Category Archives: Media

Hello Kitty Supercute Festival Cancelation

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The mystery deepens

“Alas, the tour went kaput. A spokeswoman says VEE, the company overseeing the festival, decided not to continue with the fall/holiday leg. VEE “was acquired just as the tour launched; the new ownership had a different vision for the organization,” she says.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/08/14/say-goodbye-to-the-hello-kitty-supercute-tour/

All  along was it VEE intention to walk away from the tour?  Sanrio at times  misses when picking  partners for collaborations .They are great for retail products like Tokidoki   and Loungefly, but  miss the mark  when it came to game like Aiea games for Hello Kitty Online and  VEE corporation for  Supercute  Festival. What puzzling is why, VEE does the  Sesame Street traveling  shown, that attract the same number as the Hello Kitty Supercute  Festival but  Hello Kitty  is not.  Is it because Vee doesn’t care to do interactive shows but prefer higher per show attendance volume stage shows?

Over all Sanrio made a poor choice partnering with VEE.  Still we can hope Sanrio  can fine a new partner or push it to Sanrio Entertainment.

Hello Kitty Festival say Goodbye

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Vee and Sanrio should get a by eye over this.

While I had  fun at  Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival, there is a dark cloud as I read the Facebook  accounts.

“Hello! Due to operational reasons, Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival will make its last stop in Glendale, AZ. We apologize to all of our friends across North America and take every comment seriously. Please direct further inquiries to Info@vee.com. Thank you.”

I guess “operational  reasons”  mean they were losing money and decide to cut their losses. It sad that more fans in North America will not  see this wonderful event.  I also feel  Vee  and Sanrio going to get a Black eye how poorly  they are handling the cancelation.

In look back at  other  stops for the Hello Kitty’s Supercute  Friendship  Festival,  I see a pattern that  led to the shows  demise; the shows were  played  in arenas. It must be very expensive to rent   a coliseum or arena when Hello Kitty  doesn’t have the draw  like Ringling Brothers Circus, Disney on Ice and  Monster Truck Jam.   They would  have to sell out to keep the show in the black.

Even when Portland Oregon was announced as one of the stops , I had reservation in the back of my mind the tour would be successful. Portland and Seattle would make or break the Festival.  In Portland the show was struggling in Portland, as evidenced  by  the show  tick were being sold at a discount.

What Sanrio should  had scaled down the show. For example Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival space could have easily  fit part the exhibit hall  of  the nearby Oregon Convention center and possibly at a cheaper rate. They  could have scaled the show for  smaller areas were the fan base  is not as large. Or a similar interactive event like Hello Kitty Labs or Black Wonder event.

 

Next what fans can do. i.e. panels and  fan conventions

Sanrio Other Business

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When one thinks of Sanrio , what come to mind? Usually Hello Kitty and other  cute characters, but  while  Hello Kitty was just barely  off the  drawing board, the owner Shintaro Tsuji had other plans: Media and Hollywood.  From the  mid 1970’s to 1980 Sanrio  cranked out  a number of  films  most  had moderate success  but one film  in particular Metamorphoses  was a bomb.  Eventually  Mr. Tsuji  put his  film making  ambitions on the back burner, shut down  its California office,  and concentrating the growing popularity  of Hello Kitty. Now Sanrio wants to reenter  the  entertainment  business.  First Sanrio is releasing one of  their early  attempt  of filmmaking: The  Nut Cracker.  Second  Sanrio is reentering  the entertain business with  Sanrio Pictures Entertainment, and there’s Show by Rock.

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Lordy Lordy Kitty and Mimmy are 40

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Today  is Hello Kitty’s 40th birthday.  It is my  tradition to  fire Up Hello Kitty Online and  say happy birthday to Kitty White and her sister Mimmy.  I know Kitty get all the attention  and Mimmy was revealed later.

No need to write a long retrospective . There a lot  of that in the media because of Hello Kitty’s 40th  anniversary  and Kitty Con 2014.  One new story did get  my ire,  Business Week’s  piece Hello Kitty a Victim of Disney’s Frozen Juggernaut. This is pure  poppycock. Hello Kitty has been around for 40 years. Frozen is hot in 2014 but I guarantee you Frozen will be in the Yard sale bin five years later. Toy Story and Lilo and Stitch were the big thing years ago, but where are they now, are they big as Hello Kitty? Come back to this article in ten years and tell me who remembers Frozen. There still will be Hello Kitty fans who grew up with her.

I noticed one thing with curt rumblings at Kitty Con and the Hello Kitty  Men project: can 2015 be the year of the Male Hello Kitty Fan? I hope so.

hello international Kitty mimmy