Louis (cartoon)

*For information on this character in the books, see Louis.*

## Louis

* Cartoon
* Movie

**Louis** is a character in the cartoon *Wayside*. He serves as a playground supervisor at Wayside School, and is stated as being "in charge of recess" in "Louis Gets Some Class." In *Wayside: The Movie*, he is additionally shown to be in charge of gym class, as well as taking care of the cows, though a separate gym teacher appears in other episodes. He is seen to have a laid back personality, much like a surfer.

## Appearance

Louis has an ovular face with a light blue afro and goatee, and a pointy nose. He wears a red and white baseball cap, a cream-colored long sleeve shirt, and an orange jacket with no sleeves and two pockets. He wears brown pants and sandals. In *Wayside: The Movie*, his hat has a "WS" marking on it, but this is removed for the rest of the series.

## Personality

Louis is often seen with a fairly laidback and calm personality. Similar to the books, he spends a lot of the time with the children, often assisting them during recess, such as in "Louis Gets Some Class" and "Slow Mo Mo," where he helps with passing out equipment to the students. When Myron takes over as the yard teacher in "Louis Gets Some Class" to promote his class presidential campaign, Louis helps excite the class by showing them the wonders of their imagination, causing many of the students to often celebrate him. Louis is a hard worker, often being assigned strange tasks by Mr. Kidswatter. While occasionally he questions the tasks he's assigned, usually he commits to them anyway, such as in "Slow Mo Mo," where he assists Mr. Kidswatter in squaring every circle in the school, and "The Elevator," where he helps repair the upstairs when they're out of order. Louis appears to be idolized by the students, as in "The Elevator," it is revealed Todd, Maurecia, Myron, and Dana all occasionally adopt a "Rescue Dude" personality where they dress like Louis.

To some degree, Louis falls between more confused characters like Todd and more strange characters like Mr. Kidswatter, which helps make him a good median in several situations. In *Wayside: The Movie*, Todd often looks to Louis for assistance when figuring out his first few days at Wayside School. Louis often simply accepts some of the school's strangeness at times, as he decides to crawl through the window when Todd tells him that all the other students are doing it, and he simply tells Myron he "has to try that" when he falls down a secret slide hidden in the school. Louis frequently acts as a fairly calm foil to Mr. Kidswatter, often never directly going against him, but occasionally making snide remarks in response to some of his strangest policies.

## Relationships

### Mr. Kidswatter

Louis often serves as a foil to Mr. Kidswatter's various schemes. In "Oh, Great Leader," Louis informs Mr. Kidswatter that the children aren't doing anything suspicious, though Kidswatter doubts him. In "Todd Falls in Love," Louis seems to express confusion as to why Mr. Kidswatter wants to build a gondola canal on the fourteenth floor and fire half the faculty staff, while in "Upside Down John," Louis says it "feels right" when Mr. Kidswatter scores 66% on his IQ test. It seems as though Louis frequently doesn't think much of Kidswatter, often being either bothered or confused by his various activities.

### Mrs. Jewls

Louis and Mrs. Jewls appear to be on good terms in the cartoon the few times they are seen interacting. In "Louis Gets Some Class," while Mrs. Jewls initially jokes about writing Louis's name under the discipline list, she quickly celebrates his addition to the class, and talks about how great it is to have him around. In "Music Lessons," Louis helps out Mrs. Jewls by delivering musical instruments to her room for music class. In "My Partner Gets All the Credit," Mrs. Jewls and Louis are the commentators for the Wayside Games.

### Todd

In *Wayside: The Movie*, Todd often goes to Louis for assistance, as Louis appears to be the only character that understands him. Louis helps him understand why the school is built the way it is, and after discovering the trash compactor on the thirtieth story, works with him to get it stopped. Todd feels comfortable explaining to Louis how he got transferred from his old school, and Louis is willing to listen, and help him understand how to fit in at Wayside School. In "Louis Gets Some Class," Todd seems to enjoy playing with Louis at recess, and celebrates Louis briefly joining Mrs. Jewls's class.

## Appearances

For a list of every episode Louis is seen in, see here.

## Trivia

* Although Louis Sachar reportedly disliked the show, he remarked that the design of Louis in the cartoon takes after him.
* Nick is his middle name.

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090602135531/http://www.freewebs.com/juliesdrawings/wayside.htm#194855611