Hello Kitty was created in 1974 by designer Yuko Shimizu from the Japanese company Sanrio, under the name Kitty White. According to the character’s story, she was born somewhere in the south of England, on November 1st. She also has a twin sister, named Minny White, and lives in the suburbs of London with her parents, George and Mary, and her kitten, Charmmy Kitty.
Described by the company itself as “a happy girl with a heart of gold”, Kitty is about the height of five apples and weighs the same as three apples. She is a great student who loves studying English, music and art, and in her free time she enjoys playing the piano, playing sports, baking cookies and making new friends. It’s no wonder her motto is: “You can never have too many friends”.
In addition to being an extremely charismatic character, Hello Kitty also works hard around the world to spread goodness in every corner and bring love and joy to those in need. “In Latin America, Hello Kitty visits many hospitals and children’s homes. She has also participated in Teleton actions, which support the treatment of children with physical disabilities, in Mexico, Brazil and Peru,” says Sanrio about the character’s social actions.
Internationally, Kitty is also a very important figure. She was once an ambassador for UNICEF — a United Nations organization that works for the rights of children and adolescents — and currently has a partnership with the UN to promote the global sustainable development goals.
Conspiracy theories already debunked
Since her creation, the kitten has become a hit with people of all ages and all over the world. Because of this, countless controversies have arisen around the charismatic character. The biggest one, probably, is in relation to her mouth, where there are several theories as to why the kitten does not have one.
In 2005, many people began to believe that the answer to this question was related to the case of a 14-year-old girl who suffered from terminal mouth cancer. According to this story, her mother had made a pact for her daughter to get better and, in exchange, she would create a highly successful international brand as a form of offering.
However, this assumption was refuted by the doll’s creator. She said that the real reason Kitty didn’t have a mouth was because she wanted people to be able to project their emotions through the character.
“Kitty looks happy when people are happy. She looks sad when they are sad. For psychological reasons, we think she shouldn’t be tied to any specific emotion, which is why she doesn’t have a mouth,” Yuko said.
According to Sanrio, “Hello Kitty speaks from the heart! If she had a mouth drawn on her, she would already have a defined mood, which was not Sanrio’s intention. In this way, Hello Kitty presents a trait that people identify with, regardless of their mood. If the person is happy, Hello Kitty will seem happy too, and the same happens if the person is sad or angry.”
Another Hello Kitty controversy that became popular, this time in 2014, is in relation to her species. The confusion arose when the anthropologist Christine Yanowhich was organizing an exhibition about the character for its 40th anniversary, was corrected by the company in the description of the exhibition’s images. Thus, it told the Los Angeles Times that Kitty was not a cat.
The statement sparked discussion on the internet, as many said that the statement didn’t make sense because the doll had whiskers and cat ears. However, the website Kotaku contacted the company, which clarified the following: the correction requested for Yano was to use the word ‘gijinka’, which means “anthropomorphization” and also “personification”.
NSC Total reported that, according to the company, it understood that this would make the character human. Thus, it is possible to understand that Kitty is a personified character, just like Goofy and Mickey.
Errata: The report was wrong in saying that Hello Kitty was inspired by the cat in the story Alice in Wonderland. The content has been changed.
Source: Recreio
