I think there are cartoons and other media but they were derivative of the merchandise. I think that’s how she started.
Also, the infamous fact is that Hello Kitty is not a cat - she’s a girl.
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Here’s a news story about Hello Kitty’s identity and origins, in case anyone doesn’t believe me. 
Hello Kitty was created in 1974 by Sanrio, a Japanese entertainment company. Jill Koch, the senior vice president of marketing and brand management at Sanrio, appeared on Today on Thursday and said, “Hello Kitty is not a cat,” and "she’s actually a little girl.”
Koch then told the TV show that Hello Kitty, who “weighs three apples” and is five apples tall, grew up in the London suburbs with her twin sister, Mimmy, their parents and the family’s pet cat named Charmmy Kitty.
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If you ever subscribe to Netflix you should both check out the show “The Toys That Made Us”. they did a whole Hello Kitty episode. That is what expanded my knowledge and showed me how big Kitty is around the world!
I’d love to go to Sanrio Puroland!! (Her theme park in Japan!) I’ve heard it’s amazing!!
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So is Miffy not a bunny?? 
My world is broken.
Also - I have never seen a Hello Kitty cartoon in my life 
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Nope, they’re a family of LARPers (or furries, if you’d prefer).
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I knew Hello Kitty was a huge thing in Japan.
But honestly, other than at Universal, I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen any evidence of Hello Kitty here.
When I was kid, there was almost always Hello Kitty merch (pencils, erasers, notebooks, etc) with Hello Kitty. But now? Hmm. It must be out there somewhere!
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I think my DD might have it all
(Apart from the Backpack that Jeff’s DD has).
DDs primary 1 school bag was Hello Kitty 
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On the latest episode of Disney Dish, Len Testa and Jim Hill discussed a Universal survey that had been shared with them about how familar the surveyed was with certain franchises. There were several choices that were already in the parks (Minions, Transformers) and some that were in the parks previously (Back to the Future for one example), but in process of elimination there was one IP that was completely different from the rest when it came to its past and present appearance in any theme park, and that is Wicked.
With Universal being the distributor of the two upcoming Wicked films, I have to think that there is potential for Land of Oz as it appears in Wicked to appear in a Universal park at some point if the films turns out to be hits. I would not be surprised if Universal Creative is working on something right now.
Of course, there is no guarantee that a hit stage musical will become a hit movie. Remember the Cats film? 
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Yeah… I’ve gotten that survey a couple of times! They have asked a lot about anime and video game franchises in the past couple years.
Jim has mentioned the OZ license a few times over the years. There’s always speculation that OZ is coming to the parks in some way. This does seem to be a way to test the interest.
It’s going to have to break that $1 Billion dollar movie ticket sales benchmark to be considered for an entire land.
I’m more surprised that this store is going to be “seasonal”. It’s a big redo of the building exterior and gutting the interior…
The Tribute Stores get new facades regularly, but they are just put on top of existing structures and are never repainted…
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I wouldn’t commit to anything permanent until I knew the films would be hits, so that could be why the store is planned to be seasonal.
I’m thinking it will need to be closer to $2 billion total for both films for a land to be considered, and that is only if the second film is at or near $1 billion.
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I thought it was the other way around.
I was just watching the Wizard of Oz last night 
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Wicked is a witches origin story…they would have to tread carefully around some of this - because although the Baum book (which was the inspiration for the Maguire book series, which was the inspiration for the musical) is public domain, the og movie is owned by MGM. They also have Disney over there with useless copyrights for their failed Oz films experiments.
Just a tricky little dance, that one.
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They would, but I’m sure Universal lawyers are nearly as good at Disney lawyers.
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I would presume they would stick to only “their version” of the story + visual / art direction…
That’s how there can be movies like ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ produced by Universal.
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Definitely, and unless there is a major screw up, what would be in the film could be in the park (if a contract gives them theme park rights as well).
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I’ve seen it about 6 times and I’m going again in Jan. It’s amazing!
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I’d love to see it…but it is WAY too expensive (like $300+ per ticket last time I looked). So, I’m very excited it is being made into a movie!
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Wow, theatre is cheaper here! I’m glad you’ll at least get to see the film.
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Don’t forget to give me a shout when you’re going to see Rocky Horror again…
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This is really cool, I hope Universal and Disney do this for more of their tentpole movies (remember the Backstage Pass when they’d have movie props previews at DHS?)
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