“Howdy folks! Welcome to the one and only, original, Country Bear Jamboree — featuring a bit of Americana, our musical heritage of the past. And right now, I give you a sordid assortment of executioners of music and song…!”
One of the most exceptional attractions ever to come from the minds at WED Enterprises, the Country Bear Jamboree was truly a sensation. Opening alongside Magic Kingdom in 1971, this Audio Animatronic ursine adventure captured the imagination of a generation of Walt Disney World’s first guests, and continues to be a family favorite to this day. But would you believe that it was never meant to play at Disney Parks?
Walt and one of his favorite designers had very different plans for their cutting edge bear band… plans that would’ve placed this rootin’, tootin’, hollerin’ hoedown hours from Disneyland in the snow-covered forests of Central California. Today, we simultaneously induct the Country Bear Jamboree into our In-Depth Library, packed with must-read tales of Lost Legends, and the astounding stories of Modern Marvels thrilling guests across the world today. In which does the Country Bear Jamboree belong? Both.
Join us on our in-depth journey as we trek through the can’t-miss story of how this Animatronic show came to be, where its curtains fell, and how the legend of the Country Bears lives on…
Marc Davis
Image: Disney
The story of the Country Bear Jamboree has to begin with its brilliant creator, Marc Davis. A revered Disney Legend, Marc was among Disney’s “Nine Old Men” – the core animators who joined Disney’s still-young studio in the 1930s, shaping the nascent art form of animation and creating the studio’s early feature films.
Marc was given a particularly impressive role at Walt Disney Studios, acting as the lead designer and animator of the title character from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Mr. Toad and “The Wind in the Willows” cast of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), Cinderella herself (1950), Alice from Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan’s Tinkerbell (1953), Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora and Maleficent (1959), and Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians (1961).
Image: Disney
You can imagine, then, how many of Disney’s most iconic creations literally came from the mind of Marc Davis. If Walt Disney pulled from fairytales to create the definitive versions of well-known stories, then Marc Davis pulled from those stories to make the definitive versions of their characters.
In the early 1960s after their work on 101 Dalmatians, Marc and a few other animators began scouring through Disney’s archives and discovered concepts from a never-completed film called Chanticleer – an animated adaptation of the early 20th century French stage production “Chantecler” by Edmond Rostand.
Image: Disney
Chanticleer would tell he story told of a vain rooster who sincerely believed his crowing is what caused the sun to rise each morning (earning the adoration of the other animal inhabitants of a 19th century French farm) and the noble lessons he learned when a band of scheming and hungry nocturnal “Night Creatures” tried to use his cockiness to win the trust of the farm animals to try to eat them for dinner.
Walt was reportedly optimistic about Chanticleer’s second lease on life and asked Marc to forget any of the old 1940s concept art he’d found and start over from scratch. However, Roy Disney began pressuring his brother to abandon animation altogether and shift his focus (and finances) back to Disneyland and WED Enterprises, hard at work on the masterpiece attractions set to debut at the 1964 – 65 World’s Fair.
Image: Disney
Disney relented and agreed that only one of the two feature films his animators were pursuing should move forward. The Sword and the Stone won over Chanticleer simply because humans take less time (and thus, money) to animate than animals do. The Sword in the Stone premiered Christmas Day, 1963, and Chanticleer was benched again.
But don’t worry… Marc Davis wasn’t out of a job. In fact, he was moved on to bigger, better birds.
From animation to Animatronics
Image: Disney
In 1962, Walt asked Marc to bring his character eye and penchant for perfectly staged animated scenes to Disneyland, and particularly to take a “good, hard, critical look” at one of the park’s signature attractions: Frontierland’s Mine Train Thru Nature’s Wonderland. Walt was somewhat unsatisfied with the attraction, which had only opened in 1960 as a supposed American west equivalent to the Jungle Cruise.
“There was an awful lot of things wrong,” Marc reported later. “They had no gags in it; no story at all… One kit fox’s head is going up and down, then about a hundred feet away another kit fox’s head is going left to right, so I took the two, put them nose to nose, so one is going up and down, the other moves side to side, so immediately you have humor!”
Image: Disney
Marc made dozens of drawings of how the Mine Train Thru Nature’s Wonderland could be improved, and just a few hours after telling Walt, he was invited to a meeting with all of WED Enterprises. A “stranger from animation,” Marc walked through his dissections of the park’s attractions one-by-one, with Imagineers growing angrier and angrier with each description of what they’d done wrong.
Though his background was with the company’s studio, Marc became Walt’s go-to for restaging Disneyland’s rides to include more humor and iconic characters. Walt’s seeming favoritism of Marc’s designs caused hostility, and Marc spoke of an unnamed WED Enterprises executive who walked by his desk while he was sketching and condescendingly asked, “And what are you doing with your little pencil now?”
Image: Disney
What he was doing was exactly what Walt had asked. Even if he initially made few friends in Imagineering, Marc had a friend in Walt. He was asked to add his signature staging and humorous vignettes to a redesign and expansion of Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise, which – throughout the 1960s – gained the Indian elephant bathing pool, the ruins of a temple of Ganesha, the design of the African veldt scene, and the iconic “trapped safari,” all from the mind of Marc Davis.
Image: Disney
It makes sense, doesn’t it? Those signature scenes all read like snapshots in a film. Davis was somehow able to expertly stage those set-ups as living moments, perfectly translated from “screen to stage” before our very eyes.
It was Davis’ signature style that created the lovable ease of The Enchanted Tiki Room show, utilizing the first ever Audio Animatronics figures. The Tiki Room remains a shining example of Davis’ character-focused design specialty.
Image: Disney
The 1964-65 New York World’s Fair attractions practically reeked of his touch; perfectly staged vignettes abound in the Modern Marvel: Carousel of Progress…
Image: Disney
… The pop-up style scenes of “it’s a small world” again glimmer because of his commitment to character…
Image: Disney
… Even the often-overlooked Ford’s Magic Skyway at the World’s Fair saw guests in motorless Ford convertibles gliding through scenes of a primeval world staged by Marc Davis.
(He’d later go on to be the mind behind the more sing-along, character-infused second-halves of Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, with his peer Claude Coats forming the more atmospheric, eerie, character-less environments of the first halves of both rides, respectively.)
Image: Disney
And as the World’s Fair came to a close, Walt Disney was already moving forward. He had ambitious plans for a new kind of attraction, and of course, he always intended to bring Marc Davis along… And in a remote mountain pass about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco – deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range of Central California – a one-of-a-kind Audio-Animatronic show was assured… Read on…
Disney’s Mineral King Ski Resort
Friday, December 17, 1965.
The 1964-65 New York World’s Fair had come to a close two months before, and as Walt Disney and his designers at WED Enterprises began to disassemble the Fair’s attractions, the announcement was made that Disney was moving forward with a new kind of entertainment offering: Disney’s Mineral King Ski Resort.
Image: H.M. Gousha Map Company, via Yesterland.com
The Mineral King basin was – at the time – a part of the Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Central California, about three hours west of Fresno. However, Mineral King was otherwise surrounded in Sequoia National Park, under the federal jurisdiction via the US Department of the Interior. The beautiful forested valleys of Mineral King had been a contender for a ski resort for decades, but the only road in and out was narrow, only partially paved, and only available seasonally, as any snowfall made the route impassable.
Disney’s agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to develop Mineral King was vast. Disney would agree to build a $35 million resort available year round, attracting 2.5 million visitors annually for skiing, hiking, and eco-tourism. But, the 30-year permit they’d sign would require the government to approve a 25-mile, all-weather highway to access the resort… and it would need to pass through the National Park surrounding Mineral King.
Walt was quoted, “When I first saw Mineral King five years ago, I thought it was one of the most beautiful spots I had ever seen and we want to keep it that way.”
Image: Disney
Walt’s plans called for a modern Alpine ski resort nestled into the delicate valleys of Mineral King – one that would set a new standard for winter sports resorts. The region had already been earmarked as a potential new world-renowned headquarters for downhill skiing, so Disney’s bid to build on the property was a major coup.
Obtained from our friends at Yesterland (an essential source for further information on Mineral King), the Spring 1966 Disney News (the official publication of the Magic Kingdom Club) noted:
Image: DIsney via Yesterland.com
“Walt’s plan for the picturesque area, located about equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco, provides for year-round recreational activities by people of all ages and athletic abilities.
Fourteen ski lifts are anticipated, many serving guests throughout the year. Some of the lifts will be used in the warm months by sightseers, campers, hikers and wild-life students, who for the first time will be able to visit the 7,900-foot valley and its surrounding 12,400-foot mountains.
A completely self-contained village will accommodate visitors. It will have a chapel, ice-skating rink, convenience shops, restaurants, conference center, and low-cost lodging facilities. In addition to Mineral King Village and ski lifts, there will be a series of ten restaurants in the valley and atop surrounding peaks. There also will be two large hotels, a heliport and auxiliary facilities.
The company’s entire approach has been based on the absolute necessity to preserve the site’s natural beauty and alpine character.
Image: Disney
To this end, automobiles will be excluded from the valley proper. Guests will park in a 2,500-vehicle parking area at the entrance and will be taken into the valley by a high-capacity public conveyance.
Further, the area’s natural character will be preserved by camouflaging ski lifts, situating the village so that it will not be seen from the valley entrance, and putting service areas in a 60,000 square foot underground facility beneath the village.”
But for Disney Parks fans, one piece of Mineral King is the most memorable… the attraction Walt Disney had asked Marc Davis to produce to entertain visitors… Masterfully combining his character creating expertise, Davis concocted what may be the most unique show to ever be developed for Disney.
A Bear Band
Walt knew he wanted a show to provide “Disney” style entertainment for guests staying the Mineral King Ski Resort. In Disneyland: The Nickel Tour by Bruce Howard and David Mumford, Marc recalled his instructions from Walt. ““Walt thought maybe we should have a show that had something to do with bears. Lots and lots of bears.”
Befitting his portfolio of anthropomorphic animals and character-infused singalong attractions, Marc took the project and at once began researching. He worked with fellow Disney animator Al Bertino to develop ideas about potential bear bands, including a marching band, a mariachi band, and a Dixieland band.
Image: Disney
As the story goes, Walt walked into Marc’s office one day and saw drawings Marc and Al had developed of a country bear band and laughed, commenting that he loved the characters. That was also the day, some say, that Walt uncharacteristically said goodbye to Marc on the way out of the office. It was the last time Davis and Disney ever spoke.
Walt passed away on December 15, 1966.
Development of Mineral King would press forward. (It wouldn’t be removed from Disney’s docket until 1977, then from the realm of possibility in 1978 when Congress annexed the 16,200 acres of Mineral King to officially become part of Sequoia National Park, preserving it forever from commercial development.)
Image: Disney
But the concept Marc Davis had developed for a wilderness bear band with country twang was too good to pass up… at once, it became a must-have for the under-construction “Disney World” being built in Florida.
Disney Legend and Imagineer X Atencio (lyricist behind the Haunted Mansion’s “Grim Grinning Ghosts,” Pirates of the Caribbean’s “Yo Ho [A Pirate’s Life for Me]”, and Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland Lost Legend: If You Had Wings) came on board and worked with famed Academy Award-winning composer George Burns to create songs for the bears to sing. (The story behind the music of Country Bear Jamboree was explored in-depth in a multi-piece series by the incomparable Passport to Dreams, whose scholarly and well-researched Disney World history pieces simply can’t be bested.)
Image: Disney
A purpose-built theater was constructed in Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland to house this new kind of musical revue; a larger-than-life, countrified version of the Enchanted Tiki Room of the decade before. The Country Bear Jamboree was one of the opening day attractions at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Sponsored by Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, the rootin’, tootin’, foot-stompin’ musical revue was an instant success among the offerings in the park’s Frontierland. And when Magic Kingdom opened, the Country Bear Jamboree required the most limited and expensive ride coupon, the E-Ticket, to see… And for good reason… Ready to head on in?
The Country Bear Jamboree
Image: Disney
Come one, come all, and step on into the warmth and ease of Grizzly Hall, established 1898! The foyer of this country music dance hall is the perfect place to rest your feet for a few moments as you admire the oil painted portraits around the lobby – a comfortable introduction to the long-standing members of the Country Bears that we’re liable to meet during today’s foot-stompin’ revue.
It won’t be long until the doors open, and when they do, we’re ushered inward to the lantern-lit auditorium. Take a seat anywhere you like (moving all the way to the end of any available row, that is). Ahead is a backdrop behind a main stage, advertising all manner of ursine products to be picked up in the general store, with two stage boxes on either side, all draped with elegant red velvet curtains. Elegant wood and brass carvings above make the otherwise quaint theater in this small Western town seem grand.
Image: Andrew Dupont, Flickr (license)
But glance to the right and you’ll have no doubt that this is still the wild west: trophy heads mounted to the wall of a moose, a bison, and a deer. Strangely, they’re labeled with names: Melvin, Buff, and Max, respectively. Then suddenly, the booming baritone voice of the bison whistles and calls out, “Hey, Henry! What’s holdin’ ya up? Let’s get on with the show! We can’t hang around here all day!”
The deer responds. “Now, Buff, be patient! Takes a little doin’ to set these things up!”
“Yeah,” the dopy moose guffaws, “we ain’t goin’ anywhere anyhow! We’re kinda… hung up.”
Image: Disney
Now, the curtain on the box stage right has pulled away, revealing our master of ceremonies: Henry, the seven-foot tall brown bear with a raccoon cap.
“Okay, okay, boys, take it easy now, we’re ready to start! Give me a little intro there, Gomer!” Center stage, a tall bear has arisen from below with his piano, a buzzing behive of honey atop. He begins to tickle the ivories with skill, beginning a jaunty bluegrass tune. “And now, I give you a sordid assortment of executioners of music and song…” The central curtain parts, revealing a quintet of instrumentalists playing banjo, harmonica, fiddle, and corn jug. “…the Five Bear Rugs!”
Image: Disney
What follows is a good ol’ fashioned country hoedown with no less than 24 Audio Animatronics entertainers, from ol’ Liver Lips McGrowl and his cover of “My Woman Ain’t Pretty (But She Don’t Swear None)” to the beloved and wine-brandishing Trixie (a treat out of Tampa) with “Tears Will Be the Chaser For Your Wine.” The sweet Sun Bonnets from the Sunshine State join with “All the Guys That Turn Me On Turn Me Down.”
Image: Disney
Of course, all of that pales in comparison to Big Al’s timeless rendition of “Blood on the Saddle.”
Image: Disney
In a true show-stopping number, Teddi Berra descends on a sunflower swing for “Heart, We Did All That We Could” before the cast brings down the house with “Ole Slew Foot.”
Naturally, the Country Bear Jamboree simply needs seen to be believed – or relived – which is why we happily present this point-of-view video of the wildest show in the wilderness.
Yet the story of the Country Bear Jamboree isn’t over! On the last page, we’ll watch as the Country Bears hit the road for a double feature performance in Florida… and explore the legacy of this swingin’ Frontierland favorite. “California, here we come! Right back where we started from…!”
“California, here we come!”
The Country Bear Jamboree was enthusiastically received at Walt Disney World, becoming an instant fan-favorite and a must-see spectacle that encapsulated the wonders of what Disney could do. Decades before Audio-Animatronic dinner shows populated local family entertainment centers, Disney had done the impossible and brought an entire band of bears to musical life.
That’s why the Country Bear Jamboree was the first ever attraction to be cloned from Walt Disney World back to the original Disneyland.
Image: Disney, via Yesterland.com
But where would it go? Luckily, Disney had an expansion pad ready. When Disneyland opened in 1955, its Frontierland was designed to bring to bring to life the stories of the American West that featured so heavily in pop culture at the time. Davy Crockett, The Lone Ranger, and even Howdy Doody had shaped Americans’ fascination with our wilder ancestors taming the untouched American West, and at a time where children spent their summers playing “Cowboys and Indians,” the inclusion of an Indian Village made sense. In fact, a $100,000 Indian Village added as part of 1956’s expansion of Frontierland gave the country’s native people a purpose-built corner of the park.
Surprisingly reverent for the era, the Indian Village employed “full blood” natives to share their culture and customs in interactive displays and shows, including a Fire Dance Circle and the area’s only attraction, the Indian War Canoes.
But by 1971, things had changed. The southern end of the Rivers of America had become New Orleans Square, with the Haunted Mansion essentially cutting the Indian Village off from the rest of Frontierland. Plus, times and attitudes were changing, and elements of the area that seemed respectful in the mid-century (labeleling bathrooms as “Braves” and “Squaws,” for example) hadn’t aged well.
Image: Disney via Yesterland.com
In 1972, a new land called Bear Country replaced the Indian Village, creating a seventh themed land for Disneyland. Themed to the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest, this new Bear Country featured its own Country Bear Playhouse.
Since Bear Country was a bit more remote than the well-developed Western town of Frontierland, the Country Bear Playhouse was accessed via a covered bridge over a babbling brook, leading to the theater tucked away in the forested hills.
Once inside, though, the show that guests experienced in California was exactly like the one in Florida. But behind the scenes, the logistics weren’t. Responding to the enormous enthusiasm of Magic Kingdom guests, Imagineers intentionally doubled Disneyland’s installation with two theaters offering double the hourly capacity of Florida’s show.
Later days
When Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983, it, too, featured the Country Bear Jamboree, its Audio Animatronics figures benefitting from the decade of innovation since the U.S. installations.
Then, during the 1984 holiday season, both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland’s attractions swapped programming to become the Country Bear Christmas Special. Come to think of it, that made Country Bear Jamboree the first Disney attraction to receive a seasonal overlay, besting “it’s a small world holiday,” Haunted Mansion Holiday, and the Jingle Cruise by decades!
Image: Disney
The show continued along on both coasts for years, even as pop culture and the parks changed around them. In 1988, Disneyland geared up for the arrival of its newest E-Ticket – one of the first cinematic thrills instigated by the arrival of then-CEO Michael Eisner. Splash Mountain would become the Country Bears’ neighbor, and fittingly, Bear Country was renamed to the much more inclusive Critter Country.
The Country Bear Jamboree closed forever at Disneyland on September 9, 2001 – just two days before the terrorist attacks on New York would freeze Disney tourism… and just one year before the theatrical film The Country Bears (one of the worst Disney ride-to-film adaptations in history) opened in theaters… an odd moment when the parks seemed to be out-of-sync with the studio, which likely would’ve preferred the attraction stay open to cross-promote the movie.
Image: Disney
Why did Disneyland’s version of the attraction close? Think of it this way: Walt Disney World was built to be “the Vacation Kingdom of the World;” an international destination for families the world over, constantly and continuously revitalized and refreshed by new crowds that may visit only once every few years, or maybe once in a lifetime.
Disneyland, by comparison, is different. Disneyland’s guests tend to be intensely loyal with multi-generational ties to the park, and – by and large – many Disneyland guests aren’t coming from very far away. Especially prior to Disney California Adventure (and its subsequent rebirth), Disneyland was a single theme park with one hotel; a day-trip for Californians and other regional guests, not a destination earning international trips. Many Disneyland guests visit multiple times a month, or more!
And while those loyal, local guests tend to love the idea of shows like the Country Bear Jamboree, they don’t tend to visit them. It’s the same fate that befell another Modern Marvel: Carousel of Progress, which played at Disneyland for only six years before attendance declined enough to warrant sponsor General Electric requesting its relocation to Florida, where it has played for forty-five years.
Besides, the double-sized showbuilding housing the Country Bears was prime real state for another of Disney’s ursine characters… and one who had experienced a resurgence of popularity and created a merchandising empire.
Image: Disney
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh opened in Critter Country in 2003, replacing the Country Bear Jamboree. The ambling, lumbering dark ride has never become a fan favorite, either (and, humorously, it’s become evidence that Disneyland is really, really crowded if its wait time crests 5 minutes). Eagle-eyed guests can still spot Buff, Max, and Melvin as a hidden “Easter egg” on the ride by looking behind them as they enter the “Hunny Heaven” scene.
Preservations and possibilities
The good news is that Disney Imagineers knew what they were doing when executives forced them to insert Winnie the Pooh into Disney’s parks.
At Disneyland, Pooh replaced the Country Bear Jamboree in Critter Country.
Image: Disney
At Magic Kingdom, Pooh replaced the Lost Legend: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in Fantasyland.
That meant that, while Pooh did cause the closure of a classic on each coast, two classics were also preserved… Disneyland continues to host Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in Fantasyland, and Magic Kingdom still offers the Country Bear Jamboree in Frontierland! (The attraction is still offered in Tokyo Disneyland, too, alternating between the classic show, the Vacation Hoedown summer show, and the Christmas Special production around the holidays.)
From the earliest days of Disney California Adventure, fans speculated that the Country Bears could make a return in the park’s Grizzly Peak. You’ve got to admit, that would be a clever and relatively inexpensive way to provide the park with a “Tiki Room” equivalent while simultaneously paying tremendous service to Disney history and its fans.
Image: Disney
While no serious rumors have ever suggested that that might be a possibility, the Country Bears are known to be walkaround meet-and-greet characters in the area beneath the towering stone mountain eroded to resemble the extinct California Grizzly. As if that weren’t appropriate enough, it means that – in a roundabout way – the Country Bears have already made their return to California’s High Sierras: the very place they were originally meant to debut within Mineral King.
In 2012, Magic Kingdom’s Country Bear Jamboree underwent a 21st century edit meant to tighten the show for shorter, modern attention spans (after the success of a similar slim-down at the Enchanted Tiki Room in 2005). About 4 minutes were sliced from the runtime, allowing the show to remain a favorite for modern families while simultaneously granting higher hourly capacity.
Heart, We Did All We Could
Image: Disney
The Country Bear Jamboree remains a staple of Disney Imagineering and an iconic master class in entertainment from the mind of Marc Davis. Standouts of the development WED Enterprises was undertaking in the 1960s and early ‘70s, the singalong showcase lives on as a Modern Marvel at Magic Kingdom and will forever rank among our Lost Legends at Disneyland.
We can’t help but think of how different Disney Parks might feel today if it weren’t for the attractions and additions shepherded by Marc Davis… Or how different things would be if every attraction he designed had come to be. For example, we explored one of his never-built concepts – the Enchanted Snow Palace – and how it set the stage for Disney’s decades-long quest for the Snow Queen in the in-depth Modern Marvel: Frozen Ever feature. Best of all, we dissected Marc’s never-built magnum opus – the ride he thought would change Disney World forever – in Possibilityland: Western River Expedition… an absolute must-read for Disney Parks history buffs. Interestingly, if Western River Expedition had opened, it would’ve given Davis a creative monopoly on Florida’s Frontierland.
Image: Disney
Between the attractions he built and those he couldn’t get off the drawing board, Marc Davis may be the most astounding Imagineer in Disney’s history… One thing is certain: even if Walt’s early designers weren’t, we’re glad to have had him around.
If you enjoyed the in-depth history of this unassuming Magic Kingdom classic, we’ve got great news for you – the adventures continue in our In-Depth Collections Library, where we’ve told the true and interwoven stories of closed-classics, Modern Marvels, and never-built masterpieces from across Disney Parks and beyond. Make the jump there to set course for another in-depth feature.
Then, use the comments below to share your thoughts – is the Country Bear Jamboree really deserving of Modern Marvel / Lost Legend status? Does this Magic Kingdom hoedown still entertain, or is it a remnant of another era best left on the cutting room floor? How might Disney be different today if the Mineral King Ski Resort had opened?
