Young animator makes the cut

An aspiring animator, Luke Schroeder is off to a good start, getting one of his cartoons on a national cable network.
He hasn’t even graduated from Sashabaw Middle School yet.
‘I didn’t realize this was that big a thing at first, but then we got a call from the Qubo people,? said Schroeder, Independence Township resident. ‘I thought, ‘whoa, this is actually happening.??
‘It’s great. A lot of fun,? said his mother, Andrea Schroeder. ‘It’s very exciting. We’re very proud of him.?
Luke used Qubo’s animation website to create the short film ‘Edgar to the Rescue,? based on the Zimmer Twins cartoon on ION cable network’s Qubo station.
‘I had to think of a story,? he said. ‘How about a superhero who gets himself stuck??
He is one of 12 filmmakers out of about 44,000 nationwide whose cartoons have been selected by Qubo to be converted and re-mastered into high-resolution mini movies, complete with character voices, music, and sound effects. Qubo will air the 60-second movie on the ‘Qubo on ION TV? programming block on ION Television, as well as on Qubo Channel.
‘I’m surprised by how much went into it,? Andrea said. ‘We’ll see it on Thursday.?
The cartoon is set to premiere on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 3:40 p.m. on ‘Qubo on ION TV? and 4 p.m. on Qubo Channel. It will air several times a day on Qubo Channel for a week, as well as ‘Qubo on NBC? on Feb. 7 and ‘Qubo on Telemundo,? in Spanish on Feb 8.
Luke has been interested in comics and animation for a long time, Andrea said.
‘He would read our Ziggy books from the ?70s, Calvin and Hobbes, all our compilation books,? she said. ‘He’d read them all the time.?
Now a fan of anime and Manga comics, Luke is looking forward to Clarkston Junior High School’s science and computer labs.
‘It looks really cool,? he said. ‘Lots of stuff in science, cool ways to use computers.?
The original version of Luke’s cartoon is posted at www.zimmertwins.com/node/589347.