Cathy (キャシー, Kyashī), sometimes spelled Kathy, was a character from the Japanese company Sanrio that was part of the Hello Kitty franchise.
Cathy was retired from official use in 2011 after a series of legal disputes.
Description[]
Cathy is (or was) a white girl rabbit character who was usually seen wearing a pink dress, and a pink bow positioned similarly to Hello Kitty's bow. Also like Hello Kitty, she was usually portrayed with no visible mouth, although some media did portray her with a mouth. Cathy was often said to be Hello Kitty's best friend. She liked to collect seashells, and was allergic to milk. She also liked sushi lunches, lollipops, carrots, and Mary White's Kitty Cakes, as seen in Hello Kitty: Happy Party Pals.
History and legal proceedings[]
Comparison between Little Honey, Cathy, and Daisy
Cathy was originally conceived around 1973 - making her predate Hello Kitty - as a character named "Little Honey" (リトルハニー); she was often paired with a bear character named "Coro Chan". Initially, the Little Honey character strongly resembled another fictional rabbit known as "Miffy", created by Dutch artist Dick Bruna roughly two decades prior to Little Honey's debut. Little Honey would be superseded by "Cathy" in the later 1970s, who was designed to more closely resemble Hello Kitty. Some time around 1998, another rabbit character design was created; this design is referred to as "Daisy" (デイジー). As with Little Honey, Daisy initially appeared alongside Coro Chan; but was later moved to general Hello Kitty branding.
nijntje pluis, better known as Miffy, the character that Mercis Media claimed Cathy was infringing the copyright and trademark of
On August 26th, 2010, Mercis Media (on behalf of Dick Bruna) filed legal action against Sanrio over the Cathy character, alleging that the character was a "copy" of Miffy. It is unclear if attempts of legal action occurred before the 2010 lawsuit; though the frequent redesigns and renames of Cathy may indicate that prior litigation did occur. In November of 2010, the court ruled in favor of Mercis Media; Sanrio was ordered to stop producing Cathy merchandise in certain countries, or be fined up to €25,000 per day of her usage.
Sanrio filed an aggressive appeal to this ruling; a counter-lawsuit was filed, with Sanrio even seeking to invalidate trademark rights related to Miffy. In June 2011, however, both parties settled out of court. Sanrio was now prohibited from using the Cathy character worldwide, and both Sanrio and Mercis would donate €150,000 to relief funds for the earthquake of March 11th, 2011 in Japan (money which would otherwise be used for legal fees).
A scene replacing Cathy in Hello Kitty and Friends
A scene replacing Cathy in Hello Kitty: Ringo no Mori no Fantasy
Since the court settlement, Cathy has been absent from all newly-produced Sanrio media. Newer releases of older Hello Kitty media, such as Hello Kitty and Friends and the Hello Kitty: Ringo no Mori series, extensively remove Cathy in scenes where she originally appeared; often by directly tracing over her with other characters. A handful of post-2011 merchandise pieces are known to still use Daisy; though Sanrio generally avoids mentioning all three character incarnations entirely.
Appearances[]
Hello Kitty and Friends[]
- The Circus Comes to Town (animated debut)
- The Day the Big Clock Stopped (cameo)
Hello Kitty's Paradise[]
Trivia[]
- It is not entirely clear whether Daisy is the same as Cathy, as there are inconsistencies across different pieces of media. For example, the Daisy design has been referred to as "Kathy" in a sticker, but in the Hello Kitty no Hiragana Katakana o-Namae Kaitemiyou! game for the Advanced Pico Beena, Daisy is portrayed as being a separate character from Cathy/Kathy. However, Daisy's clearer link to Little Honey - which in turn is linked to Miffy - indicates some level of connection to Cathy.
Gallery[]
With Family and Friends[]
