Hello Kitty, the feline icon of cuteness, and her friends will star in a TV series to be aired in more than 15 countries, it was revealed by the Sanrio company and reported by the AFP (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE) news service.
HELLO KITTY, STAMP VILLAGE, a 26-part series done in clay animation featuring the adventures of the mouthless cat and her companions in a forest, will be completed this month and will air in Asia, Europe and North America.
"The plan is to target a world market," Sanrio spokesman Kazuo Tohmatsu said. "So the program will be created in an easy format to dub or narrate into foreign languages."
Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters in the show include the red-hooded bunny, My Melody, and the mischievous penguin, Bad Badtz-Maru.
Budgeted at 160 million yen ($1.36 million), the series is funded 30% invested by Sanrio and 70% by a South Korean investment firm and production company.
Hello Kitty, launched in 1974 in Japan as a moon-faced cartoon cat on a coin purse, has emerged into a global phenomenon with more than 50,000 different products sold in 60 nations.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
