Louie



Louie is a loving caregiver to his son, Elmo. While Elmo has been a major character on Sesame Street for twenty years, his parents were never seen on the show until 2006.

Louie's first appeared on-screen in the Sesame Beginnings direct-to-video series, as a stay-at-home dad and the primary caregiver to his infant son. (Sesame Beginnings takes place in a fictional "past" when the characters were babies, which we can assume in Elmo's case is about three years earlier than the Sesame Street "present".) Louie plays the saxophone, and fills Baby Elmo's daily routine with rhythm. He organizes a baby band with Elmo's play group.

Flash-forward to the present for Sesame Workshop's direct-to-video special for military families, Talk, Listen, Connect. In this special, released in August 2006, Louie has joined the military, and is deployed far away. The special doesn't explicitly state that Louie is in the military; instead, it's explained that Louie is away "working" and "helping people". Elmo's mom helps Elmo to understand why his father is away, and uses a daily routine to help Elmo cope with the separation.

Louie's appearance was changed after the initial Sesame Beginnings releases, starting with Talk, Listen, Connect and continuing in the later Beginnings DVDs (such as Exploring Together). Louie's new look included a different hair style, different facial hair (a goatee rather than a mustache), and a new wardrobe. However the older, mustached, Louie design was seen in Elmo's Potty Time.

Video appearances

 * Sesame Beginnings Beginning Together (2006)
 * Sesame Beginnings Make Music Together (2006)
 * Talk, Listen, Connect (2006)
 * Elmo's Potty Time (2006)
 * Sesame Beginnings Exploring Together (2006)

Book appearances

 * old design
 * When Is My Birthday? (1988)
 * Elmo Gets Homesick (1990)
 * new design
 * Elmo's Favorite Places (2007)
 * What Makes You Giggle? (2007)
 * I'm a Helper (2007)

Books
Elmo's dad had been seen in a number of books, and like Grover's Mommy, his appearance varied widely according to the artist. However in the more recent illustrations and book, the character holds true to the current Louie, as seen Sesame Beginnings.

Elmo's World
The first incarnation of Elmo's dad to be seen on television was in the "Birthdays" episode of "Elmo's World," in which Dorothy imagined Elmo on the day of his birth in a dream sequence. As with all such "Elmo's World" sequences, all of the characters are seen from Dorothy's point of view -- that is, as an altered version of Elmo. In this incarnation, Elmo's parents look just like Elmo and are referred to as George and Gladys Monster (named after the parents of Elmo's puppeteer Kevin Clash). They also look like this in several Elmo-themed books as well, such as Elmo Gets Homesick and When Is My Birthday?.

Trivia

 * Louie Monster is the first, and only, major character in the Sesame Street universe performed by Muppeteer Bill Barretta.