Attraction:
The Country Bear Jamboree
Location:
Frontierland
Wait Time:
20 minutes (average).
Child Swap Available: No
Fastpass™
Available: No
This 17-minute attraction features the talent of the Country Bears, with the 5
Bear Rugs, your Master of Ceremonies Henry, the wise-cracking comments from
Buff, Max and Melvin, the song styling of Trixie, Big Al and Gomer. A fun time
for all! This attraction usually opens at 10:00AM. There is a seasonal Christmas
concert from November to December.
The original character
design was headed by Disney Imagineer Marc Davis. Characters in the show: Ursus
H. Bear, Zeke and Zeb and Ted and Fred and a bear named Tennessee, and many
others, including a bear named "Big Al" (this character was based on Disney
Imagineer/Show writer Al Bertino) The attraction was originally designed to be
included in Walt Disney's Mineral King Project, but when the project fell
through, the Bears were added to Walt Disney World.
The film: "The Country Bears"
A film, based on the
Country Bears, released in the Summer of 2002 (and now available on video and
DVD), focuses on 11 year-old Beary Barrington, who wants to reunite the members
of the original Country Bears and puts together a benefit concert featuring such
big names as Elton John, Willie Nelson and Bonnie Rait, among others.
The Show
Henry,
(pictured, left) master of ceremonies at the Country Bear Jamboree, stands six
feet tall in his stocking paws. He is another famous football player who entered
show business. Henry was formerly with the Good Creek Bruins. One day they tried
a hidden ball play, and Henry hid the ball so well he couldn't find it. This
hastened his transfer to music. For a while he had trouble finding the melody,
too. But Henry is a likeable sort, and audiences go for him like he goes
for honey. For a finale Henry sings "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"
with Sammy, his life raccoon hat. Henry is glad he turned in his football
gear for a starched shirt and Sammy "After all," he explains, "I never knew a
football helmet that could sing like Sammy."
The 5 Bear
Rugs began playing
music together when they were in the first grade. Fifteen years later, they
were still playing - in the fourth grade! Zeke plays the banjo and
wears glasses - he's the only one who can read music. Fred plays the
mouth harp and carried the tune (his wife says Fred is lazy, and a
tune is the ONLY thing he carries). Ted blows the white lightnin'
jug, and Tennessee plays the one-stringed thing (he hopes one day to
add more strings). Zeb plays fiddle, and Zeb's son Oscar
accompanies his father on concert tours because Zeb's wife works (she
models fur coats - always the same one - at a nearby boutique).
Gomer
is the piano player,
but he didn't always play country and western music. His training was
classical. He began pawing the ivories while a cub and practiced days and
nights for many years. Finally he went to New York, much to the relief of
his neighbors. There he studied Bearlioz, and his favorite composition was
"Night on Bear Mountain." He is highly regarded by the other musicians
because he can play in a key other than C.
Wendell
is a frustrated basketball player. He quit the game when in the team
photograph, he discovered he came up to the other players' knees. He then
turned to baseball, but three people stepped on him (they thought he was
second base). He went from baseball to football, until two quarterbacks
threw him for touchdowns. It was after his gridiron career that he latched
onto Henry. When
Wendell
and Henry get
together - well, nobody dares mistake Wendell for anything but what
he is: a small singing bear.
Liver-Lips
McGrowl
is a homebody who is never home.
His career has spanned the entertainment world, and he is equally famous in
radio, TV, night clubs and the circus. His throaty growl has captivated
audiences everywhere, and he had played return engagements in such famous
towns as Paris (Kentucky), Rome (Tennessee), Berlin (Wisconsin), Athens
(Georgia), Cairo (Illinois) and Stuttgart (Arkansas). But his heart is
always at home, where the Miami Serenader can guzzle home cookin' and catch
up on his whittlin'. He has whittled a rain barrel, a bath tub, a pig trough
and a sump pump.
Trixie
is an old trouper, a veteran performer. There is nary a sourdough or
grubstaker who doesn't recall her singing and dancing in the rip-roaring
music halls of the western frontier. She has been known variously as The
Calgary Charmer, Alaska Allurer, Vancouver Vamp, Bewitcher of British
Columbia and Tacoma Temptress. As did so many folks with a good sense, she
visited California and decided to stay. She now spends her spare hours
thumbing through the pages of her scrap book and is planning to write a
book, "I Bearly Remember."
Big
Albert
(pictured, left) says "I was born in a cave near the Princess Theater in
Pavatello, Idaho." There was music in his blood, and he's been playing his
guitar since he was a child. It's become more difficult - Big Al has grown,
and the guitar hasn't. He loves to sit in front of his cave and sing. He was
the first of practice ecology; he didn't littler his cave with tin cans and
paper cartons - he ate 'em. This is Al's tenth farewell appearance.
The Sun Bonnets
(Bunny, Bubbles and Beulah) are the babies of the Country Bear Jamboree.
They began singing in Public School 821 in Clint, Texas, in Miss Grizzly's
class. From there they appeared five weeks running on Major Bear's Amateur
Hour and were booked into Disneyland. Backstage they study their lessons
(all the cast helps with with their homework, but they get good grades
anyway.) In their spare time they are all knitting a scarf for Big Albert,
which they hope to have finished by Christmas, three years from now.
Teddi Barra
was discovered sitting on a soda fountain stool in an ice cream parlor three
miles from Gentry, Arkansas. From there her rise to show biz was meteoric,
and the ravishing beuty is known as The Jewel of the Dakotas. Through she
was always wanted to perform serious drama, her fants have never let her
forget her feather boa and her parasol, both of which have been promised to
the Daughters of Benton County Western Museum when they wear out. In Grizzly
Hall she performs her famous "Heart, We Did All We Could" while descending
from the ceiling on a swing. She has been called the Last of the Big Time
Swingers.
Terrence
has been known as the "Vibrating Wreck from Nashville Tech." His stay at
Nashville was short - the roar of the greasepaint called to him, and he
became an actor. Her performed often with the "Bearymores".
*The
Country Bear Jamboree
(Separate Registration
for
VF Radio is
required to request this audio clip)
The Country Bear Jamboree*
*=Video Courtesy of RU42
Disney
