Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty is a fictitious character developed by Yuko Shimizu, now designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese firm Sanrio. Hello Kitty is also known by her true name, Kitty White (, Kiti Howaito).
Hello Kitty is portrayed by Sanrio as a white cat with a red ribbon and no apparent lips. Her history states that she is close to her twin sister Mimmy, who is seen with a yellow bow, and that they both reside with their families in a suburb of London.
The first Hello Kitty product, a vinyl coin purse, was released in 1975 after the character's creation in 1974. The Hello Kitty brand was first only promoted to pre-teen girls, but starting in the 1990s, it began to enjoy financial success with teenagers and adults.
The rise of kawaii (cute) culture coincided with an increase in Hello Kitty's popularity. After the 1990s, the brand lost popularity in Japan, although it kept expanding on the global market. In 2010, The New York Times referred to the persona as a "global marketing phenomenon" since she was worth $5 billion annually.
At the age of 40 in 2014, Hello Kitty had an estimated annual net worth of $8 billion. Hello Kitty has been named the children's ambassador for UNICEF, and the Japanese government has named her its tourist ambassador.
Harmonyland in Hiji, Ita, Japan, Sanrio Puroland in Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan, and Hello Kitty Shanghai Times in Shanghai, China are three Sanrio theme parks centered on Hello Kitty. The Hello Kitty media property has expanded to encompass a variety of kid-friendly animated shows, as well as a number of comic books, animated movies, video games, novels, music CDs, and other media projects.
Over the years, the mascot has appeared on several things, including toys, apparel, accessories, and school supplies. More than 50,000 distinct Hello Kitty-branded goods were available in 2008.
Creation and design
Sanrio inventor Shintaro Tsuji started selling rubber shoes with painted flowers on them in 1962. Tsuji engaged cartoonists to create charming characters for his products after observing the earnings garnered by adding a cute design to the shoes. Yuko Shimizu created Hello Kitty, who joined the cast of original Sanrio characters in 1974.
Initially, Hello Kitty was just referred to as "the white kitten with no name" (). Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass is where Shimizu got the name Kitty from; early on in the novel, Alice plays with a cat she names Kitty. Sanrio's tagline is "social communication," Tsuji wanted the company name to have a greeting to align with that.
He debated "Hi Kitty" for a while before deciding on "Hello Kitty," her present moniker. Due to the popularity of other nations in Japan at the time of Hello Kitty's conception, particularly Britain, Sanrio chose to make the character British. Sanrio already had a number of American-based characters, so it wanted Hello Kitty to stand out.
After Shimizu departed Sanrio in 1976, Setsuko Yonekubo temporarily assumed the position of lead designer for Hello Kitty. Yuko Yamaguchi assumed the role of lead designer in 1980 and has held the position ever since. According to Yamaguchi, she is inspired to produce new designs in fashion, movies, and television. Following current trends, new Hello Kitty series with various themed designs are constantly introduced.
Sanrio spokespeople claim that Hello Kitty doesn't speak because they want viewers to "project their feelings onto the character" and "be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty."Another justification offered by Sanrio for Hello Kitty's ruthlessness is that she "speaks from the heart." She represents Sanrio around the world and is not limited to any one language. However, Yuko Yamaguchi also asserted that "Kitty has a mouth" that is "hidden in the fur".
According to Sanrio representatives, Hello Kitty is a representation of friendship, and they want her to promote that relationship among people all around the world. There have been rumors that Maneki Neko, a traditional Japanese cat figure, is where Hello Kitty got her start. The term "Hello Kitty" is an English back-translation of the Japanese word Maneki Neko, which means "beckoning cat." Despite this, there is no firm evidence to back up that theory.
Animated programs
Hello Kitty has appeared in a variety of animated shows. The first was Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, a 1987 television cartoon series consisting of 13 22-minute episodes. The following was a 30-part OVA called Hello Kitty and Friends that was initially produced in Japan between 1989 and 1994. The 16-episode Hello Kitty's Paradise television series premiered in 1999. The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends, which debuted in 2008 and features 52 episodes, and Hello Kitty's Stump Village were both released in 2005 and 2005, respectively.
In March 2013, a crossover series known as Kiss Hello Kitty—featuring animated renditions of the rock band KISS and Hello Kitty—was launched. This Gene Simmons-produced program was intended for The Hub Network (now Discovery Family), but it was never shown.
From January 1999 until March 2011, TXN broadcast the live-action children's series Hello Kitty's Paradise. In the history of the network, it has the longest-running weekly kids' show. The show's creators mutually decided in January 2011 to discontinue the run after twelve seasons, with the final episode airing on March 29, 2011.
A CGI animation series by Sanrio started streaming on YouTube in August 2018. In the manner of YouTube vloggers, Hello Kitty speaks to the camera about her life in this clip.
On October 26, 2020, Sanrio started uploading the newest 2D animated Hello Kitty series, Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures, on YouTube.
Comics
Hello Kitty was the subject of two Japanese comic books that were serialized in the shjo manga publication Ribon: Hello Kitty Doki (which ran from May 2007 to April 2008) and Hello Kitty Peace (which was published in June 2008).
Ichigoman, from Sanrio's webcomic depicting Hello Kitty as a superhero with a strawberry motif (Ichigo is Japanese for strawberry), debuted in March 2016. Toshiki Inoue and Shakua Sinkai are the creators of the webcomic, which is updated once every month. 2011 saw the debut of Ichigoman at a Yuko Yamaguchi art show.
Music
Hello, Kitty has her own branded album called Hello World, which includes Hello Kitty-inspired songs performed by a variety of musicians under Hello Kitty's Lakeshore Records record label, including Keke Palmer, Cori Yarckin, and Ainjel Emme. Additionally, in honor of Sanrio's 50th anniversary, AH Software picked Hello Kitty as the inspiration for the new Vocaloid Nekomura Iroha (, Nekomura Iroha).
The Hello Kitty theme song "Hello Hello" was initially played during the inaugural Hello Kitty Con in November 2014 by musician Yoshiki. Yamaguchi contacted Yoshiki seven years before to ask him to write the song. Yoshiki was the first celebrity to have his own Hello Kitty doll, "Yoshikitty."
gaming consoles
Since the first Hello Kitty game for the Famicom was launched in 1992, there have been many Hello Kitty games; unfortunately, the bulk of these games were never distributed outside of Japan. In games starring other Sanrio characters, such as Kero Kero Keroppi no Bken Nikki: Nemureru Mori no Keroleen, Hello Kitty has also made guest appearances.
Additionally, Japan has been the only country to release special edition gaming systems such as the Hello Kitty Dreamcast, Hello Kitty Game Boy Pocket, and Hello Kitty Crystal Xbox.
In 2016, as part of Sega's collaboration with Sanrio, Hello Kitty made an appearance as a guest character in Sonic Dash. In Super Mario Maker, Hello Kitty and My Melody (another Sanrio character) shared a Mystery Mushroom outfit that could be unlocked. Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania offers downloadable DLC that includes Hello Kitty as a playable character.
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