Eloise is an irrepressible six-year-old young girl who lives in the "room on the tippy-top floor" (penthouse) of the Plaza Hotel in New York City with her nanny, her pug dog, Weenie, and her turtle, Skipperdee.The character was developed by the author based on her childhood imaginary friend and alter ego, with a voice in which Thompson spoke throughout her life, according to her biographer, filmmaker Sam Irvin.Thompson's goddaughter, Liza Minnelli, was often speculated as a possible model for Eloise. The illustrator stated that the image for Eloise was based on one that his mother, Katherine Sturges Dodge, had painted, during the 1930s.
