When Walt Disney was selected to do all of the pageantries for the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, he brought back the tradition of carrying the torch, the Olympics musical theme, and other traditions. He also made sure that the athletes were entertained every night by notables such as actor Danny Kaye and showman Wally Boag among others; and turned the opening, closing, and daily award ceremonies into splendid pageants. Like magic, bad weather cleared to sunny skies for the hour of the opening ceremonies, then returned when they were over. It was a massive success. And while it may seem like a stretch, Walt’s participation in the 1960 Olympics actually led to the beloved attraction Country Bear Jamboree. Don’t believe me? Read on, dear reader…
Mineral King Valley
Walt loved everything about the 1960 Olympics and was inspired by the area, and decided to make his own Disney ski resort at Mineral King, a nearby area that had beautiful views and good prospects but was at that time being used as a dump.
The project went deep into development. Ski lifts, a lodge, and 10 restaurants were planned. It was a huge project. One of these restaurants would make use of Disney’s audio-animatronics technology and have a Bear Band show playing for diners.
The Sierra Club gave Walt its highest award, but after his death, stabbed him in the back and sued to stop the project. Eventually, the area of the would-be resort became part of a National Park. Disney looked at Independence Lake but got sued over that too and gave up on the idea.
Meanwhile, legendary imagineer Marc Davis was working on the Bear Band Show for one of the restaurants. One day in December 1966, he heard Walt Disney’s familiar cough approaching. Walt came in and laughed at Marc’s Bear Band artwork, then headed for the door.
“Goodbye, Marc,” he said. Walt never said “goodbye,” he said “See you later,” or some other casual farewell. This took Marc a little bit aback. He never saw Walt again.
Country Bear Jamboree
Since Bear Band was such a solid attraction, Disney decided to include it with the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, changing the name from Bear Band to The Country Bear Jamboree, giving it a Southern appeal. It proved to be a huge hit. Nobody asked why mountain country bears were in Florida with the Southern tunes and theming, they were just immediately loved.
The show took place in the Country Bear Theater, which boasted a main stage and two smaller stages on each side, covered with scarlet curtains. At first, the Wonder Bread logo covered the main stage’s curtain; in later days the curtains boasted the attraction’s name.
On the wall of the theater were three cartoonish animal heads: Max (a deer), Buff (a buffalo) and Melvin (a moose). In the years following, Melvin, head miraculously reattached, led character breakfasts at Fort Wilderness.
The show began with Henry, our emcee, introducing himself and starting up “Pianjo” with Gomer on the piano.
Next, The Five Bear Rugs band, Zeke and Zeb and Ted and Fred and a bear named Tennessee, played “Bear Band Serenade”, written by Yo Ho (from Pirates of the Caribbean) and Grim Grinning Ghosts (from the Haunted Mansion) writers X. Atencio and George Bruns. These two Disney icons wrote all of the original songs for the attraction, but the show was, for the most part, covers of Country music hits. At the bottom right sat Oscar, squeaking his teddy bear. He scowled adorably.
This was followed with “Fractured Folk Song”, which was later removed from Walt Disney World’s remaining show, performed by Henry and Wendell, a golden-brown bear who plays the mandolin. Ernest, a fiddle-playing bear, plays with the Five Bear Rugs on “Can’t Bite, Don’t Growl”, then “My Woman Ain’t Pretty (But She Don’t Swear None)” by none other than Liver Lips McGrowl, a hick in this show but a rock idol in the Christmas and Vacation Hoedown shows.
Henry and Wendell return for “Mama Don’t Whip Little Buford” which ends with a bang from Henry. Then Trixie shows up for “Tears Will be the Chaser For Your Wine”, a sad lament from a tutu-wearing bear holding a glass of wine that, miraculously, doesn’t spill. Melvin, Buff and Max start in with a round of fat jokes that have been removed from the present-day Walt Disney World version, then the show gets back on the road with the Five Bear Rugs playing “Pretty Little Devilish Mary”, a song later removed from the surviving Walt Disney World version. Then tall bear Terrence, also known as Shaker, sings “How Long Will My Baby Be Gone.” Watch Henry’s eyebrows at the end of this song.
Rising from the front of the Main Stage floor come the Sun Bonnet Trio, Bunny, Bubbles and Beulah, three little bears in sunbonnets, accompanied by a Marc Davis slideshow to “All the Guys That Turn Me On Turn Me Down”.
Now comes the highlight of the show; a hole in the ceiling opens up to lower down a glamorous bear in a big hat with a feather and a feather boa, Teddi Berra, who sings “Heart, We Did All That We Could” then invites Henry up to her place. Henry says as soon as he finds a ladder he’ll be right up.
Next, another highlight of the show, and a big one. Big Al, modeled after Imagineer Al Bertino, who helped Marc Davis create the show, shows up and sings the inimitable “Blood on the Saddle”. He was voiced by country star Tex Ritter, father of actor John Ritter and grandfather of Jason Ritter of Gravity Falls fame.
Henry’s coonskin cap rises to reveal Sammy the Raccoon, who starts a duet with Henry on “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” before Big Al returns to sing “Blood on the Saddle” some more. Henry calls for backup and most of the cast returns (except Trixie, who is on the other side of Henry’s stage, and Ernest, who is on the other side of Liver Lips) to sing “Ole Slew Foot”. Big Al crashes behind his curtain and peace is restored. The remaining cast treats guests to one last song on the way out: “Come Again.”
The show was a huge success, so when they brought it to Disneyland, they added an additional theater to solve the problems of long waits at Walt Disney World. The problem was, they placed the attraction in a dead end. Bear Country opened in Disneyland in 1972 – “Bear Country” the sign at the entrance read, “A honey of a place since ’72”. The sign was placed at the bottom of a hill. At the top was a den labeled “Rufus”, from which a bear can be heard snoring. It delighted me when I was a little Fab. Rufus later made “appearances” in the Country Bear Christmas Special and Country Bear Vacation Hoedown.
County Bear Christmas Special and Vacation Hoedown
But what about the Christmas Show and Vacation Hoedown? Numbers were down at Disneyland but at WDW the show was as popular as ever, as was the show in Tokyo. The show was sponsored by Toyota, so Cast Members were discouraged from saying “Howdy,” as this sounded like Toyota’s competitor car company, Audi.
The Imagineers were told that they wanted two new shows, alongside the Christmas Show. They came up with two that they loved: Halloween Show and The Golden Bear Awards Show. Since they loved those two, they had to come up with a third, so they made one as unlikeable and terrible as they possibly could, for management to decline so that they could go with the ones they loved. It was called The Country Bear Summer Vacation Show. Management only picked one, and it became Vacation Hoedown.
End of an Era
Bear Country changed to Critter Country when Splash Mountain and all of its critters moved in July of 1989 and for a while, crowds returned to the Country Bear Jamboree. However, this lasted only a few years and the show began operating in only one of its two theaters. New management came in and thought that if they brought in a popular IP, the people would return to that little dead end.
The Country Bear Jamboree closed on September 9, 2001 and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a C-ticket dark ride, opened in April of 2003.
There are still a few nods to the previous attraction in Winnie the Pooh. Teddi Barra’s ceiling entrance from one of the theaters became a hot air balloon, with Winnie the Pooh riding in it. Additionally, a set of the three animal heads was put up on a back wall in the hunny room at the end of the ride.
The attraction still runs at Walt Disney World and remains popular. But as noted above, some of the show has been cut. However, the show runs in its entirety in Japan with some songs shuffled.
We hope that you enjoyed this in-depth look at all things County Bear Jamboree!
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Let’s Hear From You
Thanks to Noe Valladolid for the cute and beautiful illustrations! Were you aware of the Olympics tie-in to Country Bear Jamboree? Do you remember the original iteration of the show? Do you miss seeing the bears at Disneyland? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
