Creat transparent gif from jpeg for header

Simple task to carefully trim a white background from a cartoon to create a transparency to use in a header, I am a clutz at these jobs and I bet somebody here knows a cool and efficient way to do this. I will post the file so you can see that it is a bit intricate but not a complete nightmare to do. I want the surrounding white gone and the little gaps between the figures removed. Edit. I think I just uploaded the image, boy it takes some finding the upload these days!