JAPAN: JAPANESE CARTOON CHARACTER HELLO KITTY PAIRS UP WITH WARNER BROTHERS TWEETY

Record ID: 392233

  • Title: JAPAN: JAPANESE CARTOON CHARACTER HELLO KITTY PAIRS UP WITH WARNER BROTHERS TWEETY
  • Date: 15th November 2001
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 15, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) VARIOUS, HELLO KITTY JUMPING AT A PRESS CONFERENCE AND RUNNING UP TO HUG TWEETY SLV MEDIA PAN TO TWEETY AND HELLO KITTY AND SANRIO PRESIDENT SHINTARO TSUJI AND WARNER BROTHERS CONSUMER PRODUCT EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT MARK MATHENY VARIOUS, TSUJI AND MATHENY HOLDING HANDS AS THEY ARE SURROUNDED BY TWEETY AND HELLO KITTY WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE SCU CARTOON LOGO WITH TWEETY AND KITTY SCU SOUNDBITE)(English) MATHENY SAYING: "Tweety and Hello Kitty will bring their unique lifestyles together in a spirit of cultural exchange, friendship, fashion and fun. Hello Kitty is a Japanese character with a rich history and loved the world over, and Tweety is an American character with a rich history loved the world over" CLOSE UP OF POSTER OF HELLO KITTY AND TWEETY TOGETHER AS ONE MERCHANDISE SCU (SOUNDBITE)(Japanese) TSUJI SAYING: "Not only in Japan but also in South East Asia, Hello Kitty is famous. And thanks to the tie-up with McDonald's in the United States, 70 percent of people surveyed say they know of Hello Kitty, so it is a well developed character" CUTAWAY MEDIA SCU (SOUNDBITE)(English) ALAN TURLEY, MINISTER COUNSELOR COMMERCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN TOKYO, SAYING: "I am less familiar with Hello Kitty and her friends but Hello Kitty seems like a friendlier cat than that sneaky Sylvester that Tweety has had to deal with since I was a child. And without a mouth Hello Kitty is not going to be able to eat Tweety so I think Tweety has chosen an excellent partner for Japan" WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 30th November 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA3BDZORS7WK3BJ2JD38XTFZ0E3
  • Story Text: Sylvester, the feline friend of Tweety, may be in danger of loosing his job as Japan's hugely popular cat icon Hello Kitty pairs up with the cartoon canary of Warner Brother fame.
    Hello Kitty, Japan's most well known feline has a new star-studded friend -- America's innocent and lovable yellow canary Tweety.
    In an unprecedented tie-up between two major character labels, Sanrio -- which owns the licensing rights to Hello Kitty, and Warner Brothers -- which owns those for Tweety, have agreed to launch their two most popular characters together, effectively sidelining Tweety's previous cartoon cat partner - Sylvester.
    Warner's Mark Matheny told a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday (November 15) that the tie up was a cultural exchange.
    "Tweety and Hello Kitty will bring their unique lifestyles together in a spirit of cultural exchange, friendship, fashion and fun," he told reporters. "Hello Kitty is a Japanese character with a rich history and loved the world over, and Tweety is an American character with a rich history loved the world over."
    The new friendship will create 200 Tweety and Hello Kitty co-branded products which are expected to hit stores in Japan and Asia around March 2002.
    Asia is one of the world's largest character goods market, with the size of Japan's alone estimated at over 2 trillion yen (16.34 billion U.S. dollars).
    Plans for the U.S. market have yet to be discussed but Sanrio president Shintaro Tsuji believes Hello Kitty's chances may be good across the Pacific.
    "Not only in Japan but also in South East Asia is Hello Kitty famous and thanks to the tie-up with McDonald's in the United States 70 percent of people surveyed say they know of Hello Kitty, so it a well developed character," he told the press conference.
    The absence of Tweety's other feline partner did not go unnoticed.
    "I am less familiar with Hello Kitty and her friends but Hello Kitty seems like a friendlier cat than that sneaky Sylvester that Tweety has had to deal with since I was a child. And without a mouth Hello Kitty is not going to be able to eat Tweety so I think Tweety has chosen an excellent partner for Japan," said Alan Turley, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Japan at the news conference.
    Indeed, Hello Kitty has no mouth and her partnership with Tweety is likely to be a peaceful and friendly one. But for the moment, it remains to be seen how fans will take to the new pair.
    --
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