Hello Kitty

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This article is about the character. For other uses, see Hello Kitty (disambiguation).

Hello Kitty

Sanrio character

Hello kitty character portrait.png

Hello Kitty

First appearance 1974

Created by Yuko Shimizu

Voiced by Japanese:

Fuyumi Shiraishi (Kitty and Mimi's New Umbrella)

Mami Koyama (Hello Kitty's Cinderella)

Akemi Okamura (Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater)

Megumi Hayashibara (Sanrio Word of Animation, Hello Kitty's Paradise, Various Sanrio Puroland
Shows)[1][2]

English:

Tara Strong (Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater)

Karen Bernstein (Daisuki! Hello Kitty)

Monica Rial (Hello Kitty's Animation Theater)

Melissa Fahn (Hello Kitty's Paradise)

Shannon Settlemyre (Growing Up With Hello Kitty)

Soness Stevens[3]

Juliet Simmons (Hello Kitty and Friends - Let's Learn Together)[4]

Julia Sales (The World of Hello Kitty)[4]

Full name Kitty White[5]

In-universe information

Species Gijinka (anthropomorphization of Japanese Bobtail)

Gender Female

Family Mimi (twin sister)

George (father)

Mary (mother)

Anthony (grandfather)

Margaret (grandmother)

Charmmy Kitty (pet cat)

Dia Dear Daniel (childhood friend)

My Melody (Best friend)

Nationality British

Hello Kitty (Japanese: ハロー・キティ, Hepburn: Harō Kiti),[6] also known by her full name Kitty
White (キティ・ホワイト, Kiti Howaito),[5] is a fictional character produced by the Japanese
company Sanrio,[7] created by Yuko Shimizu and currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi. Kitty is,
contrary to popular belief, a little girl and not a cat.[citation needed] Kitty's non-cat status is
emphasised by her owning a pet cat: Charmmy Kitty.[original research?] Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as
a young female gijinka (anthropomorphization) of Japanese Bobtail with a red bow and, notably, no
mouth.[8] According to her backstory, she is a perpetual 3rd-grade student who lives outside of
London.[9] Kitty and her twin sister, Mimi, have their birthday on November 1.[10][11] Since the
cartoon character's creation, Hello Kitty has become a media franchise including a product line,
clothing apparel, toy-line, manga comics, anime series, popular music, games, and other media.

Shortly after her creation in 1974, the Hello Kitty vinyl coin purse was introduced by Sanrio on March
5, 1975. Sanrio brought the character to the United States in 1976.[12][13] Hello Kitty is a staple of
the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture.[14] By 2010, Sanrio had groomed Hello Kitty into a
global marketing phenomenon,[15] worth US$6 billion a year.[16] By 2014, when Hello Kitty was 40
years old, she was worth about $8 billion a year.[17] As of 2019, Hello Kitty is the second highest-
grossing media franchise of all time (behind Pokémon), having generated $80 billion in lifetime retail
sales.[18]

First aimed at pre-teenage girls, Hello Kitty's market included adolescent and adult consumers. A
variety of products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories feature this character.
Several Hello Kitty TV series, targeted towards children, have been produced, as well as several
manga comics and anime films. There are Sanrio theme parks based on Hello Kitty: Harmonyland in
Hiji, Ōita, Japan,[19] Sanrio Puroland in Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan, and a former one, Sanrio
Hello Kitty Town in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia.[20][21]

Contents

1 Background

2 History
 3 Products

3.1 High-end

3.2 Jewelry

3.3 Establishments

3.4 Clothing

3.5 Musical Instruments

4 Media

4.1 Animated series

4.2 Comics

4.3 Music

4.4 Video games

4.5 Films

5 Reception

6 Sculpture

7 See also

8 References

9 External links

Background

Yuko Shimizu was the original designer of Hello Kitty.

In 1962, Shintaro Tsuji, founder of Sanrio, began selling rubber sandals with flowers painted on
them.[22] Tsuji noted the profits gained by adding a cute design to the shoes and hired cartoonists
to design cute characters for his merchandise.[22] The company produced a line of character
merchandise around gift-giving occasions.[23] Hello Kitty was designed by Yuko Shimizu and was
added to the lineup of early Sanrio characters in 1974.[13] The character's first appearance on an
item was a vinyl coin purse in Japan where she was pictured sitting between a bottle of milk and a
goldfish bowl.[24] She first appeared in the United States in 1976.[12]

Sanrio decided to make Hello Kitty British because at the time of her creation foreign countries, in
particular, Britain, were trendy in Japan. Sanrio already had several characters set in the US, and it
wanted Hello Kitty to be different.[14][25] Shimizu got the name Kitty from Lewis Carroll's Through
the Looking-Glass; during a scene early in the book, Alice plays with a cat she calls Kitty.[26] Sanrio's
motto is "social communication," and Tsuji wanted the brand name to reflect that. He first
considered "Hi Kitty" before settling on "Hello" for the greeting.[27]
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."[14][28] Another
explanation Sanrio has given for her 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".[25] Representatives
for Sanrio have said they see Hello Kitty as a symbol of friendship, and they hope she will foster
between people across the world.[14] There has been speculation[29][30] that Hello Kitty has its
origins in Maneki Neko—the name "Hello Kitty" itself is a back-translation of Maneki Neko, meaning
beckoning cat in English. Despite this, no definitive statement supports that speculation.[31]

History

Hello Kitty sold well immediately after the 1974 launch, and Sanrio's sales increased seven times up
until they slumped temporarily in 1978.[14][32] New series with Hello Kitty in different themed
designs are released regularly, following current trends. Yuko Yamaguchi, the main designer for most
of Hello Kitty's history, has said that fashion, movies, and TV inspire her in creating new designs.[14]
[32]

Hello Kitty was originally marketed only towards a child and preteen audience. In the 1990s, the
target market for Hello Kitty was broadened to include teens and adults as a retro brand.[14][25]
Marketed to those who could not get Hello Kitty merchandise as children, or who fondly remember
items they had, Sanrio began selling Hello Kitty branded products such as purses and laptops.[14]
[25][32] The 1994–1996 Face series was the first to be designed for a more mature appeal.[14]

According to Sanrio, in 1999, Hello Kitty appeared on 12,000 different products yearly.[27] 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.[25] Beginning in 2007, following
trends in Japan, Sanrio began using darker designs for Hello Kitty with more black and less pink and
pulling away from kawaii styles.[32]

Hello Kitty and Mimmy celebrated their 40th Anniversary on 1 November 2014. The "Arigato
Everyone Birthday Celebration" took place in Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo for several days.[33]

On January 1, 2020, the Sanrio Hello Kitty Town in Iskandar Puteri, Malaysia permanently closed
down due to lack of attendance.[20] On February 21, 2020, the Sanrio Puroland theme in Tokyo
closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[34] Park officials hoped to have it reopened early April 2020.
[34] The theme park also goes by the name Hello Kitty Land.[34] In June 2020, the parent company
of Hello Kitty, [[Sanrio]] issued a statement that its founder, Shintaro Tsuji will retire as Sanrio chief
executive on July 1, and his grandson, Tomokuni Tsuji, 31, would take over to "ensure efficient
decision making,".[35]