A phony feline? A pretender pussy? In what will surely shake the faith of millions of little girls–and not a few grown men--after forty years of spearheading a barrage of insufferable cuteness, the world-famous Japanese icon Hello Kitty has been revealed to be not a cat after all. According to Hello Kitty scholar (yes, really, stop laughing) Christine Yano, “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 does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it’s called Charmmy Kitty.” Yano is curating an entire Hello Kitty exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum.
A little girl? With whiskers? The news that the beloved children’s character is something of a fraudulent feline has prompted all sorts of complaints from ardent fans, including Josh Groban, that Hello Kitty is most definitely a cat. Still, though, we think it could be the beginning of a trend of debunking some myths about famous cartoon characters. Yes, we’re looking at you, Mickey Mouse. Fess up. You’re really a rat, aren’t you?
Hello Kitty is a cat. She has whiskers and a cat nose. Girls don’t look like that. Stop this nonsense.
— josh groban (@joshgroban) August 27, 2014
