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.
It turns out that she is not a cat after all, and the internet cannot handle it.
Highlights
- Hello Kitty creators revealed that the beloved character is not a cat but a little girl living in London.
- “She enjoys baking cookies and making new friends,” said Jill Koch from the parent company, Sanrio.
- Internet users were left in disbelief following the revelation, refusing to accept that Hello Kitty is not a cat.
- This isn't the first time the character's identity was revealed; in 2014, it was explained that Hello Kitty is a human child.
Hello Kitty fans are in disbelief after the parent company, Sanrio, revealed that the character is not a cat
Image credits: Hello Kitty & Friends / Instagram
Image credits: Hello Kitty & Friends / Instagram
Jill Koch, senior vice president of marketing and brand management at Sanrio, spoke to Today last week in honor of the character’s 50th anniversary.
She revealed that Hello Kitty is not actually a cat but a little girl living in London with her parents and twin sister, Mimmy.
“Hello Kitty is not a cat,” Jill revealed. “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.”
Jill Koch, senior vice president of marketing and brand management at Sanrio, revealed that the character is a little girl living in London
“She enjoys baking cookies and making new friends,” she said and added, “She weight [sic] three apples and she’s five apples tall.”
Interestingly, Hello Kitty has a pet cat named Charmmy Kitty, and she also has a boyfriend.
The internet exploded following the big revelation.
“Hello Kitty is a cat in my eyes,” said an X user.
“Its a girl cat and nothing will ever change my mind,” said another, to which one social media user responded, “Yeah for my own sanity and childhood i'm sticking to that lol.”
The internet refused to believe she isn't a cat, with one saying, "Hello Kitty is absolutely a cat, with a pet cat. The same way Mickey has Pluto & Goofy still exists in the same universe"
Another comment on YouTube said, “So, a little girl with whiskers?? How is she not a cat?! Someone help! We are being gas lit!!”
“I don't care what they say that thing is a cat,” said another.
This isn’t the first time Hello Kitty’s true nature of being a little girl has been revealed. Back in 2014, Anthropologist Christine R. Yano explained that Hello Kitty is indeed a human child.
“Hello Kitty is not a cat. She’s 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 creature,” she told the LA Times.
The adventures of Hello Kitty are still widely watched and loved by viewers today
Yuko Shimizu, a renowned Japanese designer and illustrator, is the one who first designed the red-bowed cutie while working for Sanrio in 1974.
She spoke about the inspiration behind the design for Hello Kitty during an interview with BBC in 2014.
“When I was a child, I got a small white kitten from my father for a birthday present,” she told the outlet.
Yuko was 27 when she created the character, which was first seen on small purses made by the company.
These quickly became one of Sanrio’s fastest-selling products.
While Yuko left the company two years later, her creation went on to become a global phenomenon that is still widely loved about five decades later.