The Raccoons

[CyberKFox]

I may get chestized for this but, The Raccoons is a great cartoon

http://theraccoons.ru/images/bert/007.jpg

(i apologize for the size of the picture)

When i was a kid during the '80s, I was mostly watching The Disney Channel (back when it was a cheap premium channel, believe it or not) and one of the shows was The Raccoons. unfortunately back then i wasn't fond of it due to the oddball design of the main character (shown here) named Bert Raccoon of which i use to believe is a Gonzo knockoff, flash forward a decade and a half ago... thanks to my returning newfound love of classic animation courtesy of The King and Odie and The Cattanooga Cats i decided to revisit The Raccoons but, seeing that NO CHANNEL in the United States doesn't have the balls to air it years or so after the show's last US appearace on the premium channel Starz, I decided to revisit them on YouTube and to my surprise.. i liked it!
I didn't realize the show was great until now, Bert Raccoon is a likeable and fun character despite the odd design and the songs were fun to listen to. the plots of each episode are a bit mature (which might explain a bit of the lackluster support for the show here in the US), The show also has an episode of which D.A.R.E could've used to get their anti-drug message across called "Join The Club" where Lisa Raccoon (Bert's love interest, voiced by Lisa Lougheed) fells coy to her "friend" from high school and forced to smoke cigarettes until she has a creepy ass dream which brought her out of her smoking habits


I find it sad that people here in the United States don't give The Raccoons respect and bad mouthing it as a mediocre cartoon and a piece of s*** yet nowadays they are watching cartoons that are basically cartoons that are mediocre in terms of quality namely: South Park, American Dad and Family Guy. these 3 cartoons are bad on the grounds of the episodes get irrelevent after it aired and the humor is intollerable like Will Farrel's comedic material (pretty ironic, isn't it?)

I suggest that those who gave this cult canadian cartoon a cold shoulder decades ago should give this cartoon a 2nd or 3rd chance, who knows? you may grow to like it... like i did ;3

[aalong64]

I really like the Raccoons. I used to watch it on Teletoon back when the channel first debuted, and a few years ago when the DVDs came out I bought them and got back into the show. I love the music (particularly the background music, although the songs are also good) and the characters. The voice acting was pretty good, with the standouts probably being Len Carlson as Bert and Michael Magee as Cyril Sneer. I preferred the earlier episodes because the stories were more exciting, and the later ones tended to be more preachy and focus more on characters having social problems like peer pressure, resentment, jealousy, etc. The first season was probably my favourite, so I really wish they'd released it here on DVD as well, instead of just the UK.

It was fairly popular here in Canada, and in the UK. I never knew of any massive dislike for it...??

[Silverstar]

I may bet chastised for this but, The Raccoons is a great cartoon

Why would you be chastised for saying that? Most people I know who saw The Raccoons were quite fond of it. I've never actually heard any hate for this show.

[stephane dumas]

I really like the Raccoons. I used to watch it on Teletoon back when the channel first debuted, and a few years ago when the DVDs came out I bought them and got back into the show. I love the music (particularly the background music, although the songs are also good) and the characters. The voice acting was pretty good, with the standouts probably being Len Carlson as Bert and Michael Magee as Cyril Sneer. I preferred the earlier episodes because the stories were more exciting, and the later ones tended to be more preachy and focus more on characters having social problems like peer pressure, resentment, jealousy, etc. The first season was probably my favourite, so I really wish they'd released it here on DVD as well, instead of just the UK.

It was fairly popular here in Canada, and in the UK. I never knew of any massive dislike for it...??

I agree about Len Carlson, a great VA who unfortunately passed away in 2006 :crying: as for the latter episodes, I liked the addition of Bentley and Lisa Raccoon as well as Mrs Pig even if she appeared in 2 episodes but I agree about the focus of social problems.

Edit: I would wish for a new animated Raccoons series. Either a) take where we left off the main characters in the last season or b) doing a new remake from the start including characters from the latter seasons like Mrs Pig, Bentley and Lisa.

[Dudley]

I was young when I first watched it, so I probably didn't appreciate as much as I would now, but I do recall liking it a little.
However, my favorite thing from the cartoon was the song "Run With Us". It was the best ED theme for a cartoon EVER.

[CyberKFox]

on FurAffinity's forums (Yes, FurAffinity is a furry art community)
There are only a small minority of people that loved the cartoons, but you think since it's a community laden with furries that they love this cartoon but sadly they mostly hated it and worship shows like Family Guy

[silvanoir]

I loved it (watched it on Disney as a kid). Definitely one of the things that got me interested in talking-animal-people.

Was it ever available on DVD in the U.S. though?

[powergate92]

I been watching The Raccoons on YouTube and i think its a good show.

[powergate92]

When i was a kid during the '80s, I was mostly watching The Disney Channel (back when it was a cheap premium channel, believe it or not) and one of the shows was The Raccoons. unfortunately back then i wasn't fond of it due to the oddball design of the main character (shown here) named Bert Raccoon of which i use to believe is a Gonzo knockoff, flash forward a decade and a half ago... thanks to my returning newfound love of classic animation courtesy of The King and Odie and The Cattanooga Cats i decided to revisit The Raccoons but, seeing that NO CHANNEL in the United States doesn't have the balls to air it years or so after the show's last US appearace on the premium channel Starz

Just so you know the last channel to air The Raccoons in the US was LAT TV as LAT TV aired the show from 2007 - 2008.

[Mister Donut]

Just so you know the last channel to air The Raccoons in the US was LAT TV as LAT TV aired the show from 2007 - 2008.
At least someone around here had it on. The show though deserves to be on a more widely-known network like Boomerang (where the European version has had it on previously).

Where I lived, I had a choice between seeing it on The Disney Channel (when that channel was still a subscription-based edition) or from the local CBC station near me in Windsor as that was available on cable too, and often the CBC had re-aired the show now and then in the 90's.

[BaerXIII]

Saw this thread thought I would get in on the nostalgia. It's a strange ass thing though when I was young and had teletoon I never watched the show. But then last week I was watching teletoon retro and got hooked on it. But it's only one episode a day which bites and I've seen all the episodes on youtube which also bites since there are a few part 1 episodes but they never finished uploading.

[Ioz]

I watched it some, back when it was first on. I don't remember much about it, but I thought it was ok. It was a Canadian cartoon show that aired on a pay cable channel here in the states in the 80s, so its audience was limited. Therefore, it doesn't have the nostalgia factor that a lot of other cartoons have.

[TenPoundHammer]

Great show. The later episodes were very humanlike in their tone: Lisa's moving-in episode and the episode where the creek ends up accidentally, irreversibly destroyed are the only two cartoon episodes that ever made me cry.

[TheGunheart]

Loved this show. I even have a pretty awesome cover of the theme song, which, as stated above, was the best ED theme ever.

[TenPoundHammer]

loved this show. I even have a pretty awesome cover of the theme song, which, as stated above, was the best ed theme ever.

ed?

[dth1971]

Why not write to Cartoon Network or Disney XD to see if they can get the rights to The Raccoons?

[TheGunheart]

ed?

ED = Ending Theme. Contrast OP = Opening Theme.

[TenPoundHammer]

Why not write to Cartoon Network or Disney XD to see if they can get the rights to The Raccoons?

You can't just pick up the rights willy nilly. Very few Americans have heard of The Raccoons, and it's 25 years old, so no network on Earth would ever touch it.

No offense, but you really seem to have no understanding at all. You make all sorts of wild, random suggestions of "Why don't they pick up/make a revival of X?" that don't even have the slightest chance of possibility.

[MetroSparkster]

I remember seeing this cartoon in England long time ago. Good show indeed...

[Looneytunes]

I remember seeing the show. It is an oldie but goodie. I cannot remember much of it, but I remember seeing the three raccoons, Cybil, and his son (or was it his nephew? I cannot remember), but it was definitely a good show. Is it out on DVD yet? I would buy if it is.

Looneytunes/Disneytoons

[TenPoundHammer]

Is it out on DVD yet? I would buy if it is.

Seasons 1 and 2 are on DVD but only in PAL format.

[Zebi]

I loved watching The Raccoons when it originally aired, it was a really enjoyable show. :) I'd love to watch it again, but I don't get Teletoon Retro.

Seasons 1 and 2 are on DVD but only in PAL format.

You can watch those DVDs if you have a DVD player that is region-free, or you can use a program like VLC Media Player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc). I have some DVDs that are Region 4 (Australia) and have watched them on my computer with VLC.

[BaerXIII]

You can find a torrent with all the episodes and specials if your ok with doing that kind of thing. It sucks thought that the DVDs are only in PAL format since the show was aired, created, produced and all that nice stuff in Canada NTSC format. I just don't get it.

[Undrave]

There was a NTSC DVD release a few years back but that is sadly out of print... I'm kicking myself for not jumpin' on them when I had the chance ><

I have to agree with the assesment that the earlier episodes were more adventurous. I really liked that ep where Bert wanted to be a Knight, or the one where he climbed that mountain to find its secret, or the one with the haunted house or the mystery of the vanishing crystal, or the one where Bert got stuck in the secret passages in the Sneer Manor! Those were some fun episodes. I also remember an episode where Bert and Cedric where on a raft down a river... I think on a treasure hunt?

OOOH! OOOH! Another awesome exciting one where Cedric and what'shisnam Raccoon got stuck in the Sneer vault and Bert and Cyril had to team up to reach it underground! That was cool.

The social episodes weren't bad either, but I think it would have flowed way better if there had been a few old school episodes peppered in.

Cyril Sneer is one of the greatest and most well developped cartoon antagonist out there with a great character development arc throughout the serie. Kinda like Xanatos from Gargoyles but pink and smoking cigars XD

[CyberKFox]

OOOH! OOOH! Another awesome exciting one where Cedric and what'shisnam Raccoon got stuck in the Sneer vault and Bert and Cyril had to team up to reach it underground! That was cool.


The raccoon your referring to was Ralph Raccoon, one of Bert's friends

The Social episodes maybe timid but at least shows off the personalities and emotions of the characters quite well

Stop The Clock and Join The Club being the best 2 of the "Social Episodes"

You can't go wrong with Bentley in Bert's sweater (Stop The Clock) and Lisa's creepy nightmare (Join The Club)

[CyberKFox]

You can find a torrent with all the episodes and specials if your ok with doing that kind of thing. It sucks thought that the DVDs are only in PAL format since the show was aired, created, produced and all that nice stuff in Canada NTSC format. I just don't get it.

I can think of one reason
No DVD Company wants to touch this cartoon due to (i think) little there of demand for such a cartoon here in the United States

[Steve Carras]

In addition, I don't know what audience demographicv in America would watch it [I remember it from 25 years ago but took it for one of the then [at the time] Care Bears type shows...]

[Mister Donut]

You can find a torrent with all the episodes and specials if your ok with doing that kind of thing. It sucks thought that the DVDs are only in PAL format since the show was aired, created, produced and all that nice stuff in Canada NTSC format. I just don't get it.
It was big over in the UK anyway. DVD's of North American shows sold there have to be converted to PAL anyway. Why nobody hasn't released it over here is anyone's guess.

[Ioz]

I'm surprised it hasn't had at least a Canada only complete release on DVD. Then, people in the states could at least order it through amazon.ca.

[Mister Donut]

I'm surprised it hasn't had at least a Canada only complete release on DVD. Then, people in the states could at least order it through amazon.ca.
Still possible to order it on a UK site as well. Many out there know how to unlock region codes and usually the NTSC/PAL problems are not an issue for most current DVD players.

[TheGunheart]

On a side note, am I the only one who found it weird how Lisa was the only Raccoon that wore shoes?

[podznvines]

I remember The Raccoons being on The Disney Channel* until about '92 or '93, and came on in the mornings. I didn't have pre-K classes until the afternoon, so I always got to watch.

*Disney didn't become part of the basic cable package until 1997, and that's probably why most Americans haven't heard of it. Though considering the 80s and 90s, most people didn't have cable at all.

There were a few NTSC DVDs of The Raccoons available a few years ago (2006). I know because my brother bought a few from Amazon. Before then, all I could remember from the show was the end theme.

[Zorak Masaki]

Apparently, it was also on Boomerang, or at least one of the overseas versions of boomerang:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98n8riOQLLM

[Mister Donut]

I remember The Raccoons being on The Disney Channel* until about '92 or '93, and came on in the mornings. I didn't have pre-K classes until the afternoon, so I always got to watch.
In the 80's, The Disney Channel used it had it on around the weekend afternoons (when the series was just being produced so there weren't as many episodes to show). I also used to see the show on the CBC as well which carried it roughly the same time.

*Disney didn't become part of the basic cable package until 1997, and that's probably why most Americans haven't heard of it. Though considering the 80s and 90s, most people didn't have cable at all.
My folks had cable since the early 70's actually, we got Disney Channel around '84. More a matter of whether or not people had the wad to pay for it then, but Disney Channel was far better before it got demoted to Basic.

Apparently, it was also on Boomerang, or at least one of the overseas versions of boomerang:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98n8riOQLLM
Being reminded of a really cool promo that was made to for their airings...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQpETKf_pYE