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Where is Wally? The mythical literary series to play

And if you want to know how it all started, why and some curiosities about this phenomenon, this is the story of Where is Wally.

Who created Wally?

The British illustrator Martin Handfordwho in 1986 began to work on it and devised a game that consisted of finding someone in a crowd.

Characters of Wally and his cartoonist

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, David Bennett of Walker Books, a London publisher, asked Hanford to make a book with just such crowd illustrations. From there, the series was born. Where is Wally? And the rest is history.

When was the first Where’s Wally book published?

The September 21, 1987Walker 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?

The reason for Wally's appearance

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 used to describe someone who was a bit of a goofball.

Indeed, in Handford’s own words:

“I gave him that look because when I originally thought about the character getting lost in all those scenes, I figured I was a bit of an idiot and I didn’t know where I was going.”

How many Where’s Wally books have been sold?

It is estimated that they have been sold more than 73 million copiestranslated 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 publishedbeing the last, 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 is Wally? It continues to be one of the best-selling and best-selling books.

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