In the real world, Hello Kitty was born in London in 1974, (even though a japanese company named Sanrio made her)when a young Tokyo-based company called Sanrio company co., asked designer Ikuko Shimizu to invent a cartoon character who can rely on to the preteen girl in every girl. Sanrio company co., which already created a bear and a dog (and, curiously, a strawberry) in its growing cast of characters, needed a new character that could be decorated on a plastic coin purse that they were planning to produce.

Shimizu, wanted to create a cat that was peteen-nish for sure, author Marie Y. Moss writes in a book called "Hello Kitty Hello Everything", but one that would certainly prefer a catnap to catnip." And so the designer drafted a white cat wearing a red bow and blue overalls. On November 1, 1974, Sanrio introduced the first picture of Hello Kitty. She sat between a bottle of milk and a pet goldfish, and had turned her head sideways to face her new found friends. In a word: cute. Or more accurately, Kawaii, the distinctively Japanese breed of cuteness that injects adorable attributes into all aspects of the country's consumer culture.

In her own make-believe world, Hello Kitty wasn't even Japanese. She lives in the suburbs outside London with her father, George White, mother, Mary White, and twin sister, Mimmy White. Yes, Hello Kitty is a nickname for Kitty White and on her birth certificate states Kitty White. How can you to tell the difference between Kitty and Mimmy? Look at both of their bow. Hello Kitty prefers a red bow in her left ear on the other hand Mimmy prefers a yellow bow on her right ear. Other occupants of the White house include Bear, apparently a living teddy-bear and Marley who pops out of the garden.

Sanrio located the Whites in England as a nod to the surging Anglophilia of 1970s Japan, notably the books and illustrations of Beatrix Potter (The Tale of Peter Rabbit) and Lewis Carroll (Alice Through the Looking Glass). Much has been made of Hello Kitty's mouth, or lack thereof. A handful of feminist scholars say her non communicative nature perpetuates the submissive female preteen type. While others attribute Hello Kitty's appeal to her blank stare -- onto which fans can project their own emotions.

According to Hello Kitty's official bio on Sanrio's website, "Kitty is a cheerful, warm-hearted little character baking cookies is her forte, but what she enjoys most is eating a slice of her Mama's apple pie!" We also learn that her favorite things include candy, stars, and goldfish, as well as the inevitable "small, cute things." Hello Kitty is in third grade. She weighs the same as three apples and stands five apples tall. Her blood type is A.

Although people believe Hello Kitty is in 3rd grade she turned 30 in 2004, and although in her world she remains a kitten, her Earthly reality continues to grow. In 1993, Sanrio introduced a boyfriend for her, a similar-looking kitty named Dear Daniel. The two playmates rarely rendezvous, however, because Daniel is perpetually on African safari with his family (dad is a photographer). No worries, correspondence is a Hello Kitty mainstay, hence her fondness for stationery. Other members of her social circle include the teen bunny Kathy, brother and sister monkeys Timmy and Tammy, and boy puppy Jody, along with my melody