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Archive 1

Where's Wallace?

I removed the following:

While the Wally character is unique, the style of the series is evocative of a children's book titled Where's Wallace? by Hilary Knight, published in 1964, in which a red-haired orangutan escapes from the zoo and "hides" in highly detailed picture panoramas, including a beach, department store, circus, stadium, and museum.

It appears to be original research. Perhaps it can be added back if a primary source can be found? Antiaverage (talk) 19:34, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

Removed text & general state of talk page

why was the text "He became Waldo in the United States, Charlie in France, Walter in Germany, Holger in Denmark, Willy in Norway, and Effy in Israel. " removed? this is a valid contribution to this article and should be included, especially to address the people who want to change the article to "where´s waldo" and perhaps even be included in it´s own table as it is certainly relevant.

also, the talk page is an absolute mess. a lot of the sections should be merged and even some pointless valdalism deleted --Lotsofmagnets (talk) 18:13, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Wally in different countries

Country Name
Australia Wally
Denmark Holger
France Charlie
Goa Hetti
Germany Walter
Iceland Valli
Israel Effy
Norway Willy
Sri Lanka Hetti
United States Waldo

Goa has been an Indian state for some time now. In which language are Goans calling him Hetti? Varlaam (talk) 19:20, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

"this screenshot of the Flash from eBaum's World shows that Odlaw does appear."

Link to the bitmap does not work.

banned?

A certian book was banned on "Long Island"?? That dosent make sense to me, there is no "long island" government to ban such a book, perhaps a suffolk or nassau county ban, or a ban on the new york state level, but not a "long island" ban.


Libraries often ban books regardless of municipal government, this is most likely what the reference was in regards to.


A library banning a book is a far cry from a "long island" wide ban, seeing as they are tens dozens of libraries on Long Island.

If you are speaking of the banning of the Where's Waldo books, it is an official ban on the ALA list. The reason for it's banning is quite ridiculous in my opinion, but this is an encyclopedia, so I won't post any more on opinion. Here is one website that states the reason (4th paragraph down) This link should lead you to the right site. If this info is useful, someone should post this on the main article. Jon Fawkes 04:58, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

american version

Is the american version the exact same books just with a different name? Astrokey44 23:32, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Yep, pretty sure they are. Correct me if I'm wrong. BillyH 23:57, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Parodies

Wondering if we should mention the numer of parodies of wheres wally Eg if anyone could find more examples. Might be an idea to put the NG flash in there as well as any other mick taking links that fit in with the article?

Wally/Waldo

It seems somewhere along the line that someone automatically changed all Wallys to Waldos, meaning you've got bizarre situations where it tells you that the US title of 'Where's Waldo' was 'Where's Waldo'. I've changed them all back to Wally's, except for the US-specific bits. BillyH 21:03, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

I have never heard of Where's Wally? I heard of Where's Waldo? Waldo not Wally. Someone should work that out. --Yancyfry jr 04:54, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

That's because (I guess) you're American, and as usual, the marketing situation over there is as such that they pretend they invented everything and the rest of the world does not exist.. not your fault :) EuroSong talk 09:33, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

yes, eurosong! you tell him! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.21.9.232 (talk) 20:34, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Yancyfry, your userbox states that you are Irish, not American. Therefore, you should only know it was "Where's Wally" given that is the name used in Ireland. 91.85.186.23 (talk) 15:01, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Name

Any idea why the books are called Where's Waldo in the USA? pomegranate 23:55, Aug 4, 2004 (UTC)

Movie

Is there a movie scheduled for 2005 as indicated in this article? --The_stuart 21:32, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Prank Flash

There seems to be many different versions of the prank flash. I have not seen the one including the harlequin foetus image but have seen the face from the exorcist. And there is another version where after about 25 seconds a pale white womans face comes up with flashing eyes and a mans scream can be heard. This is probably the more milder version. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chillie Gal (talk • contribs)

The version with the harlequin fetus doesn't exist anymore. The exorcist replaced the harlequin fetus

YES!

I think very much so. As the illustrator was British I feel any mention of Waldo to begin with should be stricken from the record. His name is Wally.

dont combine

how is someone from america, that doesn't know or care who wally is going to find the page at all interesting. they are fine how they are

That's what redirects are for. EuroSong talk 10:04, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
Yes, indeed. Stellmach 22:12, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

'Characters' sections

There are two 'characters' sections, featuring pretty much the same content. Someone who knows more about Wal(ly/do) should remove one/merge the two. Phileas 18:33, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

A Challenged Text?

The American Library Association has ranked the series as the 88th most contested book/series of the last two decades of the 2oth century.

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm

Any idea why? I always thought they were widely loved. - Plasticbadge 00:49, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

I think the first book contained a partly revealed breast. Born Acorn 13:46, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Books Left Out

Sorry if this does not conform with the correct format, but I am new to wikipedia and I thought this should be brought up. I do not know if this was the case in other countries, but in Australia we had (starting in 1996 I believe)a wally book released every week for many years. These books were part of a collection. The first set (which I own all of them, although they are in my cupboard and do not have access to them now) consisted of at least 100 copies, stored in folders that came with the issue everytime it was necessary. These books were called "Wally's world". Later came Wally's History of the World with the same number of issues and folders. Wally's world gave information on various countries throughout the world in an easy to understand format for kids. Often countries were combined, and I think they did cover all the economically developed countries in the world. Wally's History of the World discussed the French Revolution, Settlement of Australia, and alot of other great historical events occuring throughout the middle ages and modern history alike. It is indeed worth a mention.


Get Rid of the "Credits"?

What's the point of that? It seems, um, highly redundant and irrelevant to me. These credits don't even pertain to the books, but to the TV series. (A fact which is not mentioned either, btw.) Binba 05:17, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Statistics

Are there any statistics on how many books were sold under each name, Wally vs. Waldo? Actually, are there any statistics on how many books were sold in general? The comic strip ran in the Toronto Star for a few years in the mid/late 90s. Esn 02:18, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Why Waldo?

Why was the name changed to Waldo in America? Is Waldo even a name? I think it would be interesting to explain, if anyone knows.--Jcvamp 06:23, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Waldo is definitely a name, as the American philosopher Emerson would attest. D. J. Cartwright (talk) 00:03, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
It was also the name of Eddie Winslow's slow but good-hearted friend, Waldo Geraldo Faldo, on Family Matters. I believe his dad was a "stewardess" and in the later seasons he proved himself something of a culinary savant. Wormwoodpoppies (talk) 15:31, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Banned - Wally or Waldo?

The section on banning in the U.S. is appearing in this article. Would it be more appropriate in Where's Waldo?? That's what it's called in the U.S., after all. Tualha (Talk) 15:57, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

Woody Allen

Did someone already suggest that Wally was inspired by Woody Allen? They look similar somehow, including the name. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.32.73.249 (talk) 08:40, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

I suspect there are few who would concur with this notion.
I personally see no resemblance. Varlaam (talk) 19:23, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Name of the Article

Why is the article called "Where‘s Wally?" rather than "Where's Wally?" (the apostrophe is inverted). I noticed that Where's Wally? actually redirects here (to Where‘s Wally?), which is a good thing since I don't have a key on my computer that will make one of these:‘. What's the deal? — DIEGO talk 21:01, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

After posting this comment I realized it was very difficult to see the difference, so I'll make it bigger:

Current name of the article:

Where‘s Wally? (with ‘s instead of 's)

Name that would make sense to me (which currently redirects here):

Where's Wally?

Is this intentional? Is this symbol (‘) (which doesn't have a key on my keyboard) used instead of an apostrophe in Britain to indicate a contraction? If not, I think this article should be moved to Where's Wally?— DIEGO talk 21:09, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree. Didn't we have this issue with the War of Jenkins' Ear page? --Ye Olde Luke 13:25, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
I've made the move. But can you guys take care of the bunch of double redirects? They're listed here. Thanks. Pascal.Tesson 15:56, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Still not answered: why the name change?

Several people have asked on this Talk page why the name was changed from Wally to Waldo for North America, but there's still no explanation either here or (much more importantly) in the article. Was there any real reason for changing from Wally other than the seemingly insatiable desire of American editors to tinker with titles? 86.132.141.139 (talk) 21:47, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

I'd guess Wally is a totally unknown name in America (but Waldo somehow isn't)?--Him and a dog 15:46, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

As a matter of fact, the name Wally isn't unknown in America. There really is no good reason for the change. I wonder what the bad reason was. Kostaki mou (talk) 15:34, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

I dunno, I'm British and the only guy I've ever met who's called Wally is from Hawaii! Although the word "Wally" is used over here as a term given to someone who's a bit of a prat, I don't know if it's the same in the US? Jeh506 (talk) 13:57, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Hmm... I'm guessing (as an American), that Waldo was just used to make it sound more American--like the Philosopher's Stone was changed to the Sorcerer's Stone. Wally is a name here (in fact, in a movie, a fictional park called Wallyworld is the destination of a family's road trip... I believe it's called National Lampoon's Family Vacation). Like Jeh506 said, it could have been offensive, so it was changed, though Wally is pretty much just a name here. Any offense would have been taken by British citizens, probably not by Americans. Venku Tur'Mukan (talk) 15:56, 16 February 2011 (UTC)
Wally isn't offensive, so that's not the reason. It essentially means "silly person", rather than "prat" (which isn't child friendly). --Kurtle (talk) 12:58, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

I worked at Walker Books at the time the first book was created and published, so can tell you the answer - but it can't be included in the article because you won't find a published reference to this. The name Wally was chosen in Britain for the reason Jeh506 gave - it's a term used here for someone who's a bit of a prat. Not only this connotation didn't exist in the US, but John Keller, the publisher at Little, Brown at the time, was concerned 'Where's Wally' was too close to the American children's book 'Where's Wallace', and possible copyright issues. So the name Waldo was chosen, mainly because it was close enough to Wally, but not controversial in any way.

Incidentally, the reason Wally's girlfriend's name was changed from Wilma to Wenda was also because of potential copyright issues with the character from the Flintstones. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Erica121 (talk • contribs) 23:06, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Thank you, Erica, for clearing that up.
However the discussion above raised some issues.
The name "Waldo" has no particular currency in North America. At one time, "waldo" was used in technology as a term for a remote control hand. That usage derived from the Robert A. Heinlein science fiction story "Waldo".
Wally did have some currency, being the name of a principal character on Leave It to Beaver, Beaver's older brother. But, due to the popularity of that show, it would be less likely to find someone naming his son Wally after 1960.
(My uncle Walter was known as Walt, and never Wally.)
Varlaam (talk) 18:01, 21 August 2011 (UTC) (Toronto)

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This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. --03:56, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Why only a hebrew translation in the first part?

Title says it clearly: Nothing's translated except the hebrew one. How comes?

Where's Waldo? - clear.
Onde está o Wally? - understandable. or at least you know which is the name.
Où est Charlie? - same here.
Find Holger - dito.
Hvar er Valli? - dito.
Look for Wally. - dito.
ウォーリーを探せ。 - di- what? I can read some basic japanese, but no kanji. sorry. And I guess I'm not the only one.
Gdzie jest Wally? - clear.
Wo ist Walter? - Dunno, is it clear? It's my mother tongue, so you have to say. But I guess it is.
월리를 찾아라! - same as the Japanese one.
¿Dónde está Wally? - clear.
Dov'è Wally? - easy.
Где Уолли? - huh? gimme a break! Any russians here?
Eyfo Efi? (Where's Efi) - why is this one translated?

See? Either the hard ones are all translated or none at all. 92.104.141.124 (talk) 20:03, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

this is late but, ウォーリーを探せ means "Search for Wally!" or "Find Wally!" (pronounced wo-ri- wo sagase) the exclamation mark is appropriate because 探せ(sagase, "search") is in the command form. Kanjo Kotr (talk) 13:48, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Book titles - Waldo/Wally?

Which of the books were originally printed in the UK and then re-printed in the US? It would seem reasonable for the pages to have the name of the original book. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.101.252.188 (talk) 09:05, 1 April 2009 (UTC) 

haha this is great  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.8.59.26 (talk) 13:17, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Again: Why Waldo?

It's all very well saying that the US name is "Where's Waldo?" but surely if you're going to say that then at least say why. Was it because Americans can't spell so they chose a name that was a little easier to spell? Was it because Americans would find it offensive to find someone whose name means 'stupid' or 'idiotic'? --217.203.146.209 (talk) 19:07, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Go away. 128.211.198.168 (talk) 18:00, 16 January 2010 (UTC)
I've explained what is probably the cause in the talk section "Still not answered: why the name change?" Venku Tur'Mukan (talk) 15:58, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

WTF?

In one section of the article is written: "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 topless female sunbather is seen with a partially exposed breast.[4]". So what? What's the point of this? Is it just to show that Americans are prudes or something? Seriously, take any kid to any beach anywhere and they're going to see exposed breasts or maybe topless sunbathing isn't normal in the USA? What a fucked up country! Guns, deaths, blood, more guns, comments about gun possession being a "right", more deaths, etc. are all fine on American TV and books but a little bit of a breast - no way! What a fucking crazy country.--217.203.146.209 (talk) 19:12, 8 August 2009 (UTC)


so true. you can carry guns and shoot people,but you can't print a picture of someones boobs.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.21.9.232 (talk) 20:42, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Is that really necessary?

And no, topless sunbathing isn't normal in the US. It obviously doesn't affect you, relax. --67.242.120.197 (talk) 04:46, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

Agreed. It is uncommon in the US, and, probably to a lesser degree, Canada.
Once Ontario women had won the legal right to parade around topless in the street, none of them did so.
Too bad for the other 50%. Varlaam (talk) 19:27, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Double TV Entry

The "Television Show" section appears twice. Which place is better? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.70.113.210 (talk) 12:05, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

Things

Does anyone think it's worth mentioning the books that sort of copy/parody Where's Wally's format-type thing? They don't have articles elsewhere (as far as I know). For example, there's Where's Stig and Where's Bin Laden?. Hmmm? Lord Spongefrog, (I am Czar of all Russias!) 21:33, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Wally/Waldo -- redirect vs. merge vs. info

If this article is not to be merged with another one on "Where's Waldo" AND there is also to be almost no information identifitying them as the same (or variations of the same) franchise -- not even any such information in the introduction -- then it's ridiculous and unconstructive to redirect "Where's Waldo" to this page. If it's considered a separate item, it should get its own article, if it's considered the exact same item, then this article should reflect that. The way it is now, however, we're all just pretending that the "Waldo" version doesn't even exist. Minaker (talk) 10:19, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

you really read all of the discussion page? towards the top i mention some text that has been removed and suggest it is reinserted, perhaps in a table for clarity. i agree that waldo should be mentioned but the character *is* wally and waldo was nothing more than the americanisation and should be reflected at the same level as the permutations for other countries rather than trying to re-write history (again.) --Lotsofmagnets (talk) 08:15, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I did read all of the discussion page, and while I agree with your idea of a table, and while I concede that you have a good point that "the americanisation . . . should be reflected at the same level as the permutations for other countries" my response is that if Where's Waldo is considered a separate item, it should get its own article, if it's considered the exact same thing, then this article should reflect that. The way it is now, however, we're all just pretending that the "Waldo" version doesn't even exist. Yes, I know I already said that, but I'm repeating myself because it's a perfectly valid point that is not disputed in any way by anything on this discussion page. People are objecting for objection's sake, but not disputing it. Look, I'm not saying change the title of the article, or anying so drastic as that, I'm saying, let's at least acknowledge the existence of the Where's Waldo version. That's not "trying to re-write history," that's a reflection of an objective, undisputed reality. Can we all at least agree on that much, that a Wikipedia article should reflect reality?

Alright, I've said my piece, and now I'll let it go and let people decide what they'll decide.Minaker (talk) 10:16, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

i definitely agree that the name waldo should appear along with all the others. i might draw up a table that´s open for expansion in the next couple of days denoting different permutations in different countries using the names that were dropped as mentioned in my other talk section. it´s important that waldo doesn´t appear to dominate the others e.g. "where´s wally (or waldo for the us)" as this is biased. --Lotsofmagnets (talk) 21:18, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Waldo in lead

Given that the franchise is known as Where's Waldo in the vast majority of the English-speaking world, it is a no-brainer that this name gets included in the lead. It's just confusing if it isn't. I think it's reasonable to keep the article title as Wally and use Wally throughout the text, but as is standard practice on Wikipedia, widespread alternate names are to be included in bold in the first sentence, and Waldo is certainly widespread. Oreo Priest talk 09:56, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

He's only called Waldo in America. The character was created as Wally, and his regional name-changes are listed in the article, so there's no need to make the American re-name any higher a priority than the others. TR Wolf (talk) 07:30, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
having watched over this article now for quite a while and seen endless vandalism from americans who truly believe since he was waldo in the united states the he must have been waldo everywhere else (typically without even reading the article) i now think i´m prepared to accept "wally (known as waldo in the us)" and it´s permutations just to shut the idiots up once and for all.--Lotsofmagnets (talk) 10:49, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
He is known as Waldo in at least the US and Canada, which is the vast majority of the English-speaking world. As for the "other names" section, there's a big difference between the primary alternative English name and his name in other languages. For one of many examples of an alternative title in the lead, see Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; I could find more if you'd like. Oreo Priest talk 17:26, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
I felt myself shaking my head when I read the comment that 'the US and Canada are the majority of the English-speaking world'. This is a long-standing and recurring problem with Wikipedia - a stubborn pro North American bias. According to Wikipedia, there are 232 million English speakers in India alone, nevermind the 60 million living in the UK itself, millions more in Australia, New Zealand, Africa......the list goes on. There is an unfortunate assumption that just because the US is the economic centre of gravity in this world, that it is the cultural centre of gravity as well. American culture is hugely influential and important, but it is just one among many. Not only that, since Wally is a British creation, surely we should name him in the fashion in which he was originally created? JulesVerne (talk) 18:22, 24 November 2010 (GMT) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.3.230.179 (talk)
the example provided of harry potter is different in that there is no list of countries and how harry was territorialised (was he known as dmitry in russia or barry in australia?) because this only happened for the us and india which makes the alternate title in the lead completely justified. to use the majority argument would actually mean a title of "Where´s Wally (known as 尋找威利 or Find Willie in China)" as the us may have 232 million but china has 1.1 billion speakers. but if anyone here cared enough to actually read the rest of the talk page they´d see pretty quickly that this topic has been done to death and the article is just going to continue to be vandalised indefinitely by americans. --Lotsofmagnets (talk) 08:53, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

(undent)

Pie chart showing the relative numbers of native English speakers in the major English-speaking countries of the world

Not that it really matters, but US + Canada is the vast majority of native English speakers; see the graph, from English language. Anyways, on the English Wikipedia, widespread English names are absolutely to be included in the lead. If this were the Chinese Wikipedia, then alternate Chinese names would be in the lead. Most importantly, I want to reiterate that I have no problem with Wally being used throughout the body of the article; I'm just saying that common alternate names in English (in this case the most common) should be included in the lead, as with every other article on Wikipedia. Oreo Priest talk 09:34, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

Well, a lot of pages with alternate UK/US names for the thing being described mention the alternate in the intro, so this seems quite reasonable to me, particularly if it helps prevent some of the vandalism of this page which has been going on. BTW - that the US/Canada makes up the majority of native English speakers is totally irrelevant. FOARP (talk) 11:13, 6 June 2011 (UTC)
If Where's Wally was never published outside of the UK, that may be true. However, the franchise was highly successful throughout the globe, and most people who speak English as their first language know the character as Waldo. I don't see how that's "irrelevant". 98.221.120.104 (talk) 23:16, 25 June 2011 (UTC)
Put simply, Wiki doesn't decide these things on the basis of what hot-headed Americans such as yourself think. Wiki operates on the very sensible principle that, where the subject described is specifically American in origin, then US EN is used, but where the thing described is British in origin (like, for example, a series of books originally published in the UK by a UK author), then GB EN rules. The number of speakers of each language is irrelevant. If only those things which have never become popular outside the UK were allowed to remain GB EN, and everything else made US, then Wiki would be 100% US English.FOARP (talk) 20:26, 19 July 2011 (UTC)
I'm a Canadian and I think it's totally un-Canadian to override a UK name with a US name.
Don't group us in with the Americans, just because the Americans have worked so hard over decades to wipe out the Canadian book and film industries.
Canadians resent US self-centred arrogance, although, in the Canadian fashion, we are typically too polite to say so.
That does not mean we are not saying "bl**dy Y*nks" in private. No offence (please note non-US spelling).
I vote for Wally. Varlaam (talk) 18:21, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
How book distribution works in Canada:
A big US company buys the US rights. Then they, incidentally, buy the Canadian rights as well. Why? Because they charge us a lot more than they charge in their home market.
If a UK book got raves in The Times or The Guardian or The New Statesman or The Irish Times, do we get to know that here in Canada?
No. Because Americans are really insular navel-gazers who don't give a damn about what anybody else in the world thinks.
Instead of the opinion of The Irish Times, or The Age for that matter, we get the opinion of some imbecile at a radio station in Kansas City.
Oh, and of course we pay a premium for the privilege of hearing from the Kansas City guy we don't know from Adam.
I want to see Wally on this page, not Waldo.
Canadians were never offered the option to have the Wally version.
No, we get the Waldo version shoved down our throats whether we want it or not.
Greetings from Canada eh, Varlaam (talk) 21:43, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Where's Wally Week

If this is the first year of a Where's Wally Week which will happen the last week of November, can one really state that "During the celebrations a number of traditons have been emerging.."? Surely that would imply many years of celebrating such a Week. The whole entry seems pretty biased from a personal POV in any case. What do people think?Stelmaris (talk) 12:57, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Inconsistant use of "Waldo"/"Wally"

It looks like someone replaced a bunch of incidences of "Wally" with "Waldo" without paying attention to the context. Examples of this are the titles of the linked articles, as well as the British titles.

I know there has already been a significant amount of discussion about the use of Waldo/Wally in the article, and if it is a pure translation, etc. I think, however, if something is to be changed in a title, it should use brackets to indicate the change from the original source material (e.g. "Where is [Waldo]?"). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.207.232.42 (talk) 01:19, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT, FOR GOD'S SAKE JUST STOP IT!!!!

YES, THE REST OF THE WORLD IS AWARE THAT WALLY WAS RENAMED WALDO IN THE UNITED STATES! YOU HAVE MADE THIS CLEAR! IT'S EVEN IN THE VERY 1ST LINE OF THE ARTICLE! IS THIS NOT ENOUGH? WOULD YOU ERASE WALLY FROM LITERATURE? WOULD YOU PREFER THE WORLD TO BELIEVE THE FRANCHISE STARTED IN THE UNITED STATES AND STARTED OUT AS WALDO? EVERY SINGLE REFERENCE TO WALLY DOES NOT NEED TO HAVE WALDO ATTACHED TO IT LIKE A SUFFIX UNLESS YOU REALLY DO THINK THAT AMERICANS ARE THAT TOTALLY UNEDUCATED THAT AFTER READING THE 1ST LINE OF THE ARTICLE EVERY REFERENCE "WALLY" THEY WILL LEAVE THEM THINKING "WHO´S HE?" STOP PATRONISING YOUR OWN COUNTRY! caps lock off --Lotsofmagnets (talk) 10:32, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Why the tirade? The recent edits from Varlaam did not try to negate Wally's UK origins, or patronise anyone, on the contrary.Stelmaris (talk) 11:01, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Editing 'Veli'

I am editing the Turkish name because it is not Veli. It is Ali. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.2.132.149 (talk) 16:27, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

The Waldo Audiobooks

Diversion from the cross-Atlantic localization sniping:

The sidebar indicates the Martin Handford books can be obtained in Audiobook format in some cases. I can find no evidence of this and the Google results strongly indicate that the concept has been used as a joke on multiple occasions. Might want to revise in that case. 98.225.182.131 (talk) 06:04, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Good catch. Oreo Priest talk 18:49, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Odlaw in the UK

Odlaw is Waldo spelled backwards... but in the UK Waldo is Wally. So is Odlaw still called Odlaw there? Or is it "Yllaw"? CodeCat (talk) 22:38, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

He is Odlaw in the UK. It was probably simpler to keep the same name for the new character in both editions. Stelmaris (talk) 10:37, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

I have lived in the UK my whole life and I can confirm that while Wally retains his true name, Odlaw is still called 'Odlaw' in those books in which he appears. Presumably because it's a decent pun, and not to pander to Americans. Devgirl (talk) 04:10, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

Localized Names in International Editions

Why are we listing languages where "Wally's" name has been localized to "Wally"? Catalan, Dutch, Portuguese, Polish, and Spanish all call Wally by the localized name of "Wally", which is to say, the same name.

--03:30, 31 December 2016 (UTC)Stacecom (talk)

The opening line says that the name has "often" been localised for international editions, so this implies that not all were. At least, that's how I read it. If you think this should be made clearer, feel free to do so, but I think the fact that the name Wally has been kept in some foreign language editions is interesting to some people.--Stelmaris (talk) 08:55, 31 December 2016 (UTC)

Wally

Very glad to see that this article remains true to the original title of the books (and the character Wally), and remains one of the few corners of the internet that has not yet succumbed to the insidious influence of Americanisation. Good job to the editors of this page. Devgirl (talk) 04:06, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

This is an AWFUL MERGE.

  • Huh? This was a HORRIBLE merge. Two pages should exist, if ONLY because there's an active franchise for both, with some things only marketed under the Waldo name and others only the Wally name. Quit with the globalization. You're creating your own 'mandela effects'. I don't want to have this be the top hit in Google when I type "Where's Waldo?". There should be a disambiguation at the top for each with a 'for the British/UK' franchise and 'for the American (or whatever)' franchise. You're freaking people out by screwing with their memory. Nobody in the states has heard of 'Where's Wally?' (even though most people in Britain have heard of 'Where's Waldo?', even if they think of it as 'Where's Wally'). This is perverse. This needs to be re-split off again. What's more, one doesn't even know any of this drama is going on unless they look at the Talk page (and how many people really do that?). Seriously. The insanity was merging and insisting one is real and one isn't or that one is more important than the other. - Random User, 14 October 2019, 21:47 (UTC)
What is the difference between Where's Waldo and Where's Wally? Answer: none, one is just a different name for the other. Just like the series Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles was known as Teenaged Mutant Hero Turtles in the UK for various reasons. Therefore, a single page is appropriate, and since it is UK-origin the UK name is the one that prevails. FOARP (talk) 12:25, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

Disambiguation of "Where's Wally?"

Someone needs to create a disambiguation of Where's Wally? because there's a lot of articles on Wikipedia about Where's Wally? where you search for Where's Wally? or Where's Waldo? on mobile Wikipedia. PedroLucasDBr (talk) 19:08, 11 September 2020 (UTC)

Suggestions for Article

I noticed that there are certain sections, specifically in the television series section, which can be elaborated on and include up to date information. The most recent information posted in this section mentions an anticipated TV series debut for 2019, though there is no additional entry beyond that explaining any other developments. The article also does not have an entry section on the book series' issues with censorship/being challenged by schools, which I think is useful and relevant information that can be discussed. Dg954 (talk) 15:45, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Add a hidden Waldo (or Wally)

I have no idea if this is possible but I would like a Waldo to be hidden in this Wikipedia article. It would bring me great joy if someone did this. If this already exists I obviously did have not found him yet. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Antw18 (talk • contribs) 06:42, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

Merging with Waldo...I say NO!

Someone just brought up that the "Wally" and "Waldo" pages should be merged, I think that this is wrong! If the articles were just on the 1987 books "Where's Wally" and "Where's Waldo" than I could understand merging them. Those two books were identical except the "ly" at the end of Wally was changed to a "do". Everything else is the same. Even the 1988 book "Find Wally/Waldo now?" are identical and could share an article. But these pages are about the franchises as a whole.

The 6 "classic" Waldo books illustrated by Martin Handford are identical (except the character name). But as a whole the franchises are very different. The American Waldo franchise did a lot of things that thee UK's Wally did not. The articles talk about the franchise as a whole. Their was Waldo Magazine, Waldo fan-club, Waldo toys, Waldo events, Waldo toys and about 10 Waldo books that never had any kind of "Wally" counterparts. And there are a bunch of "exclusive" Wally products and productions that never become Waldo-ized. There are about 4-5 Wally books were made that never become "Waldo-ized".

Some things do overlap and on the surface the two appear very similar, but each franchise has its own history, its own exclusive characters, its own books, its own products, its own productions, its own honors/awards and they each have different "attitudes", characteristic, and whatnot. They are related, but each are independent. Simply lumping Waldo as "another name for Wally" (or vise-versa) would be a disservice to the huge difference and histories between the two "versions" of something that come from the same original character and idea. There are many more differences between Waldo and Wally than just the name.

It's almost like the difference between The Office (UK TV series) and The Office (US TV series). I hope to spend some time expanding both the Wally and Waldo articles to be more specific to each version and define all the parts (including the differences) of the Waldo & Wally phenomenons. -- WaldoWatcher 03:37, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I suggested the merge because the two articles are 80% duplicated content. If you want to go ahead and turn them in to truly seperate articles, I'll happly withdraw my suggestion. But as it stands these articles are practically identical. I don't see why the differences between versions can't be covered with a few paragraphs, rather than needing a whole new article.
The comparison with the office is flawed. The american office is a remake. Not just a rebranding. Granted, some Wally stuff was not produced as Waldo and vice-visa, but this hardly makes them seperate things.
Regardless, the current situation of two almost identical articles is simply poor form. --JiFish(Talk/Contrib) 18:40, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
I say yes, but that Wally should be merged into Waldo; not the other way around. I'm sure that's my US bias creeping in, but that's how I feel. -- stubblyhead | T/c 17:10, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
Merge Waldo into Wally. Handford is British, the books were published in Britain first, Wally is the original name. And I second everything User:JiFish said. --Bonalaw 17:49, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
Unless there is anything else anyone would like to add, I'm going to merge Waldo into Wally within the next week. --JiFish(Talk/Contrib) 14:55, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
Waldo goes into Wally, the motion is PASSED! Comradeash 18:08, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
I agree with the proposed merge of Waldo into Wally. I am reading the articles for the first time, and I see that yes, most of the content is duplicated. The differences can easily be explained within a couple of sections... there's no need to duplicate the main article. And yes - Wally should of course be the main article: it was the original. EuroSong 10:58, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
I also support merging Where's Waldo into Where's Wally, for much the same reasons as stated by EuroSong and Bonalaw.--Cini 11:48, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
I agree with most of the above and that Where's Waldo should be merged into Where's Wally, and redirects set up as necessary. Born Acorn 13:54, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
I also agree: merge Waldo into Wally. Wally's the original. Although Waldo has more spin-offs than I'd realised, a fair amount of the content is essentially the same. --A bit iffy 07:11, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
So... this has been going on for 2 months now, and the consensus is that the articles should merge. Is anyone going to actually do it? :) I'd offer to do it myself, but I am not a major contributor and don't want to step on anyone else's toes. EuroSong talk 12:17, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
It's not done yet. I also don't want to step on toes, but my Virgo nature needs this merged. --Green-ghost 07:15, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
But who's going to do it? I'd do it but I don't feel I am experienced enough. Born Acorn 19:29, 8 August 2006 (UTC)


OK, I did the merge, but it wouldn't hurt for someone else to look over it. It would also be really great to have sources for the information. Thanks!Lisamh 00:01, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Looks like someone undid the merge. Where's Waldo? was reverted to pre-merge. Born Acorn 23:18, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
Why has it been a year and no one has re-merged the pages? For crying out loud, he's the same person! And as for which page should be merged with which, I vote that the Waldo page should be merged into the Wally page, since Wally is the original name. Why is this even an issue? Just merge the pages. There's really no room for discussion. Chalkieperfect 23:39, 25 July 2007 (UTC)


Damn, yet another example of pro-US/anti-UK bias in Wikipedia. You bet if this was a US series which was republished with minor modification in the UK there would be a tiny section on the UK version hidden amongst a couple of pages about the US version, whereas just because there was a minor name change to a UK book series it now somehow becomes a totally different thing deserving a separate page. I rather suspect that this is just because a lot of our American friends couldn't stand to see a character they know as Waldo with a Wiki page labelled Wally, and this is the only way they could prevent that. Someone mentioned the UK/US versions of The Office - but in that case there is a unitary franchise page, and the two series' had no cross-over points, different concepts, different characters, different actors - in fact they shared little except the general over-arching theme. I'm going to re-merge them. FOARP (talk) 10:07, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Done, now no demerging them without first discussing it and taking a vote as was done above. FOARP (talk) 10:19, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


I agree with your analysis, FOARP, with most other cases such as this I wouldn't be bothered, but Where's Waldo? was an integral part of American childhood back in the day and I, like many American users, clearly tend to let sentiment obscure logic here. I feel it right that "Where's Wally?" be the article title, but when I first looked this up on wikipedia and found my Waldo being called Wally was like finding that your birth certificate says John Smith when you've known yourself as Jon Smith all your life. Wormwoodpoppies (talk) 15:24, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Well, I hope I didn't come off as too angry in my above comment, it's just that you really do see this kind of thing quite often. FOARP (talk) 17:35, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

اين شبلي/فضولي Arabic Where's Waldo

Do either of these exist? I have not found any reference to them in my searches except on this page. 2620:0:1A10:7822:2D01:6EC:984:40EB (talk) 08:08, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

"Where the hell is Waldo?" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Where the hell is Waldo? and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 July 9#Where the hell is Waldo? until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. TraderCharlotte (talk) 03:59, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

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