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A mustachioed Louie with baby Elmo.
Louie sans-mustache and Elmo, in Talk Listen Connect.
Louie and his wife, Mae.
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 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 2006 special, 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 Mae 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.
Appearances
- Sesame Beginnings: Beginning Together (2006)
- Sesame Beginnings: Make Music Together (2006)
- Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments (2006)
- Elmo's Potty Time (2006)
- Sesame Beginnings: Exploring Together (2006)
- Sesame Beginnings: Moving Together (2007)
- Happy, Healthy, Ready for School: Learning is Everywhere (2007)
- Talk, Listen, Connect: Homecomings (2008)
- Talk, Listen, Connect: Changes (2008)
- Bedtime with Elmo (2009)
- Sesamestreet.org "Daddy Day" welcome video (week of June 21, 2009)
- Families Stand Together (2009)
- When Families Grieve (2010)
- Elmo's Travel Songs and Games (2011)
- Little Children, Big Challenges (2013)
Book appearances
Old design
Louie's old design as seen in Sleep Tight!.
A Taiwanese interpretation of Louie, for Sesame Street English schools.
- When Is My Birthday? (1988)
- Elmo Gets Homesick (1990)
- Sleep Tight! (1991)
- Friends & Family Lace-Ups (1992)
- Zip! Pop! Hop! (1996)
- Elmo's Apartment (2001)
- Elmo's First Babysitter (2001)
New design
- Fun with Friends (2004)
- Elmo's Easy As ABC (2005)
- Red or Blue, I Like You! (2005)
- Elmo & Friends Picture Stories (2007)
- Elmo 'n' Daddy (2007)
- Elmo's Favorite Places (2007)
- What Makes You Giggle? (2007)
- I'm a Helper (2007)
- Let's Help the Earth (2008)
- What Makes Elmo Happy? (2008)
- What's the Word on the Street? (2008)
- Love, Elmo (2009)
- Out & About (2010)
- Imagine with Elmo (2011)
- Simple Science Experiments with Elmo and Friends: Water and Earth (2012)
- Elmo's Daddy (2013)
Alternate incarnations
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. In such titles as Elmo Gets Homesick and When Is My Birthday?, Elmo's dad resembles an adult version of Elmo. However, in the more recent illustrations and books, the character holds true to the current Louie, as seen in Sesame Beginnings.
Elmo's World
What Elmo's parents look like in a goldfish's imagination.
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 (named after the parents of Elmo's puppeteer Kevin Clash).
Trivia
- Louie Monster is the first, and only, major character in the Sesame Street universe performed by Muppeteer Bill Barretta.
- Louie was performed by Tyler Bunch in Happy, Healthy, Ready For School: Learning is Everywhere, Bedtime with Elmo, Elmo's Travel Songs and Games, Elmo's Adventures in Spending, Saving, and Sharing, and Little Children, Big Challenges.
See also
- Sesame Street Monsters
- Louis, an otter on Sesame Park