Q&A: ‘Carl the Collector’ creator Zachariah OHora talks new PBS KIDS series

October 21, 2024 Alyssa Beno Leave a Comment

PBS KIDS breaks ground this November with the premiere of its newest animated series, Carl the Collector, featuring a cast of autistic and neurodivergent characters.

The 2D animated series for children ages 4-8 follows the everyday adventures of Carl, a warm-hearted raccoon with autism who enjoys collecting things and loves his friends and family in Fuzzytown.

Carl pays extraordinarily close attention to detail and comes up with unique ideas that others might not consider. These traits have helped him amass his extensive collections – from autographs and bottle caps to fake mustaches, pet rocks, sweaters and virtually everything in between – which can come in handy for solving problems around the neighborhood with his friends.

Carl’s friends include Sheldon, an empathetic beaver with a knack for connecting people and a soft spot for the underdog. As Carl’s best friend, he is attuned to Carl’s unique logic and ways of looking at the world, sometimes helping him navigate complex social nuances when necessary. Carl’s friend Lotta, a quiet and self-assured fox, is also autistic. She experiences hypersensitivity to loud sounds, powerful smells and certain food textures, and has exceptional talents in art and music. Other friends include Nico and Arugula, identical twin bunny sisters whose personalities couldn’t be more different, making their quest to define their individual identities extra complicated. And Forrest, a hyperactive and impulsive squirrel with a tree nut allergy, who is always down for an impromptu adventure.

The series was created by illustrator and author Zachariah OHora, along with a production team that includes writers, production staff, advisors and voice talent who are neurodiverse.

Carl the Collector premieres 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 14 on PBS Wisconsin and streaming on the free PBS KIDS app.

Ahead of its premiere, PBS Wisconsin spoke with OHora about the groundbreaking new series, seeing his illustrations come to life and his hopes for what Carl the Collector will inspire in audiences.

PBS Wisconsin: What inspired you to create Carl the Collector?

OHora: I originally had this character of Carl who collected stuff and who was a raccoon. And, often I get characters who I don’t really know what to do with for a long time. At the same time, my two boys … were starting school, and we live in an area where we’re lucky enough to have inclusion schools. I didn’t know what that was at the time. Inclusion schools are sort of this philosophy of democratic access for all kids in the school district to have the same access to education as everybody else, no matter what their needs are, in the same amount of teacher time, same amount of class social interaction time. So that means that whatever kids need they get, and that could just be certain accommodations like time out of class or up to having an aide full-time in the class with them.

My son Oscar was just friends with everybody. And there was a kid in his class who was on the autism spectrum. It was just like a lightbulb moment because Oscar didn’t see any difference. It was like, “Hey, this is my friend. Sometimes he needs to take a break in class.” It was all the same to him. And it was such a lightbulb moment for me that with all neurodiverse people that you encounter in life that the earlier you get exposure to them and for them to be able to socialize with everybody else, the better it is for everybody.

PBS Wisconsin: How is that reflected in the series?

OHora: The goal of Carl the Collector is to just show the whole spectrum of humanity as it is. And, hopefully that reflection also sows seeds of empathy for the struggles that people have. And at the same time, the overall idea is that just like we have cutout curbs for sidewalks, for people with mobility issues, that when we understand neurodiversity better that all of, if society can shift a little bit, we’re all going to benefit. Society will benefit from people who think a different way, and they obviously will benefit too by being more integrated into society.

PBS Wisconsin: How did this character and his story evolve from there?

OHora: My background is writing and illustrating picture books. So, whenever I come up with characters, it’s to eventually come up with a story, to make a book. At the same time, PBS had reached out to me, and they were looking for creators that were sort of outside of their normal creative pool for new show ideas. So, we kind of worked on that together, and then it just kind of clicked.

PBS Wisconsin: Can you relate to Carl?

OHora: I’m a collector. I probably have 3,000 or 4,000 vinyl records, and I collected comic books as a kid. And, my oldest son, too, was really into collecting at the time. It got to the point where we weren’t even collecting actual things sometimes. We were collecting containers for potential future collections that didn’t exist yet, which I really identified with.

PBS Wisconsin: How was the experience for you working on this story then, knowing that this would be a TV series rather than a book?

OHora: It was a long process. It’s been a little over nine years since we started talking. I knew nothing about animation or television production or any of that stuff, but at the same time, PBS KIDS was the perfect home for this idea and to incubate it as they really care about authentic representation, getting things right, empathy, all the themes of the show is what PBS is all about. It just made perfect sense and … it kind of seemed like the only place that a show like this would actually happen.

PBS Wisconsin: Integration is really at the core of this new series.

OHora: It’s really all the way through any character that we show who is on the spectrum. The voice actor is also autistic. We have autistic writers, the experts on the show, even one of our autism experts is on the spectrum. And, amazingly enough, he collects argyle sweater vests just like Carl does. Everybody that’s involved with the show has some connection with the autism spectrum. So, it’s really drawing on all those people’s personal experiences and their points of view. It makes it a really authentic representation, that I can’t imagine any other place would take the amount of time and effort to make sure that we get it right.

PBS Wisconsin: What was your role in the creation of the series?

OHora: I did the original character designs, and whenever we have a new character, most of the time I’ll do the initial design of that character. The entire backdrop of it is Fuzzytown, and that is based on my town where I live in Narberth, Pennsylvania.

PBS Wisconsin: What is your ultimate hope for this series?

OHora: My hope is that neurodiverse kids, kids with neurodiverse members of their family and neurotypical kids all see themselves in the show. It’s an ensemble cast of kids. I hope that it’s a fun and funny enough show. There are little Easter eggs for adults, too, that parents are going to not mind sitting down and watching this show with their kids, and enjoy it just as much.

For adults, it seems like a lot of adults with autism love animation, and I love animation as an adult, so I really hope that there’s no age limit on who enjoys the show. But the main thing is just that it spreads more empathy for the struggles that everybody’s going through, particularly in beginning school-age kids, whether they’re neurodiverse or not, trying to figure out their self-identity and sort of find their way in a larger world that they’re being exposed to.

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