Country Bear Jamboree
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| Country Bear Jamboree | |||||||
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| Attraction Poster | |||||||
| Designer | WED Enterprises | ||||||
| Attraction type | Audio-Animatronic theater presentation | ||||||
| Theme | Country Songs | ||||||
| Hosted by | Henry the bear | ||||||
| Ride duration | 15:55 minutes | ||||||
| Required Ticket | E | ||||||
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| Magic Kingdom | |
| Land | Frontierland |
| Opening date | October 1, 1971 |
| Audio-animatronics | 24 |
| Sponsored by | Pepsi-Cola and Frito Lay |
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| Disneyland | |
| Land | Critter Country |
| Opening date | March 4, 1972 |
| Closing date | September 9, 2001 |
| Audio-animatronics | 48 |
| Replaced by | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh |
| Sponsored by | Wonder Bread |
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| Tokyo Disneyland | |||
| Land | Westernland | ||
| Opening date | April 15, 1983 | ||
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The Country Bear Jamboree is an attraction at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort and at Tokyo Disneyland in the Tokyo Disney Resort, as well as a former attraction at Disneyland Park. All versions of the attraction are similar.
The attraction is a stage show, with audio-animatronic figures. Most of the characters are bears, who perform Country music. Characters rise up to the stage on platforms, descend from the ceiling, and appear from behind curtains. The audience includes audio-animatronic animal heads mounted on the walls who interact with characters on stage.
Due to overwhelming popularity, The Country Bear Jamboree was given a "spin-off" show which appeared during the winter season at Disneyland. It was called The Country Bear Christmas Special in 1984.
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[edit] History
The Country Bear Jamboree was originally intended by Walt to be placed at Disney's Mineral King Ski Resort which he was trying to build in the mid 1960s. Walt knew he wanted some sort of show to provide entertainment to the guests at the resort, and he knew he wanted the show to feature some sort of bear band. The project was assigned to imagineer Marc Davis.
Davis, together with Al Bertino came up with many bear groups, including bear marching bands, bear mariachi bands, and Dixieland bears. One day Davis was working on drawings of the characters in his office. Walt Disney walked in and saw the drawings and laughed because he loved the characters. On Walt's way out he turned to Marc Davis and said "Good Bye", which Walt was known never to say. A few days later he passed away on December 15, 1966. It was the last time Marc saw Walt.
After Walt's death, plans for the show still carried on. The bears would be featured in the resort's Bear Band Restaurant Show, and it was decided that they would have a country twang. But while plans for the show progressed, plans for the ski resort did not. Instead, the imagineers working on the project decided to place the show in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in time for its grand opening in 1971. Imagineer X Atencio and musical director George Bruns created songs for the bears to sing.
On October 1, 1971, The Country Bear Jamboree opened its doors in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. It received so much good feedback that Imagineers immediately planned to make a replica of the show to be placed in Disneyland. The addition to the show in Disneyland, it inspired a brand new land appropriately titled Bear Country. Because of the tremendous popularity of the show in Walt Disney World, excess capacity was added to the 1972 Disneyland incarnation in the form of two identical theaters, each housing a copy of the show in its entirety.
In 1986, the Vacation Hoedown debuted at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. To supplement the change, the DL attraction was renamed the Country Bear Playhouse.
During the holiday season, the bears still performed their Christmas Show in Florida through 2005. It hasn't returned since then, due to copyright issues with some of the songs used in that show, particularly Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Attendance struggled during the Vacation Hoedown's run in Florida, so for the Magic Kingdom's 20th anniversary in 1992, the original show returned to rotate with the Christmas show as it had since 1984. There were rumors of bringing the Vacation Hoedown back to Disney World in the summer of 2002, but it never happened.
The show was removed from Disneyland on September 9, 2001 to make way for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Rumors of the Disneyland Country Bear attraction being rebuilt in the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area of Disney's California Adventure have surfaced from time to time and some Cast Members have even admitted to it possibly happening. However, the attraction's return has yet to be made official.
The Country Bear Christmas Special was the first time an attraction at any Disney theme park became interchangeable during the year. The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown was added a year later.Both the Country Bear Christmas Special and The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown were created, directed and animated by Dave Feiten and Mike Sprout.
The Country Bear Jamboree was the unofficial, unaffiliated inspiration for The Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronic band that entertained children of the 1980s at ShowBiz Pizza Place restaurants throughout the United States. The band was lead by a hillbilly bear named Billy Bob who was clearly inspired by The Country Bear Jamboree.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Bears
Henry- The "ringmaster" of the show, Henry is a welcoming and friendly brown bear. He wears a grey top hat and is voiced by Pete Renaday. It is implied that he and Teddi have some sort of backstage romance. In the Christmas show, he wears a scarf. In the Vacation Hoedown, he wears a park ranger's hat and his "old camp t-shirt" which he has obviously outgrown.
Liver Lips McGrowl- Liver Lips is perhaps the funniest-looking bear. He gets his name from his very large lips. He is a brown bear and plays the guitar. He is voiced by Van Stoneman. He becomes an Elvis impersonator in the two seasonal shows.
Wendell- Wendell is a hyperactive golden brown bear who plays the mandolin. He wears a blue bandanna around his neck and a light brown hat. He also has a massive overbite and buck teeth. He is voiced by Bill Cole.
Teddi Barra- Teddi Barra is a unique bear because she never appears onstage. Instead she descends from a hole in the ceiling on her swing, which is decorated with pink roses. She is a brown bear and wears a blue hat with a pink feather as well as a long pink boa around her neck. She is voiced by Patsy Stoneman. In the Christmas show, she holds a pair of skiis, has a cast on her leg and is dressed in ski gear. In the Vacation Hoedown, she holds an umbrella and is dressed in a raincoat and galoshes.
Ernest- Ernest is a brown bear who plays the fiddle. He wears a derby and a red polka-dot bowtie around his neck. He was voiced by Van Stoneman from October 1971 until July 1975, when his vocals were rerecorded by Randy Sparks. Stoneman's recording can still be heard on the 1971 record and 2003 CD.
Terrence (aka Shaker)- A tall bear with tan fur (in the Disneyland version his fur was grey), Terrence wears a miner's cap and plays the guitar. He is voiced by Van Stoneman. In the Christmas show he wears a scarf and earmuffs and has white fur to resemble a polar bear. He is also joined by a penguin encased in ice. During the Vacation Hoedown, he's wearing a snorkel mask and swim trunks, and his accompanied by his octopus girlfriend Delores.
Trixie- Trixie is a very large brown bear who wears a blue bow on her head, a blue tutu around her waist, and holds a blue handkerchief in her left hand. She also has a slight crush on Henry. She is voiced by Cheryl Poole.
Big Al- Big Al is the fattest bear. He is grey with a light grey belly and wears a tan hat and a red vest. He plays an always out-of-tune guitar and is voiced by Tex Ritter. In the Vacation Hoedown he wears a miner's cap and red and black flannel shirt. During the Christmas show, he's dressed as a New Year's baby (sash and diapers) and wears an icepack and a party hat on his head.
The Sun Bonnet Trio
- Bunny- Bunny stands in the center of the stage. She is voiced by Jackie Ward. Because she and her sisters are triplets, they all have brown fur and wear matching blue bonnets and dresses.
- Bubbles- Bubbles stands to the audience's left between Gomer and Bunny, and is voiced by Loulie Jean Norman.
- Beulah- Beulah stands to the audience's right and is voiced by Peggy Clark.
Gomer- Gomer never sings but instead plays his piano, which has a honeycomb on top of it. He is considered Henry's right-hand bear. He is tall and brown and wears a collar with a blue tie.
The Five Bear Rugs
- Zeke- Considered the leader of The Five Bear Rugs, Zeke plays a banjo and taps on the dishpan with "a real ol' country beat". He is a grey bear with glasses who wears a grey top hat. He was voiced by Dallas McKennon from October 1971 until July 1975, when Randy Sparks rerecorded his vocals. McKennon's recording as Zeke can still be heard on the 1971 record and the 2003 CD.
- Zeb- Zeb is brown bear with a light brown stomach. He plays the fiddle as well as wears a bandanna around his neck and a miner's hat. He is voiced by a member of the Stoneman family.
- Ted- Ted is a tall, skinny bear who blows on the cornjug and plays the washboard. His fur is brown, and he wears a vest with a brown hat.
- Fred- The biggest of the five bears, Fred ironically plays the smallest instrument: the mouthharp. He is a brown bear and wears blue jeans held up with suspenders as well as a striped red and white tie.
- Tennessee- Tennessee Bear plays the thang, which has only one string. He is brown and wears a red bandanna (blue in the Disneyland version) around his neck. He is voiced by a member of the Stoneman family.
Baby Oscar- Oscar appears with The Five Bear Rugs, but plays no instrument. In fact, he never says a word, aside from mumbling "uh-huh" during the Vacation Hoedown (in which he is dressed as a Cub Scout). He is a brown bear and always has his teddy bear to keep him company. In the 1971 album, it is mentioned that Zeb is his father.
Rufus- Rufus is not a performer, but instead runs the projections and lights. He is never seen, but can be heard from time to time running backstage, constantly out of breath.
[edit] Other Animals
Buff- Buff is considered the leader of the animal heads and is also the largest. He is the head portion of a buffalo and is voiced by Disney legend Thurl Ravenscroft.
Max- Max is the head portion of a stag and is voiced by Peter Renaday.
Melvin- Melvin, a moose head, is the Dopey of the animal head trio. He often makes good-natured jokes and is voiced by Bill Lee.
Sammy- Sammy is Henry's raccoon pal who cuddles around Henry's top hat. He acts like a coonskin cap for Henry. He is voiced by Bill Cole.
[edit] The Show
The show is basically a continuous string of short country songs sung by the various bears. As each bear sings their song, a curtain opens to reveal them, except in the case of Wendell (who rises from the stage), Teddi Barra (who descends from the ceiling), Gomer (who ascends from the stage), and The Sun Bonnets (who also rise from the stage itself).
The show begins with Max, Buff, and Melvin telling Henry to get on with the show. Henry then asks Gomer to give him a "little intro", and then the jamboree begins!
[edit] The Songs
- "Pianjo"- Gomer and Henry
- "Bear Band Serenade" - The Five Bear Rugs, Gomer and Henry
- "Fractured Folk Song" - Henry and Wendell
- "My Woman Ain't Pretty (But She Don't Sware None)" - Liver Lips McGrowl
- "Mama, Don't Whip Little Buford" - Henry and Wendell
- "Tears Will Be the Chaser For My Wine" - Trixie
- "Pretty Little Devilish Mary" - The Five Bear Rugs
- "How Long Will My Baby Be Gone" - Terrence
- "All the Guys That Turn Me On Turn Me Down"- The Sun Bonnets
- "If Ya Can't Bite, Don't Growl" - Ernest
- "Heart, We Did All That We Could" - Teddi Barra
- "Blood on the Saddle" - Big Al
- "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" - Henry and Sammy
- "Ole Slew Foot"- Cast (minus Ernest and Trixie)
- "Come Again" - Henry, Sammy, Max, Buff, and Melvin
[edit] In popular culture
- The country bears made an appearance in the sing along songs videos Disneyland Fun and Campout at Walt Disney World.
- The Country Bears is a movie that was based on The Country Bear Jamboree in which the bears have to save Country Bear Hall from demolition by a benefit concert. Ironically, the Disneyland version closed shortly before the movie came out.
- The attraction is parodied in A Goofy Movie, but instead of bears, it is a group of possums, led by Lester. The show seen in the film uses four very out-of-date animatronics which keep shutting down, one of which explodes.
- The Simpsons has repeatedly referenced the show, with Homer even commenting "It's like a freakin' Country Bear Jambaroo around here!"
[edit] Trivia
- The animal heads (Max, Buff and Melvin) can be seen hidden in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh dark ride at Disneyland, which replaced the Country Bear Playhouse, on the back of the wall that separates the Heffalumps and Woozles scene and the Honey Heaven scene.
- This attraction was originally sponsored by Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay for a few years. Not only did the show mention their sponsorships, but at the beginning, Henry even mentions part of Pepsi's old slogan at the time ("You've Got a Lot To Live; Pepsi's Got a Lot To Give!") by saying, "Just refrain from hibernatin' and we'll all enjoy the show, 'cause we've got a lot to give." When Pepsi's sponsorship of the attraction was dropped, only the mention by Henry of its sponsorship was dropped, but such was not the case for his introduction that included part of the slogan.
- The exact same Audio Animatronic structure used for Big Al was reused to make up the structure of the Oogie Boogie Audio Animatronic in the Haunted Mansion Holiday attraction at Disneyland until 2005 when an all new animatronic was added.
- According to the sign above the entrance, Grizzly Hall, the home of the Country Bears, was built in 1898.
- Wendell, Big Al, Liver Lips and Terrence (often referred to as Shaker) appear as walk-around characters for meet-and-greets, parades and shows at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
[edit] See also
- Country Bear Christmas Special
- Country Bear Vacation Hoedown
- The Country Bears - 2002 movie based on the attraction
- List of past Disneyland attractions
- Magic Kingdom attraction and entertainment history
- Tokyo Disneyland attraction and entertainment history
[edit] External links
- Disney World Country Bear Page
- All Ears Net Country Bear Page
- Yesterland Country Bear page
- WDWHistory Country Bear Page
- DONEINTHEDARK.com - Includes video and audio clips from the attraction
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