US Edition 
Where’s Wally? creator to net £2.5m in sale
Where’s Wally? creator Martin Handford is set to pocket £2.5m after selling the rights to the popular children’s character to media group Entertainment Rights.
Wally, who wears a distinctive red and white striped jumper and hat, appears in a series of books where he is carefully hidden in a variety of busy scenes, such as fairgrounds and the circus, for readers to find.
The books were launched in 1986 and have made London-born Mr Handford, formerly a freelance illustrator, famous.
Mr Handford is keeping the right to draw and publish Where’s Wally? books, while Entertainment Rights - which owns characters such as Postman Pat and Basil Brush - has bought the right to use the character in other forms including digital, audio visual and merchandising. The company will also be able to publish Where’s Wally? books based on any TV series it creates.
Mike Heap, chief executive of Entertainment Rights, said: “Where’s Wally? has huge applications in the digital world. We’ll look at the classics like a TV series and publishing but with a very sharp eye on the digital media world.”
He said he had plans for a handheld computer game and a PC game aimed at the whole family.Known as Waldo in the US, the character has helped sell over 76m Where’s Wally? books since they were launched. They have been published in over 50 countries and have been translated into 26 languages, have generated sales of more than £81m.
Mr Handford, who was born in Hampstead in 1956, worked for three years in an insurance office to pay for his degree at art college. He then worked as a freelance illustrator specialising in drawing crowd scenes. According to the website of publishing company Walker Books, each Wally picture takes Mr Handford eight weeks to draw.
“As I work my way through a picture, I add Wally when I come to what I feel is a good place to hide him,” he said. His favourite Wally picture is ‘A Tremendous Song and Dance’ from Where’s Wally? In Hollywood.Entertainment Rights is paying £500,000 on completion of the deal, with the remaining £2m paid in four installments over three years.