Where's Waldo?
Series, 1991, The '90s, Set in Everywhere, hiding
Where's Waldo? is #14 of 18 in release order and #14 of 18 in chronological order in the CBS Saturday Morning Cartoons.
The story
Young adventurers Waldo and Wenda use their problem-solving skills and the help of an international wizard society to stop a rival globetrotter named Odlulu from using his magic to stir up trouble.
Where's Waldo? recap
Where's Waldo? (1991) sends Waldo, the striped traveller from Martin Handford's picture books, and his dog Woof on quests through time and magical lands. DIC Enterprises animated it with The Waldo Film Co. for CBS; Rowby Goren developed it, Handford was an executive producer and Jim Cummings narrates. Waldo (Townsend Coleman) carries a magic walking stick that can take him anywhere, which makes it the constant target of Odlaw (Julian Holloway), his villainous opposite, whose name is Waldo spelled backwards. Woof (David Workman) is shy and easily frightened and tends to hide with only his tail showing. Wizard Whitebeard (Brad Garrett, doing a Rodney Dangerfield voice) hands out the scrolls that start each quest, and Wenda, Waldo's camera-carrying friend, appears in "The Living Exhibits". The show keeps the books' search game: twice an episode the action freezes for "Waldo's Minute", a full minute for viewers to find Waldo in a crowded picture. Thirteen episodes aired on CBS from September 14 to December 14, 1991, and on ITV in the UK, where the character is known as Wally.
Where's Waldo? ending explained
Where's Waldo? ends with "The Land of the Lost Pyramid", aired December 14, 1991, in which Waldo and Woof match wits with Guanomuck, a cruel villain drawn from the Aztec scene in the book Find Waldo Now. CBS cancelled the series after that one season because of low ratings, so there is no finale. Four direct-to-video specials followed, two in 1992 and two in 1997, and a separate Where's Waldo? series premiered on Universal Kids in July 2019.
Where to watch Where's Waldo?
Where's Waldo? is streaming on Hulu in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.0/10
Where it fits
- Release order: after Back to the Future: The Animated Series, before Beakman's World.
- Chronological order: after Back to the Future: The Animated Series, before Beakman's World.
Cast
- Joshua Rush as Waldo (voice)
- Eva Carlton as Odlulu (voice)
- Haley Tju as Wenda (voice)
- Piotr Michael as Fritz (voice)
- Thomas Lennon as Wizard Whitebeard (voice)
- Bobby Moynihan as Wizard Wavybeard (voice)
- Retta as Wizard Nightingale (voice)
- Henry Winkler as Wizard Longbeard (voice)
- Rob Riggle as Wizard Rockybeard (voice)
- Jerry O'Connell as Jason (voice)
- Randall Park as Wizard Shadowbeard (voice)
- Oscar Nuñez as Wizard Featherbeard (voice)
Created by Martin Handford.