The Raccoons and the Lost Star | |
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![]() Title card | |
Genre | Animation Family |
Written by | Kevin Gillis Juliet Law Packer |
Directed by | Kevin Gillis |
Starring | John Schneider Dottie West Len Carlson Michael Magee Bob Dermer Fred Little Nick Nichols Sharon Lewis Hadley Kay Tammy Bourne Kevin Gillis |
Narrated by | Rich Little |
Country of origin | Canada United States United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Sheldon S. Wiseman |
Producer | Kevin Gillis |
Cinematography | Kevin Gillis Jon Stroll |
Editors | John Harris Norman LeBlanc Gerald Tripp |
Running time | 49 minutes |
Production companies | Gillis-Wiseman Productions Atkinson Film-Arts |
Original release | |
Release | December 13, 1983 |
Related | |
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The Raccoons and the Lost Star is the third of four animated television specials leading up to the animated television series The Raccoons and debuted on December 13, 1983. [1] It came after the first two Raccoons seasonal specials, which were The Christmas Raccoons (1980) and The Raccoons on Ice (1981). [2] There are some thematic elements that did not exist in the first two specials, such as the Raccoons' world being separate from that of the humans, but it is the first one to develop the look and feel of the series. In the United States, where The Raccoons specials were in the top 10 in Nielsen ratings, The Raccoons and the Lost Star was the number one children's two-part special in syndication at the time. [3] The special was remastered in 2023 for streaming, though with anything to do with John Schneider altered or edited out. It is available on the Roku Channel.
One night in the Evergreen Forest, Schaeffer the sheepdog is playing with his human owners, Tommy and Julie, when their father, Ranger Dan has a surprise for them. As Schaeffer takes a brief nap, he is awoken by a glowing red plane that lands in front of the cabin. Schaeffer goes to investigate, but the pilot gets a call from his commanding officer to return to his base. Panicking, Schaeffer climbs into the passenger seat of the plane and is flown away from Earth and to a strange jungle planet. Upon his arrival to a giant base filled with weaponry, he's chased by the forces of the Imperial Commander Cyril Sneer, but escapes them. Schaeffer runs into Sophia Tutu, a friend of his from the planet Earth, although Sophia doesn't seem to know Schaeffer. Sophia takes Schaeffer to meet Broo, her pet sheepdog puppy. Meanwhile, Cyril Sneer plans to conquer Earth with the help of a magic star (which Broo wears around his neck). The star has enough power to launch his firepower to raid the planet. He sends out his army to hunt down every animal in the jungle and find the star.
Meanwhile, Sophia, Broo, and Schaeffer are captured by the Raccoons (Ralph, Bert and Melissa). The trio are the only animals left in the jungle. They free Sophia, Broo and Schaeffer finding they are on their side. Sophia then meets up with her boyfriend Cedric Sneer and finds out that Cyril is Cedric's father. After a series of animals being rescued and recaptured, Cyril notices on a security tape that Broo has the star. That night, Cyril discovers a "jungle rendezvous" Cedric is having with Sophia and he follows him and has Sophia imprisoned and soon all her friends, but with Broo and Cedric's help, the Raccoons and the other animals escape from Cyril's clutches and destroy his fortress in the process.
After rejoice, Bert flies Schaeffer back to Earth via airplane. Schaeffer awakes from his long dream and sees that Ranger Dan, Tommy and Julie reveal their surprise to him, which turns out to be Broo.
The Lost Star was inspired by the 1977 film Star Wars (now Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope). The special was originally meant to be a full-length feature, but was made into an hour-long special, due to a lack of funding. [4] The special was offered either in its hour-long format, or as a two-parter to be split across days or weeks. The latter makes several cuts to the show to fit it for time.
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". [5]
Robert Michael Schneider is an American actor and comedian. After several years performing stand-up comedy, Schneider achieved wider success as a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1988 to 1994.
The Raccoons is a Canadian animated television series that ran on CBC from November 11, 1985, to March 19, 1991, in Canada and on Disney Channel from July 4, 1985, to August 28, 1992, in the U.S., 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.
Dottie West was an American country singer and songwriter. She also had several credits as an actress. A distinguished figure in the country genre, West was among several people who helped to elevate the platform of female country artists. She was also known for mentoring up-and-coming artists and being the first woman to win a country music accolade from the Grammy Awards.
A sneer is a facial expression of scorn or disgust characterized by a slight raising of one corner of the upper lip, known also as curling the lip or turning up the nose. In The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin defined a "sneer" as "the upper lip being retracted in such a manner that the canine tooth on one side of the face alone is shown" Darwin related the sneer to the snarl observed in non-human animals, particularly carnivores, observing that:
Rocket Raccoon is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Keith Giffen, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #7. He is an intelligent, anthropomorphic raccoon, who is an expert marksman, weapon specialist and master tactician. His name and aspects of his character were inspired by the Beatles' 1968 song "Rocky Raccoon". Rocket Raccoon appeared as a prominent member in the 2008 relaunch of the superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy.
Chuck Menville was an American animator and writer for television. His credits included Batman: The Animated Series, Land of the Lost, The Real Ghostbusters, The Smurfs, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Tiny Toon Adventures.
Marvin Goldhar was a Canadian actor, best known for his voice work in animated programs and in made-for-TV movies.
Jungle Junction is a computer-animated children's television series created by Trevor Ricketts. In the United States, it was originally part of the Playhouse Disney block intended for preschoolers. On February 4, 2011, it was moved to the Disney Junior block, serving as Playhouse Disney's replacement. A second season of 27 episodes was ordered by Disney, and premiered on April 2, 2011. A total of 47 episodes were produced. The show focuses on a group of animalistic vehicles and their adventures.
Kevin Gillis is a Canadian TV writer and producer, a singer-songwriter and a former TV host, mainly known for his work in animation. He is famous for creating the Raccoons franchise as well as other cartoons such as Atomic Betty and Producing Parker. He was the host of the fitness show Yes You Can and was originally the managing director at Breakthrough Animation. Gillis is the co-founder and CEO of Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group which develops, produces and distributes television and other forms of media. He was also president of Skyreader Media Inc., an affiliated company of Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group, which produces, develops and distributes interactive e-books.
The Christmas Raccoons is the first of four Canadian animated television specials, before the main animated television series succeeding it, The Raccoons, took place. It was first broadcast on CBC in Canada on December 17, 1980 and three days later in first-run syndication in the United States on December 20. The story takes place in the Evergreen Forest, home of the forest ranger Dan, his children Tommy and Julie, and their pet sheepdog, Schaeffer.
The Raccoons on Ice is the second of four animated television specials leading up to the television series The Raccoons. It initially aired on CBC in Canada on December 20, 1981 and in syndication in the United States on November 21, 1982.