The Raccoons

Infobox Television
show_name = The Raccoons


caption = "The Raccoons"
genre = Animated television series/Children's
runtime = 25 mins
creator = Kevin Gillis
producer = Atkinson Film-Arts "(1985-1986)"
Hinton Animation Studios "(1987-1992)"
executive_producer = Kevin Gillis
Sheldon S. Wiseman
voices =
theme_music_composer = Kevin Gillis
Jon Stroll
country = Canada
language = English
network = CBC Television
first_aired = 1985
last_aired = 1992
num_seasons = 5
num_episodes = 60 (plus 4 specials) (List of episodes)
list_episodes =
website =
imdb_id = 0131183
tv_com_id = 7909

"The Raccoons" is a Canadian animated television series, first broadcast from 1985 to 1992 with four preceding television specials starting from 1980. The series was created by Kevin Gillis, and produced first at Atkinson Film-Arts (from 1985-1986), then at newly established Hinton Animation Studios (from 1987 on). [ [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thenewraccoons/message/1095# The Hinton Report] ] with the cooperation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

History

The series features the adventures in the Evergreen Forest (which is depicted to be in Western Canada) of Bert Raccoon and his friends Ralph and Melissa, particularly in their attempts to thwart the industrialist actions of pink aardvark Cyril Sneer and his trio of pig henchmen. Another interesting character was the capitalist Mr. Knox—a crocodile with a New Orleans accent. Cyril's son Cedric is Bert's best friend.

Usually, the series would feature the main characters learning major life lessons in teamwork, friendship, cooperation, and sometimes just helping out their fellow friends that live near the forest, human and animal alike, tangling with the tyrannical tycoon Cyril Sneer, who does not let anything as trivial as nature's defining highlights (trees, lakes, etc) prevent him attempting to obtain a profit.

One unique element of the series is that Cyril gradually evolves from an unrepentantly destructive capitalist to a likable and environmentally responsible, if still highly aggressive, businessman and occasional ally of the Raccoons.

Debuting in 1980 with "The Christmas Raccoons" TV special, "The Raccoons" slowly began its journey to becoming a regular animated series, using assorted specials over the next few years as stepping stones ("The Raccoons On Ice", "The Raccoons and the Lost Star", "Let's Dance"), before finally becoming a regular series in 1985. Five series of episodes were produced, airing from 1985 to 1992.

In 1989, a new character by the name of Lisa Raccoon was introduced into the series. Lisa is Ralph's niece, and the statuesque older sister of Bentley Raccoon, and the daughter of George and Nicole Raccoon. She is the love interest/best friend of Bert Raccoon. Lisa made her debut in "Spring Fever", she was voiced by Lisa Lougheed, the singer of the series' ending theme.

In 2003, "As Long As Forever: A Raccoons Movie" was listed as being in development on the Canadian Television Fund's website [http://www.ctf-fct.ca/assets/annualreport0203.pdf] in the "Development Projects" section, however since then no information has been posted to the Canadian Television Fund's website about it.

The series returned to Canadian television on the new Teletoon Retro network, which launched October 1, 2007.

Music

The series had a New Wave soundtrack including the theme song "Run With Us" by cast member Lisa Lougheed a minor chart success in some countries, and covered more recently by Spray. [ [http://www.discogs.com/release/827680 Spray - "Run With Us"] ,discogs.com] Season 1 ended with a different version of the song, not sung by Lougheed. "Run With Us" was performed in Season 1 by Stephen Lunt. In the first season the French Canadian singer Luba performed several songs, several of which were later re-recorded by Lougheed for use in other seasons. There were also several other songs performed by other musicians such as Rita Coolidge and Rupert Holmes who performed songs for the first special, Leo Sayer and Coolidge again for the second, and John Schneider and Dottie West for the last TV special. Rory Dodd, The Dior Bros. [ [http://media-imdb.com/name/nm1947225/ The Dior Bros.] @ IMDB.com] (actually Kevin Gillis and Jon Stroll under a pseudonym), and several other musicians also had songs performed, although somewhat rarely compared to the afore mention people. The earlier version of "Run With Us", like quite a few of the other songs from "The Raccoons", were never officially released. Nine of the songs from the series featured on Lougheed's 1988 album "Evergreen Nights". However Lougheed only sung most of the songs (sometimes in duets), while a couple of the songs were sung by other artists (Curtis King Jr and Stephen Lunt). The French version of "Run With Us", as well as most of Luba and Lisa Lougheeds songs, was performed by the French Canadian singer Jano Bergeron and titled "Viens Vers Nous". Unlike many cartoon series from the 1980s, "The Raccoons" was not heavily merchandised. Today it has a small cult following, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation.

Characters

Main characters

*Bert Raccoon: Bert is a happy-go-lucky, energetic raccoon with a lot of imagination. Bert has plenty of confidence in his skills, though sometimes he can get carried away. This over-confidence sometimes gets him in trouble. He acts younger than Ralph and Melissa, and has a lot more youthful energy. It is uncertain how old Bert is, though it can be said that he is the same age as Ralph and Melissa (they went to the same school in the same grade). He is child-like, as he reads comic books and plays with radio-controlled airplanes and does other child-like things. He does not attend school and is often put in charge of serious projects, such as being a reporter for "The Evergreen Standard", which helps lead to the assumption that he is older. He can be quite hasty; normally Bert will be impatient in getting a plan executed or in bringing justice to the Evergreen Forest. Despite his faults Bert is very loyal to his friends, and can be very mature when it comes to doing things that show his loyalty, sometimes being a big brother role model for Bentley. His best friend is Cedric Sneer.

*Ralph and Melissa Raccoon: A pair of raccoons who live in the Raccoondominium. Ralph and Melissa are portrayed as a young, married couple. Generally, the two are the most level-headed of the gang and the most adult. They grew up together, and were childhood friends with Bert. While both were tempted by attractive job offers elsewhere, they both chose to work for the independent newspaper they founded called "The Evergreen Standard", where Ralph is the editor, Bert is reporter and Melissa is the photographer. The enterprise has successful in not only keeping Sneer Industries' activities in check, but also in career prestige with Ralph won a civic award for his efforts.

*Schaeffer: the Raccoons' friend, a large sheepdog. Originally portrayed as slow and dim-witted, he quickly became one of the brightest characters on the show, and eventually opened the Blue Spruce Cafe and assists with the Raccoons' paper's technical needs. It is later revealed that Schaeffer is a Black belt in Karate, but forsworn practicing it when he seriously wounded a person in anger with. In the original season 1 episodes, Schaeffer and Broo are owned by two kids, whose forest ranger father lives in the Evergreen Forest. The original premise was that the Raccoons' adventures shared with Schaeffer and Broo were secret from the kids, as was the fact that Schaeffer could talk. It is never revealed why Schaeffer could talk and Broo couldn't, even though both dogs looked the same. It is also unknown whether or not Broo is actually the offspring or younger brother of Schaeffer.

*Cedric Sneer: Cedric is Cyril Sneer's son and heir, yet he appears the complete opposite to his father - he's geeky, shy and initially rather weak, character-wise. In the specials, Cedric always gave into his father's will out of fear. While, in the specials, he is not able to help the heroes freely, Cedric does give help to his friends in anonymous form (disguising himself and playing for their hockey team, for example). As the series progresses he starts becoming more self supportive. He takes over "Sneer Industries" with his father as his partner in the series finale.

*Sophia Tutu: Cedric's ditzy girlfriend, who is a superb swan glider and diver. She was phased out of the show in later years, supposedly studying at school. The actual reason for her absence was apparently the writers' inability to decide how to portray her. She did, however, make a cameo in "The Headline Hunter" at Lady Baden-Baden's bachelor party as Cedric's date, and remains in the opening sequence of the show after her departure.

*Broo: A sheepdog puppy with a star hanging from his collar ("Lost Star" goes into great detail over this). Seems to favour Bert as his owner. Although there appears to be nothing special about Broo, he once won 'Best Puppy' in a local dog show. Originally, Broo, like Schaeffer, was owned by kids who lived in the forest. As the kids were phased out by the end of the first season, Broo's ownership headed toward Sophia Tutu. In later seasons, however, as Sophia Tutu was phased out, Broo is supposedly owned by Bert Raccoon.

*Bentley Raccoon: The cousin of the Evergreen Raccoons. He's an expert with computers, and is a very typical younger kid, with all the personality traits (and faults) to match. Idolizes Bert. :Note: Bentley was originally introduced as Melissa's cousin (or Ralph's cousin) but was later referenced as their nephew, when it is discovered that Bentley's father George is Ralph's older brother.

*Lisa Raccoon: Bentley's big sister, Lisa is a superb Basketball player. Bert has a crush on her, and as the series develops they become closer.

neer Industries

*Cyril Sneer: Cyril Sneer is an aardvark, and originally the principal villain of the series. He is a ruthless businessman who won't let anything stand in the way of profit. Originally, Cyril was portrayed as a much darker version of what he would ultimately become, often attempting to destroy the entire Evergreen Forest for lumber or industry. All of his plans are foiled by the Raccoons, and occasionally even his own son Cedric. Once the TV series was established however, Sneer gradually softened as the series progress to become a far more sympathetic, if still aggressive, character. He became more of an anti-hero who has a deep love for his son that can make him disregard his financial goals when necessary. In some episodes such as when in "Making The Grade" he donated money to the old Schoolhouse to prevent its closure, and in "Join The Club" he helps persuade Lisa to give up smoking. Near the finale and before his retirement, he and Mr. Knox teamed up as environmental crusaders and put Milton Midas in jail. He can usually be seen with some gold teeth and half a cigar in his mouth. It is never revealed how old Cyril is, but in one episode, where Cyril thinks he is dying, it is revealed that he may be somewhere between 50 and 60. In the series finale, he is forced to retire due to poor health in favour of Cedric, but they compromise with Cyril returning to work as a partner.

*Aardvarks: In the first three specials, Cyril Sneer had other aardvarks as additional henchmen to help in his plans of destroying the Evergreen Forest.

*Bears: Cyril Sneer's additional henchmen, workers, soldiers, spies, etc... Anything that suits his needs for that particular episode. There's one bear whose name is Bruno.

*Snag: Pet dog of Cyril and Cedric Sneer. Has blue fur and has a nose similar to his owners. He is shown to be aggressive to the pigs, especially when he's loyal to Cyril. In the Series 3 episode, "Picture Perfect", his deed in saving Cedric's life led to TV stardom, much to his disapproval.

*Pigs (Lloyd, Lloyd (Possibly Boyd), and Floyd): Cyril Sneer's bumbling henchmen and assistants. They are almost never referred to by name, listed as Pig One, Two and Three in the credits. Their mother, Suey-Ellen, visits them repeatedly during the series ("Mom's the Word", "Promises Promises"). According to their profile on the Region 2 DVD of Season One, their mother could not tell Pigs One and Two apart, hence she named them both Lloyd, naming the third Floyd to be different. This however makes very little sense, hence why a few fans believe the second Pig's name to be Boyd. (That and Kevin Gillis' history of the characters can sometimes be slightily interchangable as he continued the development of the series). Like most middle management they are easily intimidated by their own boss but likewise are not above kindness towards their subordinates. They're extremely loyal to Cedric and when they're not following Cyril's orders, they're generally trying to make themselves rich (often at Cyril's expense).

Other Investors

*Mr. Mammoth: A rhinoceros, who is the richest, most powerful character on the show, who appears mostly in the form of a MacGuffin for Cyril Sneer (and often Mr. Knox as well), i.e. looking to start a partnership, giving out a contract for a baseball team, etc. Instead of talking, he mumbles, and his assistant has to translate what he's trying to say. He has only spoken clearly twice, such as when he was impressed by Cedric's solar powered car ("The Evergreen Grand Prix") and when Cyril refused to accept his offer to manage his baseball team, The Mammoth Mudhens ("Double Play"). Interestingly, in one episode, Cyril is talking to Mr. Mammoth over the phone, which means he can understand what Mammoth is saying, hence there being possibly no need for the translator.

*Mr. Knox: An acquaintance of Cyril Sneer's, a southern crocodile/business mogul who can be even more ruthless and richer than Cyril. Married to Lady Baden-Baden, and owns the TV company K.N.O.X. TV. He has a nephew called Bonneville, who was routinely shuffled around the relatives until he lost any empathy with anyone and became a bully. However, while he abused Cedric's hospitality, he had a change of heart and the pair reconciled.

*Lady Baden-Baden: A wealthy, melodramatic hen who eventually marries Mr. Knox ("Courting Disaster"). Was an actress in her old days. Later becomes Mayor of the Evergreen Forest near the series' finale.

*Milton Midas: An eagle business man and scam artist. Unlike Cyril whose dealings are usually unethical, Midas' schemes are outright criminal. His actions lead to a lake becoming too contaminated to support life near the series' conclusion and Sneer and Knox have him arrested. His voice was based on that of legendary comic W.C. Fields.

Other Recurring Characters

*Humans: Ranger Dan and his children lived in a log cabin in the Evergreen Forest, and played a key role in the original "Christmas Raccoons" special. Since then, they became less and less important, until they were finally removed from the show at the end of the first season. They were the original owners of Schaeffer, and later Broo, and since their departure it is unclear where exactly Schaeffer and Broo live.
**Chief Forest Ranger Dan: The father
**Julie and Tommy: Dan's children. Julie is the eldest child while Tommy is the youngest. They may be aware of the animals after meeting the Raccoons in "The Christmas Raccoons".

*Mrs. Suey-Ellen Pig: The pigs' mother. She appears in two episodes, "Mom's the Word", where her name is revealed, and "Promises Promises". She is also mentioned in "The Wrong Stuff" when the pigs make a video for her.

*Professor Smedley-Smythe: A goat who runs the Evergreen Museum (which Lisa Raccoon helps in tidying up). His first name is revealed only once as being "Witherspoon".

*Mr. Willow: He runs Willow's General Store. It's not officially known what kind of animal he is supposed to resemble, however he looks quite like a bear. However he doesn't resemble any of Cyril Sneer's bears. He has white fur, so that could possibly mean he might be a polar bear, though he was coloured slightly differently in the episode "When The Chips Are Down".

*George and Nicole Raccoon: Lisa and Bentley's parents. George is Ralph's big brother and works as a cook/host of "Chef Surprise" on K.N.O.X. TV. George could presumably be as many as 10 to 15 years older than Ralph as Lisa is only slightly younger than Bert (who has a crush on Lisa). Nicole has a definite French accent.

Minor characters

pecials

* Ferlin Fielddigger: A brown woodchuck who served as sportscaster for the hockey game in "The Raccoons on Ice". Ferlin's voice was provided by longtime "Hockey Night in Canada" sportscaster Danny Gallivan.

eason 1

* Samaritan 'Sammy' Sneer: Cyril Sneer's late uncle who appears as flashbacks in "Going It Alone". He notably donated his entire fortune to worthy causes, which Cyril Sneer had contempt for.
* Haggis Lamborgini: A sheep who was the race commentator in "The Evergreen Grand Prix". He has a Scottish accent.

eason 2

* Karl Snarl: Cyril's former business partner at "Sneer & Snarl".
* Aunt Gertie: Ralph's aunt, who despite her age is a bit of a thrill seeker.
* Henri de la Possum: An estranged artist who hid out in the Endless Echo Caverns to create his art in peace. He disguised himself as a monster to scare off anybody who might disturb him. He has a French accent.
* Dr. Canard: A bird who is Cyril's doctor.
* Herman the hermit: A hermit who lives in Beaver Bite Swamp, who befriends Bert and Cedric. He also notably cannot read.
* Dick Ermine: A brown furred ermine who is a sports commentator. He commentates the track-and-field tournament with Melissa Raccoon as his co-host. He returns in season 4 to commentate the skateboarding challenge. Dick Ermine's name is a pun on longtime "Hockey Night in Canada" colour commentator Dick Irvin.
* Duck Snyder: A duck who commentates the baseball game between the Evergreen Raccoons and the Mammoth Mudhens.

eason 3

* Sir Malcolm Havelock: A frog who is a best selling author who was forced into pretending to be the explorer from his books. He is one of Bert Raccoon's heroes.
* Bix Wheelie's gang: Bix Badger (aka Bix Wheelie) is a motocross champion, who is leader of a small group of motorcycle enthusiasts with his friends Wendo (a weasel) and Toof (a beaver).
* Mr. Barnes: A lion who is a well-known Hollywood director.
* John Roykirk: An owl who is the editor of World Times Magazine.
* Simon Sneer: Cyril's big brother and Cedric's uncle who was lost at sea. The 'Simon' who appeared on the show, turned out to be Sid Leech; An old friend of Simon's who wanted the Sneer fortune.
* Dirk Dassie: A fox who hosts the gameshow 'Question Of Your Life', which Cyril ends up taking part in.

eason 4

* Woodchuck Berry: A famous guitar player who was Cyril's best friend at school. Cyril would play the saxophone with him during their childhood. Woodchuck's name is a play on Chuck Berry.
* Troy Malone: Melissa's former boyfriend and a skilled pilot. Voiced by Barry Bailey.
* Bonneville: Mr. Knox's nephew. Bonneville was a bully to Cedric in the episode "Bully for You". The pair make peace by the end of the episode.
*J.P. Gordon: A wealthy tycoon whom Cyril was desperate to make a deal with.
* The Great Tromboni: A famous lion magician who helps instruct Bert when he became his apprentice.
* Ms. Primrose: A goose, teacher at Evergreen Elementary, the Schoolhouse where Ralph, Melissa, Bert and Cedric attended as children, and even Cyril Sneer himself.
* Edward Miller: An old friend of Lady Baden-Baden who was a playwright in his younger days. Cyril had intervened as producer in his scripts so many times that Miller then disguised himself as a phantom to convince Cyril that his auditorium was haunted. Voiced by Bruno Gerussi.
* Barbara Lafrum: Reporter for the news show "20 Minutes." Voiced by Barbara Frum, at the time the anchor of CBC's "The Journal".

eason 5

* Nurse Peck: She is a cat who works at the local hospital, and keeps Cyril Sneer in check whilst he is staying there. She has an Irish accent.
* Danny: He is a young rabbit roughly Bentley's age that was staying in hospital at the same time as Cyril. He helps Cyril confront his fears of his treatment as he had been through similar things before many times. Deeply grateful for his help, Cyril immediately offers to donate blood to help Danny when he learns the kitten otherwise would have an important operation delay without it and he is a blood type match.
* Donna: Lisa's friend from school, who pressures Lisa into taking up smoking so that she can hang out in Donna's circle of friends. Their friendship dissolves after Lisa quits.
* Robin Steel: A weasel and a sleazy con artist who along with his son Rod set up bogus races which are fixed to allow them to claim the prize money.

Cast

Locations

Episodes

Broadcast details

The series was broadcast around the world by the following channels:
*Canada: CBC Television (original broadcaster), APTN, Canal Famille, Teletoon, A-Channel (the stations that are now Citytv), Teletoon Retro
*United Kingdom: CBBC (BBC One and BBC Two 1987 - 2002) [cite web|title=The Raccoons|publisher=BBC Catalogue|accessdate=2007-08-07|url=http://catalogue.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/series/THE+RACCOONS] and Boomerang (2006-2008)
*United States: Disney Channel, Starz, TRIO
*Eastern Europe: Boomerang Europe
*Greece: ERT
*Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: TVZ
*Poland: Boomerang Poland, TVN (in 1998 and 1999)
*Romania: TVR 1, TVR 2
*Russia: REN TV (Currently showing), Teleinform, NTV+
*Germany: Super RTL, Tele 5
*Ireland: RTÉ 2 (Network 2)
*The Netherlands: Kindernet, RTL (Telekids)
*Flanders: VRT
*New Zealand: TVNZ, TV ONE Sunday mornings in late 1987. Later series not screened.
*Middle East: Infinity TV, Al Deera TV and Orbit's broadcast of the Boomerang Channel. Original Canadian version used to show on "Children's Theatre" (Cinema El Atfal) that aired on Egyptian Channel 1 in the 90s.
*Trinidad & Tobago: TTT

DVD Release

In 2004, Morningstar Entertainment released The Raccoons on DVD for the first time. The DVD's were released in Region 0 NTSC format. The DVD's contained no region coding, despite popular belief that it did. Two 9-episode boxsets entitled "The Raccoons": Collector's Set 1" and "The Raccoons": Collector's Set 2" were released, each containing 3 discs that were also available separately. The first set contained nine of the ten episodes from series 2 (omitting "Stop the Clock") and the second set contained the first nine episodes of series 3.

A 2-disc region 2 PAL DVD release of the complete series 1 was released on September 17, 2007 through Fabulous Films Ltd. They later released a DVD entitled Three Adventures With The Raccoons on April 7th 2008. This DVD just contained the first 3 episodes of Series 1. It's unknown wearever or not Fabulous Films Ltd. are planning to release more individuial volumes such as this one. Series 2 is due for release in February 2009, again in Region 2 PAL format. It was due out, first for September 1st, and then for September 29th 2008, however the release has been delayed on the count of Fabulous Films Ltd. awaiting on new special features for the set.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0131183|title=The Raccoons
**imdb title|id=0128995|title=The Christmas Raccoons
**imdb title|id=0290274|title=The Raccoons on Ice
**imdb title|id=0290273|title=The Raccoons and the Lost Star
**imdb title|id=0491113|title=The Raccoons: Let's Dance!
* [http://www.gilsinan.com/raccoons/ The UnOfficial "Raccoons" Home Page]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thenewraccoons/ The Raccoons Mailing List on Yahoo!] with a report about the [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thenewraccoons/message/1095 History of the Making of "The Raccoons"]