St. Anthony CES student lends voice to PBS Kids animated TV Series ‘Carl the Collector’

Nov. 27, 2024

Chase Ruigrok, a grade 7 student at St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School in Port Hope, says he has aspirations to get into the film industry for his career – but he’s not waiting until he’s an adult to try his hand at acting.

Chase is the voice of “Mimi Toots”, a hedgehog in the PBS Kids animated TV series ‘Carl the Collector.’

“I have autism and Carl also has autism in the show. It’s connected. He also collects a lot of things, from balls to stuffed animals, and I kind of do that too,” said Chase.

Chase is no stranger to the filmmaking industry, making stop-motion Lego videos in his spare time.

His opportunity to voice Mimi Toots, in episode six and 14 of the first season of Carl the Collector, came after he sent a recorded audition to the production company.

“This is my first time really acting professionally,” he said. “I would love to do more acting.”

After not hearing back right away, his family got an email offering Chase a minor role in the show.

From there, it was off to Toronto to a professional studio to add his voice to the show.

“I had these headphones on and say my lines,” he said as he made an impression of what Mimi Toots sounded like.

“It was an experience!”

“It’s so cool,” added Alison Arial, Chase’s Educational Assistant. “It’s so cool to showcase students with exceptionalities. It’s something I’ve always been an advocate of. It was so awesome to see a cartoon character, for little kids, who has differences.”

Carl the Collector is the first children’s show from PBS to feature central characters on the autism spectrum. The series follows Carl, a raccoon, with a deep love for collecting things.

“I think it’s a show that teaches kids about different people and that people aren’t all the same. No one is the same. Everyone is different,” said Chase. “I think this will teach kids a lot about that.

“I’d love to get another part in the show.”

The show can be streamed on Amazon Prime.