Retired or Extinct Disneyland Rides, Exhibits, & Attractions I Miss Most - Disney's Country Bear Jamboree 1972 - 2001

In the mid-1960's, Walt Disney was making plans for a ski resort that he hoped to build in the southern half of the Sequoia National Forest, the resort was to be called Disney's Mineral King Ski Resort. Mr. Disney knew that he wanted to provide a show as entertainment for guests of the resort, and when he had decided that he would like that show to feature some kind of a bear band, he turned the project over to Disney imagineer, Marc Davis. Marc Davis worked with fellow imagineer Al Bertino, and together they came up with many different bear groups, including a bear marching band, a bear mariachi band, and a group of Dixieland bears, before hitting upon the initial County Bear theme. One day in mid-December 1966, Walt Disney dropped by the office of Marc Davis while he was working on the some drawings of the bears for the Country Bear Jamboree. When Mr. Disney saw the drawings he loved the characters so much that he laughed. A few days later, on December 15, 1966 Walt Disney died. It was the last time the Marc Davis saw him before his death.

Even though Mr. Disney had died, work continued on the show; It was decided that the show was to be a dinner or restaurant show, in which the bears would be featured as the resort's house bear band. The bears would have a country twang.

When the plans for the ski resort fell through, the imagneers needed to come up with a plan B. They called in imagineer Xavier Atencio, (Atencio had been responsible for writing the script for the Haunted Mansion, and had penned the attraction's "Grim Grinning Ghosts" as well.) and musical director George Bruns, to write the songs for the bears to sing. Bruns, who was a four time academy awards nominee, (Sleeping Beaut y (1959), Babes in Toyland (1961) The Sword in the Stone (1963), and for individual song, "Love" from the animated movie, Robin Hood (1973) ) and fellow 1996 Disney Legend Honoree Atencio, had written the Pirates of the Caribbean classic Yo-Ho,( a Pirates Life for Me) together, and turned their sights toward Florida, and placing the show in Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom, in time for the scheduled 1971 grand opening.

The bears had found a home in Walt DIsney's Magic Kingdom's, Frontierland , and the show had opened to rave reviews. In fact, the response to The Country Bear Jamboree was so overwhelming, that the Disney imagineers began immediately to make plans for duplicating the show and bringing it to Disneyland.

Bringing the bears to the Anaheim park would take some doing. To begin with, where would they put them? After looking around, it was decided that the only solution was to build a new land, and so the Disney imagineers got to work, and using the site, just beyond the Haunted Mansion, were the old Indian Village had once stood, they created "Bear Country."

With its 265 trees that included, Redwoods, Pines, Birches, and Evergreens, and building facades, such as the bathroom facility that had "Hot Baths 25 ¢" painted across the top, that were designed to create a land that was reminiscent of the old Great Northwest, and the brand new state-of-the-art theater The Country Bear Playhouse, in which, for the first time in Disney history, two identical theaters would house two identical copies of the same show, Bear Country had cost eight million dollars. The sign near the entrance read;

"BEAR COUNTRY,

"A Honey of a Place since "72",

Permits Must Be Obtained For Tree-Climbing, Fishing, Scratching, and Hibernating

(Permanent Residents Excepted)

No Permit Necessary For Feeding Bears"

J. Audubon Woodlore, Park Ranger,

URSUS AMERICANUS,

NATURALIST"

In all, Bear Country consisted of only three attractions, The Bear Country Jamboree, The Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes, and Teddi Barra's Arcade; and two restaurants, The Golden Bear Lodge, which is now Hungry Bear Restaurant, and Mile Long Bar, which is now the Briar Patch Bar, and of course there was Rufus.

Rufus was the never seen, but always heard, projectionist and lighting bear, for the Bear Country Jamboree, he lived in a cave, very near to where the first drop in the Splash Mountain attraction is now, and outside of that cave was a sign that said "Quiet! Sleeping Bear" and when I was little I used to insist on stopping, right there on the walk way, underneath the cave so that I could listen to Rufus snore.

in 1988, "Bear Country" was renamed "Critter Country" to accommodate all of those other critters who were set to arrive with the new "Splash Mountain" attraction that opened in 1989.

The Country Bear Jamboree opened in the days when you still had to buy individual tickets for attractions in the park and was an "E ticket” attraction. An audio-animatronic show that featured a cast of seventeen bears, the talking heads of an American bison, a stag, and a moose, and one raccoon. Singing a list of original American folk and country songs. The Characters rose up to the stage on a platform, appeared from behind a curtain, and in one case, descended from the ceiling on a rose covered swing. Sponsored by Pepsi-Cola and Frito Lay , and later by Wonder Bread, it was 15:55 minutes of a hand-clapping, foot-stomping, knee-slapping good time.

Fueled by the success of the original show, the powers that be, in the case the Disney Imagineers, thought it would be a great idea to add a second show to the lineup, and so, The Bear Country Christmas Special, debuted just in time for the 1984 holiday season. The show, which was described as; “a mesh of different traditional Christmas Carols, some more modern songs, and original “bear-ols”  sung by bears with bit o' country twang" was a success, and was also the first time that an attraction in any Disney park became interchangeable during the year.  The show began with Buff, (The head portion of an American Bison), Max, (The head portion of a srag, and Melvin, (The head portion of a moose), arguing over who should sing "Ruldoph the Red Nosed Reindeers" and when Henry came on-stage, then the show began.   “The Country Bear Christmas Special,” would go on to continue rotating with The Country Bear Jamboree until the end of Jamboree’s run in 1986.

The Disney summer season would signal both an end and a beginning, as both Disneyland and Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom said good-bye to “The Country Bear Jamboree,” and premiere a whole new Country Bear show, “The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown." The intention was to provide two seasonal shows that could be rotated in and out based on the season. Both the new “Country Bear Vacation Hoedown” and “The County Bear Christmas Special” were created, directed, and animated by Dave Feiten and Mike Sprout. The new show utilized the same familiar figures, changing only their clothes and of course the songs that they sang.

The show was so poorly received by fans at Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom, that the Disney Corporation announced the return of the original show in 1991 for its 20^th anniversary, and though there were rumors that “The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown” would return to Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom in 2002, it never did. “The Country Bear Jamboree” and The Country Bear Christmas Special” would go on to rotate through the end of the Country Bear’s run in Florida in 2005.

Back in Anaheim, the introduction of the new show, was supplemented by the changing of the name of "The Country Bear Playhouse" to reflect upon it's current sponsorship, to "The Wonder Bread Country Bear Playhouse" (Wonder Bread had begun sponsorship of The Country Bear Jamboree" in 1975).

2001, would signal the last summer run for the "Country Bear Vacation Hoedown" at the Disneyland park in Anaheim. The theater went dark on September 9, 2001 following a last day of last performances that were ten minutes apart, and were standing room only, to make room for "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" which opened in April 11, 2003.

Will We Ever See Those Bears Again?

Rumors still abound that Bears of The Country Bear Jamboree, will awaken from their imposed hibernation to an all new theater in Disney's California Adventure, near the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area, but only time will tell.

In the mean time, all three shows are still run on a rotating schedule at Japan's Tokyo Disney.

_{- Kristen Burns-Darling © April 2011 (all rights reserved)}