Where’s Waldo’s Website?
History
In 1986, Handford was asked by his art director at Walker Books to draw a character with peculiar features so that his pictures of crowds had a focal point. After much thinking, he came up with the idea of “Wally”, a world traveller and time travel aficionado who always dresses in red and white.[2] Sometimes it would take him up to eight weeks to draw a two-page sketch of the elusive Wally and the characters surrounding him.
Characters
- Wally, whose name was localised for certain international editions, for example Waldo in the United States and Canadian editions. In the first two books, Wally wandered alone and was the only person to be found in every illustration. Over time, more characters were added to find in each scene.
- Odlaw, Wally’s nemesis, who made his print debut in The Magnificent Poster Book.
- Wilma, Wally’s friend first appeared in the Ultimate Fun Book, and was replaced by her identical twin sister Wenda in the Where’s Wally: The Magnificent Poster Book.
- Wizard Whitebeard, first seen in The Fantastic Journey. His signature is his exceptionally long beard, which is often the key to finding him. In his first appearance, he was responsible for sending Wally on a quest to discover the truth about himself, and he has tagged along on Wally’s travels ever since. His appearance in The Ultimate Fun Book, however, is in just one scene (“Old Friends”) and his presence is unmentioned in the book and acts as one of the background characters.
- In the earlier books, a character appears in every scene, which the reader must look to find out who it is. This is because no information on the characters is given in the books aside from the task to look for them. The characters appeared as background characters and all had something unique to them (like blonde hair or a ginger beard).
- Wenda, A friend of Wally who replaced her twin sister Wilma for In Hollywood (although she previously appeared in The Magnificent Poster Book).
- In some cases, characters from previous scenes would also appear.
- Woof, Wally’s dog, first appeared in The Ultimate Fun Book, where he was identified as Wenda’s dog.
Description
Where’s Wally?, published in the US and Canada as Where’s Waldo?, is a British series of children’s puzzle books created by English illustrator Martin Handford. The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depicting dozens or more people doing a variety of amusing things at a given location. Readers are challenged to find a character named Wally hidden in the group.
Books
- Wheres Wally? (US title: Where’s Waldo?) (1987)
- Wheres Wally Now? (US title: Find Waldo Now, renamed Where’s Waldo Now? later) (1988)
- Wheres Wally? The Fantastic Journey (US title: The Great Waldo Search) (1989)
- Wheres Wally in Hollywood? (US title: Where’s Waldo in Hollywood?) (1993)
- Wheres Wally? The Wonder Book (US title: Where’s Waldo? The Wonder Book) (1997)
- Wheres Wally? The Great Picture Hunt! (US title: Where’s Waldo? The Great Picture Hunt!) (2006)
- Wheres Wally? The Fantastic Journey (US title: The Great Waldo Search) (1989)