If you’re not a Hello Kitty fan, we suggest you try to become one instead of missing out on all the fun!
The adorable white feline (or non-cat?) has proved to be hugely popular across the globe as Sanrio’s global expansion strategy helped the brand gain a cult-like following in less than a decade. With her trademark red bow, she can be found on everything from debit cards to phones to airplanes and even vending machines. Malaysian Hello Kitty fans are further blessed with the establishments of the Sanrio Hello Kitty Town in Johor and the upcoming Hello Kitty gourmet cafe in Sunway Pyramid.
As if those weren’t enough to spoil its fans, the iconic character is said to be getting a big screen treatment from Hollywood!
First reported by Japan Times, Sanrio confirmed in a statement that they’re planning to develop a Hello Kitty animated movie with a budget of $200 million. The company, which owns the anthropomorphic cat and her friends, further announced that the movie is slated to arrive sometime in 2019.
No further details were announced, as the company simply stated:
Sanrio Inc. can confirm that a U.S. based entity has been formed to create feature films based on Sanrio characters and to expand animated film and digital contents business globally. This entity further highlights Sanrio’s expansion into lifestyle entertainment. We have no additional details at this time.
We are fairly surprised that Hello Kitty is only getting its own animated movie now because she has been around for almost half a decade and even celebrated her 40th anniversary last year.
But then again, developing a Hello Kitty movie is not a completely absurd idea because there has already been several animated TV series based on the red-bowed cat and her friends, beginning with 1987’s “Furry Tale Theater”. Hello Kitty’s “Paradise” even became the longest-running weekly kids TV program in the network’s history as it aired for 12 seasons on TXN from January 1999 to March 2011.
Contrary to popular belief, Hello Kitty is not mouthless too because all the animated series showed that the cat and her friends can speak and do what everyone else does. In fact, according to Sanrio’s description, Hello Kitty “lives in the suburbs of London with her parents and her twin sister Mimmy”. Yup, imagine her British accent. Let’s just hope that Emma Watson will be interested in voicing the role.
While no details have been released, we will go ahead and assume that the movie is going to explore her true origins or centre on her adventure like “The Peanuts Movie” did.
Earlier this year, Sanrio sold the film rights to its “Mr. Men and Little Miss” characters to Fox Animation. Unsurprisingly, it isn’t the only company to have considered developing a movie based on its iconic characters.
And it doesn’t matter how young or old you are. A Hello Kitty movie should be a fun film to watch because the cat is, after all, suitable for “everyone from four to forever”.
What do you think of the idea, though? Would you watch the movie? How many of you are excited about this? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
Source: EW via Japan Times / Images: Hello Kitty’s official Facebook page
