Thursday, August 2, 2012

Hello Kitty in Oz (KITEC, really!)

What do you get when you put together Hello Kitty

Follow (or get on?) the yellow brick road
and see...

Hello Kitty in a Hello Kitty- and Sanrio-fied Oz! :)

First, there was Dr. Kitty and Kitty Lab.  Then there was the contest/interactive game that purported to help determine Who's the Next Hello Kitty? -- which I decided against going and playing because, well... I actually don't want to be (the next) Hello Kitty!  And last year, there was kawaii Robot K and Kitty Intelligence Beta at the Sanrio Robotics Institute

So... let's put it this way: I've grown used to the idea that summer in Hong Kong is not complete without another Hello Kitty interactive game/exhibition coming to town.  And as I (and many others) have discovered, this is the year of Hello Kitty in Oz

In this version of Oz, Dorothy's no where to be seen -- and ditto re The Wizard of Oz.  Instead, the head honcho of this land is The Great Witch of Oz -- who looks a lot like Hello Kitty in a purple coat (with yellow trim), black trousers and a white bow around her neck (and the trademark red bow near her left ear).  And to show how integral to the place she is, each visitor to this fantastic looking -- but, alas, too small sized (smaller, it seems, than Kitty Lab or the Sanrio Robotics Institute) -- territory has to go around with their own The Great Witch of Oz figure in order to not be barred from many of its sections.

Fortunately, as I discovered, it is not necessary to successfully deal with every single challenge thrown at you in your quest to help The Great Witch of Oz save her world from coming to an end and restore the world order.  This since I actually failed at carrying out five of my seven assigned tasks!  (But, hey, I proved adept at wood chopping and ended on a high by passing the final test over at Emerald City!!)

Some might think it sour grapes on account of this being the Hello Kitty interactive game I fared the least well in but if truth be told, I don't feel that Hello Kitty in Oz was as fantastical or fun as Kitty Lab or Kitty Intelligence Beta.  Its smaller size didn't help -- and I honestly do feel that one reason why I wasn't successful at many of the games was because those charged with explaining them weren't as good as their equivalents in earlier years.

On a more positive note, I fell in love with the large Hello Kitty scarecrow plush that one had to carry in one of the Hello Kitty in Oz games -- and there's a part of me that really rues that it's not available for sale. Also, I managed to snag myself a colorful Hello Kitty in Oz beach towel that I had eyed from the first time I had checked out the Hello Kitty in Oz official site. (And yes, I do foresee myself putting it to good use in the months ahead -- when it's prime beach weather again in Hong Kong!) :b

6 comments:

sarah bailey knight said...

hi ytsl,

Wow, Hello Kitty in Oz. Seems like a strange combo to me but the sets look fun though from the photo seem a bit too close together. And the beach towel looks wonderful!!!

YTSL said...

Hi sbk --

Speaking of strange combos, what do you think of these?
http://www.mcdonalds.com.hk/english/campaign/kitty/

Not the Wizard of Oz tie-in there too... :D

sarah bailey knight said...

hi ytsl,

I like the sold out McDelivery Hello Kitty best. What is the Singing Bone black Hello Kitty about? Is this a TV show tie in?

YTSL said...

Hi again sbk --

The McDonalds Hello Kitty I wanted the most was the Frog Prince Hello Kitty. But have to say that the lion Wizard of Oz Hello Kitty's back covering is verrry soft... ;b

Re the Singing Bone black Hello Kitty: I Googled and found a Brothers Grimm fairy tale called The Singing Bone...

http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/grimm/bl-grimm-singing.htm

:)

witchz said...

Very envious that Hong Kong always has annual hello kitty exhibition. Does it always happen around the same time of the year? I

YTSL said...

Hi witchz --

There does seem to be a Hello Kitty-themed interactive exhibition around the same time each year in Hong Kong. Maybe you could target to visit around late July next year?