The Country Bear Jamboree (also known as the Country Bear Musical Jamboree and the Country Bear Theater, and previously known as the Country Bear Playhouse) is an attraction in the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort, and formerly at Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort.
The attraction is a stage show featuring 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 theater includes three audio-animatronic animal heads mounted on the walls who interact with characters on stage.
Due to popularity, The Country Bear Jamboree was given a two "spin-off" shows. One was called The Country Bear Christmas Special, which appeared during the 1984 winter season at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. In 1986, another show was a summertime version called The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown. This version was so popular at Disneyland that it became the park's standard edition until the attraction's closing in 2001. A film based on the attraction, The Country Bears, was released in 2002.
History The Country Bear Jamboree was originally intended by Walt Disney to be placed at Disney's Mineral King Ski Resort in California which he was trying to build in the mid-1960's. Disney 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.
After Disney's death, plans for the show moved forward. 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 positive feedback that Imagineers immediately planned to make a replica of the show to be placed in Disneyland. The addition to the show in Disneyland 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 Disneyland incarnation in the form of two identical theaters, each housing a copy of the show in its entirety. The Disneyland clone of the attraction opened on March 4, 1972.
Due to the huge popularity of the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom versions a third version of the attraction was planned to open at Tokyo Disneyland on April 15, 1983. The Tokyo version also houses two identical theaters, like the Disneyland version. However, unlike Disneyland, the trophy heads of Max, Buff and Melvin hang on the right side of both identical theaters (in the same arrangement as Magic Kingdom's).
On August 24, 2001, it was announced that the Disneyland location would close on September 9 to make room for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
On August 21, 2012, the Walt Disney World version of the Country Bear Jamboree closed for a nearly two-month-long refurbishment. All the characters in the show received new skin, fur, and costumes. The songs "Pretty Little Devilish Mary" and "Fractured Folk Song" and some of the dialogues were removed, while some of the other songs were shortened. The show was 4 to 5 minutes shorter than it was before. The shorter version of the show opened on October 17, 2012.
In September 2023, it was announced that the Walt Disney World version would receive a new show titled the Country Bear Musical Jamboree. In June 2024, Magic Kingdom announced that Country Bear Musical Jamboree would open on July 17, 2024.
Characters Bears
Henry – The Master of Ceremonies of the show, Henry is a welcoming and friendly brown bear. He wears a grey top hat, starched shirt front, and a string tie. In some parts of the show, he plays a yellow guitar. It is implied that he and Teddi have some sort of backstage romance. In addition to being the leader of all the bears, he is often depicted with Wendell and Sammy the Raccoon as his sidekicks. He is the grandson of Ursus H. Bear, who founded Grizzly Hall, the venue the bears perform at in Florida.
Gomer – Gomer is a bear who 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 a brown bear that occasionally is shown wearing a collar or a 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 tan 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. Zeke's solo song "Pretty Little Devilish Mary" was removed from the Walt Disney World version of the show in October 2012. Zeb – Zeb is a brown bear with a light brown stomach. He plays the fiddle as well as wears a bandanna around his neck and a derby hat. His wife models fur coats — always the same one — at a nearby boutique, which is why their son Baby Oscar travels with the band. Brother Ted – Ted is a tall, skinny bear who blows on the corn jug and plays the washboard. His fur is brown, and he wears a vest with a brown hat. Big Fred – The biggest of the five bears, Fred ironically plays the smallest instrument: a harmonica. He is a brown bear and wears blue jeans held up with suspenders as well as a striped red and white tie. Tennessee Bear – Tennessee plays "The Thing" (an upright bass with only one string and a tiny mechanical bird sitting on it). He is blonde bear (brown in Tokyo Disneyland) and wears a bandanna around his neck.
Baby Oscar – Oscar appears with The Five Bear Rugs, but plays no instrument, though in the original show he would "beep" his teddy bear twice at the end of a few songs. In fact, he never says a word. 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.
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. Wendell was originally portrayed as Henry's sidekick, having two duets with him. Wendell's role in the Walt Disney World version of the show was severely reduced during the October 2012 refurbishment when "Fractured Folk Song" was removed, and is no longer mentioned by name. In the Country Bear Vacation Hoedown, Wendell's vacation photos imply he has a wife and son.
Romeo McGrowl (originally named Liver Lips McGrowl) – He is a brown bear with big lips and plays the guitar. He got his original name, Liver Lips, due to his large pronounced lips, meant to caricature musicians who "croon." In September 2023, it was revealed that he would be renamed Romeo McGrowl when the attraction was rethemed to Country Bear Musical Jamboree in Magic Kingdom. Henry often calls Romeo "Mac", a nickname based on his last name. His original name continues to be used by Tokyo Disneyland in their Japanese Country Bear Jamboree, Jingle Bell Jamboree, and Vacation Jamboree shows.
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. It is also implied that she has a slight crush on Henry.
Terrence (nicknamed "the Shaker") – A tall bear with tan fur, Terrence wears a hat and plays the guitar. He gets his nickname from his signature dance move where he sways his hips back and forth. The original animatronic achieved this effect by shaking the entire platform Terrence was on at the base, causing the curtains to shake violently as well. The Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland versions of Terrence added an independent hip-swaying mechanic separate from Terrence's legs and torso, allowing the hips to sway much further without shaking the entire animatronic's base.
The Sun Bonnet Trio Bunny – Bunny stands in the center of the stage. 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. Beulah – Beulah stands to the audience's right between Bunny and Wendell.
Ernest the "Dude" – Ernest is a brown bear who plays the fiddle. His nickname, "Dude", refers to his dandy appearance and personality, and is used in the context of the original definition of "dude" (a city dweller unfamiliar with life on the range). Ernest always takes his entire 17-trunk wardrobe everywhere he goes. He wears a derby and a red polka-dot bow tie 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.
Teddi Barra – Teddi Barra is a unique bear because she never appears on stage. 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 implied to have a backstage romance with Henry.
Big Al – Big Al is the biggest 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.
Rufus – Rufus is in charge of changing the scenery and the lights. He is never seen, only his loud footsteps and his heavy breathing as he climbs the stairs to fix something that has gone wrong are heard. While he is not heard or mentioned in the original version of the show, he is heard and mentioned in all subsequent versions.
Ursus H. Bear – Ursus H. Bear was the founder of Grizzly Hall. He lived from 1848 to 1928, having passed before the time of the original show. The center stage proscenium of Grizzly Hall features a plaque decorated with a Victorian style portrait of Ursus, dedicated to his legacy. In the Country Bear Musical Jamboree, it was revealed that Henry is his grandson (identically resembling Ursus in appearance).
Other animals
Buff – Buff is considered the leader of the mounted animal heads and is also the largest. He is the head portion of an American bison.
Max – Max is the head portion of a whitetail buck.
Melvin – Melvin, the head portion of a bull moose, is one of the animal head trio. He often makes well meaning jokes.
At Disneyland, Max, Buff, and Melvin currently reside in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which replaced the Country Bear Playhouse in 2003 (which had closed nearly two years prior). They hang above the entrance to the "Hunny Heaven" room, but riders must turn around in order to see them. The set of Max, Buff & Melvin featured there were the static non-animatronic figures found in Mile Long Bar.
At the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland the three trophy heads of Max, Buff and Melvin hung on the right side of the theater. At Disneyland, the configuration was flipped, with the three being hung on the left side.
Sammy – Sammy is Henry's raccoon pal who cuddles around Henry's top hat. He acts like a coonskin cap for Henry. In the Country Bear Vacation Hoedown, Sammy gets replaced by a skunk named Randy. In the Musical Jamboree, Sammy peeks out from behind a speaker instead of being on Henry's hat.