Wicked Willie
Wicked Willie is a humorous British cartoon character, personified as a talking penis, created by Gray Jolliffe (illustrator) with Peter Mayle. He first appeared in the book, Man's Best Friend, published in 1984.[1] He has subsequently appeared in Wicked Willie - The Movie,[2] and the board game, The Wicked Willie Game.[3] Jolliffe says that the idea for Wicked Willie came to him one day, while he was in the bath.[4] A more detailed history of Wicked Willie is found in the book, Wicked Willie Reloaded.[5][6]
Journalist Peter Silverton describes "..the comic books about a man and his Wicked Willie. It was a dialogue -- mostly about women, of course -- between the two. Its irony is that the 'dreadful little trouser mole' is by far the sharper of the two brains".[7]
Personification
Author Peter Mayle describes Wicked Willie as "a rampant penis".[8] In her book Communicating gender, Suzanne Romaine notes:
- "The personification metaphor suggests that the penis leads a life of its own. It has been popularized in Britain in the form of the Wicked Willie books, where Willie is referred to as "Man's Best Friend".[9]
Scottish feminist linguist, Deborah Cameron notes that:
- "In England, there is a popular cartoon character called "Wicked Willie" [..] The underlying conceit is that men secretly regard their penis as an individual in its own right (and one to whom they are deeply attached). Though the cartoon is a joke, it presumably speaks to a widely recognized, culturally constructed experience of the penis as an uncontrollable Other, with a life of its own."[10]
The character also contributed to the permissiveness and acceptance of sex on the high street. British journalist Libby Purves writes:
- "High street shops no longer bother to put their hopping penises on a high shelf, and nor do bookshops selling Wicked Willie and the like."[11]
Reception
In March 1987, the book, Wicked Willie's Guide to Women, was in the number 7 position in the Paperback Non-Fiction section, of the Month's Bestsellers.[12] Almost a year later, Wicked Willie's Low-down on Men, had reached number 6 in the same chart.[13]
References
- ↑ Peter Mayle, Man's Best Friend: Introducing Wicked Willie in the Title Role, illustrated by Gray Jolliffe, Crown (New York, NY), 1984.
- ↑ Wicked Willie - The Movie & Comes again.. and again - The Complete Wicked Willie [ 2010 ], Bob Godfrey (Director). 83 minutes
- ↑ The Wicked Willie Game by Paul Lamond Games
- ↑ "Wicked Willie" at www.grayjolliffe.com, retrieved 12 Jan 2012
- ↑ "News", Wicked Willie Official website, retrieved 12 Jan 2012
- ↑ Gray Joliffe, Wicked Willie: Reloaded, Publisher: Prion Books Ltd, Sept 2004, ISBN 1-85375-541-9, ISBN 978-1853755415. 64 pages.
- ↑ Peter Silverton, Filthy English: The How, Why, When And What Of Everyday Swearing, Publisher Portobello Books, 2011, ISBN 1846274524, 9781846274527, 256 pages, page
- ↑ "Encore Provence", The Nation, Jul 6, 1997. Page C8, column 2.
- ↑ Suzanne Romaine, Communicating genderPublisher Psychology Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8058-2926-1, ISBN 978-0-8058-2926-6, 406 pages. (page 244)
- ↑ Deborah Cameron, "Naming of Parts: Gender, Culture, and terms for the penis among American college students (1995)", in The Routledge language and cultural theory reader, edited by Lucy Burke, Tony Crowley, Publisher Routledge, 2000, ISBN 0-415-18681-1, ISBN 978-0-415-18681-0, 511 pages (page 207)
- ↑ Libby Purves, A Little Learning: Broodings from the Back of the Class, Publisher Routledge, 2007, ISBN 0-415-41709-0, ISBN 978-0-415-41709-9, 249 pages. (page 51)
- ↑ "Month's Bestsellers", Illustrated London News, London, 31 Jan. 1987, Issue 7064, page 69
- ↑ Illustrated London News, London, Saturday, February 27, 1988, Issue 7075, page 70
Bibliography
- Man's Best Friend: Introducing Wicked Willie in the Title Role, illustrated by Gray Jolliffe, Crown (New York, NY), 1984.
- Wicked Willie's Guide to Women: A Worm's-Eye View of the Fair Sex, illustrated by Gray Jolliffe, Pan Books (London, England), 1986, Crown (New York, NY), 1987.
- Wicked Willie's Low-down on Men by Peter Mayle, Gray Jolliff, ISBN 0-330-30137-3, ISBN 978-0330301374. 64 pages. 1987
- Wicked Willie's Guide to Women: The Further Adventures of Man's Best Friend, illustrated by Gray Jolliffe, Crown (New York, NY), 1988.
- The World According to Wicked Willie by Peter Mayle, Gray Jolliffe, ISBN 0-330-30536-0, ISBN 978-0330305365. 64 pages (1988)
- Wicked Willie Stand Up Comic Book, by Peter Mayle, Gray Jolliffe and Peter May (Hardcover - Aug 1990), ISBN 0-330-31629-X ISBN 978-0330316293, 16 pages
- Wicked Willie Does Stand Up, by Gray Jolliffe, ISBN 1-85479-859-6 ISBN 978-1854798596 (30 Aug 2002), 7 pages
- Wicked Willie: Reloaded, by Gray Joliffe, publisher: Prion Books Ltd, Sept 2004, ISBN 1-85375-541-9, ISBN 978-1853755415. 64 pages.
DVDs
- Wicked Willie - The Movie & Comes again.. and again - The Complete Wicked Willie [2010], Bob Godfrey (Director). 83 minutes
External links
- Wicked Willie, official website
- Wicked Willie (1990) on the Internet Movie Database
- Gray Jolliffe official website