Wanda Li

Wanda Li
General Information
First Appearance	The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks (1986)
Catchphrase	"WA-HOOO!!!!" "Come on, you weasley wimps!" "What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?" "[Things] at [blank] o'clock!" "Oh, bad! Oh, bad! Oh, bad, bad, bad!" - Keesha
Personality	Tomboyish, happy, cute, energetic, brave, perky, playful, heroic, joyful, aggressive, daring, tough, plucky, adventurous, giggly, strong, fearless, combative, gleeful, blissful, enthusiastic, brutal, dynamic, jubilant, ecstatic, lionhearted, beatific, hot-blooded, rigid, loud, hogwild
Likes	Hanging out with boys, cute things, being happy, skateboarding, bicycling, fighting, flying, being boyish, rock music, boyish sports, electric guitar, video games, video arcades, action movies, pizza, soda, action TV shows, hot weather (especially Summer), rock concerts, boyish stuff, Arnold
Dislikes	Cold weather, girly stuff
Hobbies	Jamming to her rock music, playing with her electric guitar, hanging out with boys, fighting, jumping higher, playing video games, punching with her fist, using her super strength, flying with her jetpack
Production Information
Voiced By	Lisa Yamanaka (The Magic School Bus) Lynsey Pham (The Magic School Bus Rides Again)

Wanda Li is a fictional character on the animated children's series The Magic School Bus. She was voiced by Lisa Yamanaka in the original series and by Lynsey Pham in The Magic School Bus Rides Again.

Wanda is the toughest, cutest and most boisterous Chinese-American tomboy and the smallest member of the class. Always willing 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. She can pull the metal handles off large doors, using her powerful super strength; and even she can jump the highest up into the air.

Personality

Wanda is tough and can be aggressive. However, she is not without soft sides, as she can be cute.

Appearance

Wanda is an Chinese-American girl with pale skin, black eyes, and short black hair. To fit her toughness and tomboyishness, her most iconic outfit consists of a pink shirt, a maroon vest with 2 yellow flowers, maroon trousers, white socks, and black Mary Jane shoes. Her signature colors are pink and maroon.

For winter wear, she wears a yellow and green hat, a green jacket with a pink collar, maroon trousers, and yellow boots.

For beachwear, she wears a maroon and pink 2-piece bikini with a yellow flower and a yellow spot on the back on the top. The reboot replaces it with a white one-piece swimsuit the 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 sleeve shirt, a pink vest, a pink neck piece, blue trousers, and dark pink shoes. 

For basketball wear, she wears a pink basketball shirt, maroon trousers, pink socks and pink sneakers.

Wanda's appearance in the reboot.

In the new series, Wanda has longer hair and wears a light green hairband, a pale blue shirt, dark blue trousers and pale blue and white sneakers. Her new signature colors are light blue and navy.

Appearances

Season One

Despite having told her he's no 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", her prize being 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.

Season Two

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. The monster tries to defeat Wanda.

Season Three

In "In the Arctic", she mentions her hate for the cold. 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 little brother, William, gets a hold of the shrinkerscope. She wishes recycling had never been invented in "Holiday Special" after her favorite toy soldier is accidentally recycled.

Season Four

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.

Relatives

• Her mother makes her first appearance in "Going Batty" but doesn't have a speaking part. She returns in "Ups and Downs" and "Under Construction". She's a science journalist and has a habit of keeping reptiles in the house, such as an alligator in the bathtub or a Gila monster in the sandbox. Her father is neither seen nor mentioned.
• She has a baby brother named William, who's a toddler. While he can walk and (somewhat) talk, he's also being potty trained and uses a bottle.
• She also has a pet dog who is a Cocker Spaniel.

Trivia

• She's most often shown to be the shortest and the most powerful in the class. But, this changed in the new series where she is now just as tall if not taller than Carlos.
• She is officially the happiest in the class. For example, in Wet All Over, she is overjoyed, that she'll be part in the water cycle forever.
• Her most iconic catchphrase is "WA-HOOO!!!!", when she's feeling extremely happy.
• Her favorite rock star is Molly Cule.
• She likes hot weather better than cold weather.
• She really loves flying, rather she's having her jetpack.
• She's always playing video games, as one of the video gaming experts.
• Due to being the strongest member of the class, she has her ultra strength so powerful, that she can pull the metal handles off of large doors.
• She has aspirations of becoming a pilot and an actress.
• She is the first main character to cry, as seen in "Holiday Special".
• Although Wanda and her family are Chinese-American, her original voiceover Lisa Yamanaka is Japanese-Canadian.
• Her voice actress, Lisa Yamanaka (now Lisa Jai), who would later voice Yoko in another Nelvana/PBS series, Timothy Goes to School. She would also voice Sherry Birkin in the video game Resident Evil 2.
• In the German dub, her name is Connie.
• It is very heavily implied that she has a crush on Arnold. In "For Lunch" (Arnold was the best field trip she's ever been on), "Meets the Rot Squad" (She fantasized herself sitting under a tree with Arnold), "Holiday Special" (She was Arnold's secret Santa), "Hops Home", and "Gets Charged" (The 2 were cupids at the end).

Gallery

Wanda looks very cute, as a very happy tomboy

Wanda listens to her rock music

Frustrated Wanda

Panicked Wanda

Wanda in control

Walkerville Elementary School

---

* Débuted | ** Briefly | --- Formerly