The Country Bear Jamboree is an attraction in the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort and at Tokyo Disneyland in the Tokyo Disney Resort. The attraction also existed at Disneyland Park. All versions of the attraction are similar.
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 audience includes audio-animatronic animal heads mounted on the walls who interact with characters on stage.
Due to overwhelming popularity, The Country Bear Jamboree was given a "spin-off" show which appeared during the 1984 winter season at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. It was called The Country Bear Christmas Special. In 1986 it was given a summertime version called The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown. This version was so popular at Disneyland that it became the park's permanent edition until the attraction's closing in 2001.
In 2002, a movie titled The Country Bears was released which was based on the attraction and its characters.
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 1960s. 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 still carried on. 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 version 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.
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 other songs were shortened. The show is now 4 to 5 minutes shorter than it was before. The shorter version of the show opened on October 17, 2012.
On September 9, 2023, it was announced that the Walt Disney World version would receive a new show titled the Country Bear Musical Jamboree.
Characters
Bears
Henry Dixon Taylor – 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. Voiced by Peter Renaday.
In the movie, he is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
Liver Lips McGrowl – Liver Lips gets his name from his very large lips. He is a brown bear and plays the guitar. Since Florida's 2012 refurbishment, he has a messy, unkempt head of long hair in the Florida version of the show. He is voiced by Jimmy Stoneman. On September 9, 2023, Disney Parks chairman, Josh D'Amaro, announced that Liver Lips McGrowl will be renamed to Romeo McGrowl when the attraction is reimagined to Country Bear Musical Jamboree at a later date.