The thousand colors of happiness (The Raccoons) - The animated series of 1985

December 10 2020

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The thousand colors of happiness (in the original: The Raccoons) is a Canadian cartoon series that aired on CBC from November 11, 1985 to March 19, 1991 in Canada and on the Disney Channel from July 4, 1985 to August 28, 1992.

In Italy the series was broadcast on 20 August 1993 on Italia 1.

In the United States, with three previous television specials from its inception in 1980 and a direct to video special in 1984. The animated series was created by Kevin Gillis with the collaboration of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

History

The series tells the adventures of Bert Raccoon and the spouses Ralph and Melissa Raccoon, of whom Bert is a friend and roommate. The series mainly involved the trio's efforts against the industrial forces of greedy hedgehog millionaire Cyril Sneer, who regularly seeks to destroy the forest for quick gain.

However, raccoons always save their forest from Cyril's plans, with the help of their forest friends including Schaeffer, a kind-mannered English sheepdog; Cedric, Cyril's graduate son; and Sophia Tutu, Cedric's girlfriend. As the series continues, Cyril becomes more and more a likeable character, eventually becoming an increasingly responsible anti-hero in his business priorities and practices.

Originally, the story was set in a kind of hidden world in the Evergreen Forest, where a small human family of a ranger and his children reside oblivious to the struggles taking place out of sight. However, Season XNUMX removed these human characters, as the premise shifted to an unmistakable fantasy world of a sophisticated humanoid animal version, with complex transportation systems, means of transmission, and heavy industry etc.

Additionally, Ralph's relatives become regular characters, most notably his young grandchildren, Bentley, the insecure tech child prodigy, and Lisa, the athletic teenage statuesque who became a decent love interest in Bert.

Unlike many other cartoons of its time, this animated series handled the action, humor and romance quite sophisticatedly, while remaining simple enough for younger viewers.

The lessons featured in the series focused primarily on environmentalism. These cartoons covered other topics as well, including friendship and teamwork.

Episodes

01 "The Christmas Raccoons"
Cyril Sneer is cutting down all the trees in the Evergreen Forest and it's up to married couple Ralph and Melissa Raccoon, their friend Bert and their new shepherd friend Schaeffer to save the forest.

02 "The Raccoons on Ice"
Evergreen Lake's fate is at stake as Cyril Sneer plans to build his "Cyril-Dome" on top of the lake. The raccoons, Schaeffer, Cedric Sneer and Sophia Tutu challenge Cyril to a hockey match to see who holds the lake once and for all.

03 "The raccoons and the lost star"
Schaeffer is suddenly taken to an alien planet, where Cyril Sneer intends to rule the earth.

Characters

Bert Raccoon

The main hero of the series. He is the house guest of Ralph and Melissa and has been their best friend since childhood. An energetic raccoon with a lot of imagination, Bert always loves to seek adventure and live life to the fullest. Although he is impulsive and prone to foolish decisions, he has a kind heart.

Ralph and Melissa Raccoon

happily married couple living in the “Raccoondominium” with their host Bert. Ralph tolerates Bert's antics to some degree and knows his heart is in the right place, but that doesn't stop him from getting frustrated by them, he is also the founder of The Evergreen Standard newspaper. Melissa is the most sensitive of the three raccoons, and is always there to give kids a nudge in the right direction, often enjoying a good laugh too, usually when Bert or Ralph is acting silly or when Cyril's plans go wrong. embarrassingly.

Cedric Sidney Sneer

Cyril Sneer's nerdy son and Bert Raccoon's best friend, and heir to Sneer's fortune. Since the special "The Raccoons on Ice" Cedric has had a crush on Sophia and usually acts nervous with her. In the specials he was completely passive and submissive to his father, but gradually becomes more assertive as the series progresses.
Schaeffer (voiced by Carl Banas) - A large sheepdog, friend of raccoons. Originally portrayed as slow and dumb in the original specials, he quickly became one of the smartest characters in the series and eventually opened the Blue Spruce Cafe as a bartender and assist with the technical demands of the Evergreen Standard.

bro

A sheepdog puppy who appears to favor Bert as his owner in season 2 after the human characters were eliminated from the show.

Sophia Tutus

Cedric's goofy girl, who is a superb swan glider and diver. Although very feminine, she enjoys cycling with Cedric and once participated in the Evergreen Games, finishing third. She was phased out from the show over the next several years.

Cyril Sneer

Originally the main villain of the series. Cyril is a whale, with a long pink nose, a ruthless and greedy businessman and the father of Cedric. Although Cyril starts out as evil, he later softens, becoming markedly less evil as the series progresses, although he retains his treacherous and greedy nature. Despite his ways of grabbing money, he has shown that he genuinely loves his son and tries to get him to take over the family business. He has a soft spot for Bentley and Lisa, Ralph's niece and niece. He has a strict matter of pride in keeping promises, as shown in "Going it alone!" and "Troubleshooting!".

Snag

half dog / half awning by Cyril and Cedric Sneer. He has blue fur, a nose similar to his owners, and a bad temper that rivals that of Cyril. However, he also loves Cedric and once saved him from a fire.

The Pigs

Cyril's three clumsy henchmen and assistants are hardly ever called by name, as they are simply listed as Pig One, Two and Three in the credits, although they occasionally refer to each other as "Lloyd". Fans of the show have referred to Pig One as "Lloyd" and the other two as "Boyd" and "Floyd"
The Bears (voiced by Len Carlson, Bob Dermer and Carl Banas) - are the additional henchmen, workers, butlers, soldiers, spies, etc. by Cyril Sneer.

Bentley Raccoon

George and Nicole's son. He is a computer savvy and is a typical younger guy, with a tendency to overemphasize his personal setbacks. Often he prefers the host Bert while Cyril Sneer has a high esteem for him. He is originally introduced as Ralph's cousin in his first appearance, but later reconnects with his nephew.

Lisa Raccoon

Ralph's nephew and Bentley's teenage basketball sister, who becomes a prominent character in season 5, following his first appearance in the season 4 episode “Spring Fever,” where he comes to visit. She is a caricature of her voice actress (this would likely be similar to the narrators of many Rankin / Bass specials, usually caricatures of their celebrity voice actors).

Ranger Dan

He is the keeper of the Evergreen Forest as well as the father of Tommy and Julie and owner of Schaeffer and Broo during the specials and season 1. He is shown to be a single father as there is no mention of his children's mother in either the specials or the series. .

Tommy

Ranger Dan's son and one of Schaeffer and Broo's original owners, as well as Julie's little brother.

Julie

Ranger Dan's daughter and one of Schaeffer and Broo's original owners, as well as Tommy's older sister.

Mr Mammoth

A rhino who is the richest and most powerful character on the show, speaks in incoherent mumbles which are translated by his assistant

Sidekick

Mr. Mammoth's canary assistant translating his rumblings.

Mr. Knox

An acquaintance of Cyril Sneer, a southern crocodile / business magnate; he is married to Lady Baden-Baden and owner of the television company KNOX TV. He and Cyril are rivals, even if he's friendly.

Lady Baden-Baden - A rich melodramatic hen who eventually marries Mr. Knox. She was a stage actress in her old days, and is now an enthusiastic patron of the arts. He later becomes mayor of the Evergreen Forest.

Professor Witherspoon Smedley-Smythe - A goat who runs the Evergreen Museum.

Dr. Canard - A duck who is Cyril's doctor.

Mr Willow - A cute polar bear who owns Willow's General Store.

Mrs Suey-Ellen Pig - The mother of pigs. She appears in two episodes, "Mom's the Word", where her name is revealed, and "Promises Promises".

Milton Midas - A businessman and con artist. He is responsible for poisoning the fishing hole at Rippling Pond in the penultimate episode of the series “The One that Got Away”.

George and Nicole Raccoon - Ralph's respective older brother and sister-in-law and Bentley's father and mother and Lisa Raccoon. A couple who were once nomads. George hosts “Chef Surprise”, a cooking show on KNOX-TV.

Italian abbreviation

The thousand colors of happiness: music by Carmelo Carucci, text of Alessandra Valeri Manera, is sung by Cristina D'Avena

Technical data

Original title The Raccoons
Original language English French
Country Canada
Author Kevin Gillis
Regia Kevin Gillis
Executive producer Sheldon S. Wiseman
Producer Kevin Gillis
STUDIO Gillis-Wiseman Productions, Evergreen Raccoons Television Productions
Network CBC
1st TV July 4, 1985 - August 28, 1992
Episodes 60 (complete) in 5 seasons + 4 specials
Relationship 4:3
Episode duration 25 minutes
Italian network Italia 1
1st Italian TV August 20th, 1993
Italian episodes 60 (complete)
Italian dialogues CITI (translation), Ilaria Gallo (translation), Sergio Romanò (adaptation), Cristina Robustelli (adaptation)
Double studio it. Deneb Movie
Double Dir. it. Lydia Costanzo
Gender dramatic comedy