Hello Kitty
| Hello Kitty | |
|---|---|
| Sanrio character | |
 Hello Kitty | |
| First appearance | 1974 |
| Last appearance | Ongoing |
| Created by | Yuko Shimizu |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Hello Kitty |
| Species | Cat |
| Gender | Female |
| Nationality | British[1] |
| Full name | Kitty White[1] |
Hello Kitty (ハローキティ, Harō Kiti)[2] (full name Kitty White)[1] is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. The character is a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture.[3] The character is portrayed as a female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow. The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974 and brought to the United States in 1976.[4][5] This debut came under the Sanrio company lineup, where her various products are still developed and sold.
The Hello Kitty trademark has since spread globally and developed licensing arrangements worth more than $10 to $500 billion annually.[6] Although mainly aimed at the pre-adolescent female market, the Hello Kitty product range goes all the way from purses, stickers and pen sets to toasters, televisions, clothing, massagers, and computer equipment. It has a cult-like following among adults as well, especially in Asia, where Hello Kitty adorns cars, purses, jewelry and many other high-end consumer products. A Hello Kitty anime, targeted towards young children, has also been produced. Examples of products depicting the character include dolls, stickers, greeting cards, clothes, accessories, school supplies, dishes and home appliances.[7] Her fame as a recurring Sanrio character has led to the creation of two officially licensed Hello Kitty theme parks, Harmonyland and the indoor Sanrio Puroland.
Character design
A spokesperson for Sanrio says that Hello Kitty is not normally given a mouth because "without the mouth, it is easier for the person looking at Hello Kitty to project their feelings onto the character" and that "the person can be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty."[8] There has been some suggestion that Hello Kitty has its origins in Maneki Neko, and that the name Hello Kitty itself is a back-translation of Maneki Neko, which means beckoning cat in English.
Official character profile
- Full name: Kitty White
- Birthday: November 1
- Blood type: A
- Height: 5 Apples
- Weight: 3 Apples
- Place of birth: In the suburbs of London, England
- Favorite food: Mama's homemade Apple Pie
- Favorite word: "Friendship"
- Description: A bright and kind-hearted girl, good at baking cookies and loves Mama's apple pie. Very close to her twin sister Mimmy.[1][9]
Products
Hello Kitty can be found on a variety of consumer products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories. These products range from everyday items to rare collectibles. The products of Hello Kitty are based on the original TV series.
Financial products
As of 2009, Bank of America began offering Hello Kitty-themed checking accounts, where the account holder can get cheques and a Visa debit card with Kitty's face on it.[10] MasterCard debit cards have featured Hello Kitty as a design since 2004.[11]
High end products
Sanrio and various corporate partners have released Hello Kitty-branded products, including the Hello Kitty Stratocaster electric guitar (since 2006, with Fender in the US) and even an Airbus A330-200 commercial passenger jet airliner, dubbed the Hello Kitty Jet (2005-2009, with EVA Airways in Taiwan).
2009 marked the collaboration between apparel and accessory brand Stussy and Hello Kitty. Stussy worked with Hello Kitty on collection focusing on the Hello Kitty character with Stussy signature graphics. This collection included T-shirts, keychains, and hoodies.
In 2010, Hello Kitty entered the wine market with collection made up of four wines available for purchase online, continuing an expansion of products targeted at older audiences.[12]
Music
Hello Kitty has her own branded album, Hello World, featuring Hello Kitty-inspired songs performed by a collection of artists, including Keke Palmer and Cori Yarckin.[13]
Hello Kitty was also chosen by AH-Software to become a Vocaloid. The choice was attributed to the fact it was their 50th year anniversary.[14]
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 were never released 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 Bōken 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 in Japan.
Partial list of Hello Kitty video games
- Hello Kitty no Hanabatake (1992, NES) - a platformer
- Hello Kitty World (1992, Famicom) - a Balloon Kid clone
- Hello Kitty's Big Fun Piano (1994, PC) - a piano simulation[15]
- 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 and makes new friends.[16]
- Hello Kitty Daily (2008, Nintendo DS) - a PDA application featuring a diary, calendar, alarm clock, money managing system and school planner
- Hello Kitty Online (2009, PC) - an online MMORPG developed by Sanrio Digital and Typhoon Games. 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.
- Hello Kitty Seasons - A game where can customize your playable character and appointed as Deputy Mayor to help Sanrio Town grow with the help of the Sanrio Crew.
- Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise (2009, iPhone/iPod Touch) - an iPhone game with tilt-based controls[17]
Establishments
There is a themed restaurant named Hello Kitty Sweets in Taipei, Taiwan. The restaurant's decor and many of its dishes are patterned after the Hello Kitty character.[18][19]
In 2008, a Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital opened in Yuanlin, Taiwan. Hello Kitty is featured on the receiving blankets, room decor, bed linens, birth certificate covers, and nurses' uniforms. The hospital's owner explained that he hoped that the theme would help ease the stress of childbirth.[20][21]
Hello Kitty is included as part of the Sanrio livery at the Japanese theme parks Harmonyland and Sanrio Puroland.
Reception
The Hello Kitty brand rose to greater prominence during the late 1990s. At that time, several celebrities, such as Mariah Carey, had adopted Hello Kitty as a fashion statement.[22] Newer products featuring the character can be found in a large variety of American department stores.
The Dutch artist Dick Bruna, creator of Miffy, has suggested that Hello Kitty is a copy of Miffy, being rendered in a similar style, stating disapprovingly in an interview for the British paper The Daily Telegraph:
- 'That,' he says darkly, 'is a copy [of Miffy], I think. I don't like that at all. I always think, "No, don't do that. Try to make something that you think of yourself.[23]
In May 2008, Japan named Hello Kitty the ambassador of Japanese tourism in both China and Hong Kong, which are two places where the character is exceptionally popular among children and young women. This marked the first time Japan's tourism ministry had appointed a fictional character to the role.[24]
UNICEF has also awarded Hello Kitty the exclusive title of UNICEF Special Friend of Children.[25][26]
Hello Kitty's popularity has been waning in Japan for over a decade. In 2002, Hello Kitty lost her place as the top-grossing character in Japan in the Character Databank popularity chart and has never recovered. In the most recent survey, she is in third place behind Anpanman and Pikachu from Pokémon.[27]
In popular culture
 |
In 1999, a brutal murder known as the Hello Kitty murder took place in Hong Kong. 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.[28]
As of August 2007, Thai police officers who have committed minor transgressions such as showing up late or parking in the wrong place are forced to wear pink Hello Kitty armbands for several days as penance.[29]
During the financial crisis of 2007–2010, a poster of a Hello Kitty pre-paid debit card expanded to roughly 1 meter in length was displayed on the floor of the US Senate by Senator Byron Dorgan as a demonstration of extreme methods used by credit companies to attract "children 10 to 14 years of age". Though not an actual credit card, it was criticized for its promotional website encouraging users to "shop 'til you drop."[30][31]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Hello Kitty". Sanrio. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- ^ "サンリオキャラクターたちの本名、言えますか？" (in Japanese). 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
- ^ Takagi, Jun (August 21, 2008). "10 Questions for Yuko Yamaguchi". TIME Magazine. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
- ^ Dhamija, Tina (April 1, 2003). "Designing an Icon: Hello Kitty Transcends Generational and Cultural Limits". ToyDirectory. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ "Hello Kitty celebrates 30". China News Daily. 2005-08-19. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ Segers, Rien T. (2008). A New Japan for the Twenty-First Century. Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 9780415453110.
- ^ Paschal (2003-05-18). "Sanrio's Hula Kitty heads to the beach". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved 1998-08-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Walker, Rob. Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. Random House, Inc., 2008. 18. Retrieved from Google Books on August 30, 2010. ISBN 1400063914, 9781400063918.
- ^ http://www.hellokitty.ne.jp/english/kt_family.html
- ^ ""Bank of America's "My Expression Banking" page with the Hello Kitty theme". Retrieved 2010-01-21.
- ^ Mayer, Caroline E. (October 3, 2004). "Girls Go From Hello Kitty To Hello Debit Card". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ Garcia, Catherine (March 26, 2010). "Please pass the bubbly, Hello Kitty". EW.com.
- ^ "Lakeshore Records". Lakeshore Records.
- ^ Fujimoto, Ken (August 16, 2010). "ハローキティといっしょ!×VOCALOID2って何だ!?" (in Japanese). Livedoor. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Hello Kitty's Big Fun Piano". MobyGames. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ "Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams". IGN. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ "Hello Kitty Parachute Paradise". ZIO Interactive.
- ^ Catherine Shu (March 27, 2009). "RESTAURANTS : Hello Kitty Sweets". Retrieved 2009-10-17.
- ^ "Hello Kitty Sweets resto in Taipei (Part I)". April 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ "Hello baby! Hello Kitty welcomes Taiwan newborns". Reuters. December 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
- ^ "Taiwan hospital a hit with Hello Kitty fans". The Sydney Morning Herald. January 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
- ^ Walker, Esther (21 May 2008). "Top cat: how 'Hello Kitty' conquered the world". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ Daily Telegraph, 31 July 2008, Dick Bruna, creator of the Miffy books, talks about his life and work
- ^ "Hello Kitty named Japan tourism ambassador". MSNBC. May 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ "UNICEF Special Friend of Children". Sanrio. March 23, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ "Hello Kitty marks 30th birthday". The Japan Times Online. June 10, 2004. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ Tabuchi, Hiroko (May 14, 2010). "In Search of Adorable, as Hello Kitty Gets Closer to Goodbye". NYTimes.com.
- ^ People.com.cn. "People.com.cn." 妙齡女郎慘遭殘酷碎尸 三名疑犯陸續落網. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ "Thai cops punished by Hello Kitty". BBC News. 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ^ "Credit card reform bill: Bye-bye to Hello Kitty?". Retrieved 2010-05-02.
- ^ "Hello Kitty - Tienda Hello Kitty". Retrieved 2010-05-10.
External links
- Official Hello Kitty website
- Helly Kitty Discounted Store
- Sanriotown
- Kittylab Singapore Expo 2009 Hello Kitty 35th Anniversary Project Kitty Lab