For many of us, finding Waldo under the tree this morning isn’t going to be much of a problem.
With four books, a TV show and a cereal box cover to his credit, Waldo has become the hottest character since the Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The cartoon character, who wears a plain, striped red-and-white shirt, a similar-colored stocking cap and a blue pair of pants, can be found on everything from bedsheets to hair shampoo bottles.
He can be found, that is, if you’re good at spotting his smiling, ordinary face, anchored by a pair of glasses, in a crowd of thousands.
“You want to know how popular he is?” asks Erica Lindberg Gourd, owner of Lindberg Licensing, a Bronxville, N.Y.-based company that has the licensing rights to the character in the United States and Canada. “There’s even a camera that places Waldo in every picture you take. This little guy is everywhere.”
Four books on his adventures have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. He has a Saturday morning cartoon show on CBS. And he has — get this — replaced Mikey on the cover of Life cereal, selling 13 million boxes in the process.
Waldo is the creation of Martin Handford, a 35-year-old London illustrator. The character was inspired from the games Handford would play as a child, arranging plastic toy figures into crowds and armies.
“Waldo is my absolute passion,” Handford said in a prepared statement.
The object of Handford’s Where’s Waldo? books is to find Waldo in elaborate settings such as Arabian nights, haunted castles, thick forests and under the sea.
People, especially children, find Waldo appealing because he’s fun and wholesome, Gourd said.
“He’s not violent, he doesn’t kill anyone,” she said. “He’s a nice nerd. Kids also like him because they can usually find him before mom and dad can.”
Carlo Parseghian, 7, looks at his Waldo book every night before he goes to bed and searches for Waldo on his cereal box in the morning.
“I like to look for things,” the Glendale, Calif., resident says. “I like how he dresses. I like his dog. And he has a funny face. I just go over the book again and again. I never get tired of it.”
Carlo’s mother, Carmen Parseghian, who paid $12 for the book, finds the books a bit pricey, but recognizes their entertainment value.
“I don’t know why it’s so popular,” Parseghian says. “But Carlo really enjoys it. I feel like he’s really getting something out of it. He’s opening up a book and using his mind and imagination.”
