When there was no PlayStation and 4K was out of the question, kids back then, and a few adults, were entertaining us with things that didn’t require electricity. One of them was some curious books, those of Where’s Wally? Whose main hobby was to find this clueless character, with his striped sweater and matching hat, among a crowd drawn with an almost obsessive level of detail. We tell you everything you need to know about the legendary Where’s Wally series of books.
Frustrating, but also fun and quite high if you find it. When blowing your friends’ heads off in an online game was impossible, we bookworms left diopters looking for Wally.
And so, until today, where it continues to enjoy popularity and sales .
The books in this series are a peculiar pastime, consisting of finding Wally in the middle of a drawing that not uncommonly contains thousands of characters (in some cases as many as 3,000 or 4,000) on double fold-out pages.
And if you want to know how it all started, why and some curiosities about this phenomenon, this is the story of Where’s Wally .
Who created Wally?
British illustrator Martin Handford , who in 1986 started working on it and devised a game that consisted of finding someone in a crowd.
How the series Where’s Wally was born
The truth is that the origin is a bit peculiar and everything connects with Handford’s fondness for drawing crowds, something that especially attracts him.
After three years of art school, Handford began working as a freelance illustrator, drawing for various magazines and advertising companies.
In 1986, Hanford was asked by David Bennett of Walker Books , a London publisher, to make a book with only such crowd illustrations. From there, the series Where is Wally? And the rest is history.
When was the first Where’s Wally book published?
On September 21, 1987 , Walker Books published the first volume.
As a curiosity, in the United States they changed the title (and the name of the main character) to Where is Waldo? Which is how Wally is known there.
They are not the only ones, Canada also gives him that name, in France they call him Charlie, Walter in Germany, Ali in Turkey, Efi in Israel and Willy in Norway.
Bearing in mind how much we like to change names and titles of things in Spain, it’s strange that he didn’t end up being called Manolo.
Why does Wally have such a peculiar look?
Glasses, striped sweater, lanky appearance… The truth is that the reason why Wally is the way he is is not very flattering.
Handford gave him those round glasses and pom-pom hat because he wanted to show him off as a: “Train Spotter.” This very English expression, and so reminiscent of a certain movie, is a very 80’s phrase that was used to describe someone who was a bit silly .
Indeed, in Handford’s own words:
“I gave him that look because when I originally thought of the character getting lost in all those scenes, I figured he was a bit of an idiot and didn’t know where he was going.”
How many Where’s Wally books have been sold?
It is estimated that more than 73 million copies have been sold, translated into 26 languages and published in more than fifty countries.
How many different Where’s Wally books are there?
The series is still running today and adding titles, there are already 27 published , the last one being Where’s Wally? Destination: Everywhere!
As you can see, not everything is consoles, series and mobiles. Although it seems impossible to conceive, there are things that do not need to be plugged in and Where’s Wally? It continues to be one of the best-selling and best-selling books.