Hello Kitty is a Cat, Right? Wrong, Says Her Creator

[Steven Bogos]

Hello Kitty is a Cat, Right? Wrong, Says Her Creator

"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," claims her creator.

Hello Kitty, one of Japan's most iconic mascot characters, is a cat, right? It says it right there in the name: Hello Kitty. Apparently, everything I knew is a lie, as Sanrio, the company that created her, has come out and stated that she most definitely is not a cat. No, my friends, according to her creator, Hello Kitty is in fact a human girl.

This historic revelation came as Christine R. Yano, a anthropologist at the University of Hawaii, was preparing her Hello Kitty exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. In the exhibit, Yano understandably refers to Kitty as a cat, something which Sanrio took issue with. According to the L.A. Times [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-hello-kitty-in-los-angeles-not-a-cat-20140826-column.html#page=1], Yano received the following message from the company:

"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."

Indeed, if you check out Kitty's official profile page [http://hello-kitty.sanriotown.com/], you'll see that not only is she human, but she lives in London, her full name is Kitty White, and her birthday is November 1st.

My world has been shattered. Next, Disney is going to come out and tell us Mickey isn't a mouse.

Source: Rocket News 24 [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-hello-kitty-in-los-angeles-not-a-cat-20140826-column.html#page=1]

Permalink

 

[Racecarlock]

Someone used the wrong hair in a polyjuice potion, I see.

 

[Zontar]

That's still a cat. I don't care what the creator says, that's a cat.

 

[UberPubert]

That's still a cat. I don't care what the creator says, that's a cat.

Well, judging by the creator's description, isn't Hello Kitty actually a furry?

 

[AntiChri5]

Is he high? That's a fucking cat.

 

[Michel Henzel]

Guess Miffy(Nijntje) isn't a bunny either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miffy

Don't care how much the creator likes to delude herself but that is a anthropomorphic cat.

 

[FalloutJack]

Is he high? That's a fucking cat.

Have you seen everything in there? EVERYONE is high there.

OT: I'd like to see HK hold up against Calvin and Hobbes.

 

[Lunar Templar]

wut

It's 'japan' so ... ya know ... 'all the drugs' and all but wow ... really? Um no, she's a cat. No walking around on two legs does not make her human.

 

[LazyAza]

I believe he's simply stating that he views the character more as a "person" than an "animal".

While its probably not the best comparison, similar logic is used by the furry community with regards to how they view anthropomorphized animals / humanoids with non-human features. Its not about specifically categorizing something as it is having a more respectful attitude to a type of character that is more than just a simple animal. Referring to hello kitty as "a cat" can indeed be interpreted as someone saying "she's not a person".

I mean this all crazy semantics surrounding fictional mumbo jumbo but eh its very common for creators to be very attached to their creations - real or not to the point of taking issue with these kinds of things.

Although if we ever do come across aliens and they happen to basically be furries well then, this all becomes borderline racism haha.

 

[Elfgore]

Twelve year old anime girls with boobs the size of watermelons, I don't question. Insane, impossible action, I don't question. unrealistic social situations, I don't question. But I'm question this shit. The flying fuck you mean that ain't a cat?! It's either the most realistic furry costume I've ever seen or a mutant.[footnote]X-men-Hello Kitty crossover, calling it now![/footnote]It's a sapient cat, plain and fucking simple!

 

[Caiphus]

She's a girl with an attitude problem too. Look at her casually flipping the bird in the article's picture.

Kids these days.

 

[dragongit]

If we really want to get into it, it isn't even a little girl. Ceci n'est pas une Pipe. It's a depiction of a girl, but that girl also happens to be a cat. Why the hell then would it be called Hello "Kitty"?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Someone's been chasing the fucking dragon.

That's a bloody cat.

 

[warmachine]

I see. She's a furry and has a family of furries.

 

[MrMixelPixel]

Authoritative intent at its worst! The creator has gone mad. She's a cat. Hello Kitty is a cat.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

Authoritative intent at its worst! The creator has gone mad. She's a cat. Hello Kitty is a cat.

What if he did this on purpose? Just to fuck with people for shits and giggles?

 

[Ninmecu]

I'm going to just point out the thing that everyone else has so far ignored. Why? Because I'm an asshole and a pervert, bred through the internet. The suggestion that Hello Kitty is never depicted on all fours is provably false, just look up some r34 and I'm certain someone out there has placed miss, "Kitty White"(Lovely name.) in a rather cat like position.


And for the record, no, I haven't done research on this particular subject article, I just like being a little bit of a dick sometimes. I'm fully aware they meant the official depictions of Hello Kitty do not show her as an animal and do in fact stick to a largely anthropomorphic view. That being said, Hello Kitty is a Kitty, she may exhibit signs of humanity(and should as such be treated like one would treat another human being, at least in the eyes of fiction.) but she is in fact, a cat.

 

[SweetShark]

Yep, it is official: She is a furry now.
And of course this make sense. If you read the comic "Maus", it make perfect sense.
Btw Maus is AWESOME!

 

[Colour Scientist]

She's a girl with an attitude problem too. Look at her casually flipping the bird in the article's picture.

Kids these days.

Hello Kitty: The Teenage Years

That's a childhood ruiner for sure.

 

[LTK_70]

I believe he's simply stating that he views the character more as a "person" than an "animal".

Thanks, that's exactly what I thought when I read this. Nowhere does it say 'human', that's only Steven Bogos's overinterpretation.

If we really want to get into it, it isn't even a little girl. Ceci n'est pas une Pipe. It's a depiction of a girl, but that girl also happens to be a cat. Why the hell then would it be called Hello "Kitty"?

Come on, get your pedantics straight. It's a depiction of a girl who happens to look like a cat.