The Christmas Raccoons

The Christmas Raccoons
Directed by	Kevin Gillis Paul Schibli
Written by	Kevin Gillis Juliet Law Packer
Produced by	Kevin Gillis
Starring	Rich Little Rita Coolidge Rupert Holmes
Music by	Kevin Gillis Jon Stroll
Release date	1980
Running time	25 min.
Country	Canada
Language	English

The Christmas Raccoons is the first of four specials before The Raccoons TV series took place. It was first broadcast in December 1980.

Plot

The story takes place in a forest located slightly a ways north" on Earth called the Evergreen Forest. It's "the day before the day before Christmas" (December 23rd), but Dan, the chief forest ranger, learns from a phone call that someone is chopping down all of the forest's trees. His children, Julie and Tommy, are concerned, but their father assures them that he'll do whatever he can to get to the bottom of it. The kids, with their sheepdog, Schaeffer, go to sleep and dream of winter fun. Meanwhile, in one tree known as the Raccoondominium, the Raccoons are preparing for Christmas. Ralph picks up the paper, and he too is outraged to learn about the disappearing trees. Bert, however, doesn't take the matter as seriously. Yet outside, the tree thief is revealed to be Cyril Sneer, who is looking for big bucks in his lumber company. His son, Cedric, tries to talk him out of his crazed plans to destroy the whole forest, reasoning that they already have enough trees. But as Cyril puts it, "I'm Cyril Sneer, a lumber profiteer! Whenever I'm near, trees disappear!" And unfortunately, one of those trees turns out to be the Raccoondominium.

Left without a home, the Raccoons try to find who's behind the destruction of the forest. However, Cyril accidentally loses their tree on the way to his lumber HQ (he later demands to cut down all the remaining trees to make up for this loss), and Julie and Tommy find it and declare it the perfect Christmas tree. Ralph sees the kids and Schaeffer dragging it to the cabin and deduces that they must be stealing the trees and they follow the kids to get it back. Once the kids have gone to town (to collect presents for their dad) and Schaeffer is left alone in the cabin, the Raccoons make their way inside where they find the Raccoondominium decorated with ornaments, tinsel, and lights. As Melissa tries to get the stockings back, some decorations fall onto the floor and Schaeffer, who is napping nearby, wakes up from the noise and chases them through the forest. The chase leads the four animals to Cyril's lumber HQ where Schaeffer finds out the truth about his family's Christmas tree, as do the Raccoons about his innocence. The animals then team up to plan to catch the real tree thief. Once caught, Cyril finally admits that it was he who cut down the trees and that Cedric is innocent. After some coaxing, Cyril eventually promises to replant all of the trees. Schaeffer hears the kids calling for him in the distance and he and the Raccoons leave in triumph.

The animals are pleased that they have saved the forest, but the Raccoons are upset that they are still left without a home and Schaeffer shares their sorrow, as he is desperate to help them but he can't think of what to do for them. They walk back to the cabin and they wish each other a Merry Christmas, and Schaeffer tells the Raccoons not to give up hope. Julie and Tommy have already returned and they ask Schaeffer why some of the decorations have fallen off the tree, as Schaeffer was meant to guard the tree while the kids were out. Julie notices the Raccoons' stockings on the floor and as she begins to wonder where they came from, Schaeffer realises the kids can help the Raccoons and alerts them to the window. Julie and Tommy see the homeless Raccoons in the cold and realise that their Christmas tree must be the Raccoons' home. Julie phones their father to ask him to find a new home for them. Dan agrees and the group celebrate.

The next day, the kids rush to open their presents, but are surprised to see that the tree has gone. When they ask their father, he tells them that they "haven't gotten one yet" and it dawns on the kids that it's only Christmas Eve and they must have dreamt the events of the previous 'day'. However, Dan tells the kids that, although the mystery of the disappearing trees hasn't been solved, the trees have miraculously stopped being cut down for some reason. He reads a newspaper article to them which says that "Overnight, thousands of seedlings were planted but they don't know who did it." Schaeffer alerts the kids to the window again and they can see the Raccoons and a new re-planted tree not far from the cabin. The Raccons wave goodbye to the kids and Schaeffer and climb into the tree to settle into a new home.

Cast

• Rich Little - Narrator
• Michael Magee - Cyril Sneer
• Fred Little - Cedric Sneer
• Carl Banas - Schaeffer
• Len Carlson - Bert Raccoon
• Rita Coolidge - Melissa Raccoon
• Bob Dermer - Ralph Raccoon
• Rupert Holmes - Dan the Forest Ranger
• Tammy Bourne - Julie
• Hadley Kay - Tommy

Trivia

• This the only time in the show's history when the humans (Tommy and Julie) and the Raccoons meet each other.

External links

• The Christmas Raccoons on Christmas Specials Wiki
• The Christmas Raccoons on Raccoon wiki
• The Christmas Raccoons on imdb.com