On the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty, fans were shocked to learn that their beloved cat-inspired character is, in fact, not a feline at all - she's a little girl. Hello Kitty is, brace yourselves, not actually a cat, according to her creators. The iconic character, made by Japanese company Sanrio, is celebrating her 50th anniversary this year.
Hello Kitty might have whiskers, but don't read into them. (Hitoshi Yamada/NurPhoto via Getty Images) However, in 2014, curator Christine Yano shared the truth after working with Sanrio on an exhibit on Hello Kitty at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. We used to call it "the Hello Kitty store" because the famous white feline's face-with her black eyes, yellow nose, three whiskers on each cheek, and pink bow over her right ear.
Brace yourselves, Hello Kitty fans-the creators of the lovable sweetheart just dropped a bombshell that has left the internet in disbelief. Hello Kitty, one of the world's most iconic characters with her signature red bow and charming whiskers, just had her true identity revealed by Sanrio, the company that created her. "The design takes the motif of a cat, but there is no element of a cat in Hello Kitty's setting." So, despite having whiskers, pointy ears and a feline nose, Hello Kitty is apparently not a cat.
For the longest time, many thought that Hello Kitty was a cat because of her prominent whiskers, but her creators said that she was actually a little girl born and raised in the suburbs of London. Despite her whiskers and pointy ears, just like the rest of her family, Kitty has her own pet - a "real" cat named Charmmy Kitty. Hello Kitty, the beloved cartoon character created by Sanrio in 1974, has sparked a lot of confusion about her true identity.
Despite her cat-like appearance, whiskers, and cat-like face, Hello Kitty is not officially considered a cat by her creators. Instead, she is described as a personification or anthropomorphic cat, a little girl with feline features, designed to embody cuteness and charm. Hello Kitty (Japanese: ハロー・キティ, Hepburn: Harō Kiti), [5] also known by her real name Kitty White (キティ・ホワイト, Kiti Howaito), [6] is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio.
[7][8][9] Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red bow and no visible.