Where’s Waldo now?
I think I may have stumbled upon some espionage of an international nature.
People see him as a harmless adventurer, suitable for kids books, but the truth is that Waldo appears to be a man of intrigue.
A bit like the talented Mr Ripley.
For a start, I don’t even know him as Waldo. When we were first introduced, he informed me his name was ‘Wally’. Similarly, he seemed to be a rather affable intellectual. All fumbling and slightly stuttery in his manner.
The next time I encountered him, in the US, he was using the name ‘Waldo’ and presenting himself as an outwardly confident, tech savvy adventurer… he had even smartened up his clothes.
I can tell you, after some research, this is not his only pseudonym… In Germany he adopts the identity of ‘Walter’ and in France, the slightly debonair, ‘Charlie’.
He has even been spotted in Denmark assuming the name of ‘Holger’.
And then you have to wonder why he’s so good at hiding. Is it that he likes to hang out in areas of distraction with plenty going on? Or is it that he’s been trained, as an operative, in various forms of camouflage?
With those binoculars that he seems to carry with him, you have to wonder what he’s up to this Waldo character. I’d certainly stop him at customs.
So you have to wonder, are you looking for Waldo, or is he looking for you?
…
(I’ve always been a bit intimidated by characters from children’s books. I can still bring to mind several illustrations that genuinely scared the bejesus out of me… just out of interest, can any of you remember if you were scared by particular books or illustrations?)
Ms Em on 
justine on
My boss is named Wally. When someone needs him and asks innocently ‘Where’s Wally?’ we tend to laugh. The joke hasn’t gotten old in two years.
How can you discuss Where’s Wally without making reference to the mid-90s cartoon version and infectious theme tune therein?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGyvPeTRMLU
It’s like the Fun Lovin’ Criminals were slumming it one weekend, and emerged after a coke binge in a library with this little tape in their hands.
I can’t see that joke EVER getting old.
I’d completely forgotten about the cartoon – the mid- to late-90s are a little bit of a black hole for me. Nice link.
“It’s like the Fun Lovin’ Criminals were slumming it one weekend, and emerged after a coke binge in a library with this little tape in their hands.”
Ha. Isn’t it always the case that children’s TV theme tunes are always the most trippy, drug-influenced melodies available…
I’m not looking for Waldo.
I’m looking for Wally.
(That’s his REAL name!)
I hear you Philippa, he’s Wally to me too. I prefer the British version, not only because of the name, but the slightly scruffier appearance and generally bumbling demeanor…
He’s a bit of a role model.
I fear he may have in fact influenced me.
Luckily, I haven’t inherited a penchant for hiding is busy crowds of circus performers…yet.
It’s Wally.
My dad used to read my bedtime stories and every now and then apparently he would become bored and change the story. I would grow up with these very specific images from these stories that would never ever eventuate when I went back and searched through my entire library for the boy with the single massive spike growing from his tongue in James and the Giant Peach …
I’m very much liking the cut of your dad’s gib…
That’s some pretty dark imagery to instill in a child, a spike through the tongue, top work.
I’m planning on ‘remixing’ stories, mash-up style for my children… The first one will be a combination of the ‘Magic Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton, and the ‘Empire Strikes Back’… it has a great theme tune too.
That said, Roald Dahl stuff is pretty dark anyway. James and the Giant Peach especially.
Roald Dahl shaped me as a child.
I constantly lecture people on how the second Wonka film is actually a truer adaptation of the book. ‘But it’s so DARK’ they say, to which I respond innocently, ‘Have you read the book?’
thank goodness, adam, before you wrote that bit i was going to yell loudly about the fact that his name is WALLY!
i dont remember when we first met, but i wish he would stop avoiding me. i mean, did i do something wrong? he should surely have the guts to just tell me it hasnt been working out.
If there’s one thing we can say about him with any certaintity it’s that he likes to watch from afar…
and, yeah, now that you mention it, with all that adventuring you’d expect a slightly more buff physique… he must be taking nerd supplements.
that one by beatrix potter where the little kitten gets caught by rats, and to have revenge on all the little rats that kitten’s mom killed, the rats decided to roll him up in some dough and eat him.
that image still freaks me out. because me cats have killed and eaten rats, and since they have no children, what if they decide to eat me.
it might’ve been helped by the fact that i was very tiny as a child.
Having spent a fair bit of time in the company of rats, I can tell you that they will eat anything that is rolled up in dough…
That’s a really dark story… revenge killings, snacking on enemies and a kitten…
I only ever got a sense of enchantment, even from the darkest works. (Read most of E.A. Poe’s stuff as a child.)
Children sometimes have a really high tolerance for that sort of thing. I loved the Masque of The Red Death as a boy, though it terrified me, and has probably led to a life-long fear of masked balls.
My first book was “Where the Buffalo Roam” and I was reading the Power of One and TommyKnockers by 10.
R.L Stine and Dean Koontz was about as scary I got as a kid.
As for Wally/Waldo/whatever, meh. Not enought words, too many pics and far too many ppl.
Tho I do like how the books train you to detect selected data whilst ignoring unwanted info.
Koontz and King, good wholesome stuff for a young man… but ‘Where the Buffalo Roam’, that’s a classic.
I think you’re spot on with the idea of information filtering, with regard to Wally. Something that will become more important in the future as we head towards information saturation. It won’t be too long before advertisers can buy the space on the backs of your eyelids and every other word in the newspaper is the word ‘buy’.
It sounds extreme, but we’ll be able to filter it out on some level without impeding our info uptake, similar to how we watch TV today (most people can’t recount the adverts they have watched 30 seconds earlier because they have learned to dispose instantly that information).
I was terrified of an entire children’s book featuring a school with a substitute teacher named Ms. Swamp. I don’t really remember the details of it anymore, but I remember being terrified whenever my teacher announced that she would be away.
You mean Ms Viola Swamp?
You probably read either - Miss Nelson is Missing, miss Nelson is Back or Miss Nelson has a Field Day.
Of course, the story arc leads us to believe that Viola Swamp is actually Miss Nelson in disguise.
I DO mean Ms. Viola Swamp!!!! I think specifically it was Miss Nelson is Back, but I’m not sure. I’m glad I know the whole name now.
I remember that book, too, come to think of it.
For me Hansel and Gretel was f%^&* scary, the idea that your parents could get so sick of you they take you somewhere and just leave you…………twice
As for Wally in NZ we are looking for him too, which is a bit weird when a wally in nz is an idiot, a right wally etc.
I read through several versions of H&G recently whilst researching folk and fairy tales for the ‘My Black Dog’ animation. Still gives me the heebs now.
The abandonment of children is a very strong theme throughout certainly Eastern-European tales… as is being eaten. Probably the two things children are most scared of.
I think the name Wally (which means pretty much the same in the UK, though in an effectionate way) is indicative of that version of his character (as opposed to the confident US version).
I’ve got a real hankering for gingerbread now…
See I look back and see all the kids stuff from the eighties that I was born just late enough to miss, and I get all upset.
But then I remember the Disney Afternoon.
And then I miss those days.
Fear has always been connected with s. pleasure, as far as imaginary villains. I’m sure a psyoanalist would have a field day with that one.
S’not in a book, but does anyone remember the moomins? I swear, those little white hippo-things were creepy. but i loved ‘em :p
One image that does scare me though is the sun in the teletubbies. I mean come on, for pity’s sake, there’s a baby in the damn thing!
Indeed I do… those things still creep me out.
And yes, the first time I watched ‘tubies I was rather disturbed by the laughing sun baby… I imagine we’ll see that at the apocalypse.
ME
TOO
ew
creepy little thing