The Christmas Raccoons

I was fully prepared to hate The Christmas Raccoons as I wasn't much of a fan of the series when I was a kid, thankfully it turned out to be very entertaining and I never once looked at the clock. This is mainly due to the massive cuteness of Schaeffer, the Old English Sheepdog.

On Xmas Eve Eve a forest ranger is alerted to the fact that someone is cutting down all the trees, including the home of three raccoons. As he goes to investigate his two children and Schaeffer use the situation to their advantage and bring home a fallen evergreen to turn into the Xmas tree that they were previously denied. Shaeffer goes off on his own with the Raccoons and foils the lumberjacking plans of crooked aardvark Cyril Sneer.

It sounds like kindergarten stuff, but this Xmas Special was made in a time when cartoons didn't pander to kids or insult their intelligence, and the Xmas atmosphere and snow-covered landscapes give it nice cosy feel. Certainly one to watch again.

The last time I watched the Raccoons was 10 years ago (I was a kid then). And I liked them. And I recently found couple of episodes and I worried if it's going to be stupid now to watch it when I'm at the top of my rebellion and sarcasm age. Anyway, I waited to be alone in the house, locked the door, shut the window, gulped, prayed and played this thing. And it wasn't exactly that bad. Shore there are plenty of mushy and sappy dialogues, but it's not so...what's the word...disgusting! Shore, the plot was rather poor, but who cares about the plot, when you got a pink anteater with the chainsaw for the main villain. I usually hate Christmass specials but I don't exactly hate this one. Because usually Christmass specials are to me very insipid and ridiculous. This isn't that insipid as some CSes I remember. But I think kids would like this, and that's probably the only thing important. If you don't like this, OK, I don't blame you. But I like it, even though it's not exactly that I would watch it every day. The characters are acceptable and funny (I repeat, this is mostly for kids!). Overall, good. Far from perfect, but I would always gladly choose this instead of Pokemon or YuGiOh.

Before "Frosty Returns" (1992), this Christmas special, "The Christmas Raccoons", was one of the first Christmas specials to have an environmental message. Most Christmas specials have messages about togetherness, family and giving. Sure, this one does, but at least it doesn't cram it down your throat like "Frosty's Returns". The characters are interesting and likable. Bert Raccoon is a funny and lovable. The villain, Cyril Sneer, is a representation of corporate greed. Nothing says 1980's like corporate greed being abstracted in a cartoon. There are two things I would like to point out: The part where Ralph Raccoon (who akin to Melissa Raccoon, is the straight character/voice of reason), said to Bert, "Let the sleeping dog lie" is a laugh. Because it is reference to the old saying, "Let sleeping dogs lie." Another scene, is where Cedric Sneer, Cyril's son, held up a skinny Christmas tree and talked about Christmas. This is a blatant reference to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (read my review on this 1965 special). This Canadian cartoon referenced this American cartoon, 15 years later. If you want to spoof/reference/homage a childhood classic, you got to wait until you grow up. All in all, it is worth the watch, it is sweet, funny, and utterly charming. Not rated, but a TV-G will do.

The Raccoons made their TV debut in 1980 with this special. It tells the story of how the Raccoons met Schaeffer, and it shows their only interaction with Julie and Tommy. So back then, they did have a purpose. The animation has a little of that late 70's awkwardness. It's not as clean as it was in the TV show but it also has a lot of life to it at times, particularly with the Sneers. Cyril (Michael Magee doing an impression of a schoolmaster he disliked), a bell-bottom-legged, ragged-eared pink aardvark who looks like a cross between a Grinch and a Heffalump doesn't just stomp around and once in a while cock his head a little when he talks: he waves his arms, kicks stuff and jumps around madly. Cedric is really well animated as well. If he sounds different to how he does in the show, it's because he's voiced by Fred Little. In the show he's voiced by Marvin Goldhar. Len Carlson gives a great voice performance as Bert, the slacker/housemate raccoon and by far the most interesting of the raccoons. No one is more perfect for the role than him. It's one of those stories where it appears to be a dream and then it's not. I find it surprising that he has other aardvarks working for him. In the series (and from The Raccoons on Ice onwards) he has a trio of pigs working for him, and a squad of bears. Maybe all those aardvarks quit after Cyril was thwarted. In this special, Cedric is still on Cyril's "team", so to speak, but in the next special he defects to the side of the raccoons. Still, here he's the conscience of the team, trying to stop his greedy father from cutting down too many trees. It's a pretty groovy special and I recommend it.