Hello Kitty facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Hello Kitty
Sanrio character

First appearance	March 1975 (created 1974)
Created by	Yuko Shimizu
Voiced by	Megumi Hayashibara (1990–2023), others
Information
Species	Anthropomorphic cat
Gender	Female
Family	Mimmy (twin sister) George (father) Mary (mother) Anthony (grandfather) Margaret (grandmother) Charmmy Kitty (pet cat)
Nationality	British

Hello kitty shop in Madrid

in-flight meal

Hello kitty Coach

Hello Kitty is a Japanese character of a cat. It was made in 1974 by a Japanese company named Sanrio. Her real name is Kitty White. The character has a large head. Shecusually has a red bow between her ears. She has no mouth. Sanrio said that she was not given a mouth because she communicates by using the heart instead of speaking one particular language. Hello Kitty is known all over the world.

Hello Kitty became very popular with young school-girls during the 1980s. Because a Japanese singer, Kahara Tomomi, who was very popular among young school-girls said openly that she loved Hello Kitty on the TV. In the 1990s the film made more products with the picture of the cat which would appeal to teenagers and young women. During the later part of the first decade of the 21st century, Hello Kitty began targeting boys and young men with Hello Kitty for Boys. The character uses darker colours and a dark bow when it is targeted to males.

Hello Kitty has become very successful. The character's picture is on over fifty thousand products sold in most countries. Sanrio’s amusement park Puroland opened in 1990. It is visited by more than 1.5 million visitors each year. Hello Kitty has been an animated character, such as in Hello Kitty’s Furry Tale Theatre, shown on United States television during 1987 and 1991.

Famous stars such as Mariah Carey and Britney Spears were photographed with products which had her picture. Hello Kitty is an example of a Japanese Kawaii (cute in English) character.

Creation and design
Character
Family and friends
Media
Related pages
Images for kids
See also

Creation and design

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. Tsuji noted the profits gained by adding a cute design to the shoes and hired cartoonists to design cute characters for his merchandise. Hello Kitty was designed by Yuko Shimizu and was added to the lineup of early Sanrio characters in 1974.

Hello Kitty was initially known only as "the white kitten with no name" (名前のない白い子猫). 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. 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. Sanrio decided to make Hello Kitty British 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.

In 1976 Setsuko Yonekubo temporarily took over as lead designer for Hello Kitty, after Shimizu left Sanrio. In 1980 Yuko Yamaguchi became lead designer and has remained in charge since. 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.

Character

Hello Kitty is a gijinka, an anthropomorphism or personification of a Japanese Bobtail cat. Official character profiles list her full name as Kitty White (キティ・ホワイト, Kiti Howaito), born in the suburbs of London, 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.

Hello Kitty is portrayed with a large family with the surname White. 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. 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.

Aside from the core Hello Kitty characters, several spinoff characters have been created: Hello Kitty's boyfriend Dear Daniel in 1999, Charmmy Kitty, Hello Kitty's pet cat, and Sugar, her pet hamster, both in 2004, and her superhero alter-ego Ichigoman in 2011.

Family and friends

Mimmy White

She is the twin sister of Kitty White. She wears a yellow ribbon on her right ear. She is shy and feminine.

Daniel Star

He is Kitty's childhood friend, born on May 3rd. He is often called "Dear Daniel", resembling "Hello Kitty". He has a naive and sentimental personality. His favorite foods are cheesecake and yogurt, and his talents include dancing and playing the piano. He wishes to be a photographer someday.

Mary White

Mary is Kitty and Mimmy's mother. She is very generous and good at cooking, cleaning and washing. Her birthday is September 14th.

George White

George is Kitty and Mimmy's father. He is very reliable and humorous man. His birthday is June 3rd.

Media

Animated series

There have been several different animated series starring Hello Kitty. The first was Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, an animated television series with 13 22-minute episodes that premiered in 1987. The next, an OVA titled Hello 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, and The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends came out in 2008 and has aired 52 episodes. A crossover series under the name Kiss Hello Kitty (that paired animated versions of the members of the rock band KISS with Hello Kitty) was announced in March 2013. Produced by Gene Simmons, this show was supposed to air on The Hub Network (now Discovery Family), but it never came to fruition.

Sanrio began streaming the newest 2D animated Hello Kitty series Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures on YouTube on 26 October 2020.

Comics

Hello Kitty had two Japanese comic series serialized in Ribon, a shōjo manga magazine - Hello Kitty Doki (ran from May 2007 to April 2008) and Hello Kitty Peace (released in June 2008).

In March 2016, Sanrio launched a webcomic featuring Hello Kitty as a strawberry-themed superhero called Ichigoman (ichigo meaning strawberry). The webcomic is created by Toshiki Inoue and Shakua Sinkai and updates once a month. Ichigoman first appeared in 2011 in an exhibition with Yuko Yamaguchi's art.

Music

Hello Kitty has her own branded album, Hello World, featuring Hello Kitty-inspired songs performed by a collection of artists including Keke Palmer, Cori Yarckin, and Ainjel Emme under Hello Kitty's Lakeshore Records record label. Hello Kitty was also chosen by AH Software to be the basis of the new Vocaloid Nekomura Iroha (猫村いろは, Nekomura Iroha) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sanrio.

Musician Yoshiki 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.

Video games

There are numerous Hello 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 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 Xbox have also been released exclusively in Japan.

Hello Kitty appeared as a guest character in Sega's Sonic Dash in 2016, as part of Sega's partnership with Sanrio. Hello Kitty and My Melody (another Sanrio character) appeared together in Super Mario Maker as unlockable Mystery Mushroom costumes. Hello Kitty appears as a playable character via downloadable content in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania.

Partial list of Hello Kitty video games

See also (related category): Hello Kitty video games

Hello Kitty no Hanabatake (1992, Famicom): a platformer
Hello Kitty World (1992, Famicom): a Famicom port of Balloon Kid co-developed by Nintendo and Character Soft.
Hello Kitty's Big Fun Piano (1994, PC): a piano simulation
Kitty the Kool (1998, PlayStation) a game from Imagineer
Hello Kitty's Cube Frenzy (1998, Game Boy Color, PlayStation): 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
Gotouchi Hello Kitty Sugoroku Monogatari (2003, PlayStation): a sugoroku-based game
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.
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 Parachute Paradise (2009, iPhone/iPod Touch): an iPhone game with tilt-based controls
Apron of Magic (2010, Arcade, iOS, Nintendo 3DS): An Arcade Card Game developed by Examu to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Sanrio. The game features Hello Kitty and other notable Sanrio Characters.
Hello Kitty Seasons (2010, Wii): A game in which the playable character is appointed as Deputy Mayor to help Sanrio Town.
Hello Kitty Picnic (2012, Nintendo 3DS)
Hello Kitty Kruisers (2014, iOS, Wii U, Nintendo Switch): A kart racing game featuring Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters
Hello Kitty and Friends: Happiness Parade (2022, iOS and Android; 2023, Switch): a rhythm game. The mobile versions are Netflix exclusives.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (2023, Apple Arcade): a cozy social simulation game taking place on an island visited by various Sanrio characters. The game won the Apple Arcade Game of the Year award in 2023.

Films

Three Hello Kitty anime films were released in Japan. Hello Kitty: Cinderella released in 1989, Hello Kitty no Oyayubi Hime released in 1990, and Hello Kitty no Mahō no Mori no Ohime-sama released in 1991.

On 3 July 2015, Sanrio announced a full-length Animated Hello Kitty theatrical feature initially planned for 2019. In early 2019, it was revealed that New Line Cinema will be teaming up alongside Sanrio and Flynn Picture Company for an "English language film based on the venerable kid brand." In 2021, it was reported that Jennifer Coyle and Leo Matsuda have been hired to direct the film with Lindsey Beer set to pen the script. There have been no updates since.