The Raccoons on Ice

I had the presence of mind to record this hour long special for my 4 year old son back in 1986. I found the video gathering dust in the attic and watched it recently.

Yes, the voices of Rich Little, Rita Coolidge and Leo Sayers alone were enough to make this project great, but the producers went right out there and recruited Danny Gallivan, the greatest hockey play-by-play announcer in broadcast history, to portray Ferlin Fielddigger! I have worn out the section of tape featuring Gallivan's rich tone and vibrant observations during the game between the Raccoons and Cyril's Bears. "...and aren't they a brutish bunch...?" because its truly THE highlight of this program. Some trivia: Carl Banas, the voice of Schaeffer, was previously a co-star (Sgt. Byron James) in the great 1960's CBC drama "Wojeck".

I remember visiting Hinton Studios in Ottawa, Canada and watching the animators working on Raccoons in the late 1980s. Sadly, Kevin Gillis and Sheldon Wiseman had a severe falling out shortly thereafter, or else the Raccoons could have gone on indefinitely.

This special introduces Sophia, Cedric's girlfriend. She's a tall, elegant aardvark girl who ice skates (and later proves to be quite the athlete, nearly beating Cyril in the competition) She looks good in some shots but in others her arms are too short. It's a formulaic sports episode. The episode 'Stop the Clock' had a better twist on the ending but the voice acting is great in this special. Bert gives a rousing motivational speech and it is one of Len Carlson's best performances. Also, why does Melissa keep changing voice actors? It's very disorienting. Fred Little once again voices Cedric and I've noticed Cedric is much more different than he is in the actual series. In this special he's almost a pushover, but in the series, though he's still quiet and unassuming, he has a strong sense of integrity and self-respect. Maybe all that time with Sophia changed him. Also, Bert is shown to be quite lazy, yet later in 'A Night to Remember' he does a backflip, which means either the hockey game shaped him up or he's only this agile when he needs to be.

Even though the plot is certainly nothing special, 'The Raccoons on Ice' is sweet to watch. It was the second original 'Raccoons' special from the early '80s, and as each special went by, it started to feel more and more like the series.

Again, one of my favorite things about these Raccoon cartoons is the music. All the songs are soothing and give this special a nice, smooth flow. And Cyril Sneer never fails to crack me up.

I think this special had something to do with that hockey game against the Russians a year earlier. It really reminds me of it.