A Hello Kitty Movie Is Coming To The U.S.!

Everyone's favorite (?) cat (?) is coming to a screen near you. Yes, Hello Kitty will have her own movie. The company responsible for the popular Japanese brand, Sanrio, recently created a subsidiary in the United States, and this film will be one of its first major efforts, along with the recently announced Little Miss/Mister Men movie. The Hello Kitty film is scheduled to be released in 2019, and it will hopefully answer the question on everyone's mind: what's the deal with Hello Kitty?

The screenwriters will presumably have their work cut out for them, as the Hello Kitty brand, in my opinion, is all over the place. My familiarity with the cat comes from the guidebook that was Hello Kitty's Little Book Of Big Ideas, in which Hello Kitty had perfect grades, oodles of friends, made copious use of the word "oodles," and was prettier than me despite being a cartoon cat thing. I also know her from my cool friends' backpacks in elementary school and then again, ironically, in college.

Through some research, there is apparently some Hello Kitty lore that has remained somewhat consistent. She is British, and her real name is Kitty White. She has a twin sister named Mimmy and a boyfriend called Dear Daniel (who is always on an African Safari). There is no naming consistency. She doesn't have a mouth for the obvious reason that she "speaks from the heart. She's Sanrio's ambassador to the world and isn't bound to any particular language." Mouthlessness has not stopped her from appearing in many different TV shows.

With years to go and a budget between $160 million and $240 million, a lack of backstory shouldn't stop Hello Kitty from being made, or even from doing well. The Lego Movie had even less plot to work with, and it was phenomenal. This one looks like a wild card, and I'll barely be able to sleep these next four years from the anticipation.