Melissa Raccoon

Melissa Raccoon was a titular character in the animated series "The Raccoons", and its specials, "The Raccoons on Ice, The Christmas Raccoons, The Raccoons and the Lost Star" and "". She was a childhood friend of Ralph Raccoon and Bert Raccoon, while she later married Ralph. The couple also took in Bert to live with them at the aptly-named Raccoondominium.

She has been voiced by numerous actresses, among them were singers Rita Coolidge in the Christmas Raccoons and Raccoons On Ice specials and Dottie West in the Raccoons and the Lost Star special, however nobody provided her voice for the Raccoons: Let's Dance special as she had no lines. Once the series began in 1985, she was performed by Linda Feige in the first 11 episodes (Season 1), while Susan Roman took over for the remainder of the series' run (Seasons 2-5) [http://www.gilsinian.com/raccoons/actors] . As the series commenced, she was portrayed as a submissive character who rarely spoke her mind, and went along with whatever Ralph wanted. Nevertheless, as the series progressed, so did Melissa, as when her acumen as a photographer for the "Evergreen Standard" was bolstered, her personality followed suit. Her first inklings of talent as a photojournalist rose to the surface in the episode, "Opportunity Knocks". [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSSrGxJEcLs] . Her talents were also noticed by a major newspaper that in the episode "Picture Perfect", Melissa was offered a job as one of their photographers, but she decided to stay in the Evergreen Forest at the end of the episode and continue to work for the "Evergreen Standard", as well as being with Ralph and the rest of her friends. Before her marriage to Ralph, she was popular with the men, as in the episode "The Sky Is the Limit", her old boyfriend Troy Malone showed up in the Evergreen Forest and manifested he still harbored feelings for her. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gojxnu8aZE] . Nevertheless, at the end of the episode, Melissa confirms her true feelings for Ralph as Troy leaves at the end, never to be heard from again in the series run.

While she is in Bert's age demographic, as depicted in the episode "Making the Grade" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj3iijYp96A] , she evolves as more of a maternal figure to him and gives him advice which when he does not heed, he often wishes he had. She is primarily the only prominent female character in the cartoon, although Lady Baden-Baden and Lisa Raccoon, Ralph's niece later come in, while Sophia Tutu eventually filtered out after the first season.