Martin Handford

Martin Handford is an illustrator widely recognized for creating the globally successful ‘Where’s Wally?’ (or ‘Where’s Waldo?’) series of puzzle books, influencing children’s literature and popular culture. After being commissioned by Walker Books in London in 1986 to create a book featuring detailed crowd scenes, Martin Handford conceived ‘Wally,’ a distinctive, world-traveling character for readers to find. This led to the publication of the first ‘Where’s Wally?’ book in 1987, initiating a globally successful puzzle book series. Handford meticulously illustrated each two-page spread, with some requiring up to eight weeks to complete.

This period also saw ‘Where’s Wally? The Wonder Book’ (1997) and the ‘Wally’s World’ geographical magazine series (1997), alongside Tenth Anniversary Editions for the first four books. By 2007, the ‘Where’s Wally?’ series had sold over 73 million copies worldwide, translated into 26 languages, and published in more than 50 countries. The franchise’s commercial appeal led to significant acquisitions: Entertainment Rights purchased the rights in 2007, followed by Boomerang Media in 2009, and Classic Media in 2012.

His creation’s cultural impact extended to major advertising, with Wally featured in a MetLife commercial during the 2012 Super Bowl, the same year he published ‘Where’s Wally? The Search for the Lost Things’ and the ‘Where’s Wally? 25th Anniversary Annual’. The ‘Where’s Wally?’ franchise continued its robust growth, ultimately acquired by NBCUniversal in 2016 through DreamWorks Animation.

Further demonstrating its enduring global relevance, Google Maps integrated a ‘Where’s Wally?’ minigame in 2018, reaching millions of users worldwide. In 2019, a second animated series, ‘Where’s Waldo?’, aired on Universal Kids, reintroducing the beloved character to a new generation of audiences.