When the company created a talking Kitty for a pilot cartoon series, it set off a fury among fans loyal to the cat’s mouthless look, Ms. Yamaguchi said.

Sanrio公司当年也试过让Kitty猫说话，并搬上了电视，据山口说，这一举动引发了广大Kitty粉丝的不满，因为他们已经接受了没有嘴巴的Kitty的形象了。

And though Sanrio goes to great length to create back stories for its characters — Kitty, for example, was born in London and likes to eat cookies — that biography is not compelling enough to draw many fans, according to analysts, who cite weak characterization as a drawback in Sanrio’s product lines.

尽管Sanrio也绞尽脑汁为卡通人物编了一系列背景故事，比如说，他们为Kitty猫定位的是一只生于伦敦、爱吃曲奇饼的猫，但是这些故事并不精彩，也没有如愿拉来大批粉丝。分析家认为，卡通形象塑造缺乏个性，是Sanrio生产商品时的缺点之一。

Characters developed by Walt Disney, in contrast, typically make their debuts in blockbuster movies that propel them to fame and provide a springboard for further storytelling. The hit Disney animated film “Lilo & Stitch,” for example, which featured a Hawaiian girl and an alien friend, made a successful transition to a television series, all the while bringing merchandising and licensing income to Disney.

与此形成鲜明对比的是沃尔特·迪斯尼塑造的卡通形象。迪斯尼的卡通人物都是通过大片和观众见面，形成轰动效应，这之后再发展后续剧情。著名电影《星际宝贝》就是个很好的例子。电影讲述了一个夏威夷的女孩和她的外星人朋友的故事，这个故事后来成功的排成电视动画剧集，并且迪斯尼通过授权其他衍生商品，获取了巨额利润。