"What kind of storm happens in the mouth? A tongue twister!"—Wanda in the CD-ROM, Explores the Human Body Wanda Li (Simp. Chinese: 李万达 Li Wanda) is a student in the Frizzle class. She was voiced by Lisa Yamanaka in the original series and currently by Lynsey Pham in The Magic School Bus Rides Again. Show Biography/FamilyWanda has three siblings[1]. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Li, the younger sister of Henry Li (Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Imperial China), cousin of Li Bo (from Explores Human Evolution) and the older sister of William Li (from Under Construction). Her other sibling is unmentioned. In the booksAppearancesWanda is a Chinese-American girl with pale skin, black eyes, and short black hair. In older books like At the Waterworks, she has worn a pink short-sleeved shirt with magenta overalls (dotted with the rose-shaped "W" logo). Since In the Time of the Dinosaurs, she wears a pink shirt, a maroon vest with two yellow flowers (representing the "W" in her name), red-rinse black jeans, white socks, and black Mary Jane shoes. In the TV SeriesPersonalityWanda is a Chinese-American tomboy, and the most adventurous member in the class. Always ready to jump into adventure and going where "no kid has gone before," she serves as a foil to Arnold. She wants to solve all problems that face her, even an animal in need of rescue. AppearanceFor normal wear in the original series, she wears her same outfit as her book canon's attire in In the Time of the Dinosaurs. In Rides Again, it is replaced with a blue button-down jacket, and she rolls up her jeans to her ankles. She then replaces her Mary Janes with sockless sneakers. She now has long black hair, which is held by a hairband in Rides Again. In later episodes of the aforementioned series, the lighting makes it dark brown. For winter wear, she wears a yellow and green hat, a green jacket with a pink collar, red-rinse black jeans, and yellow boots. For swimwear, she wears a maroon and pink two-piece bikini with a yellow flower and a yellow spot on the back on the top. The revival replaces it with a light blue one-piece swimsuit the color is dark blue from under the chest and armpits all the way down. For rain wear, she wears a yellow rain hat, a yellow raincoat, and pink gumboots. For formal wear, she wears a white long-sleeved shirt, a pink vest, a pink neck piece, blue trousers, and dark pink shoes. For sports wear, she wears a pink basketball shirt, maroon trousers, pink socks and pink sneakers. Wanda, as she appeared in the first two seasons of The Magic School Bus Rides Again. TV StorylineThe Magic School BusDespite having told her he is not good under pressure, Wanda has Arnold try to break a gum chewing record for her in "For Lunch". Since she has a new filling, she can't do it herself, but she wants the prize for breaking the record: two free tickets to Action Mountain. She has a pet bullfrog named Bella that she seems to spoil in "Hops Home", but Bella gets loose, and when Wanda finds that she's happy in her natural habitat, she leaves her there. She wins a class rot competition in "Meets the Rot Squad", which her prize was a baby tree. She wants to plant it on an abandoned lot (which she plans to turn into a park called "Wanda World"), but after touring the rotted log, she regrets calling Larry's Log Away. Wanda's love of flying and dream of being a pilot is shown in "Taking Flight". After hearing about a sea monster at the bottom of Walker Lake, she decides she must dive in to find it ("Ups and Downs"). As it turns out, it's a hoax created by local TV reporter, Gerri Poveri, much to her disappointment. In "In the Arctic", she mentions her hatred for the cold weather. Instead of going on a field trip to a bridge being built, the class ends up shrunk in her house in "Under Construction" when her younger brother, William, gets a hold of the Porta-Shrinker. She wishes recycling had never been invented in "Holiday Special" after her favorite toy soldier is accidentally recycled. When Wanda's favorite rock singer, Molly Cule, is in town, she proposes the class set up a car wash, as Molly gets her car cleaned before every show ("Meets Molly Cule"). She's thrilled to find out Molly and Ms. Frizzle are old friends. She wants to help Arnold find out why he's orange in "Goes Cellular", and in "Takes a Dive", she refuses to work in partners, wanting to go solo as a pirate during a treasure hunt, much to Dorothy Ann's dismay. The Magic School Bus Rides AgainWanda spent her summer at the animal rescue and it started to develop her love for animals, just like her former classmate, Phoebe (Frizzle of the Future). She befriended a fish whom she calls Becca Blue (a reference to her former pet, Bella) on a field trip to Hawaii (In the Swim). She and Carlos adopt Ratney from the animal shelter (Carlos Gets the Sneezes), but Carlos keeps it after he struggles to convince Mr. Ruhle that she should be an official class pet due to sneezing and allergies. In "Claw and Order", she tries to convince everyone that Marty (a magpie she befriended) did not wreck the classroom and works to clear his name only for her classmates to turn on her, except for Arnold who was the first to believe Wanda's story when the classroom gets wrecked again, and since Marty was in the Magic School Courthouse when it happens. In "Kids in Space", she meets a tardigrade she calls "Pinky". After Ralphie accidentally grows it with the PortaShrinker (and loses the Shrinker), it's up to her and the others to find the device and shrink Pinky. In "The Frizz Connection", Wanda appeared in Peru with Tim, Jyoti, and Fiona. Relatives
Devices
TriviaAny mentionings of various episodes
References
Does Wanda like Arnold Magic School bus?In French, she is known as Veronique. It is very heavily implied that Wanda has a crush on Arnold.
Who has a crush on Arnold in Magic School bus?In "Butterfly and the Bog Beast", he's the only one not to side with Janet against Phoebe when the former suggests "Bog Beast" for the school mascot. His main reason is because he doesn't know what a bog beast is. He's caught by his crush, Tiffany, when he and Wanda get water from the girls' bathroom in "Wet All Over".
Is Mrs Frizzle LGBT?Frizzle; and because Kate McKinnon, who voices Fiona Frizzle, is also out in the public sphere as lesbian. There is no indication in the Magic School Bus, however, that Ms. Frizzle or Fiona Frizzle are part of the LGBTQ+ community. Ms.
Are Arnold and Mrs Frizzle related?Now whever he says "I wish I would've stayed home today", he is unconsciously referring back to the trip that he took when he was young that scarred him. Miss Frizzle is Arnold's daughter. She came from the future to do something to/about her dad.
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