The Raccoons and the Lost Star is the third of four animated television specials leading up to the animated television series The Raccoons and debuted on December 13, 1983. It came after the first two Raccoons seasonal specials, which were The Christmas Raccoons (1980) and The Raccoons on Ice (1981). There are some thematic elements that did not exist in the first two specials, such as the Raccoons' world being separate from that of the humans, but it is the first one to develop the look and feel of the series. In the United States, where The Raccoons specials were in the top 10 in Nielsen ratings, The Raccoons and the Lost Star was the number one children's two-part special in syndication at the time. The special was remastered in 2023 for streaming, though with anything to do with John Schneider altered or edited out.