Image: Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images
About This Quiz
She's dominated pop culture for decades, but how much do you really know about the cutest anime character around? Take our purrfect quiz to find out!
True or False: Hello Kitty isn't actually a cat.
True
Despite her whiskers and feline-esque appearance, Hello Kitty is not a cat. Minds were blown when in 2014 Sanrio (the brand owner) confirmed that, while the character takes "the motif" of a cat, she's actually a human character. In fact, her name is Kitty White and she lives in London.
That's right, you probably never noticed that she doesn't have a mouth. Ever. Sanrio says that she speaks from her heart, so she doesn't need actual words. Awww...
Kitty comes with a full cast of characters, including twin sister Mimmy, Mom (a master at making apple pies) and her longtime boyfriend, Daniel Star (aka Dear Daniel). A gentle bear named Tippy would also like to be Kitty's boyfriend, but so far Daniel's the front-runner.
Hello Kitty is the driving force behind the Japanese "kawaii" merchandising industry. What does kawaii mean?
cartoon
cute
Kawaii is Japanese for "cute," and Kitty certainly fits the bill! Sanrio founder Shintaro Tsuji noticed back in the 1960s that adding cute designs to products helped to sell them.
Hello Kitty is the second-highest grossing media franchise of all time. What's the first?
Mickey Mouse
Star Wars
Pokemon
Despite raking in more than $80 billion since her creation in 1974, Kitty lives in Pokemon's shadow of more than $100 billion. Star Wars is the fifth-highest grossing media franchise, behind Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse & Friends, respectively.
While you can buy a Hello Kitty coffee maker and even dine at a Hello Kitty Café, there are no Hello Kitty branded coffees. At least not yet. A Hello Kitty doll did go to space on the nanosatellite Hodoyoshi 3 in 2014. And in 2008, Hello Kitty was named Japan's tourism ambassador to China and Hong Kong.
