 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Japanese. (November 2023)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| Hello Kitty | |
|---|---|
| Sanrio character | |
 | |
| First appearance | March 1975 (created 1974) |
| Created by | Yuko Shimizu |
| Voiced by | Megumi Hayashibara (1990–2023), others[a] |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Kitty White[5] |
| Species | Anthropomorphic cat |
| Gender | Female |
| Family | Mimmy (twin sister) George (father) Mary (mother) Anthony (grandfather) Margaret (grandmother) Charmmy Kitty (pet cat) |
| Significantother | Dear Daniel (boyfriend) |
| Nationality | British |
Hello Kitty (Japanese:ハロー・キティ,Hepburn:Harō Kiti),[6] also known by her real nameKitty White (キティ・ホワイト,Kiti Howaito),[5] is a fictional character created byYuko Shimizu, currently designed byYuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese companySanrio.[7][8][9] Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a Britishanthropomorphized white cat with a red bow and no visible mouth.[10][11] According to her backstory, she lives in aLondon suburb with her family, and is close to her twin sister Mimmy, who is depicted with a yellow bow.[5][12]
Hello Kitty was created in 1974 and the first item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in 1975.[13][14] Originally, Hello Kitty was only marketed towardspre-teenage girls, but beginning in the 1990s, the brand found commercial success among teenage and adult consumers as well.[15] Hello Kitty's popularity also grew with the emergence ofkawaii (cute) culture.[16] The brand went into decline in Japan after the 1990s, but continued to grow in the international market.[17] By 2010 the character was worth$5 billion a year andThe New York Times called her a "global marketing phenomenon".[17] She did about$8 billion at retail in 2013.[18]
UNICEF has appointed Hello Kitty children's ambassador and the Japanese government appointed her ambassador of tourism.[15] There are Sanriotheme parks based on Hello Kitty: Harmonyland inHiji, Ōita, Japan,[19]Sanrio Puroland inTama New Town,Tokyo, Japan, and Hello Kitty Shanghai Times inShanghai, China.[20] The Hello Kittymedia franchise has grown to include a number ofanimated series targeted towards children, as well as several comics, animated films, video games, books, music albums and other media productions. A variety of products have featured the character over the years, like school supplies, clothing,accessories, and toys, along with other items. In 2008, there were over 50,000 different Hello Kitty branded products.[15]
In 1962,Shintaro Tsuji, founder of Sanrio, began selling rubber sandals with flowers painted on them.[21] Tsuji noted the profits gained by adding a cute design to the shoes and hired cartoonists to design cute characters for his merchandise.[21] Hello Kitty was designed byYuko Shimizu and was added to the lineup of early Sanrio characters in 1974.[8]
Hello Kitty was initially known only as "the white kitten with no name" (名前のない白い子猫).[11] Shimizu got the nameKitty fromLewis Carroll'sThrough the Looking-Glass; during a scene early in the book, Alice plays with a cat she callsKitty.[22] Sanrio's motto is "social communication", and Tsuji wanted the brand name to reflect that by including a greeting. He first considered "Hi Kitty" before finally settling on "Hello Kitty", her current name.[23] Sanrio decided to make Hello KittyBritish because foreign countries, in particular Britain, were trendy in Japan at the time of Hello Kitty's creation. Sanrio already had several characters set in the US, and it wanted Hello Kitty to be different.[9][15]
In 1976 Setsuko Yonekubo temporarily took over as lead designer for Hello Kitty, after Shimizu left Sanrio. In 1980Yuko Yamaguchi became lead designer and has remained in charge since.[24] Yamaguchi has said that fashion, movies, and TV inspire her in creating new designs. New series involving Hello Kitty with different themed designs are released regularly, following current trends.[9][17]
Spokespeople for Sanrio have said that Hello Kitty has no mouth, as they want people to "project their feelings onto the character" and "be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty."[9][25] Another explanation Sanrio has given for Hello Kitty's lack of a mouth is that she "speaks from the heart. She's Sanrio's ambassador to the world and isn't bound to any particular language."[15] However,Yuko Yamaguchi has also said that "Kitty has a mouth" that is "hidden in the fur".[26] Representatives for Sanrio have said that they see Hello Kitty as a symbol of friendship, which they hope she will foster between people across the world.[9] There has been speculation that Hello Kitty has her origins inManeki Neko, a traditional Japanese cat figurine. The name "Hello Kitty" is a back-translation ofManeki Neko, meaning "beckoning cat" in English. Despite this, no definitive statement supports that speculation.[27] Hello Kitty has also instead been put forth as an early example ofmukokuseki, a Japanese term meaning "stateless" or "nationless" in reference to characters lacking any identifiable national background.[28]
The character's first appearance on an item was in March 1975 on a vinyl coin purse sold in Japan, where she was pictured sitting between a bottle of milk and a goldfish bowl.[13][14][29] She first appeared in theUnited States in 1976 when Sanrio opened a Gift Gate store inSan Jose, California.[30][31]
Hello Kitty sold well immediately after her 1975 launch, and Sanrio's sales increased sevenfold.[17] Due to Japan's growing economy, many Japanese children could afford to buy Hello Kitty products.[32] Her popularity also grew with the emergence ofkawaii culture, which embraces cuteness.[16]
UNICEF named Hello Kitty as children's ambassador to the United States in 1983, children's ambassador in Japan in 1994, and gave her the title ofUNICEF Special Friend of Children in 2004, a title unique to her.[33][34][35]
Originally, Hello Kitty was only marketed towards a child and preteen audience. In the 1990s, the target market for Hello Kitty was broadened to include teenagers and adults as aretro brand.[9][15] Marketing to those who could not get Hello Kitty merchandise as children, and those who fondly remember items they had, Sanrio began selling Hello Kitty branded products such as purses and laptops.[9][15][17] The 1994–1996Face series was the first to be designed specifically for mature consumers.[9]
The Hello Kitty brand rose to greater prominence internationally during the late 1990s. At that time, several celebrities, such asMariah Carey, had adopted Hello Kitty as a fashion statement.[15] New products featuring the character were made available in a large variety of Americandepartment stores.
Hello Kitty's popularity in Japan peaked in the late 1990s when she was the country's top-grossing character. In 2002, Hello Kitty lost her place as the top-grossing character in Japan in the Character Databank popularity chart. In a 2010 survey, she was in third place behindAnpanman andPikachu fromPokémon.[17] In 2010,The New York Times attributed the character's relative decline in Japan to her biography not being "compelling enough to draw many fans." The newspaper later wrote that analysts called the characterization "weak",[17] and that Hello Kitty not having a mouth has dampened her success as an animated TV character.[17] According to Character Databank, Hello Kitty was the third highest-grossing character in Japan as of 2013.[36] In 2019 and 2020, Character Databank ranked her fifth, and as of 2021 she was out of the top five.[37][38][39]
Overseas, her global popularity has increased over the years.[17] According to Sanrio, Hello Kitty was appearing on 12,000 new products each year as of 1999.[23] Beginning in 2007, following trends in Japan, Sanrio began using darker designs for Hello Kitty with more black and less pink and pulled away fromkawaii styles.[17] By 2008, Hello Kitty was responsible for half of Sanrio's $1 billion net income, and there were over 50,000 different Hello Kitty branded products in more than 60 countries.[15] By 2010 the character was worth$5 billion a year andThe New York Times called her a "global marketing phenomenon".[17] Worldwide annual sales reached$8 billion in 2013.[18]
In July 2008, the Dutch artistDick Bruna, creator ofMiffy, alleged that Hello Kitty is a copy of Miffy, being rendered in a similar style. He stated disapprovingly in an interview for the British newspaperThe Daily Telegraph: "That [...] 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'."[40] Mercis, the firm that managed copyrights for Bruna, took Sanrio to court over their Hello Kitty-associated character Cathy, a rabbit which made her first appearance in 1976 and which Mercis argued infringed the copyright for Miffy. A court in Amsterdam ruled in favour of Mercis in November 2010 and ordered Sanrio to stop the production and sale of merchandise featuring Cathy in theBenelux countries. However, in June 2011, the two companies announced that they had reached a settlement agreement to end their legal dispute. Sanrio stopped using the Cathy character, and the two firms jointly donated €150,000 for reconstruction after the2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[41]
As of 2014, 90% of the profits from Hello Kitty came from licensing of products for the international market.[42] She has been particularly popular in other Asian countries for decades, such as in China, where her cultural impact is comparable to that ofBarbie in the Western world.[43] In 2008, Japan named Hello Kitty the ambassador of Japanese tourism in both China and Hong Kong, marking the first timeJapan's tourism ministry had appointed a fictional character to the role.[44] Sharon Kinsella, a lecturer at Oxford University on Japanese sociology, called the selection of Hello Kitty "a bit farcical ... as if a dumbed-down cultural icon ... can somehow do something significant to alter the gnarly and difficult state ofChina–Japan relations."[15]
In the United States, Hello Kitty is recognized by more than 80% of young adults in the 18–23 age group, as of 2016[update].[45] In 2014 a four-day convention, Hello Kitty Con inLos Angeles, attracted over 25,000 visitors. The convention was held in celebration of Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary.[46] Sanrio'sPuroland Tokyo theme park also held a celebration spanning several days in November 2014.[47]
Hello Kitty is agijinka, ananthropomorphism or personification of aJapanese Bobtail cat.[48][11][49] Official character profiles list her full name as Kitty White (キティ・ホワイト,Kiti Howaito), born in the suburbs ofLondon, England, on November 1. Her height is described as five apples and her weight as three apples. She is portrayed as a bright and kind-hearted girl, very close to her twin sister Mimmy. She is good at baking cookies and loves her mama's homemade apple pie. She likes to play the piano and collect cute things, and her favorite subjects in school are English, music, and art.[5][50][12]
Hello Kitty is portrayed with a large family with the surnameWhite. Her twin sister Mimmy is described as "shy and very girly", interested in sewing and dreaming of marriage. While Hello Kitty wears a red bow on her left ear, Mimmy wears a yellow one on her right. Their papa George is described as dependable, humorous but also absent-minded. Their mama Mary is portrayed as a good cook who loves doing housework. Grandpa Anthony likes to tell stories and grandma Margaret likes sewing.[50][12] In addition to family, Hello Kitty is also depicted with several animal friends, including the mice Joey and Judy, the bears Tippy and Thomas, the raccoon Tracy and the squirrel Rorry.[51]
Aside from the core Hello Kitty characters, several spinoff characters have been created: Hello Kitty's boyfriendDear Daniel in 1999,Charmmy Kitty, Hello Kitty's pet cat, and Sugar, her pet hamster, both in 2004, and her superhero alter-egoIchigoman in 2011.[29][52]
SFGATE said in 2004 that in light of the level of success of Hello Kitty, her fictional biography "seems almost too modest – or irrelevant" and "doesn't seem to have played much of a part" in the success.[16]
In 2014 an anthropologist was told by Sanrio that Kitty White was not simply a cat (i.e. "depicted on all fours"), describing her as a littleEnglish girl called Kitty White, from outside London.[10] Following reports that interpreted this to mean she was human, a Sanrio PR representative said that the organization had "never said she was a human", explaininganthropomorphization by comparing the character toMickey Mouse: "No one would mistake the Disney character for a human–but at the same time he's not quite a mouse. Just like Hello Kitty isn't a human, she's not quite a cat either."[48] Sanrio stated further, "Hello Kitty was done in the motif of a cat. It's going too far to say that Hello Kitty is not a cat."[11]
There have been several different animated series starring Hello Kitty. The first wasHello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, an animated television series with 13 22-minute episodes that premiered in 1987.[53] The next, anOVA titledHello Kitty and Friends, spanned 30 entries originally released in Japan between 1989 and 1994.Hello Kitty's Paradise came out in 1999 and was 16 episodes long.Hello Kitty's Stump Village came out in 2005, andThe Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends came out in 2008 and has aired 52 episodes. Acrossover series under the nameKiss Hello Kitty (that paired animated versions of the members of the rock bandKISS with Hello Kitty) was announced in March 2013. Produced byGene Simmons, this show was supposed to air on The Hub Network (nowDiscovery Family),[54] but it never came to fruition.
Hello Kitty's Paradise [ja] was a long-running live-action children's program that aired onTXN from January 1999 to March 2011. It was the longest-running weekly kids' television program in the network's history. In January 2011, the show's creators mutually agreed to end the series after twelve seasons, with the final episode being broadcast on 29 March 2011.
In August 2018, Sanrio began streaming a CGI animated series onYouTube. It features Hello Kitty talking to the camera about her life in the style ofvlogging YouTubers.[55][56]
Sanrio began streaming the newest 2D animated Hello Kitty seriesHello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures on YouTube on 26 October 2020.[57]
Hello Kitty had twoJapanese comic series serialized inRibon, ashōjo manga magazine -Hello Kitty Doki (ran from May 2007 to April 2008)[58] andHello Kitty Peace (released in June 2008).[59]
In March 2016, Sanrio launched awebcomic featuring Hello Kitty as astrawberry-themed superhero calledIchigoman (ichigo meaning strawberry). The webcomic is created byToshiki Inoue and Shakua Sinkai and updates once a month.[60] Ichigoman first appeared in 2011 in an exhibition withYuko Yamaguchi's art.[52]
Hello Kitty has her own branded album,Hello World, featuring Hello Kitty-inspired songs performed by a collection of artists includingKeke Palmer,Cori Yarckin, andAinjel Emme under Hello Kitty'sLakeshore Records record label.[61] Hello Kitty was also chosen byAH Software to be the basis of the newVocaloid Nekomura Iroha (猫村いろは,Nekomura Iroha)[62] to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sanrio.[63]
MusicianYoshiki unveiled the Hello Kitty theme song "Hello Hello" in November 2014 at the first Hello Kitty Con. Yoshiki, who was the first celebrity to have his own Hello Kitty doll, "Yoshikitty", was approached by Yamaguchi to compose the song seven years prior.[64]
There are numerousHello Kitty games starting with the release of the first title for Famicom 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 theKeroppi game,Kero Kero Keroppi no Bōken Nikki: Nemureru Mori no Keroleen. Special-edition consoles such as theHello Kitty Dreamcast, Hello Kitty Game Boy Pocket, and Hello Kitty Crystal Xbox have also been released exclusively in Japan.
Hello Kitty appeared as a guest character inSega'sSonic Dash in 2016, as part of Sega's partnership with Sanrio. Hello Kitty andMy Melody (another Sanrio character) appeared together inSuper Mario Maker as unlockable Mystery Mushroom costumes. Hello Kitty appears as a playable character viadownloadable content inSuper Monkey Ball Banana Mania.[65]A costume based on Hello Kitty, as well as a Hello Kitty-inspired costume known as "Cutest Friend", were available as rewards inFall Guys as part of the first Season 4: Creative Construction Fame Pass.[66]
ThreeHello Kitty anime films were released in Japan.Hello Kitty: Cinderella released in 1989,Hello Kitty no Oyayubi Hime released in 1990, andHello Kitty no Mahō no Mori no Ohime-sama released in 1991.[81]
On 3 July 2015, Sanrio announced a full-length animated Hello Kitty theatrical feature initially planned for 2019.[82] In early 2019, it was revealed thatNew Line Cinema would be teaming up alongside Sanrio and Flynn Picture Company for an "English language film based on the venerable kid brand."[83] In 2021, it was reported that Jennifer Coyle and Leo Matsuda had been hired to direct the film with Lindsey Beer set to pen the script.[84]
Originally aimed at the pre-adolescent female market, the Hello Kitty product range has expanded from dolls, stickers, greeting cards, board games,[85] clothes, backpacks, lunch boxes, piggy banks, pencils, erasers, accessories, school supplies and stationery to purses, toasters, televisions, other home appliances, massagers, motor oil[86] and computer equipment. These products range from mass market items to high-end consumer products and rare collectibles.[87] As of 2014[update], more than 50,000 Hello Kitty product lines were available in over 130 countries.[88]
Sanrio and various corporate partners have released Hello Kitty-branded products, including the Hello KittyStratocaster electric guitar (since 2005, withFender, under itsSquier sub-brand, in the US)[89][90] and anAirbus A330-200 commercial passenger jet airliner, dubbed theHello Kitty Jet (2005–2009, withEVA Airways in Taiwan).[91] In late 2011 and early 2012, EVA Air revived their "Hello Kitty Jets" with their three newA330-300s. However, due to high demand,[92] the airline added two more alongside their existing A330-200s in mid-2012. A year later, EVA Air introduced one of their777-300ERs as another Hello Kitty Jet, which featured other Sanrio characters as well as Hello Kitty.
In 2009, Hello Kitty entered the wine market with a collection of four wines available for purchase online. The collection included a sparkling rosé, a sparkling white wine, a red wine, and a white wine, each adorned with Hello Kitty branding and packaging. This venture marked a strategic move to expand the product lines targeted at older audiences, combining the iconic character's charm with the sophistication of wine.[93][94]
Hello Kitty is included as part of the Sanrio livery at the Japanese theme parks Harmonyland andSanrio Puroland. The Hello Kitty Shanghai Times theme park inShanghai, China opened in 2019.[20] A theme park called Hello Kitty Town existed inIskandar Puteri,Johor, Malaysia from 2012 to 2019.[95][96][97] In 2014, Sanrio partnered with the Indonesian theme parkDufan to introduce Hello Kitty Adventure, a cinema based attraction.[98]
Hello Kitty cafés have opened around the world, including inSeoul and other locations in South Korea;[99]Bangkok, Thailand;[100]Adelaide, Australia;[101]Irvine, California;[102] theSanta Anita Mall in California,[103] and thePark MGM inLas Vegas, Nevada.
There is a themed restaurant named Hello Kitty Sweets inTaipei, Taiwan, which opened in 2008. The restaurant's decor and many of its dishes are patterned after the Hello Kitty characters.[104][105] Another restaurant called the Hello Kitty Diner opened in theChatswood area ofSydney, Australia,[106] and a Hello Kittydim sum restaurant opened inKowloon, Hong Kong.[107]
In 2008, a Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital opened inYuanlin, Taiwan. Hello Kitty is featured on thereceiving 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.[108][109]
Dr. Martens collaborated with Hello Kitty in 2010 and 2020. The 2020 collaboration includes platform boots, platform sandals as well as a satchel.[110]Forever 21 collaborated with Hello Kitty on clothing collections several times, the first one in 2011.[111][112][113] In 2018,Puma collaborated with Hello Kitty to create a collection which features sneakers for both children and adults.[114] Also in 2018,Converse collaborated with Sanrio to create a collection which includes shoes ranging from kids' to adult sizes as well as clothing and bags.[115][116][117] In 2020,Skechers collaborated with Hello Kitty releasing chunky-soled style shoes with brand's logo and Hello Kitty's face and bow.[118] Hello Kitty is used as a brand forsanitary pads in Asia and Latin America.[119]
In 1994, artistTom Sachs was invited to create a scene forBarneys New York Christmas displays and titled itHello Kitty Nativity. In the scene, theVirgin Mary was replaced byMadonna with an openChanel bra, the three Kings were allBart Simpson, the stable was marked by aMcDonald's logo, and theChrist Child was replaced by Hello Kitty. This contemporary revision of the nativity scene[120] demonstrated Sachs' interest in the phenomena ofconsumerism, branding, and the cultural fetishization of products. Many audiences instead took offense to the artwork, which received backlash from Catholic organizations for its misuse of Christian symbolism.
In 2009,Tom Sachs'Bronze Collection was shown at the Public art space in Manhattan'sLever House, as well as in the Baldwin Gallery inAspen, Colorado, and theTrocadéro inParis. The collection featured white bronze casts of a foam core Hello Kitty sculpture – a style distinctive to the artist. As of April 2010, theWind-Up Hello Kitty sculpture is still on display at Lever House.[121] Although Sachs did not seek permission to use the character in his work, a brand marketing manager for Sanrio was quoted as saying "You know, there wasMarilyn Monroe andAndy Warhol, and thenMichael Jackson andJeff Koons. When you're an icon, that's what happens."[122] In 2013The Wall Street Journal said Sanrio's attitude to copyright was "laissez-faire" compared to companies likeDisney, and that they have let artists use Hello Kitty's likeness without interfering.[123]
In 2015, a nine-foot tallpearlescent Hello Kitty sculpture by artistSebastian Masuda was exhibited at theDag Hammarskjöld Plaza inNew York City, as part of the Japan Society's exhibition:Life of Cats: Selections from the HirakiUkiyo-e Collection.[124]
Canadian singer-songwriterAvril Lavigne wrote and recorded a song called "Hello Kitty" for her fifth studio album,Avril Lavigne, released in 2013. The Hello KittyStratocaster guitar, originally released in 2005, was initially aimed at pre-teen girls,[89] but has since been used by notable guitarists includingKrist Novoselic,Courtney Love,Dave Navarro, andLisa Loeb.[125][126][127] In 2022, vintage Hello Kitty Stratocasters were among the most popular musical instruments sold on the marketplaceReverb.com. While it originally retailed for $230, some re-sold for over $1,000.[89][128]
In 2022,Saturday Night Live aired a sketch parodying Hello Kitty's backstory (described byThe A.V. Club as "incongruous, corporate-sanctioned") and Sanrio's handling of it.[129][130] The sketch centers on managers at a fictional Hello Kitty store. They describe the character in contradictory terms as a "human little girl" who is in third grade and also 48 years old.[130]The Atlantic described the sketch as both "a skewering of the ever-expanding Hello Kitty commercial universe" and as capturing thegaslighting and manipulation of truth of the time.[130]
キングレコードによる林原の紹介ページ。出演履歴にハローキティは出てこない
22,000 products, an annual turnover of half a billion dollars between 1978 and 2002, a recognition rate of more than 80% among young Americans in the 18–23 age group!
DS - Released On: Sep 13, 2007
DS - Released On: Nov 14, 2008
3DS - Released On: Oct 30, 2012
2023 Sunblink Entertainment LLC
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
