Hello Kitty isn’t a cat!? Is a Cat!? Is British!?

 

hellokitty

Don’t panic. Here is the official statement from Sanrio:

“We never said she was a human. Hello Kitty is a 擬人化 (gijinka), a personification or anthropomorphization. Basically just like Micky Mouse. No one would mistake the Disney character for a human–but at the same time he’s not quite a mouse. Just like Hello Kitty isn’t a human, she’s not quite a cat either.”

From RocketNews24

Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism or personification, is attribution of human form or other characteristics to anything other than a human being. Examples include depicting deities with human form and ascribing human emotions or motives to forces of nature, such as hurricanes or earthquakes.

 

Other facts:

Hello Kitty is in fact British. Although she was conceived of by the Japanese company Sanrio, her backstory explains that she was born in a suburb outside of London. Her actual name is Kitty White and was born 1 November 1974. She’s a Japanese bobtail cat. She lives with her Mother Mary, Dad George, and twin sister Mimmy.

And the reason she doesn’t have a mouth? “Hello Kitty speaks from her heart. She’s Sanrio’s ambassador to the world and isn’t bound to any particular language.”

Her height is “five apples” and her weight is “three apples.” Which, according to our calculations, makes her about 1 foot and 8 inches tall and puts her weight at 1.5 lbs.

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