Where's Wally?

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Where's Wally? (titled Where's Waldo? in the United States and Canada, Où est Charlie? in France and Quebec, Find Holger in Denmark, Look for Wally. or ウォーリーを探せ。 in Japan, and Wo ist Walter? in Germany) 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 busy picture full of people. Wally dresses in a red and white striped shirt and shellfish hat, 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 consist of a series of complex full-page illustrated pictures of hundreds of tiny people doing various things. The purpose is to find Wally among the group, which could be difficult as he is always well hidden. In one particularly difficult image from Where's Wally 3: The Fantastic Journey, for instance, the page is full of hundreds of different Wallys and the reader is asked to tell which is the true figure, identifiable only by his missing shoe.

Contents

[edit] International variants of Wally

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Main article: List of international variations of Where's Wally?

For the initial UK release of Martin Handford's book in 1987, he titled the character "Wally". The "Where's Waldo" trademark was adapted for 28 countries. In addition to language translation, each franchise gave a new name and personality to the character. He became Charlie in France, Walter in Germany, Holger in Denmark, Willy in Norway and Hetti in Sri Lanka & Goa. Waldo can also be found in Japan. In Israel, Wally got renamed as Effy, and was a huge success at the time of its release. However the most successful of the franchises, even surpassing the original "Wally" brand, was the North American adaptation, "Where's Waldo?"

Whereas the early Waldo books were identical to the simultaneous Wally releases - except for the character's name - merchandising and spin-off productions expanded the Waldo franchise and character. Although Waldo and Wally are identical in appearance, their characters and personalities developed differently - Waldo became a hip and tech-savvy American world traveler, while Wally became intellectual and somewhat goofy.

Wally became a pop-culture sensation in the early 1990s. Aside from the adaptations of Handford's books, the US franchise grew to include licensing of Waldo for video games, spin-off books, magazines, dolls, toys and a Waldo television series. Many of the Waldo products were later reworked and translated for other national markets - including turning "Waldo"-created productions into "Wally".

Although Wally is the name used in Handford's home country, and was the first title used, Handford and his publisher refer to the character and franchise in many press releases and interviews as "Waldo." In the publishing world the "Wally" brand has become inferior, dwarfed by merchandising and huge success of "Waldo." And although the wordplay was lost on audiences outside North America[citation needed], the name of the intrepid traveler's nemesis was even derived by Handford from spelling "Waldo" backwards to create Odlaw.

On January 22, 2007, the "Where's Wally" franchise - and thus "Where's Waldo" as well - was bought by the UK-based children's company Entertainment Rights.

[edit] Characters

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

  • Wanda or Wenda, Wally's friend, first appeared in Where's Waldo: The Magnificent Poster Book.
  • Odlaw, Wally's arch-nemesis, made his print debut in Where's Waldo: The Magnificent Poster Book. His name, which is "Waldo" spelled backwards, loses its significance in the UK version where "Wally" is used. In addition this is also outlaw slightly edited. He appears nearly the same as Wally, except that his clothes are yellow and black striped instead of red and white; his glasses have a blue tint to them; and he has a moustache. He may perhaps be Wally's answer to Wario from the Mario series.
  • Woof, Wally's dog, first appeared in The Ultimate Fun Book, where he was identified as Wilma's dog. Only his tail can be found with the exception of the final page of 'Where's Waldo: The Wonder Book, when the viewer will see all of Woof.
  • 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.

Note: The books were remade in 'Special Edition' allowing all four original books to let the viewers look for Woof, Wenda, Odlaw, Wizard Whitebeard and Wally Watchers along with Wally, and Wally moved to a new place in each scene.

[edit] Publication history

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 2006, 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. Wenda, Woof, Odlaw, Whitebeard and the Wally Watchers 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 also censored certain illustrations from the original edition, such as a partial exposed breast and implied public-nudity in the original Where's Wally, in the beach scene. The censorship involved drawing a bikini top over the original image. These new editions appeared in both standard and "pocket" formats.

There was also a very popular series of geographical magazines made available for children in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, and Malta, called Wally's World, each issue Wally would travel to a different country or region of the world telling the reader interesting facts. This was published for 52 issues from January 1997 to January 1998, when Wally's History of the World began, focusing more on history than geography. The first issue was given away free with the last issue of Wally's World.

Both Wally's World and Wally's History of the World included four binders, one for every 13 issues[citation needed].

[edit] Wally's World

  1. Egypt
  2. North Pole
  3. Southern United States
  4. Southern India
  5. Italy
  6. Eastern Africa
  7. China
  8. Australia
  9. Great Plains
  10. Pacific Islands
  11. British Isles
  12. Amazon Rainforest
  13. Mongolia
  14. Outer Space
  15. France
  16. Mexico
  17. Japan
  18. Eastern Europe
  19. Ocean depths
  20. Western United States
  21. Southeast Asia
  22. Andes
  23. Russia
  24. Spain
  25. Eastern United States
  26. Southern Africa
  27. Great Barrier Reef
  28. Central Asia
  29. Great Lakes
  30. Low Countries
  31. Greece
  32. South Pole
  33. Middle East
  34. Caribbean
  35. Northern India
  36. Indonesia and Philippines
  37. Canada
  38. Northern Africa
  39. Scandinavia
  40. Central Africa
  41. Near East
  42. Germany
  43. Central America
  44. Himalayas
  45. Portugal
  46. New Zealand
  47. Poland and the Baltic States
  48. Western Africa
  49. Alps
  50. Turkey
  51. Argentina and Chile
  52. Ocean waves

[edit] Wally's History of the World

  1. Cavemen
  2. Ancient Egypt
  3. Trojan Horse
  4. Sea Traders
  5. Celts
  6. Ancient Rome
  7. Ancient China
  8. Alexander the Great
  9. Ancient Greece
  10. Roman Empire
  11. Dark Age
  12. Mayans
  13. Pacific Explorers
  14. Anglo-Saxons
  15. American Indians
  16. Arab Empire
  17. Monks and Monasteries
  18. Medieval China
  19. Vikings
  20. Knights and Castles
  21. Medieval Japan
  22. African Kingdoms
  23. Middle Ages
  24. Mongols
  25. Aztecs
  26. Renaissance
  27. Voyages of Discovery
  28. Tudors
  29. Incas
  30. Medieval Middle East
  31. Elizabethans
  32. Spanish Empire
  33. Indian Emperors
  34. Dutch Merchants
  35. American Settlers
  36. Stuarts
  37. Ancient Russia
  38. The Sun King
  39. Industrial Revolution
  40. Australian Settlers
  41. American Presidents
  42. French Revolution
  43. Wild West
  44. Victorians
  45. British Empire
  46. Moving to America
  47. Scramble for Africa
  48. Inventions
  49. Changing Times
  50. World War II
  51. The Present
  52. Record Breakers

[edit] Activity books

Several other "activity books" has also been published featuring art from the US based "Where's Waldo" comic strip:

  • 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)

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 titled The Completely Cool Collection and containing Where's Wally?, Where's Wally Now?, The Fantastic Journey and In Hollywood was released in Autumn 2004.

[edit] Books

[edit] Where's Wally Now?

Wally journeys through history, dropping his books in the different locations. He travels to:

  • The Stone Age
  • The Riddle Of The Pyramids
  • Fun And Games In Ancient Rome
  • On Tour With The Vikings
  • The End Of The Crusades
  • Once Upon A Saturday Morning
  • Having A Ball In Gay Paree
  • The Gold Rush
  • The Future

[edit] Where's Wally? 3: The Fantastic Journey

Wally's fantastic journey leads him to various weird and wonderful locations to find the Wizard Whitebeard's scrolls. He visits:

  • The Gobbling Gluttons
  • The Battling Monks
  • The Carpet Flyers
  • The Great Ball-Game Players
  • The Ferocious Red Dwarves
  • The Nasty Nasties
  • The Fighting Foresters
  • The Deep-Sea Divers
  • The Knights Of The Magic Flag
  • The Unfriendly Giants
  • The Underground Hunters
  • The Land Of Wallies

[edit] Where's Wally? The Wonder Book

Similar to "The Fantastic Journey", Wally journeys to a range of bizarre locations:

  • Once Upon A Page
  • The Mighty Fruit Fight
  • The Game Of Games
  • Toys! Toys! Toys!
  • Bright Lights And Night Frights
  • The Cake Factory
  • The Battles Of The Bands
  • The Odlaw Swamp
  • Clown Town
  • The Fantastic Flower Garden
  • The Corridors Of Time
  • The Land Of Woofs

[edit] Television Show

Where's Waldo? title card
Where's Waldo? title card
Main article: Where's Waldo? (TV series)

A thirteen-episode animated series, with Townsend Coleman as the voice of Wally, was produced by DiC and CBS in 1991. The show was originally made for the American market and later translated for the rest of the world, renaming the character to fit the name used in the books of that country. The distribution rights to "Where's Waldo?", and its international dubs, are currently held by HIT Entertainment.

[edit] Controversy

Where's Waldo is listed by the American Library Association on the List of most commonly challenged books in the U.S. The most common reason for banning is that, in one picture, located on a beach, a female sunbather is seen with exposed breasts. [2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ World Book and Copyright Day
  2. ^ The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000

[edit] External links

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Where's Wally? by Martin Handford