For years, people have argued over different character icons and who is better than the other. There have been debates on whether Mario is better than Luigi or if Kuromi is better than My Melody. Other questions pop up, one being about two cartoon cats, Hello Kitty who was made in 1974 by Saniro, and Garfield who was created in 1978 by John Davis. Both of these cartoon mascots are well-loved, but which is the better cat?
Lots of merchandise featuring these two cats is made daily, with trendy shirts and accessories on multiple platforms and stores. The Hello Kitty craze is also being shown on TikTok, where people buy all the merchandise and resell it on apps such as Depop. Garfield merch is sometimes displayed as vintage and sold on multiple listings as well, but for lesser amounts with the exception of collector’s items. Both cats also share similarities such as having their own television show and multiple other characters being present in these series while a main character is set.
The Hello Kitty series has 15 different shows and three different movies while the Garfield series has three TV series, six movies, and 13 specials. With more media to consume, Garfield has more engagement in different categories allowing it to gain popularity.
Another reason why Garfield is popular is from a quote from John Davis in an interview led by CBS News.
“People like Garfield because he relieves their guilt. We live in a time where we’re made to feel guilty about overeating and oversleeping and not exercising. And Garfield not only does that, but defends his right to do that. He’s happy with himself,” said Davis.
People find themselves in Garfield which makes him relatable. Later in the comics, Garfield does not seem to have a mother until one comic released on Dec. 11,1984 shows him meeting his mother and his grandfather after all the years without contact. The show appears to have a more sorrowful ending with Garfield having to leave and say goodbye. This left people who were fans and loved Garfield as a character to be a bit emotional.
Meanwhile, Hello Kitty is a cartoon cat with more of an adventurous, fun plot geared towards children, which can easily gain more popularity. This shows that both cats have their own respective fanbases, which can prove the dedication of fans from all around the world. But compared to Hello Kitty he has had many different looks with multiple designs before the one that people love and easily recognize today while Hello Kitty has stayed the same with no new changes
In the end, it is very clear that while both of these two cats have been well-loved for years, Garfield stands strong against Hello Kitty, with his numerous years of improvement and story paired with his relationship with the public. He is the winner of this argument.
