Updated Now Playing thanks to Dan Dmytryshyn and Chris.

Well, as you can see, we now have a new hosting provider, and a new domain name, gilsinan.com. The move went pretty smoothly, but I'm sure I missed updating a link or two somewhere, so if you see anything that looks broken, don't hesitate to let me know. Our new provider has much better support for scripting and databases and the like, so there are some good possibilities, the first of which will be converting my kludgy episode guide to a nice database-driven system. :) More soon.

Ron Broadfoot submits the following for consideration:

[T]aken from the book "Cartoon Capers - The Misadventures of Canadian Animators":

In 1990, Raccoons co-creator Sheldon Wiseman helped create and finance an animated Christmas film called "The Nutcracker Prince", which starred the voices of Kiefer Sutherland and Megan Follows [mmm, Megan Follows -ed].  Kevin Gillis, I believe, didn't have any hand whatsoever in the film.  It also featured the voices of Marvin Goldhar, Liz Hanna, Susan Roman and other actors/actresses who had lent their voices to the Raccoons series.  Unfortunately, it was a box-office disappointment.  Wiseman's plans to take his animation work to the big screen led to an argument between him and Gillis.  In 1991, when the final episode of The Raccoons was scheduled to air, Wiseman stole a videocassette copy of the episode and slept with it under his bed as an act of revenge against Gillis.  As soon as the episode aired and the series ended, the partnership between Wiseman and Gillis ended too, bitterly.  Gillis went on to form Catalyst Entertainment and Wiseman helped to finance two animation studios in Ottawa, Paragon and Lacewood, both of which went belly-up in the late 1990.

Updated Now Playing info, thanks to Duy Cuong Nguyen:

APTN finally straightened out their Raccoons schedule:

Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun @ 08:00 CST (09:00 EST)

Also, APTN also airs the French version, "Les Amis Ratons" which they list as "Les Ratons Lavers", the first one being the official title. The Raccoons family are the Laveurs, Bert is Benoit Laveur, etc. "Les Amis Ratons" airs:

Sat, Sun @ 07:00 and 13:00 CST (08:00 and 14:00 EST) [all repeats]

It's too bad that the French schedule has the same episode repeated 4 times for a given weekend.

Fixed Catalyst's USPS mailing address, thanks to Marque Guilbeault.

Updated the Now Playing page thanks to Duy Cuong Nguyen, Ron Broadfoot , and Michael St�ber.

Added a transcription of Teach Meby Aaron Perrott to the Songs Page.

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.

Removed the BBC listing for the Raccoonsfrom the Now Playing section, as they don't appear tobe broadcasting it any more. Thanks to Chloe forpointing that out. If anyone has any more information, let me know.

This report in from one of our agents in the field, Mike "Rocky Raccoon" McLain :

Being the resident mascot costume performer of all the Raccoons fans out there,I thought you might be interested in seeing this. I got some public relations info aboutthis company... Seems they have the rights to the costumed characters of "The Raccoons".

Check out the Lisa, Cyril, and Bert suits. Very cool.

http://www.1800mascots.com/gallery/tv.htm

And yes, take it from me. It's hot in there.

True.

Removed A-Channel from the Now Playing section,since they appear to no longer be showing the Raccoons, as a couple of people pointed out.

Added Meerkat's scans of a great promotional poster(front and back), signed byKevin Gillis himself, to the Images Page.

Added an excellent drawing, Comrade Ralph , by Meerkat to the Images Page. Yes,Meerkat, you are the undisputed Ralph fan.

Added a drawing of Ralph and one of Ralphand Melissa by Mike McLain to the Images page. Also updated Now Playing info with regards to BBC2 thanks to Ellie.

Added a link to Lisa Lougheedinformation at The Canadian Music Encyclopedia to Lisa's page herethanks to Angus Johnston. Added another remix of the Run With Us MIDI ,this time by Amanda Taylor.

Added a little sketch of Ralph byMeerkat tothe Images Page. Updated Raccoons air times onBBC2 on the Now Playingpage, thanks to Ellie. Also, some newinformation on voice actor Rory Dodd has come to light (via Ron Broadfoot),namely, that he was the male backup singer on Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler's 1983 hit "Total Eclipse of The Heart."That was a good song, actually, and Nikki French's dance remake wasn't at all bad either. Had a five of sixsecondary dominant that resolved to a major four, and any song that does that has to be given some credit.Eheu. I added the info to the Actors Page.

Added some fan artwork by Mateo Rojoto the Images page. Also updated Now Playing infothanks to Ellie.

Added an excellent article on The Raccoons and the Lost Star by James Fabiano .

Redesign implemented in most sections. Enjoy. Also, some information from Mike McLain that I've sat on for long enough. Apologies. From here (note the heinous misspellings of "Raccoons," "Cyril," etc.):

Toronto-based Catalyst Entertainment's kids' property Christmas Racoonsis celebrating its 20th birthday but remains as popular as during itsoriginal launch.

In 1986, the special was developed into The Racoons series, which hasbeen broadcast in over 160 countries, including on Disney Channel.Rights on the 65 episodes have recently been renewed by Germandistributor Ravensberger, Italy's Rete Italia, cbc in Canada and the bbcin the u.k., and the show has now been sold to Teletoon.

With interest in the property remaining high, Catalyst has joined withFrench producer and distributor Teleimages in Paris to produce a newRacoons direct-to-video title called The Knight Before Christmas.

In the holiday tale, Bert Racoon tries to save the spirit of Christmaswhen Cyryl Sneer, the mean, entrepreneurial pink aardvark who will doanything to make some money, decides to tax Christmas. Production onthe $2.8 million, 45-minute film will begin this April.

Catalyst's subsidiary company Phoenix Animation will handle most of theanimation work in Toronto, with some shipped to Teleimages' studio inFrance. Catalyst's exec vp Kevin Gillis describes the animation assimple in approach, with stylized heavy lines in keeping with theclassical animation look of the original Racoons. The broadcastersaround the world which have aired the previous Racoons shows are allinterested in coming aboard the new project, says Gillis, and dealsshould be closed at natpe.

The official treaty coproduction is weighted 75% Canadian and 25% fortheFrench producer. Catalyst holds international sales rights, excludingFranceand several other European territories.

Following a similar path taken from The Christmas Racoons to The Racoonsseries, the direct-to-video title will serve as a pilot for a new13-part Racoons series spin-off - The Adventures of Sir Bert. Thestories will be set in a medieval world and follow the well-meaning SirBert - who somehow always ends up in all sorts of scrapes, and palSquire Cedrick, his sidekick from the original Racoons series.

Teleimages and Catalyst are coproducing, and Gillis plans to drum upinterest from European partners at natpe. Broadcasters have not beenbrought on board. The per episode budget is $550,000.

Well, I've finally graduated, and have some semblance of internet access back, so here we are in our new (and permanent for the foreseeable future) webspace.Redesign coming up shortly. While I was at it, I added a link to A-Channel to the Now Playing page, thanks toRojo Mateo. Also, updated Who's Who in the Evergreen Forest (whew, that's been a while), thanks to fellow Manxman James Fabiano.

I'm in the process of moving all of my webpages off of the Harvard fas server, so that they don't get toasted when I graudate. This includes The UnOfficial Raccoons Home Page, which I'm also going to redesign, because the 1997 design is beginning to annoy me. Thus, things might get a bit sketchy around here for a while, starting with the icons at the bottom of the pages. More soon.

Updated Now Playing information thanks to Semaj.

Added a new fanart of Bentley byMax Artemev to the Images page. Also,Max found some new Kevin Gillis information at http://www.ott.igs.net/~nunnery/convhst.htm .Quoting the relevant part (talking about the "nunnery"):

...In 1972, Sally and Kevin Gillis bought the house and began the slow process of remodelling and modernizing. The Gillis family insulated the attic, remodelled the kitchen and began stripping the woodwork in the living room to show the beauty that lay hidden under too many coats of paint. Kevin became a television star, first appearing as the guitar player in the background on Bruno Gerussi's "Celebrity Cooks" show then later had his own show called "Bang Bang You're Alive". This latter show began with an opening scene of Kevin riding through Chesterville on a farm wagon while singing for some kids and prominently showed a good shot of the house. During this time, Kevin created the Raccoon series of shows for the CBC ("Raccoons on Ice" etc) so the Raccoons were conceived and born in this house.

In 1981, the Gillis family decided to move into Ottawa to be closer to Kevin's work...

Added some fan artwork to the Images page: excellent stylistic Bert, Ralph, and Melissa by Aryanna ,and sketches of Lisaand the Characters, both by Amanda Taylor

Updated Now Playing information thanks to Stephen Morley and Duy Cuong Nguyen . Also added fan artwork: Broo, Ralph and Melissa ,Cyril Sneer, and Bert as Wizard,all by Max Artemev.

Added some new info on Bob Dermer to the Actors and Voices page thanks to Ron Broadfoot . Updated Now Playing infothanks to Maxim Artemev and Anthony Thomson. Also added an excellent sketch of Bert and Lisa Camping and a screenshot of Bert experiencing what happens when you get obsessed with potato chip contests to the Images page. Thanks to Kung Pao and Trevor Lake, respectively.

Yes, the fabled Bert Raccoon plush exists. Thanks to raccoon@mail.icongrp.com for the image. Best bet if you're looking for 'em is probably eBay.

Stephen Morley andSpencer Bayles both noted a change in the BBC schedule for the Raccoons,namely that it is now on BBC2 rather than BBC1, and every weekday at 10:50 rather than just Saturday. Thus,updated the Now Playing page.