A lifes' ambition has been realized by yours truly.

Over the years as my fate as a would be animator would slowly unveal
itself, almost simultaneously with unyielding intrigue into the
universe of The Raccoons, I decided that I could never be at peace
without digging up the dirt that has buried The Raccoons show in the
sands of time.

Today, as fate would have it, I find myself living in Canada,
prideful home of The Raccoons legend and mecca to animators from
around the world who seek an alternative to your typical Joe Schmo
cartoon. The resources here in Toronto are more than abundant, the
entire National Film Board of Canada library, for instance. However,
it was thanks to another fellow Raccoons fan on this board that I was
finally able to continue my quest for the true story behind the
greatest animated television show of all time.

Two weekends ago, I found myself once again in the nations fair
capital city of Ottawa, a good five hour drive from Toronto, I had
agreed to take a mutual friend visiting Toronto back home. A small
excuse to finally seek out the place where it all started. Well,
almost anyway;

Hinton Animation Studios
7 Hinton Avenue
Ottawa, Ontatio, Canada

In 1986, Raccoons producers Kevin Gillis and Sheldon Wiseman decided
it was time that the Raccoons gained their creative independence from
their studio of origin Atkinson-Crawley Film Arts where all four TV
special were produced and the series first season. The Atkinson
Crawley Studio dissolved and the Hinton Studio picked up the bulk of
its staff. 78 talented men and women in total, formed the Hinton team
under Senior Animation supervisor Paul Schibli, the original designer
for the characters we all know and love today, and principal
production designer. Among the exodites was animator Gerry Paquette,
a Raccoons fans' best friend, he was kind enough to share with me his
experience at Hinton in a corresponding email:

"At first the new studio only occupied the back half of the
top floor. In my opinion, it was the best time for the studio. You
could stand from your cubicle and pretty much see everyone in their
respective departments. It was a close knit and friendly unit."

"A typical day would involve reviewing the stack of scenes that
needed to be animated. We would get four or five at the time from the
animation supervisor. I shared a low-rise cubicle space that
accommodated four light tables. Since I was one of the few French-
speaking animators in the studio, the others decided to join my area.
These included Jean LaJeunesse (whom I've lost touch with) and Daniel
LaChance. We thus became known as the studio's "French Connection"."

"If a scene had dialogue, I would listen to a cassette recording of
the voice track in order to get a proper feel for the vocal tone and
inflection. I would then find the most appropriate expressions and
matching gestures in order the fit my animation with the sound as
much as possible."

"Rough key poses would be timed out and tested on a video linetest
system. I would then make adjustments to my timing and drawings
before cleaning them up. Completed scenes were returned to the
animation supervisor who would review them along with the stored
linetest before passing them on to the assistant animators for in-
betweening."

"We had a weekly quota to maintain which include a guaranteed
minimum base salary. Anything beyond that meant extra pay. So if you
needed more money, you simply learned to work faster or put in some
extra time. Revisions were not paid for however, so you learned to be
accurate as well as fast in your drawing."

"The atmosphere at the studio was always jovial and high-spirited.
One never felt pressured and often took the time to socialize and
joke around. It wasn't uncommon to see paper airplanes go flying
about as this was all part of the creative process."

"I made of point of getting to know people in all areas as I felt a
common bond with all the artists involved in the production."

"Staff parties were the best I've ever attended with Halloween being
the most wild and creative. Animators make the best and most varied
costumes ever."

"After some time, the studio took over the rest of the top floor and
eventually the entire bottom floor. At that point there were maybe
200 employees and it was hard to keep track of all the comings and
goings not to mention the multiple projects and various teams."

"When Paul Schibli left the series to work on the Nutcraker feature,
the show lost its driving force. Paul was involved in all aspects of
production. He doted over the designs, worked hard on the
storyboards, directed the animation, coached the voice actors and
attended all the editing and sound mixing sessions. And, as far as I
know, Paul was also quite involved in the story sessions as well."

"The quality of show dropped dramatically in its final season.
Stories became less inspired and cliché and new characters were
introduced with human proportions. I don't blame Paul for leaping at
the chance to direct a feature film, especially knowing that the
Raccoons series was in its final season, but I have always credited
him as the creative force behind the series. If Kevin is the "soul"
then Paul was the "heart"."

"It was at this time, in 1989, that I left the studio to establish
the Animation program at Algonquin College; a local community
college."

"The feature bombed and the studio never recovered from the blow. It
struggled for a few years producing a number half-hour specials
including "Tooth Fairy, where are you?" which was another inspired
piece by Paul Schibli. "

Hinton was the hopes and dreams of the greater animation community of
Canada. Today, it stands the studio to have produced a television
series in its entirety in Canada and the only studio to have solely
tackled a major theatrical feature production for a major Hollywood
distribution firm. It was a major blow to all those involved when the
studio finally closed its doors in 1992. For reasons still unknown to
the author, the partnership between the two producers split. Today,
Sheldon Wiseman is C.E.O of the successful Amberwood Productions out
of Ottawa and Kevin Gillis had recently founded Breakthrough
Productions.

Having known of the studio's groundbraking history, I didn'tknow what
I was going to find as I wandered through downtown Ottawa in search
of the once legendary "Casa de Raccoons". A ten story street block?
Hardly. 7 Hinton Avenue stands today as it did then as
the 'Raccoondominium' from 1986 to 1992. I turned onto the adjacent
street Spencer Avenue, and then finally onto Hinton and suddenly, I
found myself in a quiet little residential district. An employee
could have lived right across the street if they wanted to. I only
wished my school was placed in such a peaceful environment.

From the turn of the century until 1974 the two story property served
as the manufacturing plant for The Capital Wire Cloth Company. In
1984 Metcalfe Realty completely redeveloped the property, conserving
the property's unique historical architectural characteristics
integrating them into the building's new design. The exterior white
brick finish was restored to its original character and new windows
were custom designed to duplicate the intricate detailing of the
original windows.

Upon showing the pictures I snapped of the building for fellow
Raccoons U.K. buddy Terry Askew he scoffed:

"The building hasn't changed a bit! It still looks as boring as it
did when Evergreen Raccoons had it! It's difficult to imagine that
such as an imaginative and artistically satisfying cartoon series as
The Raccoons could be produced in such a dull looking building!"

Well put Terry. Perhaps the building's bland character is more suited
to the firms currently occupying the property today: Joan Holmes &
Associates Inc. a law firm, and Ecosol, a company that designs solar
powered machinery.

That is not to say that the creative torch he died at Hinton. On the
other side of the property is 6 Hamilton Avenue which for a number of
years has been the home of Artech Studios which is a world-class
developer of interactive entertainment, video games, multimedia,
interactive TV and digital animation for international markets. In a
number of ways Hintons Legacy lives on.

This report is ongoing. The more I learn, the more I get sucked into
the legend. As new projects continue to develop for the Raccoons
franchise, I will continue to expose its history to the public. Given
the chance, I will conduct interviews when I can with those involved
past and present and post my feedback here. So long as I continue to
live here, you will know.

I do this because I feel the people involved in making such wonderful
things as animated cartoons are just are important as the people that
respond to them, pointedly, you reader, and those that hold the
cartoons among their fondest of memories. Once, I read Micheal
Barrier's "Hollywood Cartoons: Animation In Its Golden Age" and it
inspired me.

Select images of Hinton as it stands today will be uploaded to the
Files section of this board. Enjoy.

Special Thanks to Terry Askew and Gerry Paquette for all their
support and faith. And to you Raccoonophiles for keeping my faith
strong all the while. Cheers

Yours, Jerry Beck wannabe and Raccoons History Buff,
Justin

P.S. :Forgive the lengthyness, this report has been four years in the
making.