Sanrio's Hello Kitty is one of the most recognizable characters in the world. Created in 1974 by Yuko Shimizu, the beloved character is portrayed as a female anthropomorphic white cat with a red bow in her left ear.
As it turns out though, sometimes look can be a bit deceiving. As Hello Kitty prepares to celebrate her 50th anniversary this year, we're learning all sorts of new facts about the history of the iconic character. And in a surprising revelation this week, it was confirmed that Hello Kitty is not actually a cat.
"Hello Kitty is not a cat," Sanrio’s senior vice president of marketing and brand management Jill Koch revealed during a recent Today show segment. "She's actually a little girl, born and raised in the suburbs of London."
"She has a mom and dad and a twin sister, Mimmy, who is also her best friend," Koch added. "She enjoys baking cookies and making new friends."
Koch went on to reveal other fun facts about Hello Kitty, like how she weighs three apples and is five apples tall. She also has her own pet cat, Charmmy Kitty, and a boyfriend, Dear Daniel.
Naturally, this was met with shock and confusion, with some fans accusing Hello Kitty of "trying to gaslight us." While tons of fans are just now learning that Hello Kitty is not a cat, it's not actually the first time that Sanrio has clarified the character's true identity.
In 2014, Christine R. Yano — the author of "Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty's Trek Across the Pacific" — also revealed that she was "very firmly" corrected by Sanrio that Hello Kitty is al little girl and not a cat.
“She’s a cartoon character,” Yano clarified back in 2014. “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 creature.”
Yano also added that Hello Kitty's full name is Kitty White and that she's a Scorpio and a "perpetual third-grader" who loves apple pie.
“A lot of people don’t know the story and a lot don’t care,” she added. “But it’s interesting because Hello Kitty emerged in the 1970s, when the Japanese and Japanese women were into Britain.”
Hello Kitty made her first appearance on a vinyl coin purse introduced in Japan in 1975. The character was initially marketed towards pre-teenage girls, but the brand started to find commercial success among teenagers and adults in the 1990s. The character's popularity also grew with the emergence of kawaii.
Today, Hello Kity is now a global brand. The media franchise has grown to include animated series, comic books, animated films, video games, books, clothing and accessories, and more.
Are you on board with the fact that Hello Kitty is not an actual cat? Sound off in the comments below!