brother, wants her to marry Germán for money, to Violetta's disagreement.
Jade discovers Violetta secretly studying music in Studio 21, forcing her to support Jade's marriage to Germán to keep Violetta's secret with Germán. Germán discovers that Violetta studies in the Studio and that Angie is actually her aunt Violetta. Germán decides to take Violetta away, but through Angie, he acknowledges Violetta’s passion and decides to stay in Buenos Aires, allowing Violetta to continue at Studio 21. Tomás goes back to Spain to make something of his music and Ludmila makes amends. León promises himself to forget Violetta.
Season 2 (2013)
In the second season, Violetta starts falling in love with León and he feels the same for her. They start to date, but Diego (Diego Domínguez), who is new at Studio 21, steals a kiss from Violetta. Ludmila continues to be an unkind and glamorous girl who does everything to get what she wants: she called in her friend since childhood to help her get rid of Violetta from the studio but she became impatient and blackmailed Diego to continue to pretend that he loves Violetta, telling him that if he will do that, she will tell him who his father is (as his father abandoned him when he was a child). Marco does everything to date Francesca, who doesn't know what she feels for him. Camila and Broduey start the season fighting, but end up friends, Camila meets DJ and he liked her, but he left. Camila and Maxi kissed but didn't feel anything, Seba (Rock Bones) comes and they fell in love, until they get together at the end. Naty, Ludmila's best friend, and Maxi, also split up at first, but come back in full force. Francesca falls in love with Marco (Xabiani Ponce de León) after many doubts and thoughts (Diego's best friend). Ludmila starts falling in love with Federico (Ruggero Pasquarelli) and get together at the end. Diego finds out that his father is Gregorio, a selfish teacher that works at the Studio. Diego is very mad at Gregorio for abandoning him; at the end, they make peace. Angie goes away to France, leaving Germán alone. Esmeralda is hired by Jade and Matías to win Germán over and steal his money. However, on their wedding day, Jade reveals that Esmeralda is a scam. The two are arrested and Matías starts dating the deputy who arrested him, Marcela Parodi. León suspected Diego all along, and found proof that Diego and Ludmila were together to make Violetta sad and humiliated on her big performance when they were going to say that Diego never loved Violetta. León shows the footage of proof on his cellphone to Francesca, but Violetta overhears. Violetta starts crying during her performance without any strength to sing. However, León gets on stage and starts singing "Podemos" with Violetta. Camila and Broduey get back together, as do Francesca and Marco, after a big interference with Marco's ex-girlfriend. Violetta and León get back together, and in the end, after all that has passed, their love is stronger than ever.
Season 3 (2014–15) The studio cast of On Beat went on a major world tour, which had been successful in Europe. Violetta and her friends had to return to Buenos Aires for their last year of school. With dreams and individual ambitions multiplied by fame, the group began to crumble, putting Studio On Beat in danger. Gery, who falls in love with León, and Clément (also known as Alex), who falls in love with Violetta, are introduced at the beginning of the season. Violetta and Ludmila are forced to share the same roof when Germán and Priscilla, the mother of Ludmila, start dating and later get married, but Priscilla turns out to be a snake and the worst person anyone has ever met. Violetta and León become separated, but still love each other, but Alex and Gery will do anything to keep them separate, since they are passionate, respectively, for Violetta and León. Marco goes away, and Francesca and Diego fall in love with each other. However, Francesca is afraid of Violetta finding out (since Diego regrets what he did to Violetta during the previous season) and decides to keep their relationship secret. With the death of Antonio (the previous director of Studio 21), Pablo exits Studio On Beat at the end of You Mix sponsorship, the site slowly goes bankrupt and it is up to Gregorio, the new director, Angie (who returns in this season) and Beto, with the help of Germán, to save the studio. Ludmila starts to become a better person and when forced to choose between staying in the Studio On Beat or be a star, she chooses the Studio. In order to spy on León, Violetta and Francesca masquerade as Roxy and Fausta, but León falls in love with Roxy, and Violetta is forced to tell him the truth. The group travel to Seville, Spain where Violetta and Leon realize their true feelings for each other and Gery and Clement end up together. In Seville, they put on their last tremendous show. After performing their last songs ever, Germán proposes to Angie. The series ends with Germán marrying Angie, back in Buenos Aires, with everyone singing "Crecimos Juntos".
Cast and characters
Main Martina Stoessel as Violetta Castillo Jorge Blanco as León Vargas Mercedes Lambre as Ludmila Ferro Nicolás Garnier as Andrés Alba Rico as Natalia "Naty" Lodovica Comello as Francesca Caviglia Candelaria Molfese as Camila Torres Facundo Gambandé as Maximiliano "Maxi" Ponte Diego Ramos as Germán Castillo Pablo Espinosa as Tomás Heredia (season 1) Simone Lijoi as Luca Caviglia (season 1) Artur Logunov as Braco (season 1) Rodrigo Velilla as Napoleón "Napo" (season 1) Samuel Nascimento as Broduey Clara Alonso as Ángeles "Angie" Carrara Florencia Benítez as Jade La Fontaine Joaquín Berthold as Matías La Fontaine Mirta Wons as Olga Patricia Peña Alfredo Allende as Lisandro Ramallo Pablo Sultani as Pablo Sultani Rodrigo Pedreira as Gregorio Casal Ezequiel Rodríguez as Pablo Galindo Alberto Fernández de Rosa as Antonio Jerez Fernández Méndez (seasons 1–2; recurring season 3) Diego Domínguez as Diego Hernández (seasons 2–3) Xabiani Ponce de León as Marco Tavelli (seasons 2–3) Valeria Baroni as Lara (season 2) Carla Pandolfi as Esmeralda Ferrara Di Pietro (season 2) Valentina Frione as Jacqueline "Jackie" Sáenz (season 2) Ruggero Pasquarelli as Federico (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2) Macarena Miguel as Gery (season 3) Damien Lauretta as Clement Cortés / Alexandre "Alex" Benoit (season 3) Florencia Ortíz as Priscila Ferro (season 3) Rodrigo Frampton as Milton Vinicius (season 3) Diego Alcalá as Marotti (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2) Nacho Gadano as Nicolás Cortés (season 3)
Recurring
Character Actors / Voice actors Season 1(2012) Season 2(2013) Season 3(2014–15) Agustina Heredia Iara Muñoz colspan="2" Andréa Nikole Castillo colspan="2" Rafael "Rafa" Palmer Germán Tripel colspan="2" Laura Nicole Luis colspan="2" Angélica Carrara Nilda Raggi colspan="2" Helena "Lena" Lucía Gil Jacinto La Fontaine Javier Niklison colspan="2" Dionisio "DJ" Juárez Gerardo Velázquez Emma Toledo Paloma Sirvén Oscar Cardozo Luis Sabatini Ámbar Agustina Cabo Marcela Parodi Soledad Comasco Juan colspan="2" Leo Bosio Felipe Díaz colspan="2" Javier Quesada Matylda colspan="2" Justyna Bojczuk Brenda colspan="2" Julía Martínez Rubio
Production
Following the global phenomenon of Patito Feo, an Argentine telenovela produced by Ideas del Sur that aired on Disney Channel between July 2007 and March 2011 in Latin America, Europe and Asia, receiving consistently high viewership and becoming an international success of merchandise, soundtrack albums, and concert tours; Disney decided to begin production on its own first original telenovela. The show, inspired by Patito Feo, was produced in Argentina in collaboration with local production company Pol-Ka. The cast was formed by actors from across Hispanic America, Brazil, Spain and Italy.
Filming began in September 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lasted for seven months. The series was co-produced by Disney Channel Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa. The series was filmed entirely in high definition at the Central Park Studios in Buenos Aires. On 31 December 2011, Disney Channel Latin America broadcast a New Year's television special entitled Celebratón, where Martina Stoessel performed the song Tu Resplandor (Disney Princesses). Disney Channel announced that the series would premiere in 2012. The cast was first introduced on 22 December 2011. In March 2012, promos and ads started airing to promote the series.
In early April 2012, a music video for "En Mi Mundo", sung by Martina Stoessel, was uploaded to Disney Channel Latin America's website. Violetta finally premiered in Latin America and Italy on 14 May 2012. The cast visited Mexico City and Bogotá and sung live on a Radio Disney event at Luna Park in Buenos Aires. On 25 October, the last episode of the first season was aired. Between September and October 2012, the show had its premiere in Brazil, France, Israel and Spain.
On 1 November 2012, shootings for the second season began. The second season started in Latin America in April, in Italy in June and in Spain in September. The complete cast visited Paris, Milan and Madrid for promotion at the end of June. The final scenes from the second season were shot in Spain.
Among the products spawned from the shows was an official magazine (available in Latin America, Italy and Spain), sticker album (available in France, Latin America, Italy and Spain), a series of books (available in Latin America, France, Spain and Italy) and trading cards (available in Italy and Argentina). DVDs were also released in Italy and Spain. There's also a soundtrack album featuring the music from the show. The album has achieved 3× Platinum in Argentina, Platinum in Spain and Gold Certification in Chile and Brazil.