Hamtaro

The Adventures of Hamtaro (とっとこハム太郎) is a Japanese children's storybook series by Ritsuko Kawai. The main character is a brave hamster named Hamtaro who goes on adventures and makes friends. The books include A Home for Hamtaro and Other Stories, Hamtaro Gets Lost and Other Stories, and Jealous Hamtaro and Other Stories. VIZ Media publishes the storybooks in English. A toy, Hamusuta the Happy Hamster, which is very similar to the Zhu Zhu Pet was based on this series.

Plot
The anime, Hamtaro (とっとこハム太郎), is based on the storybook series, and features original character designs by Case Closed creator Gosho Aoyama. Hamtaro is owned by a 10 year-old girl named Laura Haruna (Hiroko Haruna or "Roko-chan" in Japanese version). Hamtaro leads an exciting life for a small hamster. Curious by nature, he ventures out each day to make friends and go on adventures with a clan of fellow hamster friends known as The Ham-Hams. Hamtaro is licensed by Viz Media in North America, which dubbed it in a format aimed at a younger audience. People Magazine named this show, "Hottest new thing in Hollywood!" due to its rise in popularity among small children and older ones alike. The original version of Hamtaro debuted in tokyo in the spring of 1990, and Hamtaro was cancelled in America in 2007.

Characters
See List of Hamtaro characters

Licensed products

 * Shogakukan: Ritsuko Kawai's books, other Hamtaro related titles, Japanese videos/DVDs
 * Toho (Toho Co., Ltd.): Distribution of all 4 movies
 * Columbia Music Entertainment: Japanese music CDs
 * Anime Video Comics: Launched in 2008 and it does not have a website. Summit Entertainment, an owner company of Anime Video Comics releases some episodes.
 * Epoch Co., Ltd.: Plushes, collectible toy line, talking toys, musical toys, standalone electronic games (for the Japanese/Asian market only, but can also be found in some import stores in North America and Europe)
 * Hasbro: plushies, collectible toy line
 * The Learning Company: Hamtaro: Wake Up Snoozer! for the IBM PC/PC compatibles/Apple Macintosh
 * Nintendo: video games -
 * For the Game Boy Color: Hamtaro (released in the US/Rest of the World), Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!
 * For the Game Boy Advance: Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak, Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue, Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games, Hamtaro E-Cards for the E-Card reader (Japanese market only).
 * For the Nintendo DS: Hamtaro: Nazo Nazo Q (Unreleased in the US/Rest of the World)
 * Sega: Arcade painting game, Sega Pico titles (Japanese market only), Cocopad titles (Japanese market only)
 * Natsume: Tottoko Hamtaro Ham Ham Challenge Atsumare Hai Nintendo DS game (Released as Hi! Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Challenge! in the US/Europe)
 * Banpresto: Arcade kiddie ride
 * Smuckers: Smucker's Snacker's
 * VIZ Media (North America): books, English-language comics, videos/DVDs
 * Chuang Yi (Singapore): books, English-language comics
 * Seiko: Limited Edition watches
 * Daewon Media: All market character products from Japan and United States

In other Media

 * In the Final episode of FLCL Hamtaro is referenced as being a hamster that Naota's dad had accidentally killed while Naota attended elementary school
 * Hamtaro was spoofed as an anime idea called Sheeptaro on an episode of Hoshi no Kirby
 * In the 16th episode of InuYasha, Kagome says 'heke?' which could be a reference to what most of the characters say when they are confused. Coincidentally, Moneca Stori provided the English voice for Hamtaro's owner, Laura Haruna (Hiroko Haruna in the Japanese version), as well as Kagome's