This should come as a cat-astrophe for fans who have adored Hello Kitty for the last 40 years: Kitty is not a cat.
Sanrio, Hello Kitty's creator, broke the quite belated news to Christine Yano, an anthropologist from the University of Hawaii who was preparing a Hello Kitty exhibit for October.
Yano told the Los Angeles Times she was preparing her written texts for Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum when her attention was called to her description of Hello Kitty as a cat.
"I was corrected – very firmly... That's one correction Sanrio made for my script for the show. 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 said.
"She's never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature. She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it's called Charmmy Kitty," she added.
A backgrounder on Sanriotown, the official Hello Kitty fan site, describes the popular character as a "cheerful and happy little girl with a heart of gold."
Kitty - whose real name is listed as Kitty White - lives in London with mama Mary White, papa George White, and twin sister Mimmy.
She "loves to bake and she can make really delicious cookies," and "learned her baking talents from her mama, who makes scrumptious apple pies that are enjoyed by the whole family," the site added.
Aside from Charmmy Kitty, Hello Kitty has a pet hamster named Sugar. Charmmy Kitty was a gift from her papa, while Sugar was one from childhood friend Dear Daniel.
Yano was curating the upcoming exhibit on Hello Kitty when Sanrio broke the news to her.
She noted Hello Kitty is successful partly because of the blankness of her design.
"People see the possibility of a range of expressions. You can give her a guitar, you can put her on stage, you can portray her as is. That blankness gives her an appeal to so many types of people," she said. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News
She "loves to bake and she can make really delicious cookies," and "learned her baking talents from her mama, who makes scrumptious apple pies that are enjoyed by the whole family," the site added.
Aside from Charmmy Kitty, Hello Kitty has a pet hamster named Sugar. Charmmy Kitty was a gift from her papa, while Sugar was one from childhood friend Dear Daniel.
Yano was curating the upcoming exhibit on Hello Kitty when Sanrio broke the news to her.
She noted Hello Kitty is successful partly because of the blankness of her design.
"People see the possibility of a range of expressions. You can give her a guitar, you can put her on stage, you can portray her as is. That blankness gives her an appeal to so many types of people," she said. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News
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