Happy birthday miss Kitty

Hello Kitty - my childhood hero - turns 35 this year. It kind of made me think about how she has evolved over the years. This iconic cat that reeks cuteness and fluffiness has after 35 years really become a woman with a lot of odd things made in her name.

As a young girl I wanted all the Hello Kitty merchandise I could get my

hands on. Of course back then I didn't know it was called 'merchandise' and never considered the huge organisation's advertising schemes was targeted especially at little girls like me with a love of all things pink and a soft spot for cute cats.

Many years have passed since I cherished a Hello Kitty toothbrush and the merchandise has equally developed. For some reason it feels a bit like Hello Kitty and I have grown up together since I've always been just the right age to appreciate the newest Kitty-items, such as the Hello Kitty-MAC make up a few years back. So in connection with her 35^th birthday I started to really explore what else this lovely Kitty has her face on - and as it turns out our favorite cat has been pretty busy over the years.

As a 35 year old the cute cat is no longer only about small girls. The pleasures of Kitty have crossed over to a very adult world. In fact the life style of a grown up Hello Kitty now includes sex, alcohol and rock'n'roll - but still all in pink of course...

Sing my Song Sita

I’ve just come back from one of those movie experiences that are so good you have to share it with others. So here goes: The Natfilm festival is in Copenhagen is screening Sita Sings the Blues – a cartoon by Nina Paley. Now I knew nothing about this film or about Nina Paley, when I went to Empire bio this afternoon. I sort of have a tradition with a few of my friends that every year at Natfilm we see one or two of the Indian Bollywood musicals the festival is showing. This time there was a cartoon bollywood musical or so we thought, not having really read the programme properly, but just decided that a change from Amir Khan this year would be nice.

Sita Sings the Blues turned out to be a sweetly told story of the Ramayan focusing on Sita. With parallels to the cartoonist own unhappy love life in the US and India including a break up over email, Sita comes alive through different styles of drawing and the singing voices of 1920s blues singer Annette Hanshaw. The trials and rejections which Sita goes through are told by tree really funny shadow puppets in an entertaining and delightful bollywood like setting. I really recommend this film to anyone!

Oh Kiki!

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service – a cartoon version of a Japanese children’s book. Being a fan of cool cartoons, I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it before, it was made in 1989! But as it has never been in Danish film distribution until now and since Miyazaki only recently is popping up in Danish cinemas, I guess it is understandable.Kiki’s Delivery Service tells the stores of the young witch Kiki who leaves home to complete her witches training with a year of living independently. Bringing only her broom and her talking black cat Iji, Kiki enters a big city. I was especially fascinated by the way the city ‘Koriko’ is portrayed both in the drawn details and with interesting sound bites. And as you get to see the city from many different perspectives (Kiki’s flying over and around) - it adds a sense of space and movement that I have never seen before.

The overall attention to charming details is also seen in the way this film pays attention to lifestyle. Kiki’s shopping for food and the painter’s messy hut in the wood are all good examples of that. The story in itself is about how Kiki builds up her delivery service and has to grow up and find her own inspiration to be a witch. It is told in a cute, funny and original way and I like that it avoids being too predictable, even though the story line is simple.
Overall, Kiki’s Delivery Service made the inner 10-year-old nerd girl jump up and down and really wish she could be a witch too.