The Raccoons
The Raccoons is a Canadian animated series broadcast from 1985 to 1992, with three preceding television specials from its inception in 1980, and one direct to video special in 1984. The franchise was created by Kevin Gillis with the co-operation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Synopsis
The series revolves around Bert Raccoon and married couple Ralph and Melissa Raccoon, of whom Bert is a friend and roommate. The series mostly involved the trio's efforts against the industrialist forces of greedy aardvark millionaire Cyril Sneer, who usually tries to destroy the forest for a quick buck. However, the Raccoons would always save their forest from Cyril's schemes, with help from their forest friends including Schaeffer, a gentle Old English Sheepdog; Cedric, Cyril's college graduate son; and Sophia Tutu, Cedric's girlfriend. As the series progressed, Cyril becomes more of a sympathetic character, eventually becoming an antihero, becoming more responsible in his priorities and business practices.Originally, the story was set in a kind of hidden world in the Evergreen Forest where a small human family of a Forest Ranger and his children reside unaware of the struggles taking place out of sight. However, the second season had these human characters removed as the premise shifted to an unambiguous fantasy world of a sophisticated humanoid animal version of Canada with complex transportation systems, broadcasting media and heavy industry etc.. In addition, Ralph's relatives become regular characters, especially his young nephew and niece, Bentley the insecure child technology prodigy and Lisa the statuesque athletic teenager who became an understated love interest for Bert.
Unlike many other cartoons of its time, it handled action, humor, and romance in a fairly sophisticated manner, while remaining sufficiently uncomplicated for younger viewers. Lessons featured in the series mainly included environmentalism, but also included other lessons, including friendship and teamwork.
Episodes
Characters
Main
- Bert Raccoon The main hero of the series. He is Ralph and Melissa's houseguest and is their best friend from childhood. An energetic raccoon with a lot of imagination, Bert always likes to seek out adventure and to live life to the fullest. Although he is impulsive and prone to foolish decisions, he has a kind heart.
- Ralph Raccoon and Melissa Raccoon, Dottie West, Linda Feige and Susan Roman ) – the happily married couple who live in the "Raccoondominium" with their houseguest Bert. Ralph tolerates Bert's antics to some extent and knows his heart is in the right place but it doesn't prevent him from getting frustrated by them, he is also the founder of "The Evergreen Standard" newspaper. Melissa is the more sensible of the three raccoons, and is always there to give the boys a push in the right direction, she often enjoys a good laugh too, usually when Bert or Ralph act silly or when Cyril's plans go embarrasingly arwy.
- Cedric Sidney Sneer and Marvin Goldhar ) – Cyril Sneer's nerdy son and Bert Raccoon's best friend, and heir to the Sneer fortune. Since the special "The Raccoons on Ice" Cedric has gained a crush on Sophia and usually acts nervous around her.
- Schaeffer – A large sheepdog, who is friends with the Raccoons. Originally portrayed as slow and dimwitted in the original specials, he quickly became one of the smartest characters on the series, and eventually opened the Blue Spruce Cafe as a bartender and assists with the Evergreen Standard's technical needs.
- Broo – A sheepdog puppy who seems to favour Bert as his owner in season 2 after the human characters were dropped from the show.
- Sophia Tutu – Cedric's ditzy girlfriend, who is a superb swan glider and diver. She was phased out of the show in later years.
- Cyril Sneer – Originally the main villain of the series. Cyril is an aardvark, with a long, pink nose, a ruthless and greedy businessman and Cedric's father. Although Cyril starts off villainous, he later softens up, becoming distinctly less so as the series progresses, though he retains his treacherous, greedy nature. Despite his money-grubbing ways, he has shown to genuinely love his son and tries grooming him to take over the family business. Furthermore, he has a strict matter of pride about keeping promises.
- Snag – Cyril and Cedric Sneer's pet half dog/half aardvark. He has blue fur, a nose similar to his owners and a bad temper that rivals Cyril's.
- The Pigs – Cyril's three bumbling henchmen and assistants. They are almost never referred to by name, as they are simply listed as Pig One, Two and Three in the credits, although they occasionally refer to one another as "Lloyd". Fans of the show have referred Pig One as "Lloyd" and the other two as "Boyd" and "Floyd"
- The Bears – are Cyril Sneer's additional henchmen, workers, butlers, soldiers, spies, etc.
- Bentley Raccoon and Stuart Stone – George and Nicole's son. He's an expert with computers, and is a very typical younger kid, with a tendency to overemphasize his personal setbacks. He often favours his uncle's houseguest Bert while Cyril Sneer thinks highly of him. He is originally introduced as Ralph's cousin in his first appearance but later retconned into his nephew.
- Lisa Raccoon – Ralph's niece and Bentley's teenage basketball-playing sister, who becomes a prominent character in Season 5, after her first appearance in the Season 4 episode "Spring Fever", where she comes to visit. She is a caricature of her voice-actress.
Supporting
- Forest Ranger Dan, Leo Sayer, John Schneider, Kevin Gillis and Murray Crunchley – He is the caretaker of the Evergreen Forest, as well as the father of Tommy and Julie and owner of Schaeffer and Broo during the specials and Season 1. He is shown to be a single father as there is no mention of the mother of his children in neither the specials nor the series.
- Tommy and Noam Zylberman ) – Forest Ranger Dan's son and one of Schaeffer and Broo's original owners as well as Julie's little brother.
- Julie and Vanessa Lindorres – Forest Ranger Dan's daughter and one of Schaeffer and Broo's original owners as well as Tommy's older sister.
- Mr. Mammoth – A rhinoceros who is the richest, most powerful character on the show, he speaks in incoherent mumbles that are translated by his assistant
- Sidekick and Dan Hennessey – Mr. Mammoth's canary assistant who translates his grumbles.
- Mr. Knox – An acquaintance of Cyril Sneer, a southern crocodile/business mogul; he is married to Lady Baden-Baden, and owner of the television company K.N.O.X. TV. He and Cyril are rivals, though it is a friendly one.
- Lady Baden-Baden – A wealthy, melodramatic hen who eventually marries Mr. Knox. She was a theatre actress in her old days, and now is an enthusiastic patron of the arts. She later becomes mayor of the Evergreen Forest.
- Professor Witherspoon Smedley-Smythe – A goat who runs the Evergreen Museum.
- Dr. Canard – A duck who is Cyril's doctor.
- Mr. Willow – A friendly polar bear who is the owner of Willow's General Store.
- Mrs. Suey-Ellen Pig – The pigs' mother. She appears in two episodes, "Mom's the Word", where her name is revealed, and "Promises Promises".
- Milton Midas – An eagle businessman and scam artist. He is responsible for the poisoning of the fishing hole at Rippling Pond in the series' penultimate episode "The One that Got Away".
- George and Nicole Raccoon – Ralph's respective older brother and sister-in-law and the father and mother of Bentley and Lisa Raccoon. A couple who were once nomads. George hosts "Chef Surprise", a cooking show on KNOX-TV.
Cast
Main
- Len Carlson – Bert Raccoon / Floyd / Lloyd / Mr. Knox / Additional Voices
- Michael Magee – Cyril Sneer / Snag
- Bob Dermer – Ralph Raccoon / Lady Baden-Baden / Additional Voices
- Linda Feige – Melissa Raccoon
- Susan Roman – Melissa Raccoon / Additional Voices
- Marvin Goldhar – Cedric Sneer / Additional Voices
- Sharon Lewis – Sophia Tutu / Broo
- Carl Banas – Schaeffer / Bears / Mr. Mammoth / Mr. Willow
- Nick Nichols – Lloyd
- Keith Hampshire – Lloyd
- Murray Cruchley – Dan the Forest Ranger
- Noam Zylberman – Tommy / Bentley Raccoon
- Stuart Stone – Bentley Raccoon / Danny
- Vanessa Lindores – Julie
- Dan Hennessey – George Raccoon / Sidekick
- Elizabeth Hanna – Nicole Raccoon
- Lisa Lougheed – Lisa Raccoon
- Geoffrey Winter – Narrator
Additional voices
- Debra McGrath – Nurse Peck
- Les Lye – Samaritan "Sammy" Sneer
- Rick Jones – Sidekick
- Derek Diorio – Haggis Lamborgini
- Pauline Rennie – Aunt Gertie
- Nonnie Griffin – Mrs. Suey-Ellen Pig
- Bob Segarini – Woodchuck Berry
- Barry Bailey – Troy Malone
- Jeremiah McCann – Bonneville Knox
- Peter Messaline – The Great Tromboni
- Kay Hawtrey – Miss Primrose
- Bruno Gerussi – Edward Miller
- Barbara Frum – Miss Barbara LaFrum
- Theresa Sears – Ingrid Bellamour
- Terrence Scammell – Classmate #1
- Tara Charendoff – Donna
Production
Music
The series had a new wave soundtrack including the theme song "Run with Us" by cast member Lisa Lougheed. 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 television special. Three of the songs had replaced Schneider's vocals with Frank Floyd and Hank Martin. Rory Dodd, The Dior Bros., and several other musicians also had songs performed, although somewhat rarely compared to the aforementioned people. According to Jon Stroll, Frank Floyd, the frontman of the 1970s R&B funk group The Writers, was originally selected to be the main male singer for the series. Instead, as backup singer Valerie Wilson suggested, they replaced Floyd at the last minute with Curtis King Jr.The earlier version of "Run with Us", like quite a few of the other songs from The Raccoons, were never officially released. The songs from the first two specials were released on the album Lake Freeze – The Raccoons Songtrack in 1983. A soundtrack for the fourth special was released in 1984, but featured vocals from Frank Floyd and Hank Martin to replace John Schneider. Nine of the songs from the series featured on Lougheed's album Evergreen Nights, though Lougheed only sang some of the songs, while some were sung by other artists. The French version of "Run with Us", as well as most of Luba and Lisa Lougheed's songs, was performed by the French Canadian singer Jano Bergeron with "Run with Us" being renamed in French to "Viens Vers Nous".
The instrumental music was composed by Kevin Gillis and Jon Stroll and performed largely by the National Arts Centre Orchestra from Ottawa, Canada. Most of the instrumental cues heard in the series were actually recorded for The Raccoons and the Lost Star and re-used. Only six of the instrumental tunes have ever been released officially.
Animation
From 1979 to 1985, Canadian animation company Atkinson Film-Arts provided the animation for the four specials and first season of the series. In 1986, after producing the first 11 episodes, Hinton Animation Studios took over to animate the remaining seasons of the show.Home media
and its home video counterpart were responsible for releasing the specials and Season 1 on home video from 1982 to 1987. Embassy also released the specials on Laserdisc, CED and Betamax formats. Other distributors, such as Catalyst & GoodTimes released some specials and episodes on VHS.In the UK, Embassy Home Entertainment released the four Raccoons specials on VHS in the mid-1980s, before the distribution rights went to Channel 5 Video in 1986. They re-released the four specials on video, as well as released another video called The Raccoons Big Surprise with two Season 1 episodes "Surprise Attack" and "Going It Alone". Then three videos with Season 2 episodes were released, the first two were by Picture Music International that included "Double Play" and "The Sweet Smell of Success" on volume 1, released in 1988 and then "Blast from the Past" and "Power Trip" on volume 2, released in 1989. Then Video Collection International Ltd released a third tape which contained the episodes "Stop The Clock" and "The Artful Dodger" on 13 August 1990. That same tape was re-released again by Video Collection International Ltd on 22 July 1991, as part of their Children's Club range.
In 2003, Morningstar Entertainment released the show on DVD for the first time. Two 9-episode boxsets were released, each containing 3 discs that were also available separately. The discs were released without any region coding in NTSC format. The first set contained nine of the ten episodes from season 2 and the second set contained the first nine episodes of season 3. The extras include character bios, a chance to create your own scene from The Raccoons and Raccoon-A-Roma DVD-ROM content, like QuickTime animated sequences. For this release, Len Carlson also reprised his role as Bert during menus and gave in-character commentary before and after episodes. Both sets are now out of print, and no North American DVD release has come out since then.
A 2-disc Region 2 PAL DVD release of the complete series 1 was released on September 17, 2007 through Fabulous Films Ltd. The bonus features on set 1 were duplicated from the Canadian release, mainly the create a scene and Raccoon-A-Roma DVD ROM content. They later released a DVD entitled "Three Adventures With The Raccoons" on April 7, 2008. This DVD contained the first 3 episodes of Series 1 with no extras. Series 2 was released on April 20, 2009 by Fabulous Films Ltd. in another 2-disc set. DVD extras on the set include character model sheets and a documentary.
On September 18, 2009, MORE Entertainment released an 8-disc DVD set in Germany, it contained all 60 episodes and no extras. The language track is German only.
On December 14, 2009, the first season of The Raccoons is released on iTunes in Canada. On April 19, 2010, the first season is also released on iTunes in the United States. The first two seasons are released on DVD to Netflix in the United States in early-2010 and in Canada on August 2011.
On November 29, 2013, MORE Entertainment in Germany had released a DVD featuring all four of the Raccoons specials on DVD. Like their previous complete series set, set the only language track is German.
Reception
The Raccoons was well received by critics. The New York Times, in its review for their second TV special, said "the Raccoons are an adorable lot, supported nicely by an attractive production." Variety praised the third special, The Raccoons and the Lost Star, calling it "a rollicking good adventure filled with space-age animation, high-tech gadgetry, lilting tunes, a lovable sheepdog, and the delightful Raccoons team."The show was nominated for many awards, including a Gemini Award for Best Sound and Best Writing, and won the Gemini for Best Animated Series.
In 1990, Bert and Lisa were named the mascots of the Canadian Olympic team. There were no Olympic Games that year.