Where's Wally?

Where's Wally? (known in North America as Where's Waldo?) is a series of children's books created by the British illustrator Martin Handford. The goal is to find a certain man, Wally, in a picture full of small distracting images. Wally is always dressed in a red and white striped shirt and toque, carries a wooden walking stick, and wears glasses. He is always losing things, including books, camping equipment and even his shoes, and readers are invited to spot these items in the illustrations as well.

The books have no real story, just complex full-page pictures of hundreds of crudely drawn people doing various amusing things. The purpose of "reading" these books is to find Wally, which could be difficult, as he is always well hidden. In one plate from Where's Wally 3: The Fantastic Journey for instance, the page is full of different Wallys and the reader is asked to tell which is the true figure.

Some readers pointed out that the basic concept was not new. In particular, it had been used by author Anthony Tallarico in his Where Are They? series in the late 1970s. However, Handford's treatment of the theme differs strongly from Tallarico's. The Where Are They? books rely heavily on speech bubbles to convey jokes, and the drawing style is deliberately rough and ready. The Where's Wally? series contains much more complex and "busy" illustrations, and there are no speech bubbles. Handford uses many visual puns (for example, a "flying ace" is just that - a playing card piloting a plane) which take some effort to work out.

The Wally series would not have been nearly as popular had it not been for the inherent charm of the illustration. One could sit and enjoy the slapstick interactions between the tiny people, who in any given book could range from knights fighting, to miners digging, to monsters in a haunted house; therefore it entertained both younger and older children alike.

Characters

In the first two books, Wally wandered alone. However, over time more characters were added to find in each scene:

• Wenda, Wally's girlfriend, first appeared in Where's Wally: The Ultimate Fun Book. In the original printing, she was named Wilma, though her appearance was identical to how she looks today. Wenda/Wilma got to speak in the book and her introductions to the puzzles indicated that she had a sharp-tongued, even slightly cruel, sense of humour. In the book, she is quite predatory, even stalker-like in her pursuit of Wally. The later books, however, relegate her to being just a face in the crowd like all the other characters.
• Odlaw, Wally's arch-nemesis, was originally created for the animated TV series, and made his print debut two years later in Where's Wally? In Hollywood. Although we are told "his bad deeds are many", in the books at least this must be taken on trust since he never actually seems to be doing anything nasty in the pictures. His name, "Waldo" spelt backwards, loses its significance where "Wally" is used.
• Woof, Wally's dog, who first appeared in The Ultimate Fun Book, where he was identified as Wenda/Wilma's dog. In most pictures only his tail is seen, though he does put in a proper appearance at the climax of Where's Wally: The Wonder Book.
• Wizard Whitebeard, first seen in The Fantastic Journey. On 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.
• The Wally Watchers are Wally's devoted fan-club. There are lots of them (25 appear in most books, though there are 99 of them in the Ultimate Fun Book), and they turn up wherever Wally goes. They first appeared in The Ultimate Fun Book.

Publication history

• Where's Wally? (US title: "Where's Waldo?") (1987)
• Where's Wally Now? (US title: "Find Waldo Now") (1988)
• Where's Wally? 3: The Fantastic Journey (US title: "The Great Waldo Search") (1989)
• Where's Wally? The Ultimate Fun Book (1990)
• Where's Wally? The Maginificent Poster Book (1991, mainly large-size reprints of scenes from previous books)
• Where's Wally? In Hollywood (1993)
• Where's Wally? The Wonder Book (1997)

The Ultimate Fun Book was a smaller-format book, containing a variety of puzzles (of varying difficulty) along with a press-out circus scene and a sheet of stickers. As of 2004, it appears to be out of print in most countries, though it is still available in Australia. The Magnificent Poster Book is also out of print, though a separate poster of "Wally in the Land of Sport" remains available.

There were two rounds of revised editions. In 1993, to coincide with the publication of In Hollywood, the first three books were reprinted with Wenda, Woof and the Wally Watchers added in to the original illustrations. A "pocket edition" of the first book was also published, in a tiny A6 format. Wally is even harder to spot when shrunk to this degree, and later printings included a free magnifying lens.

Then in 1997, to coincide with the publication of The Wonder Book, special "Tenth Anniversary Editions" of Where's Wally, Where's Wally Now?, The Fantastic Journey and In Hollywood were published. These are easily distinguished from the earlier editions by the silver border on their front covers. These promised "eye-boggling extras", and involved the addition of various extra things to look for in all the pictures. Odlaw and Whitebeard now appeared in all of the books and, most controversially, Wally now appeared in a different place in each picture. Various other puzzles were also added or reworked. These new editions appeared in both standard and "pocket" formats.

Several other "activity books" has also been published. These are aimed specifically at an under-8 readership and have an educational slant. The text is by Martin Handford but the illustrations are not:

• Where's Wally? The Truly Terrific Activity Book (1993)
• Where's Wally? The Absolutely Amazing Activity Book (1993)
• Where's Wally? The Dazzling Deep-sea Divers Sticker Book (1994)
• Where's Wally? The Fabulous Flying Carpets Sticker Book (1994)
• Where's Wally? The Wildly Wonderful Activity Book (1994)
• Where's Wally? Simply Sensational Activity Book (1994)
• Where's Wally? The Really Remarkable Activity Book (1995)
• Where's Wally? The Completely Crazy Activity Book (1995)
• Where's Wally? Bumper Activity Book (1995, previous four books in one volume)
• Where's Wally? Fun Fact Book: Fighting Knights (2000)
• Where's Wally? Fun Fact Book: Plundering Pirates (2000)

In addition, a boxed set appeared in 2000. It contained Where's Wally, Where's Wally Now, The Ultimate Fun Book, The Truly Terrific Activity Book and The Absolutely Amazing Activity Book.

A four-book collection, provisionally titled The Completely Cool Collection and containing Where's Wally?, Where's Wally Now?, The Fantastic Journey and In Hollywood is due to be released in Autumn 2004.

Besides the books, several jigsaws and a board game have also appeared.

Internet prank

In the same vein as the "What's Wrong With This Picture?" prank flash (see this article for the link), there is a Flash animation which shows a Waldo-style comic in which the viewer is supposed to look for Waldo, and ends up seeing a picture of a harlequin fetus. This is a screenshot of the Flash from eBaum's World (http://www.bbfweb.com/snake/sigs/WALDO.bmp), showing where exactly Waldo is in the pic (note the different clothes).

Censorship

The American version Where's Waldo? has been banned from various American schools and libraries, and appears on the American Library Association's list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000. The reason usually given for challenging or banning the book is that one of its pictures features a topless mermaid. A mini puzzle edition of Where's Waldo? was banned on Long Island, because amidst the intricate beach setting a cleverly hidden nipple lurked.

Television series

A 13-episode US-made animated series, with Townsend Coleman as the voice of Wally, was released in 1991. Each episode is loosely based on an illustration from one of the first three books. The dialogue and theme song were recorded in both "Wally" and "Waldo" versions, with the same voice cast. The episodes are:

1. "Ahead Of The Future"
2. "Draining The Deep"
3. "Forest Women"
4. "The Great Ball Game"
5. "It's A Gruel, Gruel World!"
6. "The Land Of The Carpet Flyers"
7. "The Land Of The Lost Pyramid"
8. "The Living Exhibits"
9. "My Left Fang"
10. "A Stone Age Story"
11. "The Underground Hunters"
12. "The Unfriendly Giant"
13. "Viking Fling"

Video Games

A number of video games about this books had also been developed. In these video games, players must do what they have to do in the book: they must find Waldo (usually by finding Waldo in a map or picture within given time):

1. Where's Waldo?:
   • NES version: designed by Bethesda Softworks, published by THQ, released in 1991
2. Great Waldo Search:
   • NES version: published by 9003, released in 1992,
   • SEGA Genesis version: published by THQ, released for in 1992,
   • SNES version: published by THQ, released in 1993.

Movie

A movie based on the "Where's Waldo" series of books has been planned for filming in 2005, by Nickelodeon Movies. In the movie, after accidentally activating a time machine, Waldo goes on an adventure through time and space.