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Where's Waldo







Where's Waldo? (known in the UK as " Where's Wally? ", in French "Où est Charlie?", in German "Wo ist Walter?", in Spanish "¿Dónde está Wally?") is a series of children's Book s created by British illustrator Martin Handford . The goal is to find the character Waldo in large detailed pictures or crowds. Waldo dresses in a red and white striped shirt and bobble hat, carries a 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.


BOOKS

  • ''Where's Waldo?'' ( 1987 )

  • ''Find Waldo Now?'' ( 1988 )

  • ''The Great Waldo Search'' ( 1989 )

  • ''Where's Waldo? The Ultimate Fun Book'' ( 1990 )

  • ''Where's Waldo? The Magnificent Poster Book'' ( 1991 )

  • ''Where's Waldo In Hollywood?'' ( 1993 )

  • ''Where's Waldo? The Wonder Book'' ( 1997 )

  • ''Where's Waldo? (Special Editlon)'' ( 1997 )

  • ''Where's Waldo Now? (Special Edition)'' ( 1997 )

  • ''Where's Waldo? The Fantastic Journey (Special Edition)'' ( 1997 )

  • ''Where's Waldo In Hollywood? (Special Edition)'' ( 1997 )

  • ''Where's Waldo: The Great Picture Hunt'' ( 2006 )



In 1997 , to coincide with the publication of ''The Wonder Book'', special "Tenth Anniversary Editions" of ''Where's Waldo'', ''Find Waldo Now?'', ''The Great Waldo Search'' and ''Where's Waldo in Hollywood'' were published. These editions feature a silver border around the front covers. Wenda, Woof, Odlaw, Whitebeard and the Waldo Watchers were inserted into the books they were previously absent from. Waldo also appeared in a different place in each picture. Various other puzzles were added or reworked.


CHARACTERS

In the first two books, Waldo wandered alone. However, over time more characters were added to find in each scene:
  • Wizard Whitebeard, first seen in ''The Great Waldo Search''

  • Wilma first appeared in ''Where's Waldo: The Ultimate Fun Book''.

  • Woof, Waldo's dog, who first appeared in ''The Ultimate Fun Book'', where he was identified as Wilma's dog. In most pictures only his tail is seen.

  • The Waldo Watchers are Waldo'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 Waldo goes. They first appeared in ''The Ultimate Fun Book''.

  • Wenda first appeared with her twin sister, Wilma, in ''Where's Waldo: The Magnificent Poster Book''.

  • Odlaw, Waldo's arch-nemesis, first appeared in ''Where's Waldo: The Magnificent Poster Book''.




TELEVISION SERIES

A 13-episode animated series, with Townsend Coleman as the voice of Waldo, was released in 1991 on CBS . Each episode is based on an illustration from one of the original Waldo books. The central plot device is that Waldo can open portals to other lands with his walking stick and goes on adventures with his dog Woof. The Wizard Whitebeard appears at the beginning of an episode sending Waldo on quests and missions. Odlaw is forever in pursuit of Waldo in the series, trying to steal the stick and open a portal to Fort Knox (his plans often fail in painful ways). Wenda appeared in one episode. The dialogue and theme song was also recorded in an alternate "Wally" versions, with the same voice cast in order to market the show to the UK market where Waldo is known as Wally.


Episodes

#"My Left Fang"
#"Forest Women"
#"It's A Gruel, Gruel World!"
#"The Great Ball Game"
#"Draining The Deep"
#"The Underground Hunters"
#"A Stone Age Story"
#"The Unfriendly Giant"
#"The Land Of The Carpet Flyers"
#"The Living Exhibits"
#"Ahead Of The Future"
#"The Land Of The Lost Pyramid"
#"Viking Fling"


Cast





VIDEO GAMES

A number of American video games were developed.
# '' Where's Waldo? '':



  • PC CD-ROM




COMIC

For several years in the early and mid 1990s, "Where's Waldo" was turned into a Sunday newspaper comic/puzzle, distributed by King Features Syndicate .


MOVIE

A movie based on the "Where's Waldo?" series of books has been pursued by various studios. Nickelodeon was the most recent studio to take an interest in the idea but when the regime at Paramount (Nickelodeon's parent company) changed, the project was cancelled. At the moment, a new bid for the rights is under consideration with a new movie outline due. There was also a very popular series of historical magazines made available for children, each issue Wally would travel to a different country or region of the world telling the reader interesting facts.


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