The year 2000 witnesses a string of popular-character-related anniversaries around the world, including the tenth anniversary of Sanrio Puroland, a theme park in Tokyo devoted to Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters. This is being celebrated with a musical revue starring Kitty and her twin sister Mimmy. Their mom, dad, grandparents, and other supporting characters are also featured.

"One: The Hello Kitty Dream Revue" is directed by Amon Miyamoto, and the theme song was composed by singer-songwriter Komi Hirose. It traces Kitty's "life" from her birth in 1974 in a small house in a London suburb and her childhood, when her dream was to play the piano before a global audience, to her romance with her boyfriend Daniel and their marriage. The musical encourages people to have lofty dreams and to strive to make them come true.

Miyamoto, a well-known stage director, said he was glad to have an opportunity to work with Kitty. "Thanks to the cute lead actress, we've been able to put together a revue with skits, songs, and dances that people of all ages can enjoy," he enthused.

Some 5,000 Hello Kitty character goods are available in over 40 countries around the world. When the first item, the "petit purse," came on the market in 1974, Kitty didn't even have a name yet. Now, her design is used on everything from cars to personal computers.

Perhaps even better known than Hello Kitty is Snoopy, the beagle created by Charles Schulz 50 years ago for the comic strip Peanuts. Though the author died in February 2000 at the age of 77, Peanuts is still carried by over 2,600 newspapers of 75 countries in 21 different languages.

Other characters celebrating major anniversaries this year include Pingu, a penguin boy born in Switzerland 20 years ago, and Doraemon, a popular Japanese cartoon character marking its thirtieth birthday.

Doraemon is a cat-like robot from the future that always helps the schoolboy Nobita with creative ideas and imaginative inventions. Even 30 years after its first issue, Doraemon comics continue to sell about 1.5 to 2 million copies each year--a cumulative total of about 100 million--making it one of the longest-running bestsellers in Japan.

Many events and commemorative goods will be helping celebrate the anniversaries this year. A twentieth-anniversary Pingu wristwatch was put on sale, for instance, and in January 2000 a Dream on Doraemon fair was held in Tokyo.

Photo: Hello Kitty is one of the most popular characters in Japan. Now she is starring in a musical. (©2000 SANRIO CO.,LTD.)