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Hello Kitty
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, is one of the best-known of many simply drawn fictional characters produced by the Japanese company Sanrio. Designed by Ikuko Shimizu, the first product, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974, and in the United States in 1976.
The Hello Kitty line has since developed licensing arrangements worth more than $1 billion a year in sales.
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Encyclopedia
, is one of the best-known of many simply drawn fictional characters produced by the Japanese company Sanrio. Designed by Ikuko Shimizu, the first product, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974, and in the United States in 1976.
The Hello Kitty line has since developed licensing arrangements worth more than $1 billion a year in sales. Examples of products depicting the character include dolls, stickers and greeting cards to clothes, accessories, school supplies, dishes and home appliances. Sanrio Puroland is the official theme park of Sanrio featuring Hello Kitty and her friends.
In media
Television series
Several Hello Kitty animated series targeted towards young children have been produced. In the animated films made by Sanrio from 1977 to 1985, Hello Kitty has made cameo appearances in them (similar to Disney's hidden Mickey techniques).
The earliest Hello Kitty animated series known was the American-animated (co-produced with Japan) Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theatre, which aired throughout 1986. This show, produced by Sanrio in cooperation with the now-defunct DiC Entertainment, parodies famous fairy tales and blockbuster movies from the period. It was broadcast in the United States on The Family Channel, and a Spanish-dubbed version also aired Saturday mornings on Univision.
The Japanese anime series Hello Kitty and Friends aired on TV Tokyo in Japan, and CBS in the United States in 1991. It also ran in reruns on Toon Disney. On the show, Kitty is a little girl living with her mother, father, and twin sister Mimmy, who is identical to Kitty but has different colored clothes and wears her bow under the opposite ear. 13 episodes were produced, using animation produced as early as 1991.
On Japanese television, Hello Kitty (and her pals) have starred in an anime series. Hello Kitty's Paradise ran for 16 episodes between 1993 and 1994. This version was released in English in 2000, and like "Hello Kitty and Friends".
Hello Kitty and friends also appeared in Hello Kitty's Animation Theatre, which had Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters appearing in their versions of different fairy tales. Available in the U.S. from ADV Films (who also own the video/DVD rights to Hello Kitty and Friends & Hello Kitty's Paradise)
Hello Kitty appeared in a new Japanese clay-animated series called Hello Kitty's Stump Village in 2005. At Anime Expo 2006, Geneon Entertainment announced that Hello Kitty's Stump Village was one of the series it licensed for U.S. release. Volume 1 was released in October, and Volume 2 was released in January and in 2008. After Geneon withdrew from the US market at the end of 2007, it was later re-licensed by Funimation Entertainment, who will continue to release it in North America. Hello Kitty appeared for the first time in a full 3D animation The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends developed by Sanrio's digital entertainment entity Sanrio Digital.
Video games
Numerous Hello Kitty games have been produced since the release of the first title for NES in 1992, however the majority of these games haven't seen a release outside of Japan. Hello Kitty also has made cameo appearances in games featuring other Sanrio characters, such as the Keroppi game, Kero Kero Keroppi no Boken Nikki: Nemureru Mori no Keroleen. Special edition consoles such as the Hello Kitty Dreamcast, Hello Kitty Game Boy Pocket, and Hello Kitty Crystal Edition Xbox have also been released exclusively to Japan.
Examples of Hello Kitty games include:
- Hello Kitty no Hanabatake (1992, NES) - a platformer
- Hello Kitty World (1992, Famicom) - a Balloon Fight clone
- Hello Kitty's Big Fun Piano (1994, PC) - a piano simulation
- Hello Kitty's Cube Frenzy (1998, Game Boy Color) - a life simulation/minigame collection
- DDR Hello Kitty (1999, Bemani Pocket) - a handheld Hello Kitty game in the Dance Dance Revolution series
- The Hello Kitty Simple 1500 series (PlayStation) - a series of specifically low-priced games
- Hello Kitty: Happy Party Pals (2005, Game Boy Advance) - an action/adventure game
- Hello Kitty: Roller Rescue (2005, Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2) - an action/adventure game
- Mainichi Suteki! Hello Kitty no Life Kit (2007, Nintendo DS) - a puzzle game
- The Hello Kitty Simple 2000 series (2007, PlayStation 2) - a series of specifically low-priced games
- Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams (2008, Nintendo DS) - an adventure game published by Empire Interactive developed by Sanrio Digital. In the game, Hello Kitty moves to the Big City where she meets other Sanrio characters as well as making new friends.
- Hello Kitty Online - an upcoming Sanrio theme online MMORPG developed by Sanrio Digital and Typhoon Games. Currently in beta testing, the game allows players to create and customize characters, then use them to battle monsters, socialize with one another, mine for ore, do domestic chores like farming or cooking, and participate in quests. Among the first to play the game have been hard-core World of Warcraft gamers.
Products
Hello Kitty can be found on a variety of consumer products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories.
Hello Kitty has her own branded album, Hello World, featuring songs inspired by Hello Kitty performed a collection of artists, including Keke Palmer and Cori Yarckin.
Sanrio and Fender released a series of Hello Kitty guitars (the Hello Kitty Stratocaster), and even a jet airplane (the Hello Kitty Jet).
She was also named, in May 2008, Japan Tourism Ambassador, representing the country in China and Hong Kong.
Establishments
There is a Hello Kitty restaurant that may be found in Taipei, Taiwan. The Hello Kitty themed restaurant serves dishes that are also patterned according to Hello Kitty itself like the Hello Kitty Jelly. The fixtures and restaurant designs are also Hello Kitty themed.
Also near Taipei is a Hello Kitty themed hospital. The owner bought rights to the brand on the insistence of his mother, wife and daughter, with the thinking that anxious expecting mothers would be calmed by the icon.
Reception
UNICEF awarded Hello Kitty the exclusive title of UNICEF Special Friend of Children.
The brand rose to greater prominence during the late 1990s when several celebrities such as Mariah Carey adopted Hello Kitty as a fashion statement. New products featuring the character can be found in many American department stores and Hello Kitty was once featured in an advertising campaign of the retail chain Target.
Since 2004, Hello Kitty has been featured on a MasterCard debit card from Legend Credit Inc. The card was released to teach young girls how to shop and use a debit card.
In 2008, Japan named Hello Kitty the ambassador of Japanese tourism in China and Hong Kong.
Also in 2008, a Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital was opened in Yuanlin, Taiwan, in the hopes that the popular character would help ease the stress of childbirth. Hello Kitty is featured on the receiving blankets, room decor, bed linens, birth certificate covers, and nurses' uniforms.
Cultural references
In 1999, in Hong Kong, a brutal murder known as the Hello Kitty murder took place. The popular name of the case derives from the fact that the murderer inserted his victim's head into a Hello Kitty doll after decapitating her.
As of August 2007, Thai police officers who have committed minor transgressions such as showing up late or parking in the wrong place will be forced to wear Hello Kitty armbands for several days as penance.
In the Homestar Runner halloween cartoon "Ketchup Fountain SOUL'd Separately!" The King of Town dresses up as Hello Kitty for Halloween.
External links
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