It may surprise you to learn that Wally is the original name for the character, and that it all began in the UK. English illustrator Martin Handford created Wally as a way to tie his large crowd scenes together for a book compiling his work. Shortly thereafter, the character became the well-loved bumbling hiker wearing spectacles that so many know and love.
Handford began producing more artwork that showed Wally in a variety of scenarios, typically misplacing some of his camping and hiking gear. Along with his glasses, beanie, and walking stick, Wally brings along some other items to help on his hike: a backpack, sleeping bag, kettle, cup, mallet, shovel, binoculars, camera, bag, belt, and a snorkel. Wally loses at least one item on every page, and the reader has to help him find it. The scenes are rife with puns in visual form, and even verges into the indelicate at times.
No one is entirely sure why Wally got his name changed to Waldo for the US version. There’s some speculation that the publishers wanted to avoid the word ‘wally,’ which is slang for a geek, nerd, or idiot. Or, it could be because Waldo is a bit more common of a name in the US, or perhaps it was one of those inscrutable decisions that publishers sometimes make. Whatever the reason, America isn’t the only country where the hapless hitchhiker uses an alias.
In Germany, he’s known as Walter, but in Norway, he’s called Willy. Those keep the whimsical ‘w’ sound, but France ruins it a bit by re-naming him Charlie. Denmark has dubbed him Holger, and Israel goes with the somewhat baffling Effie. Whatever his name, Wally/Waldo wanders about in his woefully un-camouflaged stripes, yet somehow remains ridiculously hard to find. Have fun perusing the preposterous scenarios in which our hapless hero loses himself, and contemplates his contemporaries on other continents. So, how do you know him best? As Wally, or as Waldo?
