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In 1974, Sanrio Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, introduced a Hello Kitty franchise. The first Hello Kitty item was a vinyl coin purse sold in Tokyo, according to Sanrio Inc.'s U.S. marketing director Bill Hensley. In 1976, the franchise was introduced into the U.S. The Hello Kitty line has developed under licensing arrangements worth more than $1 billion a year in sales. Examples of products depicting the character include dolls, stickers and greeting cards to clothes, accessories, school supplies, dishes and home appliances.

Sanrio character line

Hello Kitty's fictional world includes friends and family members. Hello Kitty is also friends with other famous Sanrio characters, such as Cinnamoroll, Chococat, Badtz Maru. Since 2004 she has had a pet cat called Charmmy Kitty and a pet hamster called Sugar. Charmmy resembles Hello Kitty but has more cat-like features. Charmmy Kitty was given to Hello Kitty by her papa, George White, Mama, Mary White, her twin sister, Mimmy, and her grandparents, Anthony and Margret White.

When Hello Kitty's brother "Dear Fredward Lynn" was created in 1999, designers took his name from the 1971 film Melody, which starred Mark Lester as a character called Matty Boy and features songs by the Bee Gees.

Television series

Several Hello Kitty animated series targeted towards young children have been produced. In the animated films made by Sanrio from 1977 to 1985, Hello Kitty has made cameo appearances in them (similar to Disney's hidden Mickey techniques).

The earliest Hello Kitty animated series known was the American-animated (co-produced with Japan) Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theatre, which aired throughout 1986. This show, produced by Sanrio in cooperation with DiC Entertainment, parodies famous fairy tales and blockbuster movies from the period. It was broadcast in the United States on The Family Channel, and a Spanish-dubbed version also aired Saturday mornings on Univision.

On U.S. television, the Japanese anime series Hello Kitty and Friends aired on CBS in 1991, and also ran on Toon Disney. On the show, Kitty is a little girl living with her mother, father, and twin sister Mimmy, who is identical to Kitty but has different colored clothes and wears her bow under the opposite ear. 13 episodes were produced, using animation produced as early as 1991.

On Japanese television, Hello Kitty (and her pals) have starred in an anime series. Hello Kitty's Paradise ran for 16 episodes between 1993 and 1994. This version was released in English in 2000. This version, like "Hello Kitty and Friends", also aired on Toon Disney.

Hello Kitty and friends also appeared in Hello Kitty's Animation Theatre, which had Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters appearing in their versions of different fairy tales. Available in the U.S. from ADV Films (who also own the video/DVD rights to Hello Kitty and Friends & Hello Kitty's Paradise)