For those of you who are new to the Raccoons, or just want to clear some fuzzy childhood memories, we have put together a "Who's Who" list of the characters. Feel free to email either James or Stephan if you have any suggestions or additions, or anything we may have forgotten or screwed up. For now, enjoy your tour through . . .

The Evergreen Forest

This is the main setting of "The Raccoons" specials and series. It's located "slightly aways north, beyond the horizon" (most likely in Canada). In the specials - and the beginning of the series - it's portrayed as a place shared by the humans and the animals. The Raccoons, the Sneers, and their neighbors and friends make up a small community in the body of the Forest, yet Dan the Forest Ranger, Tommy, and Julie do not know of its existence (though they have seen the Raccoons at least once!) However, later in the series, Dan, Tommy, and Julie are phased out and the focus turns totally towards this community, which appears as a world of its own where the animals take the place of the humans rather than live among them.

Of course, in Lost Star, the animals' world is depicted as being on another planet altogether, rather than being part of the Evergreen Forest.

The Characters

BERT RACCOON is the show's main protagonist. He's a vivid (not to say slightly hyperactive) guy who keeps the rest of the gang busy with his antics. He also has a very active imagination, and fancies himself as a great adventurer, along with being an expert at many other things, as if you couldn't tell from his famous proclamation of, "Bert Raccoon, [insert occupation here]!" Bert's nature tends to get him into more activities (and trouble) than he's able to manage, and he often screws up things by not thinking before doing. But besides that, he's a harmless, friendly and helpful person, er, raccoon. Oh, and he has an unquenchable love for peanut butter, with an endless number of recipes with it to match.

RALPH and MELISSA RACCOON are a married couple who have Bert as a houseguest in their Raccoondominium. They're older, more sensible, and are generally good friends, advisors and counselors to Bert. Ralph occupies himself with managing the house and being the editor of the Evergreen Standard, the local newspaper. One can argue that sometimes he's occupied with these things a little too much. Melissa has evolved quite a bit as a character. In the specials, she was more soft spoken, yet as the series went on, she gained a more confident personality. She's not afraid to give Ralph or Bert a piece of her mind when necessary, which sometimes is quite often!

CYRIL SNEER is the Evergreen Forest's biggest tycoon. He's always been an enormously rich and cunning businessman, yet he too changed as the series progressed. In the specials, he is more of a dark, monstrous character and a real threat to the forest. To satisfy his pursuit of power and riches, he almost destroyed all the trees in the forest, threatened to build a sports arena over Evergreen Lake, and even planned an all-out attack on Earth. After the first episodes of the TV series, Cyril still takes his business to extremes, but most of his plans are less sinister and really only dangers to himself and the Pigs. He only really provides opposition to the Raccoons and other characters (Mr. Knox especially) when he feels they are in competition with him. Other than that, however, Cyril does have a softer side to his personality, especially when it comes to being a good father to Cedric and helping raise him to be his successor. He even acts as a voice of experience at times, such as when he persuaded Lisa not to take up smoking. Also, in the series we learn that Cyril is not a Sneer by blood, as he was adopted when he was young. But he still tries his hardest to do what he can for the name, even if his plans don't always turn out the way he expects.

CEDRIC SNEER is Bert's best friend and Cyril's well educated son. Although he likes to have adventures with Bert, he's considerably less talkative and more intelligent. As Cyril changed over the years, Cedric's personality changed accordingly, as did his relationship towards his father. In the specials, Cedric was much more sheepish when it came to Cyril's wealth-crazed ways. As he put it in Lost Star, "Pop's not so bad . . . once you get used to being afraid of him." When the series came along, Cedric gained a little more confidence, since he was no longer facing an evil lunatic of a father. Now, he even acts as a provider of advice for Cyril, helping him through tough situations.

THE PIGS: We're not sure of their names, but we do know that these porkers (often identified as One, Two, and Three) are Cyril's most important -- and incompetent -- employees. They ruin more than they accomplish, yet somehow, Cyril is able to keep himself from firing them. In Lost Star and the first few episodes, the Pigs really don't have any personalities other than being Cyril's yes-men, responding in unison to his every order with a "Yes sir, yes sir!" Later on, we see that they aren't above using a little skullduggery for their own gains, even at the expense of their "Boss." Also, while the Pigs are usually identified as a trio, we get a feel for their individual personalities. One seems to be the leader of the group, and is probably the most levelheaded of the Pigs by default. Two is more hyperactive, and Three is oily even for a pig, as you can tell by his smarmy tone of voice.

Jim says:

Let us address the problem of the Pigs' names for a moment. Here's Aaron Perrott's take on the issue (which he actually gave me a year and a half ago, but there you are):

I think I have solved one of the greatest Raccoon mysteries. I think the third pigs name is Boyd. Ever hear of the famous hot rod guy, Boyd Coddington? Anyways, I came to this conclusion by listening to one of the pigs in "The Games People Play". When they say they would like to do thier next reminiscence to music, one of the pigs is heard saying what I first thought was, "Hit it, booyyz"; but, alas, I don't believe it was slurred speech. After listening to it over and over again, I believe pig three is Boyd. Makes sense, too, Lloyd, Floyd and Boyd.

And Justin weighs in with:

As for the pigs, they do indeed have names, although scarcely ever mentioned.

The ringleader as you might have guessed is Lloyd. He is often designated as such by his other two siblings whenever he comes up with some brilliant scam quote: "Oooo, �Lloyd has a plan."

I am confused as to which is pig number two. However, our mild, meek and sometimes childish persona is Boyd, as refered to in what I believe was Join the Club, or whichever episode portrayed him as a shoplifter at Mr. Willow's.

Although I can't remember excatly where I heard his name, Floyd is the final overly caffinated counterpart of the trio.

Lloyd, Boyd and Floyd. I can't excatly unravel the mystery as to why their names were never formally used by the other characters. Perhaps to emphasize their self-confinement? Or maybe because the trio have almost always been portrayed as a unison. I suppose this is a question best left to the viewer.

Couldn't have said it better.

SCHAEFFER is a gray sheepdog who is first introduced as the pet of the humans, Dan, Tommy and Julie. He and Broo are the only characters who travel back and forth between the humans' world and the Raccoons' world. When the humans disappeared, Schaeffer was still a main character, although it is not clear where he lives in the Evergreen Forest community. All we know is that he works at the Blue Spruce Cafe, and shows up often at the Raccoondominium. In the specials, Schaeffer is a somewhat simple-minded character, who's easily confused when he encounters new situations. In the series, he fits in more with the mature and adult Ralph and Melissa. He's usually calm in all situations, and is there to listen when his friends have a problem.

BROO is a sheepdog puppy who, unlike the other animal characters, acts like a real puppy and not a human. In the Lost Star world, Broo was Sophia's pet, and later "found his way to the Evergreen Forest," where he, like Schaeffer, is a pet to Dan, Tommy, and Julie. When the humans were gone from the show, however, Broo lived in the Raccoondominium with Bert, Ralph, and Melissa. Since Broo doesn't talk (in English, that is), we don't get much insight into his personality and feelings. All that can be said about him is that he's usually Bert and Cedric's tag along, and he's important on some occasions where his small size comes in handy.

DAN, TOMMY, and JULIE were the human faction that existed in the Evergreen Forest until the Raccoons series got underway. Dan, the forest's head ranger, enjoyed telling stories to his two children (which sometimes tied in to the episode's plot). Tommy, who seemed to be the younger of the two, was certainly more imaginative. For example, there was his insistence (in Lost Star) that a surprise from his father could very well be a rocketship from another planet. On the other hand, Julie was more practical and intelligent, which leads me to believe that she was older.

SOPHIA TUTU is Cedric's girlfriend. As Stephan observed, she really doesn't play much of a role in the series, and in fact seemed to disappear along with Dan, Julie, and Tommy (and for that, some Raccoons fans are thankful ;-)). Sophia is a bit of a ditz, actually. Her most meaningful comment in the whole series was her observation that the Evergreen Lake hockey game was "bigger than chocolate pudding!" Besides that, her main purpose in the specials seemed to be getting captured by Cyril, getting poor Cedric lovestruck, and saying "That's terrible!" or "That's wonderful!" about nearly everything. After that she was basically there to take up space.

Later in the series, we meet the likes of . . .

LADY BADEN-BADEN, a hen who's a member of the Forest's high society, and mostly occupied with organizing public events.

MR. KNOX, an alligator with a New Orleans accent, was sort of a replacement for the unscrupulous-businessman character after they made Cyril a bit more friendly. He's the husband to Lady Baden-Baden and Cyril's toughest competitor.

BENTLEY RACCOON is the cousin of the Evergreen Raccoons. He's an expert with computers, and is a very typical younger kid, with all the personality traits (and faults) to match.

LISA RACCOON (who is voiced by the Raccoons' musical contributor Lisa Lougheed ) is Bentley's older sister. In contrast to Bentley, she's more mature, and thoughtful, yet active (even sportive) - and old enough to fall in love. :-)

GEORGE and NICOLE RACCOON are Lisa and Bentley's parents. Interesting note: Nicole has a definite French accent.

MR. WILLOW keeps what seems to be a small corner store in the forest that somehow sells not only snacks and foods, but also more elaborate items such as skateboards and Mudman comics.

MR. MAMMOTH, another one of Cyril's fellow businessmen. He prefers his feathered sidekick to do the talking for him.