DisneyTips.com Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
The Country Bear Jamboree is one of the most iconic audio-animatronic shows at Walt Disney World (second maybe to the Enchanted Tiki Room or the Carousel of Progress). But just as with all classic Disney attractions, it has a list of interesting facts and stories involving Imagineers or Walt Disney himself. And the Country Bear Jamboree is no different. So let’s explore some interesting and bizarre facts about the musical singing bears!
RELATED: TRIVIA: How Well Do You Know the Haunted Mansion?
They Were’t Made for Disney Theme Parks
Credit: V Mills
The Country Bears were initially designed for an attraction at a California ski resort Walt Disney was hoping to open in the 1960s. But after pushback from many environmentalists, the Resort was never fully developed. However, due to the amount of work invested into the Country Bears, they were not scrapped with the ski Resort. Instead, they were moved to the Magic Kingdom for its grand opening in 1971.
RELATED: Top 13 Secrets About the Tower of Terror
The Current Show is Shorter than the Original
Credit: Disney
The original show was 23 minutes long, including songs and dialog involving not only the bears but Melvin, Buck, and Max (the mounted animal heads). In 2012, the Country Bear Jamboree at the Magic Kingdom underwent a two-month refurbishment. When it re-opened, the new show was 5 minutes shorter, with two songs completed removed and other parts of the show trimmed down.
McDonald’s and the Country Bears?
In 1985, Disney offered Mcdonald’s the opportunity to sponsor the upcoming “On Vacation with the Country Bears” show. The new version of the classic attraction would eventually open as the “Country Bear Vacation Hoedown” and ran from 1986 to 1992. It never once received sponsorship from McDonald’s.
Disneyland Park Extinction
Credit: Disney Tips
The incredible popularity of the Country Bear Jamboree at Magic Kingdom led to the show being cloned for Disneyland in 1972. However, it closed in 2001 to be replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Due to its replacement, Disneyland Tokyo is the only other place to see The Country Bears outside of the Magic Kingdom.
The Country Bears Bomb
The Country Bears (2002) was a musical comedy produced by Walt Disney Pictures over 20 years ago. It starred Christopher Walken and Haley Joel Osment, with cameos by Sir Elton John, Willie Nelson, and Wyclef Jean. It didn’t receive many positive reviews and lost money at the box office.
Credit: DisneyPlus
RELATED: Will Indiana Jones 5 Be a Box Office Bomb?
Other Interesting Facts
The Country Bear Jamboree was the first attraction ever to be duplicated at Disneyland Park. Before that, Disneyland Park had all the original attractions, and clones were being made in Orlando.
When Disneyland debuted the attraction, they built an entire land dedicated to it – Bear Country. It has since been named Critter Country (and perhaps will change again when Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens next year).
Voice actors used in the original audio animatronic show were also utilized for other Disneyland and Magic Kingdom attractions, such as the Hall of Presidents, the Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Credit: Disney
Next time you visit The Country Bear Jamboree, take a moment to marvel at the Disney classic’s magical history. And enjoy it – because you never know when Disney Parks may decide to shut it down and replace it with something truly un-bear-able, like a sing-along show themed to The Lone Ranger (2013) or Home on the Range (2004).
