Showing posts with label Sanrio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sanrio. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

3966. Cathy


Cathy is a quiet and gentle little girl rabbit. She always thinks of others before herself. A Dutch court has ruled that Cathy the rabbit, a character that is part of Sanrio’s Hello Kitty universe, is actually a rip-off of famous Dutch character Miffy (aka Nijntje): The ruling came after Mercis BV, a copyright management firm representing Dutch children’s book author and Miffy’s creator Dick Bruna, 83, filed a suit against the Japanese company complaining that it has violated Bruna’s copyrights. Mercis released a statement saying it is satisfied with the court ruling. It is set to file a damages suit against Sanrio if the Japanese company does not comply with the ruling, which is believed to equal a temporary injunction under the Japanese judiciary system. The ruling determined that Cathy is an imitation of Miffy and called for immediate halt to production, sale and marketing of Cathy goods in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. It ordered Sanrio to pay 25,000 euros a day in damages in the event of noncompliance. Unfortunately for the owners of the Miffy copyright, the ruling does not have authority in the many other countries in which Sanrio sells its products.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

3829. Hello Kitty


Hello Kitty (ハローキティ Harō Kiti?) (full name Kitty White) is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. She 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. The character is a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. The Hello Kitty trademark has spread globally; Sanrio earned over $1 billion annually in sales outside of Japan, as of 2003. Originally aimed at pre-adolescent females, Hello Kitty's market has broadened to include grown up consumers. She can be found on a variety of products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories and high-end consumer products. Several Hello Kitty TV series, targeted towards young children, have been produced. Hello Kitty is also the main character at the two Japanese Sanrio theme parks, Harmonyland and the indoor Sanrio Puroland. Per official character profiles for Hello Kitty, her real name is Kitty White and she was 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 Mama's homemade apple pie. She likes to collect cute things and her favorite subjects in school are English, music and art. Hello Kitty is portrayed surrounded by a large family who all go by the last name White. Her twin sister Mimmy is described as "shy and very girly," interested in sewing and dreaming of marriage. While Hello Kitty wears a bow on her left ear, Mimmy wears hers on the right. Their Papa, George, is described as dependable, humorous but also absent-minded. Mama, Mary, is portrayed as a good cook who loves doing housework. Grandpa Anthony likes to tell stories and Grandma Margaret likes sewing. Dear Daniel is Hello Kitty's childhood friend. His character profile describes him as born in London on May 3 with the real name Daniel Starr. He travelled with his parents and was away from Hello Kitty for a long time. He is portrayed as fashionable and sensitive, good at dancing and playing the piano, with an interest in photography and dreams of being a celebrity.[9] Charmmy Kitty is Hello Kitty's pet, a white Persian. She is described as docile, obedient and fond of shiny things. Her necklace holds the key to Hello Kitty's jewellery box. Hello Kitty also has a pet hamster named Sugar, who was a gift from Dear Daniel.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

3765. Fifi


Fifi is a very talkative and energetic little lamb. This precious little miss doesn't know the meaning of a time out! Fifi is the most spirited member of the group, almost always seen running around and doing something! She rarely rests as she's very active and busy doing various stuff.

3759. Hello Kitty


Hello Kitty (ハローキティ Harō Kiti?) (full name Kitty White) is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. She 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. The character is a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. The Hello Kitty trademark has spread globally; Sanrio earned over $1 billion annually in sales outside of Japan, as of 2003. Originally aimed at pre-adolescent females, Hello Kitty's market has broadened to include grown up consumers. She can be found on a variety of products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories and high-end consumer products. Several Hello Kitty TV series, targeted towards young children, have been produced. Hello Kitty is also the main character at the two Japanese Sanrio theme parks, Harmonyland and the indoor Sanrio Puroland. Per official character profiles for Hello Kitty, her real name is Kitty White and she was 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 Mama's homemade apple pie. She likes to collect cute things and her favorite subjects in school are English, music and art. Hello Kitty is portrayed surrounded by a large family who all go by the last name White. Her twin sister Mimmy is described as "shy and very girly," interested in sewing and dreaming of marriage. While Hello Kitty wears a bow on her left ear, Mimmy wears hers on the right. Their Papa, George, is described as dependable, humorous but also absent-minded. Mama, Mary, is portrayed as a good cook who loves doing housework. Grandpa Anthony likes to tell stories and Grandma Margaret likes sewing. Dear Daniel is Hello Kitty's childhood friend. His character profile describes him as born in London on May 3 with the real name Daniel Starr. He travelled with his parents and was away from Hello Kitty for a long time. He is portrayed as fashionable and sensitive, good at dancing and playing the piano, with an interest in photography and dreams of being a celebrity. Charmmy Kitty is Hello Kitty's pet, a white Persian. She is described as docile, obedient and fond of shiny things. Her necklace holds the key to Hello Kitty's jewellery box. Hello Kitty also has a pet hamster named Sugar, who was a gift from Dear Daniel.

Monday, June 18, 2012

3731. Hello Kitty Hard Hat


Hello Kitty sold well immediately after the 1974 launch, and Sanrio's sales increased seven times up until 1978 when they slumped temporarily. 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 she is inspired by fashion, movies and TV in creating new designs. Hello Kitty was originally marketed only to young girls. In the 1990s the target market for Hello Kitty was broadened to include teens and grown ups as a retro brand. Marketed to those who could not get Hello Kitty merchandise as children, or who fondly remembers items they had, Sanrio began selling Hello Kitty branded products like purses and laptops. The 1994-1996 Face series was the first to be designed for a more mature appeal. According to Sanrio, in 1999 Hello Kitty appeared on 12 000 different products yearly. By 2008, Hello Kitty was responsible for half of Sanrio's $1 billion revenue and there were over 50 000 different Hello Kitty branded products in more than 60 countries. 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.

3728. Hello Kitty Skipping


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 sandals and hired cartoonists to design cute characters for his merchandise. The company produced a line of character merchandise around gift-giving occasions.Hello Kitty was designed by Yuko Shimizu and was added to the lineup of early Sanrio characters in 1974. 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. She first appeared in the United States in 1976. Sanrio decided to make Hello Kitty British because at the time when she was created, foreign countries, in particular Britain, were trendy in Japan. In addition, Sanrio already had a number of characters set in the US and they wanted Hello Kitty to be different. Shimizu got the name Kitty from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, where in 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 of the cat to reflect that. He first considered "Hi Kitty" before settling on "Hello" for the greeting. Spokespeople for Sanrio have said that Hello Kitty does not have a mouth because they want people to "project their feelings onto the character" and "be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty." 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". Representatives for Sanrio have said they see Hello Kitty as a symbol of friendship, and they hope she will encourage friendship between people across the world. 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.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

3658. Hello Kitty Finger Puppet Nestle Ice Cream Freebie


Hello Kitty (ハローキティ Harō Kiti?) (full name Kitty White) is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. She 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. The character is a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. The Hello Kitty trademark has spread globally; Sanrio earned over $1 billion annually in sales outside of Japan, as of 2003. Originally aimed at pre-adolescent females, Hello Kitty's market has broadened to include grown up consumers. She can be found on a variety of products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories and high-end consumer products. Several Hello Kitty TV series, targeted towards young children, have been produced. Hello Kitty is also the main character at the two Japanese Sanrio theme parks, Harmonyland and the indoor Sanrio Puroland. Per official character profiles for Hello Kitty, her real name is Kitty White and she was 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 Mama's homemade apple pie. She likes to collect cute things and her favorite subjects in school are English, music and art. Hello Kitty is portrayed surrounded by a large family who all go by the last name White. Her twin sister Mimmy is described as "shy and very girly," interested in sewing and dreaming of marriage. While Hello Kitty wears a bow on her left ear, Mimmy wears hers on the right. Their Papa, George, is described as dependable, humorous but also absent-minded. Mama, Mary, is portrayed as a good cook who loves doing housework. Grandpa Anthony likes to tell stories and Grandma Margaret likes sewing. Dear Daniel is Hello Kitty's childhood friend. His character profile describes him as born in London on May 3 with the real name Daniel Starr. He travelled with his parents and was away from Hello Kitty for a long time. He is portrayed as fashionable and sensitive, good at dancing and playing the piano, with an interest in photography and dreams of being a celebrity. Charmmy Kitty is Hello Kitty's pet, a white Persian. She is described as docile, obedient and fond of shiny things. Her necklace holds the key to Hello Kitty's jewellery box. Hello Kitty also has a pet hamster named Sugar, who was a gift from Dear Daniel.