Sanrio shocker! Company reveals Hello Kitty is not actually a cat

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She is a human little girl - specifically a British third grader named Kitty White
Hello Kitty is celebrating her 40th anniversary with a trip to outer space, a retrospective in LA and the first Hello Kitty Con

Published: 22:29 EST, 27 August 2014 | Updated: 10:24 EST, 28 August 2014

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As preparations are made for the roll-out of Hello Kitty's 40th birthday festivities in Los Angeles, the company that makes the beloved mouthless feline wants to set the record straight:

Hello Kitty is not a cat at all, says Sanrio.

She's a real human little girl who lives outside of London, has a twin sister and a cat of her own and will forever be in third grade.

It's part of Hello Kitty's origin story that most of the world never glommed onto as the Japanese character steadily won over hearts and minds across the globe beginning in the early 1970s.

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Call her cute, call her adorable, but don't call her a cat! Hello Kitty's 40th birthday brings with it the startling revelation (for some) that the Japanese character is actually a little human girl

And it's finally been dug up with the help of anthropologist Christine R. Yano, who's putting together the Hello Kitty retrospective in Los Angeles to honor the character's 40th anniversary.

The truth came out as Sanrio edited Yano's script for the retrospective at the Japanese American National Museum.

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'I was corrected — very firmly,' Yano told the LA Times. 'That's one correction Sanrio made for my script for the show. Hello Kitty is not a cat. She's a cartoon character. She is a little girl.

'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.'

Totally human: It turns out, Hello Kitty has a very rich backstory. She is a perpetual third grade girl who lives outside London, has a twin sister and even has a real cat of her own

Hello (not) Kitty: Some little-known facts about a beloved character

She is a Scorpio born November 1.

She has type A blood.

Her real name is Kitty White.

She has a twin sister named Mimmy White, who wears a yellow bow.

she is 5 apples tall.

She and her family live in a suburb of London, where a seal lives in their backyard.

Source: Sanrio

As it turns out, Hello Kitty has an entire backstory created at a time when Japanese women romanticized life in England.

'She has a twin sister,' Yano continued.. 'She's a perpetual third-grader. She lives outside of London. I could go on.'

Why Sanrio chose to portray the little girl as a cat with no mouth, Yano did not say.

Instead of pondering Hello Kitty imponderables, it may be best to concentrate on the character's accomplishments.

Besides reaching the ripe age of 40 without so much as a wrinkle, Hello Kitty recently made her first trek to outer space.

A 4-cm (1.6-inch) tall Hello Kitty figure is aboard the Hodoyoshi-3 satellite, looking through a window at Earth, Sanrio announced this week.

The satellite, which is about the size of a large rubbish bin, was developed by Japanese researchers as part of a $40 million program funded by the education and science ministry.

Hello Kitty's retrospective opens October 11 and will remain on view through April 2015.

The inaugural Hello Kitty Convention will also be held in Los Angeles from October 30 through November 2.

Meet the 29-year-old obsessed with Hello Kitty