She's been around for 50 years but you may not know this surprising fact about Hello Kitty
With her instantly recognisable cat-shaped head and big red bow, Hello Kitty is an iconic character known by many.
Her image is plastered across tens of thousands of products sold globally and she has become a symbol of kawaii culture since her creation 50 years ago.
But one thing that may come as a surprise to many is the fact that, while she may look like one and uses the name Kitty, she is actually not a cat at all.
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It may come as a surprise to many that the famous character is not, in fact, a cat. Getty
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Hello Kitty's parent company Sanrio have clarified on more than one occasion that she is no feline.
"Hello Kitty is not a cat," Jill Koch, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand management at Sanrio, told Today in July ahead of the 50th anniversary of the iconic character.
"She is actually a little girl. Born and raised in the suburbs of London, she has a mum and dad and a twin sister Mimmi who is also her best friend. She enjoys baking cookies and making new friends."
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Her image is plastered across tens of thousands of products sold globally. Getty
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The character also has a boyfriend and her own pet cat, named Charmmy Kitty.
On learning the news, some social media users were a little surprised.
"So, a little girl with whiskers?? How is she not a cat?," one user commented on YouTube after watching the interview on Today.
"So if she's a little girl, how come her head is cat shaped?" another queried.
While some may be surprised, Hello Kitty has been reported to be human for quite some time.
In 2014, anthropologist and Hello Kitty expert Christine R. Yano told the Los Angeles Times that she is in fact a "little girl".
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Hello Kitty is one of the world's most famous faces. Getty
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"She's a cartoon character. She is a little girl... She's never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature," she explained.
The character, who will celebrate her 50th birthday on November 1, is also known by her full name Kitty White.
She was created by award-winning Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu and produced by Japanese company Sanrio.
Unlike many popular fictional characters, Hello Kitty did not originate from a television show or movie. She instead was created as a cute character to go on rubber sandals that the brand was producing in 1974.
Her image has now been seen on some 50,000 products sold globally and her massive fanbase has grown exponentially.
This year, the brand is celebrating Hello Kitty's milestone 50 year anniversary across the globe. Today, a pop-up cafe launched in Melbourne to celebrate Hello Kitty with fans in Australia.
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