''The Raccoons and the Lost Star'' is the third of four animated

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

s leading up to the

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

The Raccoons ''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 ...

'' and debuted on December 13, 1983. It came after the first two Raccoons seasonal specials, which were ''

The Christmas Raccoons ''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 thre ...

'' (1980) and ''

The Raccoons on Ice ''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 ...

'' (1981). 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where The Raccoons specials were in the top 10 in

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, ''The Raccoons and the Lost Star'' was the number one children's two-part special in syndication at the time.

Plot

One night in the Evergreen Forest, Schaeffer the

sheepdog A sheep dog or sheepdog is generally a dog or breed of dogs historically used in connection with the raising of sheep. These include livestock guardian dogs used to guard sheep and other livestock and herding dogs used to move, manage and co ...

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 Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

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.

Cast

Len Carlson Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 – January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who has voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman dur ...

- Bert Raccoon / Pig General *

Michael Magee Michael Magee (October 11, 1929 – July 15, 2011) was a Canadians, Canadian actor, singer and author. He was known for voicing Cyril Sneer and his pet half dog/half aardvark Snag in the Canadian animated series ''The Raccoons'' and the voice for T ...

- Cyril Sneer / Snag *

Bob Dermer Bob Dermer (born 1946) is a Canadian actor who first made his contributions to Canadian television in 1965 as an actor in Ottawa on a late night serial called ''Milk and Honey'' which ran for 200 episodes. Prior to '' Readalong'', Dermer was also ...

- Ralph Raccoon / Bears *

Dottie West Dorothy Marie Marsh West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most in ...

- Melissa Raccoon *

Carl Banas Carl Banas (born January 23, 1929) is a Toronto-born retired radio personality and actor. He is best known for his voice roles in ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' (1964) and '' The Raccoons: Let’s Dance!'' (1985). As a television actor, he ...

- Schaeffer / Bears * Fred Little - Cedric Sneer / Pig General * Sharon Lewis - Sophia Tutu / Broo * John Schneider/

Kevin Gillis Kevin Gillis (born 2 February 1950) is a Canadian TV 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 a ...

(2023 Remaster) - Dan the Forest Ranger * Nick Nichols - Pig General * Tammy Bourne - Julie *

Hadley Kay Hadley Kay (born ) is a Canadian film, stage, television and voice actor, best known for his appearances in ''The Care Bears Movie'', '' Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation'' and ''Popples''. Career At age six, he made his film debut opposite ...

- Tommy *

Rich Little Richard Caruthers Little (born November 26, 1938) is a Canadian-American Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist and voice actor. Sometimes known as the "Man of a Thousand Voices", Little has recorded nine comedy albums and made numerous tel ...

- Narrator

Songs and performers

* John Schneider - "Calling You", "Shining", "One More Night" (duet), "Friends" (duet) *

- "Lions & Tigers", "Fallin', Fallin'"

Production

''The Lost Star'' was inspired by the 1977 film ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' (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.

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' 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".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raccoons And The Lost Star 1983 television films 1983 animated films 1983 television specials 1980s animated television specials 1983 films Canadian animated television films English-language Canadian films Space adventure films Films about raccoons Films about dreams The Raccoons 1980s Canadian films Films set on fictional planets