Linda Gunderson

Linda Gunderson is the secondary protagonist of "Rio". She is the owner and best friend of Blu from Moose Lake, Minnesota. She is the owner of Blu Macaw Books, her bookstore one floor above which her home is. She is voiced by Leslie Mann as an adult and the director's daughter Sofia Scarpa Saldanha as a child.

Linda is first seen as a little girl outside in the snow, opening a crate to find a baby blue macaw in there. She takes him in and takes care of him, naming him "Blu". As they both grew up, she threw him birthday parties, took him to spelling bees (and won one at the age of 14) and even to her high school promenade. And finally, she was then working in a bookstore. During the routine, Linda is woken up by an alarm (which Blu is imitating), brushes her teeth, gargles, eats her breakfast, gets Blu to take his vitamins, and then goes downstairs to work. Then Blu logs her on and opens the shop. While she is selling books, she gives a plate of cookies and hot chocolate to Blu (just how he likes it)* while talking to her mother on the phone about whether she should visit her or stay and take care of Blu.

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 * The hot chocolate part is a factual error; chocolate is toxic for macaws.