Apparently we've all be confused about Hello Kitty for years - or at least most of us, as it has now been revealed that she was never really a cat at all, but rather just a cartoon character and little girl.
The Sanrio creation is celebrating its 40th birthday this years and one interesting revelation by the company has come to light, the Los Angeles Times reports.
University of Hawaii anthropologist Christine R. Yano, who has studied Hello Kitty and even wrote a book on the character called Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty's Trek Across the Pacific, said Sanrio was insistent their creation was not a cat.
"I was corrected - very firmly," Yano said as she was preparing texts for a Hello Kitty exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum. "That's one correction Sanrio made for my script for the show. Hello Kitty is not a cat."
Rather the company explained to her that she is "a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She's never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creation. She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it's called Charmmy Kitty."
Also, Hello Kitty, whose name is Kitty White, is also British and not Japanese, according to her website. Her parents are named George and Mary White, and loves to bake, especially pies, which is interesting for a character not depicted with a mouth.
Yano also told the L.A. Times the character is also a twin and is also shown to be a third-grader. Hello Kitty was first introduced back in 1974 and eventually made it over to the United States two years later.
image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFevents.com