Hello Kitty, the beloved cartoon character that’s brought smiles to kids and adults around the world for generations, is getting ready to celebrate her 50th anniversary later this year. Along with the celebrations Sanrio, the Japanese company that first created Hello Kitty, is setting the record straight about their beloved character — and no, it is not a cat.
Sanrio’s senior vice president of marketing and brand management Jill Koch, made the surprising revelation ahead of Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary during a Today show segment.
“She’s actually a little girl born and raised in the suburbs in London,” Koch confirmed. “She has a mom and dad and a twin sister Minnie, who is also her best friend. She enjoys baking cookies and making new friends.”
“[Hello Kitty] weighs three apples and is five apples tall,” she continued, before revealing in another shocking twist that Hello Kitty also has a pet cat named Charmmy Kitty.
Hello Kitty was first created by Yuko Shimizu in 1974. She made her first appearance on a children’s coin purse in 1975 that sold for less than a dollar. In the five decades since, the character has delighted millions across the world and her adorable expressionless face has popped up on toys, clothing and other merchandise around the globe.
Fans on social media, meanwhile, expressed their shock and confusion around Hello Kitty’s true identity.
One TikTok user posted a video and asked if “Hello Kitty is trying to gaslight us” after they shared a clip from the segment. Another user in the comments equated the news to “when the creator of the GIF said it’s pronounced JIFF.”
On X (formerly known as Twitter), another person wrote that “u cannot change history, that’s a CAT.”
While the revelation shocked many, it is not the first time Sanrio has clarified Hello Kitty’s true character. In 2014, The Los Angeles Times reported that Christine R. Yano — the author of Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty’s Trek Across the Pacific — was “very firmly” corrected by the company that Hello Kitty is a little girl and not a cat.
“She’s a cartoon character,” Yano said. “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.”
