Ranger Rick Raccoon

* 2016
* 2009
* 2005
* 1982
* 1967

**Ranger Rick Raccoon** is the main protagonist of the magazine series of the same name. He is a raccoon who is a park ranger and the leader of Deep Green Wood.

## Description

In Edward Bradford's illustrations for The Adventures of Rick Raccoon in 1959, Ranger Rick's fur is brown, and he has 3 black stripes on his tail. He wears a brown campaign hat with his initials "RR". This version also gives Ranger Rick eyelashes, which was only used for this book.

In the 1960 book Ranger Rick and the Great Forest Fire, his design was slightly changed by Lorin Thompson, giving him a little furrier body. This design was used for 22 years. Many of the merchandise created by this time were inspired by this design. In Ranger Rick and his Merry Band, due to the limited animation, he was a darker shade of brown, his hat was colored green, and it covered his ears. The PBS special from the 1980s gave him a more faithful design.

In 1982, Alton Langford became the new illustrator for the Ranger Rick stories. His watercolor art style gave Ranger Rick tawny yellow fur, a rounded oval face, and the mask of his eyes became separated. According to an interview, he was originally going to recolor Ranger Rick gray, but the publishers wanted him to resemble the previous art style to be more recognizable. The gray design would be later used on Radical Raccoon. Also, his trademark brown hat was replaced with a yellow cowboy hat, as a tribute to Langford's late grandfather who wore a similar looking hat. Due to the changing printing processes over the years, Ranger Rick gradually turned into a bright yellow color.

By the 2000s, when the short story segments were transformed into comics, Ranger Rick was given yet another redesign by Robby Gilbert. Gilbert's early designs from 2000 to 2005 looked similar to Langford's style but with gray fur. By 2005, Robby Gilbert gradually shifted to his own art style, by replacing the yellow cowboy hat with a green baseball cap with a raccoon's paw print.

In 2009, TheCharacterShop redesigned Ranger Rick in 3D. His ranger's hat returned now, albeit with the paw print, and he was given a yellow backpack. This design went on until 2016, when Parker Jacobs used a simpler, 2D design which he inspired from Lorin Thompson's artwork.. He is given a more geometric design and simpler shapes, similar to a cartoon. His yellow backpack is colored green now.

He is slightly redesigned for the upcoming *Ranger Rick Adventures* series by giving him a wider head, a larger hat with his initials on red enclosed in a white circle, whiskers, separated black patches on his eyes, and two pointed teeth.

## Biography

Not much is known about Ranger Rick's early life or family. However, it is known that he may have uncles or aunts, who may be the parents of his cousins Ruthie RaccoonRadical Raccoon, and Carla Raccoon. He may also have siblings, who are the parents of his nieces JJ Raccoon and Rita Raccoon.

There are many versions of the story on how he earned the job of a forest ranger. In all versions, Ranger Rick and the animals cleaned up Shady Pond, because of excessive pollution. The most common version of the story told from 1959 to 2005 has them clean the pond for Benny Bass. After the cleanup, Ollie Otter declares Ranger Rick as their official leader, founding the Deep Green Wood Ranger Patrol. The 2016 comic How Rick Became a Ranger has a retconned account of the tale. There, Ranger Rick was originally a newcomer from Deep Green Wood, and Boomer and Scarlett were already residents. This version also reveals that Ranger Rick's hat was a lost park ranger's hat.

## Personality

Ranger Rick is portrayed in the magazine series as a brave and responsible wildlife expert who knows all about how different species act and are corelated in the ecosystem. Being a forest ranger, he volunteers in cleaning up Deep Green Wood and preventing damage of not only the woods but also the entire earth. His personality is wise, caring, friendly, smart, and formerly talkative.He dislikes trash, pollution, and the destruction of the environment and natural habitats. Gerry Bishop quotes, "As a ranger, he was the enforcer of good laws and regulations and good policy toward wildlife." Ranger Rick is the hero that leads the others to investigate an environmental problem and to sort of figure out what the solution might be."

However, in the issues of the 1960s to the 1980s, he is known to fear and avoid humans do to their pollutive nature. This was described in the book as the Bambi syndrome which was *"the anthropomorphic tendency to regard wild animals as saintly, babylike creatures to be cuddled and shielded from vicious hunters—usually meaning hunters and fishermen—as well as the ‘villains’ in their own ranks, the wolves, lions, and other predators."* This has later toned down in recent years, as many of the stories have Ranger Rick and his friends interact with humans in suburban environments even more than in the past.

Every now and then, Ranger Rick's adventurous side is showed in stories involving the characters visiting an exotic location.

## Appearances

### Print media

* The Adventures of Rick Raccoon (1959)
* Ranger Rick and the Great Forest Fire (1960)
* Ranger Rick (magazine) (all issues)
* Adventures of Ranger Rick (1992-1993)

### Other media

* Ranger Rick and his Merry Band
* Ranger Rick (PBS special)
* Ranger Rick (1980s series)
* Ranger Rick (cancelled movie)
* Ranger Rick (Sapiens Art) (cancelled)
* Ranger Rick (upcoming series)

## Trivia

* In the 2014 movie Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Lord jokingly refers to Rocket Raccoon as “Ranger Rick”.
* His Alton Langford design appears in the Adult Swim series Robot Chicken, where he battles other famous "rangers".
* The November 2015 issue reveals Ranger Rick's address: Hollow Oak Tree, Deep Green Wood, USA.

## Gallery

Main article: Ranger Rick Raccoon/gallery

## References

1. ↑ https://youtu.be/nx8714YxT6s?t=93
2. ↑ https://youtu.be/HAOYU8k-z8k
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160918052813/https://sites.google.com/site/classicrangerrick/interview-with-alton-langford
4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160918052813/https://sites.google.com/site/classicrangerrick/interview-with-alton-langford
5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20161009101507im\_/https://sites.google.com/site/classicrangerrick/\_/rsrc/1313066511890/artist-transition-in-2000/mar00-note.jpg?height=277&width=400
6. ↑ https://parade.com/495188/alison-abbey/then-and-now-ranger-rick-gets-a-modern-makeover-from-artist-parker-jacobs/
7. ↑ https://youtu.be/7ACjiq8SHA0
8. ↑ https://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+storm+drain+isn%27t+the+place+for+pollution+-+or+for+raccoons!-a018289209
9. ↑ https://rangerrick.org/ranger\_rick/green-invaders/
10. ↑ https://archive.org/details/rangerrickapr88/page/n37/mode/2up
11. ↑ https://archive.org/details/guardianofwildth00alle/page/86/mode/2up?q=ranger+rick
12. ↑ https://rangerrick.org/ranger\_rick/how-rick-became-a-ranger/
13. ↑ https://www.nwf.org/about-us/history/about-ranger-rick#:~:text=Ranger%20Rick%2C%20the%20National%20Wildlife,good%20stewards%20of%20the%20environment.
14. ↑ https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/academic-and-educational-journals/childrens-periodicals
15. ↑ https://archive.org/details/guardianofwildth00alle/page/86/mode/2up?q=bambi+
16. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alei7RZy64s&ab\_channel=GregorSamsa
17. ↑ https://rangerrick.org/ranger\_rick/postcards-from-australia/

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