: Famed Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki worked as a key animator on several episodes.
While the show's message was about the impossibility of keeping wild raccoons as pets, the adorable animation had the opposite effect on Japanese audiences.
: Based on the 1963 autobiographical novel Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era by Sterling North. Araiguma Rascal
The anime was produced by as part of their World Masterpiece Theater series.
: At the height of its popularity, Japan imported roughly 1,500 North American raccoons per month to satisfy the demand for "Rascal" pets. : Famed Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki worked
: Owners soon realized raccoons are aggressive and destructive. Many were abandoned or escaped, becoming an invasive species with no natural predators in Japan.
Edgerton, Wisconsin setting for Sterling North's "Rascal" - Facebook The anime was produced by as part of
: Follows a boy named Sterling in Edgerton, Wisconsin, who rescues and tries to domesticate a baby raccoon.