Where's Wally?: The Animated Series

Where's Waldo?
Created by Martin Handford
Developed by Rowby Goren
Written by David Schwartz
George Atkins
Evelyn A-R Gabai
Bill Matheny
Rowby Goren
Creative director(s) Mike Gornall
Starring Townsend Coleman
Jim Cummings
Brad Garrett
Julian Holloway
Dave Workman
Composer(s) Michael Tavera
Country of origin United States
Canada
United Kingdom
No. of episodes 13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Martin Handford
Andy Heyward
Peter Orton
Producer(s) Peter Aries
Editor(s) Richard S. Gannon
Trudy Alexander
Kris Glispin
Running time 25 minutes
Production company(s) Sei Young Animation Co., Ltd.
The Waldo Film Company
DIC Entertainment
HIT Entertainment
Distributor HIT Entertainment
Release
Original network CBS
(United States)
ITV (CITV)
The Children's Channel
(United Kingdom)
Original release September 14 – December 14, 1991

Where's Waldo?: The Animated Series is a joint venture between American/Canadian/British animated television series production, distributed by DIC Entertainment and The Waldo Film Company. The television series aired on CBS Kids for one season (199192) and later reaired on Nickelodeon.

The show follows the adventures of Waldo and his dog Woof, who were already established stars of the Where's Waldo picture book series. The "Where's Waldo?" TV Show brought the gangly man in the striped shirt and ski cap to Saturday morning TV. The cartoon "Where's Waldo?" went beyond the books' original concept, giving the characters depth and giving reasons for their adventures. The program's opening song "Where's Waldo?" was composed by Michael Tavera.

Waldo and his dog Woof travel to distant lands, solving mysteries and lending a helping hand wherever they could. With the help of his magic walking stick, Waldo could travel through space and time or travel to far off magical lands. Often sent by Wizard Whitebeard to help solve a puzzle, or mysteries, "Where's Waldo" was a 1/2 hour puzzle of clues and riddles.

The evil Waldo lookalike Odlaw was the show's villain, constantly plotting to steal Waldo's magic stick. In each episode Odlaw would team up with the other villains from the far-off lands to help get the magic stick, while Waldo and Woof teamed up with other land's "good-guys" to help with their problems.

Waldo stayed true to the books' premise by means of the "Waldo's Minutes," during which the screen froze for a full minute so the viewer at home could try to find Waldo. This kind of segment aired twice per episode.

The distribution rights to the show are currently held by HIT Entertainment.

Awards

The Where's Waldo cartoon was nominated for the "1992 annual Young Artist Award" for Outstanding New Animation Series but lost the award to Back to the Future: The Animated Series (also on CBS). The show lasted only one season on CBS airing 13 episodes between September 14, 1991 and December 14, 1991, before being cancelled because of low ratings (as a result of direct competition from NBC's juggernaut Saved by the Bell). Reruns of the episodes aired on CBS until September 5, 1992.

Merchandise

In 1992, Little, Brown and Company released two Waldo books based on the adventures and characters from the Where's Waldo TV Show. Fun with Waldo and More Fun with Waldo, featured print versions of many of the "Waldo Minute" freeze-frame scenes, along with new puzzles and things to spot in each picture.

International changes

To meet the needs of international viewers in the USA and Canada, a second audio track was recorded using the same vocal actors – the name "Wally" was replaced entirely with "Waldo", the name of the books' character in the USA and Canada. Other international versions were produced dubbed in entirely in German, French, Italian, Japanese and other languages (many times with Wally's name being changed to match that country's name from the original books).

Characters

Cast

Additional voices

DVD release

The animated show was released in Australia on the May 7, 2009 with Where’s Waldo Vol.1 – My Left Fang. As of February 3, 2013, HIT Entertainment has yet to announce any plans for a US DVD release of the show. However, episodes were previously released on videocassette in the 1990s by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Fox Kids Video and CBS Video.

UK VHS releases

VHS title Release date Episodes
Where's Waldo? My Left Fang 1992 My Left Fang, Forest Women, The Great Ball Game.
Where's Waldo? It's a Gruel, Gruel World 1993 It's A Gruel, Gruel World, Draining The Deep, 'The Underground Hunters.
Where's Waldo? The Land of the Carpet Flyers 1993 The Land of the Carpet Flyers
Where's Waldo? The Land of the Lost Pyramid 1994 The Land Of The Lost Pyramid, Ahead Of The Future, The Unfriendly Giant
Where's Waldo? The Biggest Ever Video 1994 A Stone Age Story, Viking Fling, The Living Exhibits, It's A Gruel, Gruel World, Draining The Deep, The Underground Hunters, My Left Fang, Forest Women, The Great Ball Game
Where's Waldo? The Unfriendly Giant 1994 The Unfriendly Giant, The Land Of The Lost Pyramid

Broadcast stations

See also

External links

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